Los Angeles Times - 01.08.2019

George Abbott, Prince

earned the first of his 21 Tony

Awards working as a pro-

ducer on two shows directed

by Abbott, “Damn Yankees”

and “The Pajama Game.”

He would go on to be on the

producing teams of such

musicals as “West Side

Story,” “Fiddler on the

Roof,” “Fiorello!” and “A

Funny Thing Happened on

the Way to the Forum” —

shows that would have been

legacy enough for most

Broadway movers-and-

shakers, but Prince op-

erated on a superhuman

scale.

In the period defined by

two composing titans of

vastly different stripes,

Stephen Sondheim and An-

drew Lloyd Webber, Prince

was the indispensable force

elevating them to new artis-

tic heights. His work with

Sondheim certified his ge-

nius. Lloyd Webber ensured

afuture without financial

strife. This distinction is per-

haps best illustrated

through “Follies,” the Sond-

heim show that (by Prince’s

own admission) “lost all the

money invested in it” but

sealed his legend as a direc-

tor.

Possessing one of the

sharpest minds in the busi-

ness, Prince was one of its

gruffest truth-tellers. He

knew what he knew as well

as what he didn’t. He would

have liked to have directed

“West Side Story,” but he

recognized the musical re-

quired a director with the

choreographic brilliance of

Jerome Robbins.

He joked that he would

have “screwed up” “Hello,

Dolly!” by asking questions a

musical comedy of this sort

would rather not be asked.

When composer Jerry Her-

man came to his office to

play the score, Prince ob-

jected to one of the show’s

signature lines: “It’s so nice

to have you back where you

belong.” Having directed

“The Matchmaker,” the play

upon which “Hello, Dolly!” is

based, Prince barked, “Did

you read the play? She was

never there. The idea is that

this is a whole new life that

she’s grabbing before it’s too

late.” Herman, Prince re-

called in an interview in “The

Art of the American Musi-

cal: Conversations With the

Creators,” “gently folded his

music and left the office.”

But when the material

was right, Prince was the

creative partner that could

transform a germ of an idea

into a blockbuster for the

ages. With his background

as a producer, it was only na-

tural that he would insert

himself into the writing

process as a director. He was

as concerned with dramatic

structure as he was with the

sets. Indeed, one of his dis-

tinguishing attributes as a

director was in fashioning

theatrical environments

that determined how a story

would unfold, as in the way

past and present overlap in

the ghost-filled Weismann

Theatre of “Follies.”

In forging a new tradi-

tion, Prince acknowledged

that he had to break the

back of the old one. Sure-fire

formulas of the past had lost

their potency. His early box

office flops, which would

probably be disqualifying in

today’s ruthless Broadway

economy, paved the way for

“Cabaret.” The clash of egos

in the struggle to achieve

something bracingly inno-

vative wasn’t for the timo-

rous. The phrase “control

freak” might have been

coined expressly for his di-

recting style.

Collaborators, such as

John Kander and Fred Ebb

and Jerry Bock and Sheldon

Harnick, tied themselves to

him despite the Sturm und

Drang because they saw

that he was as driven as they

were to get the work right.

Performers with their own

formidable gravity obedi-

ently orbited around his sun,

confident that he knew best

how to illuminate their tal-

ents.

Prince often talked about

“solving” a show, as though

musicals presented a math-

ematical mystery that could

be worked out with enough

intellectual inspiration and

time — resources not always

sufficiently accommodated

by Broadway schedules and

budgets. One show he re-

gretted not being able to fig-

ure out was Sondheim’s

“Merrily We Roll Along.” The

score captivated him, but

the structure defied his abil-

ity to locate a unifying flow.

The disappointment

marked the end of one of the

most fruitful relationships in

Broadway history. But after

a two-decade hiatus, Sond-

heim and Prince reunited

with “Bounce,” a musical

that has been kicking

around under different ti-

tles, still trying to find the

key that will unlock its treas-

ure.

In “Original Story,” play-

wright Arthur Laurents

identified what made Prince

and Sondheim perfectly

suited as creative partners:

The love of their life was the

theater, “which each was de-

termined to take over and

make over in his own way.”

Prince succeeded as only

he could— with pioneering

vision, volcanic ardor and

unprecedented artistry. In

changing the course of

Broadway history, he con-

tributed to the vitality the

theater enjoys today

through the artists and pro-

ducers he inspired and en-

couraged along his path-

breaking way.

