Logo Design by Terry Baughan
Professional Children's School, March 13, 2013
Good Girls Only Staged Reading
(back row - left to right) George Lee Andrews, Eric Scott Reed (Composer), Charles Leipart (Book & Lyrics), Larry Spivak (Composer & Musical Director, Jamey Grisham (currently Composing), Kathleen Conry (Director), Ernestine Jackson, and moi (Producer)
(front row - left to right) Jayne Summerhays, late Victoria Mallory, Randy Graff and Mary Lou Barber
Rehearsal Club Alums contributing stories to the final book: Terry Baughan, Joanne Cincotta, Kathleen Conry, Phyllis Jeanne Creore, Judith Curcio, Betty Biggers Galvano, Judy Jenson, Marcia Kramer, Patricia Kelley, Grace Kiley, Maria Mallman, Michele Mason, Gale Paron, Jeane Preece, Marion Ragsdale, Melinda Tanner, Cameron Taylor and moi
Current Logo |
This project started with my simple plea to my good friend and writer, Charles Leipart: "Would you write us (The Rehearsal Club women) a song? Just one?"
Lo & behold, he wrote us a song; an anthem, really; incorporating all the little tidbits I'd fed him . . . like the note I wrote Ms. Clayton (our house-mother) -- "I'm a really good girl! I don't even have a traffic ticket!" Result? I got a cot at the famed Rehearsal Club residence for theater women in New York City which within 2 weeks, I was on the road to my life with "The Rothschilds."
In summary, I lived at the RC a very short time really. The day my watch was stolen off my bed I thought "I'm outta here." I moved in with my husband, Steve Boockvor, and went on to make Broadway history thanks to Michael Bennett and A Chorus Line. We are "Al" and "Kristine" on the line. Not exactly, but enough to be receiving writer royalties to this day -- and my fantasy was to help create that for our women of the RC.
Hence began my personal journey after producing Circle of Friends, when a new friend, Kathy Conry asked me if I'd ever lived at The Rehearsal Club. Yeah, but who cares? That place closed in 1979, didn't it? Little did I know about the wealth of creativity I would have a direct hand in producing. The musical . . . could we actually inspire one? YES!
Opportunity is a funny thing. While serving as co-President for the Women in Arts & Media Coalition, their VintAGE production that year featured Edna Ferber, author of Stage Door. Read more about that HERE. Boom! Charlie and John Kroner (composer) were in our audience and requested to write two more songs, One Dress, based on the dress borrowed by all for special auditions; and Jimmy, based on James Dean who used to hang out in our parlor waiting for his dancer girlfriend, Liz Sheridan.
How to showcase three new songs on no $$? Thank you our theatrical union, Actors Equity for coming to our aid, helping us produce a one-night only benefit at The York Theatre, Union Women @ Work: Inspiration in Motion. Both Charlie and John were in the audience and now committed to creating a full-scale musical. Yeah!!! Two weeks later, John dies. I thought . . . well, there goes our musical . . .
However, Charlie started reaching out to other composers. I reached out for stories from our women and by the time our Rehearsal Club Centennial rolled around, Charlie had written 11 songs and cobbled together a potential storyline.
In 2013, I'm serving as Vice Chair and instrumental in planning the 4-days of events that became our Rehearsal Club Centennial, when we presented an amazingly talented Broadway cast in a consolidated 50-minute staged reading of the new musical, "Good Girls Only." More details can be found HERE (at least until the new TRC website launches and this history could disappear).
CONTACT: CHARLES LEIPART
2013 Podcast Interview w/Michael Miller |
