North Shore Towers Courier n February 2016 13 1996 Broadway production of Rent, as well as the national tours of Damn Yankees, Crazy for You, Victor/Victoria, Jekyll & Hyde. He was also the lyricist for the short-lived but acclaimed Off- Broadway production Bats; wrote and produced numerous cabaret shows for New York City host spots The Duplex and The Five Oaks, and provided special material for performers at such distinguished Big Apple venues as Caroline’s, Eighty-Eights and Don’t Tell Mama. Hi final production before returning to academia and the lecture circuit, was Rent, for which he spent three years leading up to the show’s opening. Kenrick was cautioned by former colleagues, Barry and Fran Weisler, the producers under which he served on the Grease revival, not too waste too much time on the groundbreaking musical, believing it would only run in a small theater in The Village. Despite its becoming an instant smash, necessitating its move from Off-Broadway to Broadway; winning numerous awards, including 4 Tony’s, 7 Drama Desks and the Pulitzer Prize; inspiring a film version; and launching the career of Idina Menzel, Kenrick is not a fan. Written and composed by Jonathan Larson, who tragically died the night before the show’s Off-Broadway opening, the rock opera is famously based on Puccini’s La Bohème with one crucial difference, whence stems Kenrick’s displeasure. The character Mimi, whose life and death are so critical to the opera’s plot, survives in Larson’s reworking, substituted with the killing off of “a gay character,” as Kenrick put it. When Kenrick confronted Larson about how important Mimi’s death was to the source material, the late creator replied, “I don’t have the heart to kill Mimi!” “Her death would have given the show more credit,” Kenrick explained. Part of Kenrick’s appeal is his honesty. He does not suffer fools lightly and is not afraid to express his opinion or call out an untruth, no matter how much it may cut against the grain of his peers or the masses. Yet he does so without a shred of meanness; his intense love of his various areas of expertise superseding any hint of negativity. His distaste of the musical Cats is another such example. “The first 15 minutes are dazzling; the last 15 minutes are inspiring; but the two hours in the middle…? Kill me!” The admitted ailurophile, with a half dozen felines of his own, furthered his critique, quoting legendary comedian Joan Rivers’s assessment of the Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber sensation. “If you have a chance to see this or go down in a plane, go down in a plane.” Needless to say, Kenrick is less than enamored with recent word of a Cats revival, which he revealed will incorporate a change in the character of Rum Tum Tugger, who will now be a rapper. “I suppose this is how Sir Lloyd Webber stays relevant,” Kenrick said. “The number one thing a musical needs is a compelling story and a compelling way in which to tell it,” Kenrick added in explanation to his dislike of Cats. He is more excited about the announced Hello, Dolly! revival, which will star Bette Midler as the titular beloved matchmaker, citing the show’s pedigree of source material: Thornton Wilder’s 1938 farce, The Merchant of Yonkers; composer/lyricist, Jerry Herman; and director Gower Champion. His greatest concern about the revival? Who will play Dolly’s foil, Horace? “The role calls for an incredible grouch, who is also charming and loveable. I think Victor Garber would be ideal.” Kenrick counts Rodgers and Hammerstein, Gilbert and Sullivan, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Joan Rivers, Cole Porter, Noel Coward and Irving Berlin among the people who give him the greatest pleasure. Movie-wise, he immediately mentions The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and Schindler’s List. “I believe movies shape our view of the past and future,” he explained. “Great films speak to what we hope to be—a noble character, not the collaborator with Nazis. They speak to the human condition.” Currently Kenrick is rewriting/updating Musical Theatre: a History, his literary paean to the art form to which he’s dedicated his life. Originally released in 2008, the book has never gone out-of-print and Kenrick is tickled that it is still in demand seven years after its initial publication. And not just in the U.S. There has recently been an explosion of interest in China, Japan and other Asian nations, especially with the college-age crowd, which Kenrick attributes to musical theater being unique to these cultures. “They have nothing like it,” he said. Musical Theatre: a History covers musical theater from its roots to 2006’s Spring Awakening. The book has received numerous accolades from critics and readers alike. The Library Journal described it as “a whirlwind play-by-play of the history of musical theater;” and more than 90 percent of its Amazon ratings were either 4 or 5 stars. The updated version, which Kenrick refers to as “new,” contains more than half new material Kenrick and Carol Channing Eagerly awaiting the start Joan Rivers in her youth
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