Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Withers, Iva
2. Kantor, Michael, 1961-
3. Hunt, Mead
4. Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.
5. Thirteen/WNET, donor.

Description

1. 1 videocassette (VHS) (46 min.) : sd., col. SP; 1/2 in.

Summary

1. Raw interview footage used for the documentary Broadway, the American musical. Iva Withers, who appeared in many musicals, first as singer, and later as a singer-actress, discusses the American musical. Topics include auditioning for a replacement part in the chorus of Oklahoma! where she first met composer Richard Rodgers; her friendship and working relationship with choreographer Agnes De Mille, for whom she performed in Oklahoma!, Carousel and Gentlemen prefer blondes; De Mille's technique as a choreographer who drew on the contributions of individual dancers; her achievement in demonstrating that ballet could be used to tell a story; how De Mille convinced ballet impressario Sergei Denham to allow her to choreograph a cowboy ballet for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, resulting in the immensely successful ballet Rodeo, which in turn inspired the creators of Oklahoma!; De Mille's insistence, over the initial objections of Rodgers and Hammerstein, to cast her own dancers for Oklahoma!; Withers' role as an understudy in Carousel who was suddenly thrust into performing the lead; her distinction as a Broadway performer who for two short periods performed the lead roles in both Carousel and Oklahoma! in tandem; the demands of working as a Broadway performer; the exacting requirement of performers made by lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, whose precisely crafted lyrics demand faithful delivery; the optimism and "good will triumph over evil" attitude which she believes made the World War II era musical Oklahoma! such a success, and her identification, because of her own losses during the war, with the musical's darker elements; the danger she felt walking on the streets of Broadway as a performer during the 1940s and '50s; her role of Miss Adelaide in Guys and dolls as a replacement for Vivian Blaine, a part with which she initally felt uncomfortable but ended up enjoying; the enduring popularity of Guys and dolls, which Withers considers to be basically a love story; the social importance of musicals, the best of which she believes come from New York. Audio-only discussion continues for the next minute with more on how De Mille achieved her goal to create a cowboy ballet.

Alternative title

1. Broadway, the American musical
2. Broadway: the American musical

Subject

1. Documentaries and factual works
2. Musical theater > Production and direction
3. Choreography
4. Loesser, Frank, 1910-1969 > Guys and dolls
5. Rodgers, Richard, 1902-1979 > Carousel
6. De Mille, Agnes
7. Hammerstein, Oscar, II, 1895-1960
8. Unedited footage
9. Musicals
10. Dancers > Interviews
11. Rodgers, Richard, 1902-1979 > Oklahoma!
12. Broadway (New York, N.Y.)
13. Choreographers
14. Musical theater > New York (State) > New York
15. Actresses > Interviews
16. Theater > New York (State) > New York
17. Withers, Iva > Interviews

Genre/Form

1. Documentaries and factual works.
2. Musicals.
3. Unedited footage.

Call number

1. NCOX 2144

Note

1. This interview is one of a group of interviews with 90 individuals used in making the documentary Broadway, the American musical. The completed production is available on NCOX 2058.
2. Credits for completed production from pbs.org: A film by Michael Kantor ; produced by Jeff Dupre, Michael Kantor and Sally Rosenthal ; written by Marc Fields, Michael Kantor, Laurence Maslon, and JoAnne Young ; directed by Michael Kantor.
3. Time code on frame.
4. Contains various takes, at occasional brief intervals, audio continues without sound.

Credits (note)

1. Cameraman: Mead Hunt.

Performer (note)

1. Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Iva Withers.

Event (note)

1. Videotaped in New York, N.Y. on February 25, 2003.

Biography (note)

1. Broadway, the American musical, which aired on PBS in October 2004, is a documentary chronicling the entire history of a unique American art form, the Broadway musical. Each of its six episodes covers a different era in American theater history, and features the Broadway shows and songs which defined the period. The series draws on feature films, television broadcasts, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in the development of the genre.

Title

1. [Interview with Iva Withers : raw footage] [videorecording] / [directed by Michael Kantor]

Imprint

1. New York, 2003.

Credits

1. Cameraman: Mead Hunt.

Performer

1. Interviewer: Michael Kantor. Interviewee: Iva Withers.

Event

1. Videotaped in New York, N.Y. on February 25, 2003.

Biography

1. Broadway, the American musical, which aired on PBS in October 2004, is a documentary chronicling the entire history of a unique American art form, the Broadway musical. Each of its six episodes covers a different era in American theater history, and features the Broadway shows and songs which defined the period. The series draws on feature films, television broadcasts, archival news footage, original cast recordings, still photos, diaries, journals, first-person accounts, and on-camera interviews with many of the principals involved in the development of the genre.

Local note

1. Gift of Broadway Film Project, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET, 2005.

Connect to:

1. Request Access to Theatre on Film and Tape Archive Special Collections material

Added author

1. Withers, Iva, interviewee.
2. Kantor, Michael, 1961- interviewer.
3. Kantor, Michael, 1961- director.
4. Hunt, Mead, cameraman.
5. Broadway Film Project, Inc, donor.
6. Thirteen/WNET, donor.

Research call number

1. NCOX 2144