Rick McKay

with Alan Cummings at Palm Beach preview with Carol Burnett

When John Raitt sang a duet with himself in “The Pajama Game,” when Marlon Brando screamed for Stella in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” when Walgreen’s Drug Store was a favorite hangout for starving artists, Broadway was in a “Golden Age.” Why did it end? Did it ever really exist? If it did, what was it like to be there?

These are the questions explored in Rick McKay’s beautiful new film “ Broadway: The Golden Age,” which remembers American plays and musical theater in New York City from the 1930s to the early 1960s. “Golden Ages come and go. The Golden Age on Broadway was meant to change, but not to be forgotten,” said Rick McKay in an interview. “Everything was in the right place at the right time.” Rather than provide a textbook-like history of the Great White Way in the twentieth century, McKay’s documentary features exclusive interviews with over 100 Broadway legends, several which have away in recent years, including Gwen Verdon, Ann Miller, Uta Hagen, Kim Hunter, Al Hirschfeld, and Adolph Green.

with Jeremy Irons with Kaye Ballard with Elizabeth Ashley

“It was a dream come true,” says Carol Burnett in the film. “I couldn’t believe I was in New York,” says Barbara Cook. “The theater was a community then,” says Arthur Laurents. “It’s gone,” says Kitty Carlisle Hart. It was an age when there were no microphones or special effects at a show, a ticket to a Broadway show cost about three dollars (compare that to today’s $101.25 ticket!), and Broadway was the cultural capital of America.

The film’s hoard of historical goodies includes footage of Ben Gazzara and Kim Stanley in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” Carol Channing singing “ ;Before the Parade Passes By,” and a Hollywood screen test of Laurette Taylor, who starred in the original production of “The Glass Menagerie.” Fans of Broadway (not to mention good filmmaking) should be grateful that McKay was willing to dedicate five years of his life to this incredible project.

with Robert Goulet Shirley MacLaine with Liev Schreiber

Below are highlights of my interview with Rick McKay.

Matt Windman: What inspired you to make this documentary?

Rick McKay: I grew up in Indiana, came to New York, and what had once been there didn’t exist anymore. There was a time when it was honorable and valiant to be a starving artist in New York City. By the way, this is not a documentary. It’s a movie. A story about people who are passionate. Peter Jackson told me, I love this movie, but I didn’t know anything about Broadway, but it didn’t matter cause it’s a wonderful story. A story about people who are passionate. To get this out there will be tough, when the world is cheering on movies like “Harry Potter.” But as Elaine Stritch told me when I interviewed her, “it’s a fight, but a good fight if you believe in what you’re doing”. I think each person I interviewed individually inspired me.

Matt Windman: How did you get the money to finance the film?

Rick McKay: I had no money. I left “Egg the Arts Show” on PBS to do this full time. I begged and borrowed and got grants. This project was completely passion-driven. It wasn’t like I was being sent out by someone else to do something. So passion-driven that I knew the film would find its way. I knew all the time this was important. Whenever it got really hard, I’d interview one of those people like Sondheim and he remembered how people said “West Side Story” wouldn’t work. And I thought, “West Side Story” should have opened technically. So we had parties at my apartment. I invited people I knew. I’d ask if they’d give $30,000. They’d suddenly go to the bathroom and I’d never see them again. And sometimes someone would give me $1,000. Or I’d sell my piano so I could shoot for another month. I’d think, if I live very meagerly, I can keep making this movie. Whenever I talked to people, I’d use a great letterhead so they’d think I’m part of a bigger company. When they came to my apartment, they were shocked, but they would do it.

Had I known, I would not have done the film, which I don’t regret now for a moment. Finding music, archival footage, moving through barriers of press agents…I worked 16 to 20 hours a day for many years. But people were so inspiring. I grew to care more deeply about the project. In a blind way, I kept pummeling forward. I’d get re-inspired. I’d hear Carol Burnett’ s story of five girls living in one room.

Matt Windman: What do you hope young actors, or those involved in today’s Broadway, will learn from the film?

