In the summer of 1996, I faced a very enviable problem.
In the same week, I received two offers: Alan Ayckbourn offered me the role of “Jeeves” in the very first production of his new musical, “BY JEEVES!” And Hal Prince called to offer me “Whistle Down the Wind,” his latest collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lloyd Webber had composed the score and also co-written its book (with Patricia Knop and Gale Edwards); lyrics were by the renowned Jim Steinman.
I agonized over this decision, but the Prince-Lloyd Webber collaborations had always been successful, and “Whistle” seemed more like a sure thing. Certainly this new Hal Prince show would be going to Broadway after its try-out run in at Washington, D.C.’s National Theatre. The Broadway theatre had been secured, and the opening date had even been set. Our contracts included all terms for the Broadway run.
And thus we began. It was thrilling, of course, to be directed by the legendary Mr. Prince. Our paths had crossed previously on another show which he’d mentored (“Eliot Ness in Cleveland”), and we’d met socially as well. The excitement for the entire cast was palpable.
While we were putting the show together at the National, the Broadway house into which we would be moving had put our marquee up. The parents of all the many children in the show signed leases on apartments in New York City, and enrolled their kids in schools there. I still believed with all my heart that this was a sure thing.
It became clear, however, that things were not going well between Mr. Prince and Mr. Lloyd Webber. They “broke up” during that show, never to collaborate again.
On a freezing, gray day, the 9th of February, 1997, following our final performance in D.C., an associate producer met with us on the stage and announced that we would not be going to Broadway. Everyone was plunged into a state of shock.
My contract stated that I’d be playing an ensemble role in D.C., but that on Broadway I’d be playing a large principal role, “Boone,” the father. Now I had nothing. And “By Jeeves!” would have ended up being a year of work in various venues.
I had learned an important lesson: Nothing– nothing– is a sure thing.
