Back in the 20th century, there were no “tiered contracts.” If you went out on a tour, you were on a Production Contract (like Broadway), plus a significant per diem. I did a half-dozen national tours but the most memorable was SUNSET BOULEVARD.
In mid-October 1998 in New York City, we had our final rehearsal for the tour of SUNSET, at 890 Broadway. I was thrilled to be playing “Max Von Mayerling” opposite Petula Clark as “Norma Desmond” in the 1999-2001 National Tour, which also starred Lewis Cleale as “Joe Gillis” and Sarah Uriarte Berry as “Betty Schaefer.”
After the final run-through, there was champagne (well, sparkling wine– it was a bus-and-truck, after all!) and speeches from the producing organization, casting director Jay Binder, our director Susan H. Schulman, and others. Then in honor of the occasion of Petula Clark’s birthday (although we didn’t state it as such, nor did we sing “Happy Birthday” since she doesn’t like acknowledgment of that occasion), we in the cast gave her some fancy thing from Victoria’s Secret. We think she liked it; but with Miss Clark’s shyness, it wasn’t easy to tell.
Privately, I gave her a gift I’d prepared. I’d had in my library for thirty years a book of comic strips which included one from 1944 London — a strip titled “Petula Clark”! Back then she was an 11-year-old child star, along with her pals Julie Andrews and Tony Newley – singing regularly on the radio, keeping up the morale of the troops and the folks back home battling the Blitz. I scanned the strip, hand-colored it, and framed it. I’m pretty sure she liked that one.
The tour was extremely successful. Indeed, ours was the first production of “Sunset” to make money for its investors. We garnered positive reviews nearly everywhere, and I enjoyed the greatest reviews I ever received in my career. For example, the Memphis Commercial Appeal: “Allen Fitzpatrick, who turns in an extraordinary performance, both vocally and dramatically, plays Max, the star-struck butler. His ominous Old World formality and operatically rich singing voice combine to make Fitzpatrick a standout every moment he is on stage as the ominous and oddly protective butler.”
A company manager makes or breaks a tour experience for actors, and we had the very best. We also had a star who always gave 100%. Although pushing seventy, she showed up eight times every week, never missing a performance, and always in superb voice. I had tremendous respect for her – she is a true star.
I spent 16 out of 18 months on the road with that show, a marvelous experience visiting 32 cities, with the pleasure of touring with people I respected and whose company I enjoyed.
I kept a journal during those 18 months, and here are a few anecdotes:
“In Richmond, I picked Petula up at her hotel and we spent the afternoon touring the White House of the Confederacy. Then, along with a couple of other cast members, she took me to dinner and I sat spellbound as she shared experiences she’d had as a child actor being directed by Michael Powell.”
“At a performance in Newark, the light board computer caught a bug and none of our lights were right. Some scenes began in total darkness; and you’d often look up and see lights swirling above your head, like some ‘70’s disco.”
“At one point during our long run, Petula decided she would sing her big hit “Downtown” at the end of every performance. Her two understudies backed her up each evening, and the audiences everywhere went wild at this unexpected added bonus. And one night in Memphis, after a show, we found ourselves in a Beale Street club; some of our orchestra members began jamming with the house band– and Petula got up and sang ‘You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog’!”
“In Cleveland, not long into the show, the SM brought the curtain down because nothing was working right. No automation was correct, everything was misplaced or misaligned. The show stopped — for 40 minutes! (A fellow in the audience had a heart attack, too, and that took some time for the EMS to take him out.) We started again but everyone was rattled. And things continued to go wrong; curtains coming in and going out at the wrong times, or the wrong heights, lights coming up late, or not at all, large set pieces not moving, a window piece that flew in, flew out, flew in, flew out, flew in, and flew out in ONE SCENE! The pandemonium and chaos deeply affected Petula, and everyone was shell-shocked by the time we took our bows, three hours and 20 minutes after the overture began. I figured we had a new way to market the show: “See SUNSET — it’s longer than LES MIZ!”
“Andrew Lloyd-Webber came to see us perform last night in Detroit, causing the cast a bit of tension, but the show went very well. Andrew came on stage at the end, shook everyone’s hand, looked me in the eye and told me I’d given an excellent performance. (He also told us that there were parts of “Sunset” he’d always wanted to work on, and that he’d like to join us along the route and re-work parts of the show! The publicity value of that would be extraordinary.) In a most unusual gesture, he invited all the principals to luncheon the next day. So we met Lloyd-Webber and his lovely wife Madelyn in the lobby of the Townsend Hotel. He and his entourage got into an enormous black Lincoln SUV; Petula, the other cast members and I got into a stretch limo and followed. We arrived at Tribute. Tim Zagat (of Zagat’s Guide), a good friend of Lloyd Webber, had shared that the best restaurant in Detroit was Tribute, so Andrew attended in his capacity as restaurant reviewer for the London Telegraph. Tribute opened solely to serve us our private lunch. A beautiful venue filled with art, one of the most gorgeous restaurants I’ve ever visited. Seated for our three-hour gustatory experience, we found the food magnificent. I sat next to Andrew’s wife Madelyn and across from Peter Brown, Andrew’s P/R man for the past 20 years. The atmosphere was comfortable, conversation flowed easily. I spoke at great length with Madelyn on many topics– the upcoming filming of two of Andrew’s shows (“Aspects of Love” and “Phantom”); of the London production of “Whistle Down the Wind;” of Andrew’s intention to get “By Jeeves” to Broadway; of the current West End musicals and plays, Tom Stoppard, David Hare, her children, and her interest in horses. An unforgettable evening.”