Bernard GotfrydGetty Images From Hal Prince

[Prince,from E1]

Director’s touch

Broadway pioneer Hal

Prince died Wednesday

at age 91. CALIFORNIA

HAL PRINCE, left, in 1971 at his office, which fea-

tured a giant roulette wheel labeled with the shows

he produced, including “West Side Story.” He di-

rected the musical “Cabaret,” top, and was on the

producing team of “Fiddler on the Roof,” below.

Bob AylottGetty Images

Prince changed course of Broadway

L ATIMES.COM/CALENDAR THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2019E5

“Certainly, two years ago,
we pledged to do a better
job,” Kahl, appointed enter-
tainment head in 2017, said
in a telephone interview this
week. “We knew there was
some skepticism from the
press tour audience. But we
went back and followed
through. To us, it feels orga-
nic and authentic. These are
really good shows that hap-
pen to be inclusive. This is
the way forward and the way
we will conduct business go-
ing forward.”
Sherman, who served as
executive vice president of
programming for the CW
network before joining CBS
in 2017, emphasized that the
network sees inclusion as
fundamental to its devel-
opment process.
“It’s how I was trained to
do things— that inclusion is
importantand that we need
to be reflective of our broad-
cast audience,” he said. “We
put the message out into the
community that we wanted
to have inclusion baked into
the concept of the show.”
Among the new CBS
shows are “Bob Hearts
Abishola,” starring Billy
Gardell (“Mike & Molly”) as
a middle-aged businessman
who falls head over heels for
his cardiac nurse, a Nigerian

immigrant (Folake

Olowofoyeku); “Evil,” from

“The Good Wife” creators

Michelle and Robert King,

about a cynical female psy-

chologist (Katja Herbers)

who teams up with a priest-

in-training (Mike Colter) to

investigate the Catholic

Church’s backlog of unex-

plained mysteries; and “All

Rise,” a Los Angeles-set le-

gal drama starring Simone

Missick (“Luke Cage”) as a

newly appointed, no-non-

sense judge.

While executives in previ-

ous CBS administrations al-

ways maintained — in the

face of continued criticism —

that increasing diversity was

apriority, one factor that

may have had a dramatic im-

pact on the network’s prog-

ress is the departure of

Leslie Moonves, who was

forced to resign as chief exe-

cutive in 2018 due to scandals

involving alleged sexual har-

assment and assault.

Moonves was known to be

heavily involved in the devel-

opment and casting of CBS

series. The network has also

implemented or accelerated

several diversity initiatives

and incentives, including an

annual symposium for cast-

ing directors to strategize

how to increase diversity

and a continued emphasis

on a comedy sketch show-

case for aspiring minority

performers, as well as artists

and writers from the

LGBTQ community.

Said Tiffany Smith-

Anoa’i, executive vice presi-

dent of diversity, inclusion

and communications:

“From casting to devel-

opment, all departments are

now on the same page, col-

lectively working toward

this common goal. It’s im-

portant that we as broad-

casters are as inclusive as

our audience. Everyone’s

story should be reflected

and represented.”

Greg Spottiswood and

Sunil Nayar, the executive

producers of “All Rise,” said

in a phone interview that

CBS pursued them and

their show “very aggres-

sively.”

“They told us that they

felt this show belonged on

their network, and we could

really sense their enthusi-

asm,” Spottiswood said. “We

really feel we’re at the right

network at the right time

with the right show.”

“The Neighborhood” star

and executive producer

Cedric the Entertainer said

he was aware of CBS’ previ-

ous reputation on diversity

but said he is proud the se-

ries has found a home on the

network. “It takes some guts

to change, but they are com-

fortable with us.”

The series revolves

around the fallout when a

white family moves into a

predominantly black work-

ing-class neighborhood. The

show is loosely based on cre-

ator Jim Reynolds’ experi-

ence when his family moved

into a Pasadena neighbor-

hood.

“One of our strengths is

presenting culture in terms

of differences, but also com-

mon ground,” Reynolds

said. “There are certainly

differences, but more often

than not there are similar-

ities. With where we are in

the world right now, we need

to have that conversation in

a kinder, more respectful

way. At the end of the day,

our show is about human be-

ings.”

CBS turns its eye to diversifying prime-time TV

JAY HERNANDEZ plays Thomas Magnum on CBS’

modern take on “Magnum P.I.,” renewed for fall.

Karen NealCBS

TICHINA ARNOLDstars on “The Neighborhood”

with Cedric the Entertainer, an executive producer.

Monty BrintonCBS

[CBS, from E1]