Rick McKay: You know, when I got to New York in the early 1980s, it was still kind of honorable to be a starving artist. Kind of valiant to be so into your craft that you’d wait tables and go to countless auditions. My interns thought it was foolish, that you should be shooting a series or a blockbuster by the time you’re 28. I’d try to get interns and they’d complain about how hard their life was. I had young actors as interns and they didn’t know anything about the history of their craft. They didn’t want to work hard, or wait tables. They just acted to act. And I thought, I need to make this film not just about the performances, but also about the struggles!

with Carol Channing with Fay Wray with Gwen Verdon

Matt Windman: How much did you know about the filmmaking process prior to making the documentary?

Rick McKay: Fortunately I learned enough to do sound and light, but I didn’ ;t know enough to know that what I did was insane to do. I’d never encourage anyone to do it because…it was crazy. I had to put up the blinders and say it’s going to be okay. People I interviewed would ask where’s the crew, for makeup and hair. I did lots of fast talking.

Matt Windman: How have audiences reacted to the film?

Rick McKay: First time I saw it with an audience I was completely shocked. I didn’t know at the time what I had created. I didn’t realize how entertained and moved people would be. We played the film in San Diego, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Palm Beach…They roared, laughed, and cried. I had just hoped they’d appreciate it. A film with 100 stars over 60 doesn’t exactly sound hip.

Matt Windman: What encouraged the “Golden Age” of Broadway to occur? How did it happen?

Rick McKay: Everything was in the right place at the right time. TV hadn’t kicked in yet. Broadway was the most important entertainment medium in the world. Hollywood got its screenplays from straight plays. Of course, no art form has a golden age and stays in that golden age. There was a golden age of live television. There was a golden age of opera. What depresses me is not that it doesn’t last, but when it doesn’t get remembered.

Matt Windman: What research did you prepare for each person that you interviewed?

Rick McKay: I loved the research part. Before I did an interview, I’d read the person’s biography. I’d find everything I could. I’d watch every movie I could find. And watching archival footage. There’s something magical about sitting in a library basement.

Matt Windman: Who was your favorite person to interview?

Rick McKay: Stephen Sondheim was one of my favorites. I don’t think he was the favorite, but he was definitely the one I was most excited about. He said that he was only going to give me ten minutes, but nevertheless gave me an hour and a half of his time. I asked if he was ever tempted when he was younger to sell out and write jingles and stuff. He then said that’s a stupid thing to ask, because whenever you see junk like sitcoms, there’s still someone writing it who thinks he’s doing great work.

Matt Windman: How well-preserved are theatrical performances from the past?

Rick McKay: There was no library back then. Unions wouldn’t let you tape shows. When Gwen Verdon died, I thought this is it. I have a responsibility because no one had done this. We only have an oral history left. If I didn’ ;t do it, it wouldn’t happen. There’d be a PBS historical special with a timeline, that’d be more scholarly. But people, the people who were there, have to tell the story.

Matt Windman: Do you consider the film’s subject, a long lost Golden Age of theater, to be depressing or uplifting for audience members?

Rick McKay: More uplifting than depressing. No art form has a golden age and stays in a golden age. The golden age of movie musicals lasted for 15 to 20 years. They didn’t realize that it would end. In 20 years there’d be none. During the golden age of live television, they didn’t realize it would end. In 20 years there’d be no more live magical things on TV. What depresses me is not when it doesn’t last, but when its not remembered. And recorded. Everything was in the right place at the right time during Broadway’s golden age. TV hadn’t kicked in yet. Broadway was the most important entertainment medium in the world. Hollywood came to steal its screenplays from straight plays.

You know, this is the first time in history you can make these films, using better quality cameras. This is something you should pay attention to if you document things for a living. Pay attention to your life. Barbara Cook said we may be living in a golden age now and not even know it. It’s honorable that people are still making theater and keeping it going. Like Kitty Carlyle Hart said in the film, the golden age moved, from architecture in Greece to opera in Italy to theater and musicals in America. It doesn’t happen simultaneously and it’s not meant to. The world is meant to change.

