Purlie

Poor, neglected PURLIE! A rousing musical retread of Ossie Davis' solid play and movie from a decade earlier, PURLIE VICTORIOUS, coming at the end of the 60's Civil Rights movement, it won Tonys for Cleavon Little (four years before he would steal the show in Mel Brooks' BLAZING SADDLES) and Melba Moore (who turned the hit song "I Got Love" into a career), played 690 performances from March 15, 1970 to November 7, 1971 (during which Robert Guillaume would replace Little), toured successfully for a year and made a brief Broadway return in 1972/3.

Despite good reviews, awards and repeated appearances on the popular Ed Sullivan TV Show, PURLIE did not have a "powerhouse" producer behind it and opened as an "interim" booking at the Broadway Theatre and was never able to build to the kind of solid smash that a stronger producer could probably have made of a show of PURLIE's quality. Had GANTRY, a musical version of "Elmer Gantry" not closed on its Opening Night, PURLIE would have had to vacate the Broadway barely a month into its run for GANTRY when *its* theatre was scheduled to be torn down! As it was, in a crowded season, PURLIE had to change theatres twice (first to the Winter Garden and then to the ANTA - now August Wilson Theatre) to make way for previously booked shows before finally heading out onto the road.

A decade later, in 1981, most of the Broadway cast and production (Guillaume, who by then had built on his year in the role, making a major TV mark on SOAP and its spin-off BENSON returned as Purlie) was reassembled for a taping of the show for CBS television at a Broadway sized hall (at Lehman College) further uptown in Manhattan. The tape later all too briefly issued on VHS by MGM/CBS Video (a 142 minute print! Act I runs just over 95 minutes; Act II just under 48.).

While the show seldom reaches the heady heights of the explosion of gospel song and dance (Louis Johnson's excellent choreography) which open and close it (a funeral service at the black church where Purlie is the minister for the late, unlamented Ol' Cap' Cochipe which frames the show), it remains a fine vehicle for some of the best black actors of its day - in addition to the aforesaid Guillaume and Moore, later Tony winner Linda Hopkins, and Sherman Hemsley (playing an "Uncle Tom" character named "Gitlow - that ironically led to his career making lead as George Jefferson in THE JEFFERSONS!)...all making the most of Geld & Udell's effective "down home" tunes and the solid story that remains faithful to the original Ossie Davis play. Look for the future "Cowardly Lion" of THE WIZ, Ted Ross, and current star Brenda Braxton in the featured chorus.

The two crucial white characters (Cap'n Cochipe whose racist stranglehold on the town has to be broken and his son Charlie, a muddleheaded liberal struggling to write a good protest song . . . "That ain't it, Charlie, that ain't it") were well played for TV by Brandon Maggart from Broadway's APPLAUSE and future director Don Scardino.

While something of an artifact of its time, PURLIE holds up well on viewing a quarter century later, as the inflated prices for the long out-of-print videotape attest. Rudi Goldman's TV direction captures Philip Rose's original stage direction almost perfectly, making this one of the best filmed stage productions I can remember - the perfect blend of shots neither too close to lose the sense of the full stage nor too far to lose the intimacy of the moment. It remains a very solid show and a rattling good time for all, black or liberated white.

When it finally *does* get the well deserved DVD release, I hope the producers make the effort to license *at least* the clip from the Ed Sullivan Show showing the opening number with Cleavon Little as a "bonus" for comparison. Both leads are excellent, but in very different ways in the title role. Little was thrilling fire and ice, but Guillaume comes across closer to the *original* Purlie Victorious, Ossie Davis, and that's good too.

Maybe I did not sufficiently love the 1963 Civil Rights era satire, PURLIE VICTORIOUS (aka GONE ARE THE DAYS!), starring Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis. Based on Ossie's Broadway play. Ruby gives a delightfully sweet, ditzy performance. The show became the hit Broadway musical, PURLIE. According to the NY Times, "by far the most successful and richest of all black musicals". From the roof-rocking opening gospel number to the static "hallelujah chorus" grand finale, "Purlie" is a rollicking, wildly comic folk yarn that should have set me romping and stomping with genuine delight. Set on a Georgia plantation, Lutiebelle, a spirited girl, sets her cap for the preacher Purlie Victorious Judson, a high prancing self styled churchman who involves Lutiebelle in his scheme to hoodwink $500 from Ol' Cap'n Cotcchipee. With its joyous songs and dances-ranging from soul to gospel to blues-and its optimistic zaniness "Purlie" is kinda landmark. Maybe I did not sufficiently love it. If a dvd is released I'll surely rent it.

I first heard this musical when i was in college in 1980 and checked the LP out of the library. Later on , I got a cassette version of the soundtrack and listened to it so much I wore out the tape. It has always been one of my favorite musicals. the songs are so catchy, you want to sing along. Almost everyone in the original cast went on to fantastic careers. You can listen to the 1981 tv movie on YouTube.

My father, Robert R. Thiel, produced this show when I was--calculating--13! It was the last show he ever produced due to some trouble that, sadly, got him out of the business permanently. It was also his crowning achievement.

I believe this was his only production for television, though there may have been one more. I'll make sure to ask him.

Being a 13 year old on this set, with these famous stars, doing my best to embarrass the Producer--my dad--was a fantastic experience.

Melba Moore in person had the beauty and charm of Audrey Hepburn.

TRIVIA:

Originally the corporate folks wanted to do this on a closed set, like any television program or movie, but my father's love of the theatre and live/real audience reactions overpowered, and therefore the whole thing was shot in sequence with a live audience that was provided free tickets. If I remember correctly, there were three performances, and therefore three takes of each scene. They did not do more than one take of each scene per performance. During set changes, some celebrity would come out and keep the audience entertained--which worked quite well.

During one of these set change intermissions, an actor (Jose Ferrar I think) was standing in front of the asbestos curtain and joked that it was 'asbestos we could do' that day because of some problem with the front curtain.

The Lighting was all computerized and I believe it won and Emmy. The particular challenge was that since most of the actors were African-American, the lighting you would normally use with 'White' actors wouldn't have looked very good. This effected everything including the colors of the costumes and the set. I also seem to remember there was a fatal malfunction that required that the entire lighting sequence program to be dumped and reprogrammed at some point. It was tremendously complex, a real technical landmark.

The picture on the cover of the video was taken during a dress rehearsal. If you look not so carefully you can see their tights/leotards showing beneath the dancers' skirts.

VIDEOS and DVDs:

As for DVDs, my younger brother, who was 8 at the time, just a couple of Christmases ago had the video converted to DVD as a gift for my father--which is not available in stores of course. Also, as you can imagine having produced such a thing yourself, my father still has boxes full of hundreds of the Playbills and--I have no doubt--cases upon cases of the video in his basement.

I'm sure he would absolutely gush if someone were to request one of the videos.

I'm also quite sure a huge pile of money, enough for him to retire with a smile, is owed him from the sale and showing of those videos but he hasn't been up to fighting that battle. Bottom line is, he never saw a cent of it.

I leave it up to you fans to make it your business to pursue the re-release of the video on DVD if you are so inclined and passionate about it, which would bring my father tremendous joy in his old age if nothing else.

This is an amazing musical. I remember watching this when I was like 7. It came on PBS. All me, my sister and my cousins could say was " yes Reverin Pearlaay!" We loved it. I thought for SURE I made it up. If anyone has this on VIDEO you are lucky. It is an amazing and wonderfully charming play! AAAAAAAAH it gets like a zillon stars from me Shala. age 27