Groovy Musicals #7: Seesaw

I love listening to the original cast recording of the 1973 Broadway musical, Seesaw. The score by the brilliant Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields is fun and catchy and makes me smile. And who can resist the wonderful Michele Lee (Knots Landing) as Gittel Mosca, a kooky, streetwise dancer from the Bronx who has a brief affair with Jerry Ryan, a young lawyer from Nebraska (played by Ken Howard, who recently won his first Emmy for his performance in HBO's Grey Gardens)? Add in the fabulous and flamboyant Tommy Tune in a showstopping number called "It's Not Where You Start" and you've got yourself a groovy musical.

However, Seesaw had more downs than ups during its troubled pre-Broadway tryout in Detroit, where the Tony Award-winning Michael Bennett was brought in to save the show. He immediately fired leading lady Lainie Kazan, who apparently was supposed to shed 40 pounds before their out-of-town opening in order to portray a dancer convincingly. She didn't. Bennett asked for absolute control over the production as director and choreographer, and he brought in Neil Simon to help him rewrite Michael Stewart's book, although final credit--and a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical--went solely to Bennett. Seesaw finally opened on Broadway at the Uris Theatre on March 18, 1973, and its reviews were mixed:

"It has three fine performances to call its own, a bland yet efficient slickness and a certain New York brashness to it . . . Seesaw is probably not top-drawer Broadway musical material. You may not come out walking on air, but at least you will come out walking" - Clive Barnes, The New York Times

"The show isn't great, but it works" - Martin Gottfried, Women's Wear Daily

"The show is just dandy, wonderfully satisfying simply as fun and then again as honest eavesdropping on two troubled but thoroughly engaging people" - Walter Kerr, The New York Times

Seesaw was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score, Best Actress in a Musical (Lee), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Tune), Best Choreography, and Best Direction of a Musical. It won for Choreography and Best Featured Actor, but Raisin won for Best Musical and Raisin's Virginia Capers won for Best Actress. As a publicity stunt, New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay (a Ken Howard look-alike) made a cameo appearance as Jerry during the "My City" number on March 23, 1973, and the media coverage resulted in a boost at the box office. However, the show failed to earn back its sizable investment by the time it closed on December 8, 1973, after 296 performances.

Actor John Gavin (Psycho, Thoroughly Modern Millie) replaced Howard during Seesaw's run, and he, Tune and Lucie Arnaz starred in the national tour of the musical in 1974. Also, soap opera actor Nicolas Coster (Another World, Santa Barbara) was the standby for the role of Jerry, which I think is an interesting bit of trivia. And, in closing, isn't it about time for Encores! to do a production of Seesaw?



Below you can enjoy Michele Lee singing "I'm Way Ahead" and "Seesaw" on the 1974 Tony Awards, Dame Shirley Bassey belting "Nobody Does It Like Me", and the legendary Barbara Cook performing "It's Not Where You Start".