Matt Windman: If you could live through any moment from the golden age of Broadway, what would it be?

Rick McKay: It’s almost cliché, but it would have to be Marlon Brando in “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Maybe “Gypsy” with Ethel Merman. Or “West Side Story.” I’d love to see “Pajama Game” because I feel in an odd way that “Pajama Game” represents a lot of my movie is about. About a time when musicals were about a strike in a pajama factory, or a nation’s obsession with baseball, or a rock-and-roll singer getting drafted. The key about what’s so special about them is in the timing. Musicals, like plays, were about the moment that we’re living in. A musical didn’t have to be designed so that it could last through twenty years of road companies. They weren’t expected to last more than a year. Writers were already starting new ones.

Matt Windman: How does today’s Broadway compare to the Broadway of yesteryear?

Rick McKay: Broadway was braver back then. Now its harder to image the broadway version of something to be more raw. Now we get more commercial versions of stuff. Today’s producers are first and foremost business men and women. If you’re an older couple from the Upper East Side or a couple from Jersey or a tourist, the play you’re going to see can’t be about language, can’t be hard to understand plot-wise. It has to be based on a book you’ve read or a movie you’ve seen, and preferably come out of a songbook of old hits by Billy Joel or ABBA. The instantly accessible stuff. Have a set that’s the star, so the show can tour around the world and you never have to put stars in it. Those are today’s rules on Broadway.

Cameron Macintosh had five of the biggest shows ever with no stars. Bernadette Peters is the closest we now have to a Broadway star. We don’t train people now to be stars. There are now more star vehicles. They tried to put Jenna Elfman in “Nine,” and then gave up finally and put in her understudy because she had no training. On Broadway, there’s no film or television editor to build your performance. I’m shocked that the casting people for that show didn’t get that it is a specific art form onstage. To be on Broadway you should be at the top of your art.

Here are quotes from Broadway legends with whom I spoke before the film and at the film’s after-party at Sardi’s Restaurant, which is in itself a surviving remnant of Broadway’s Golden Age.

Peter Jackson: (Well, not really a Broadway legend, but a famous director who happened to be in attendance) I love what Rick’s done. I love the idea that as a film this was made by passion with no budget. Somebody working out of house and just…it’s great. It shows that important films can be made no matter what the resources are. It’s important because Broadway’s starting to fade now, and the participants are dying. So what Rick’s done is a very important really. He’s managed to record these incredible interviews.

Matt Windman: What do you think of when you think of Broadway’s Golden Age?

Peter Jackson: Not much. In a sense, it’s a bygone time now. Broadway today doesn’t seem to resemble what it used to be like. What Rick’s done is to really capture a period of time that no longer exists. What I know what it is simply what I’m going to learn from this film.

Matt Windman: How do you feel over the idea of turning “Lord of the Rings” into a stage musical?

Peter Jackson: Well, I heard that they’re doing one. I think in London in the West End, but I’m not involved in it. It’ll be interesting to see. I’m sure it’ll be a very entertaining experience.

Elaine Stritch: It was a pain in the neck to participate, and I don’t look forward to talking about myself much. But I’m thrilled that I gave it the time because it’s worthwhile. I hear it’s wonderful.

Matt Windman: What moments do you remember from Broadway’s Golden Age?

Elaine Stritch: Oh, honey, what a question to ask when we’re in the lobby of a movie theater. All of them. How’s this for a tricky answer. There’s not a moment I regret. Not a moment.

Matt Windman: Do you have any future plans as a performer?

Elaine Stritch: To keep doing my work, and keep doing it well. Lots of things in the future, but nothing I can talk about to be quoted. What I’m looking forward to is a little free time because I haven’t stopped working in three and a half years.

Matt Windman: How did it feel to participate in the film?

Frank Langella: Wonderful

Matt Windman: How did it feel to be back on Broadway again this season?

Frank Langella: I’m no longer on Broadway. It closed. (Frank Langella walks away from me…)

Matt Windman: What did you think of the film?

Eli Wallach: I enjoyed it because I got to do the talking. I think its very interesting to study something that young people hardly know. What a collection! It was very exciting to do.

