cl' s Play
T
heatreworks/USA,
the country's largest
touring stage compa-
ny for children,
boasts a repertoire of 76 plays
that rely on story quality rather
than high-tech gimmickry.
Artistic director Jay Harnick
likes it that way and hopes
Michigan audiences share his
feelings after viewing Swiss
Family Robinson, which comes
to Mercy High School in Farm-
ington Hilt on May 10 and 11.
The classic tale of a ship-
wrecked family adjusting to a
primitive environment has a new
script and score and can be sum-
marized in today's terms.
"This has to do with a family
that is somewhat dysfunctional
but can survive when thrown on
their own devices in a not- nec-
essarily-hospitable environment,"
explained Harnick, who has over-
seen performances that have
reached 38 million people over
35 years.
Harnick has launched a num-
ber of new children's productions
in Detroit, where he also has
worked on product shows, adding
glitz to the introduction of new
cars. The brother of Fiddler on
the Roof lyricist Sheldon Harnick,
he started his career as a Broad-
way actor, singer and dancer and
went on to directing, first for
Above: Jay Harnick is
artistic director of
Theatreworks/USA.
Right: Performing in Swiss
Family Robinson are,
clockwise from left above,
Ray Cullom, Sean
McCourt, Kevin Moriarty,
Mary Lou Shriber and Craig
Rubano. Pauline Frommer
is in the foreground.
tJhaeyatHearrancicckesmsiabkieestothkeids.
SUZANNE CHESSLER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
adults and then for children.
"I had been asked to direct a
biographical play about Abra-
ham Lincoln for a producer who
wanted to do it off-Broadway," he
said about moving into the world
of young audiences.
"When we went to Broadway,
another producer had us put to-
gether a company of Young Abe
Lincoln that could tour into the
New York schools, and that be-
came the basis of Theatreworks."
As the company grew, its sub-
jects expanded from biogra-
phies/histories to adaptations of
classical and contemporary lit-
erature.
"I think that everybody —
young and old — enjoys a good
story, well-told," Harnick said.
"There also must be clearly de-
fined characters who progress
from Point A to Point Something.
'e always try to find an emo-
tional hook that comes relative-
ly early in the play so that we're
clear about the protagonist and
antagonist. In Swiss Family
Robinson, there is no real an-
tagonist although people are at
odds with each other through a
series of miscommunications and
misunderstandings."
Harnick said that what really
sets children's productions apart
is vocabulary, expressed philos-
ophy and the plot points that
young audiences can recognize
and identify with.
He believes that
parents should pre-
pare children for the-
ater experiences,
particularly because
going to see live
dramatizations has
not been ingrained
in the American cul-
tural fabric as it has
been in England,
France and other
countries.
His company also
enjoys entertaining
the adults who ac-
company children
and grandchildren
to performances.
"We have had
Jewish characters in
various plays, but I
don't know that we
have had a Jewish
character central to
any story," said Har-
nick, who is married
to actress Barbara
Barrie and has two adult chil-
dren working at screenwriting,
directing and acting.
'We did a play about the im-
migrant experience when the
Statue of Liberty was celebrat-
ing its centennial, and one of the
characters was a Jewish tailor
who had come to New York from
Europe."
In making theater accessible
to children, Harnick works hard
at keeping down costs and choos-
ing titles that parents will deem
acceptable.
"If a show is called The Vel-
veteen Rabbit or The Phantom of
the Opera, regardless of what the
show actually is, people have a
feeling that it will be appropriate
for kids," he explained.
"The down side of all this is
that [new] plays [with unknown
titles] have a very rough time get-
ting launched in theater for chil-
dren."
For the 1997-98 season, Har-
nick has creative teams planning
three new productions with fa-
miliar titles and subjects — The
Prince and the Pauper, Little Red
Riding Hood and an Ossie Davis-
written script about actor Paul
Robeson.
Productions for seasons after
next already are in development.
Away from children's theater,
Harnick has adult theater re-
sponsibilities. A Tony Award
nominator, he is obliged to see
every show that opens on Broad-
way.
"I believe I can still enjoy a
show for its entertainment val-
ue and then think a little later
about what the elements are and
how I evaluate them," Harnick
said.
"On occasion, I'll do an inde-
pendent production or benefit or
work as a freelance director, but
in recent years, I've done less and
less of that because Theatre-
works has grown so big.
"Just shepherding our shows
is very involving, and I find what
I'm doing very fulfilling and look
forward to the challenges each
next show will provide." ❑