Matt Windman: What did you think of the film?

Don Pippin: I was just moved. I think its something that should be shown by everyone in the theater, everyone studying theater in college. To see what the real magic of theater is. I hope it has great success. It’s about time the public has honored the great industry I’ve had the privilege of being a part of.

Matt Windman: How did it feel to be a part of the film?

Don Pippin: I had forgotten what I ever said, but it was kind of marvelous to be part of something so huge. It was thrilling. Thrilling.

Matt Windman: Tommy Tune, what did you think of the film?

Tommy Tune: So moving. It’s a great big wow.

Matt Windman: What did you think of the film?

Lannie Kazan: I think it’s great. I just thought it was a masterpiece. Every minute of it. It was a time that I don’t think could be relived now. It was just one of those special magical times in my life. I’ll never forget going on for Barbara Streisand in “Funny Girl” that one time, one year in three months after the show opened. It was probably the most important professional moment of my life.

Rex Reed: I think the film is a miracle. One of the best things I’ve seen in my life.

Matt Windman: What do you think of the loss of Broadway’s Golden Age?

Rex Reed: It’s one of the most tragic things in the history of NY that the theater has changed so much. It’s completely sunk to the level of the general dumbing down of America. The theater has joined in and that’s pretty sad. Look what’s playing? Rotten stupid crap is playing on Broadway. I don’t see any O’Neill or Tennessee Williams. All I see is revivals of shows from the 1940s cause they’re catering to an audience that doesn’t want to think. And they don’t risks and they don’t want challenges. They just want to go and laugh a bit and forget what they had just been through. The theater section is now like a Chinese menu. When I got here there was so much diversity. There is no diversity now. When the Tony Award can go to a play about naked puppets it just shows you how far we’ve sunk.

Matt Windman: Looking back, what is your favorite moment from Broadway’s Golden Age?

Rex Reed: Probably the first time I saw Kim Stanley on the stage. I knew acting like that existed. And “Sweeney Todd.” And Angela Lansbury in “ Mame.” I don’t’ see too many highlights now.

Matt Windman: Any highlights at all now?

Rex Reed: No. This is a lousy year. Maybe Donna Murphy doing “Swing” in “Wonderful Town,” or the Conga. That was a high point. But they are few and far between.

Celeste Holmes: It’s always a golden age on Broadway. It moves but it doesn’t change that much.

Matt Windman: What was your favorite moment from your past as a Broadway performer?

Celeste Holmes: There are so many. So many plays. I think opening night of my first play was very exciting. Terrifying, but wonderful.

Ben Gazzara: Seeing it, I felt nostalgia. You can relive between the lines. I know the times and the people so well.

Matt Windman: What was it like to watch yourself again in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”?

Ben Gazzara: Touching. You haven’t seen yourself at that age in 40 or 50 years.

Never. I had never seen it. Came from a TV promotion we did.

I think of the people who were involved more than the work. Mainly of the rehearsal period.

Depends on who you’re working with.

I thought you were going to ask me one question.

I was very excited. I enjoyed doing it because the audience enjoyed it. Great to have that rapport. To have a live reaction that you don’t have in film.

Matt Windman: What was your favorite moment from Broadway’s Golden Age?

Tammy Grimes: Kim Stanley in “Bus Stop” because that was my first job when I graduated. So that was very exciting for me. And watching and listening to Ben Gazzara.

Matt Windman: What was your favorite moment from your experience as a performer?

Tammy Grimes: So many. Perhaps my most favorite moments…was the dress rehearsal of “Molly Brown.” And the curtain came down and came up again. It was a standing-ovation. And I came out again and they still standing and when the lights went on the theater they were still standing. And then I thought to myself, what’s going to happen on opening night? But they did the same thing.

Matt Windman: How did it feel to return to Broadway in “42^nd Street in 1980?

Tammy Grimes: I was happy to do it. I love the song “A Quarter to Nine” and “The Shadow Waltz” and working with Jerry Orbach. And I loved the cast.