Product Description

In 1971, college student Ted Chapin was in the right place at the right time.
As a production assistant, or gofer, he found himself front row center at the creation of one of the greatest of all Broadway musicals: Follies. And since (as part of a college assignment) he kept a journal of everything he saw and heard, he was able to document–in unprecedented detail–how a musical is actually made.

Now, thirty years later, he has fashioned that eyewitness account into an extraordinary chronicle that sheds new light on a still-evolving art form while vividly capturing an era long gone.
“If there has ever been an account of the creation of a major Broadway production as complete, candid, and apocrypha-free as this one,” writes Frank Rich in the foreword, “I have not found it.”
Everything Was Possible takes the reader on the roller-coaster ride that is the musical-making process, from the uncertainties of casting to drama-filled rehearsals, from the care and feeding of one-time movie stars like Alexis Smith and Yvonne De Carlo to the tension of that first performance, from the pressures of an out-of-town tryout to the exhilaration of opening night on Broadway.
But this was not just any rehearsal process, nor a typical opening night. This was the almost mythical Follies, the work Rich calls “the most elusive of landmark musicals.” Its creators were Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, Michael Bennett, and James Goldman–giants in the evolution of the Broadway musical, geniuses at the top of their game.

“Lord knows at least I was there,” goes a Sondheim lyric from Follies. In Everything Was Possible, we all are there–at the birth of a musical that shimmers to this day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #629070 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-30
• Released on: 2003-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Chapin tells how the 1971 Hal Prince/ Stephen Sondheim/Michael Bennett musical about old theater performers created no strapping young stars, went through multiple revisions, lost money and yet established a place in theater memory for emotional and artistic complexity. The author, son of arts impresario Schuyler Chapin, was one of Follies's few youngsters, a Connecticut College student observing the production as independent study but becoming the crew's gofer. Chapin's chronology spans the practical to the exceptional, from how tap sounds are created to the last-minute writing of Yvonne De Carlo's now-standard I'm Still Here. He also charts Boris Aronson's multileveled sets, the dress that transformed Alexis Smith into the show's star, the inestimable uses of previews in Boston, the Broadway opening and the surrounding national interest in the play. Chapin doesn't dwell on the negative audience reaction to Follies's ambiguities, leaving the play's year-long run to tell the tale. Despite much praise and many Tony Awards, Follies closed after 522 performances. It lost almost $800,000 and was considered a "financial failure." Still, nearly all the players considered it a high point of their careers. Prince called it his "favorite show"; Bennett said, "So much of that show was better than anything I've ever seen or anything I've ever done." Maybe, as Frank Rich says, it needs time to gain its place in theater history. Whatever happens, Chapin memorably marks the creation of a difficult, honorable work. 8 pages of color photos and 63 b&w photos in text.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* It's a pity, but most of the planning and preparation of a play or musical becomes lost. Sure, some artifacts survive: costume sketches, set models, props, programs, fawning features, and caustic reviews. But most of the behind-the-scenes work--rehearsals, rewrites, meetings of the creative minds--goes undocumented. Chapin's chronicle of the making of Stephen Sondheim's Follies constitutes a rare exception. In 1971 Chapin worked as a gofer for the producing team, including directors Hal Prince and Michael Bennett, book writer William Goldman, and Sondheim, involved in the premiere production of the soon-to-be landmark musical; and he kept a detailed, daily journal of the show's progress. Three decades later, he has assembled the journal entries and his memories, augmented by extensive interviews, into a fascinating narrative. Through young Chapin's eyes we see Prince, Sondheim, and company putting together the show that made Sondheim a cult hero. Here is Sondheim obsessing over lyrics, Prince fretting over his nervous stomach, and the cast of older actors struggling to learn difficult parts. Chapin traces Follies from first rehearsals in January 1971, through out-of-town tryouts, to opening night, April 4, 1971, and beyond. A book to please Sondheim aficionados, it should also engross anyone wanting to know the details of mounting a big-budget Broadway show. Jack Helbig
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
Ted Chapin is President of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization in New York. A production assistant on the original production of Follies, he has worked on several other Broadway shows as well. He has been Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Encores! series at City Center since its inception and sits on several arts boards, including the American Theatre Wing and the Tony Award Administration Committee.

Customer Reviews

Moving account of creating a new musical
This is your chance to be the fly on the wall in the making of a great Sondheim musical -- Follies. Ted Chapin does a wonderful job of keeping the pacing fast and the intrigues flowing.

Fabulous but true
A friend of mine kept hounding me to get this book. So finally I did, and what a read! I couldn't put it down. As a former actress myself (did a National Tour that opened in Boston at the Wilbur in 1974), I totally identified with all the actors in "Follies." And knowing the show, I felt the hair go up on the back of my neck as the head honchos talk to Stephen Sondheim about a song for Carlotta who has been around for a long time but is still performing. OK so THIS is when he writes "I'm Still Here"! Many other "hair-raising" moments. If you have ever been involved with the backstage side of theatre--acting, directing, or just working props--you will find this book resonating with your own experiences. Heartily recommend it!

Wasn't That a Blast???
Thank you, Ted Chapin. This is a wonderful memoir on the birth of the now legendary, (though not appreciated by everyone at the time), Broadway musical, Follies, as seen through the eyes of young well connected college kid who was lucky enough to work on the production and savvy enough to keep and save all his notes! Whew! Long sentence. Follies is my all time favorite Broadway score and there's a reason for that. Once you get hooked on this musical, its hard to turn away, you'll want all the various recordings. Sadly, though the show ran for over a year, it lost its entire investment, partly due to its huge operating cost and partly because the NY Times critic didnt like it and it lost the Best Musical Tony to an undeserving rival. Over the years and through various revivals the stature of this musical has grown into its own legend. Chapin was there to see its birth and we all should be grateful for this book. From the rehearsals, to its out of town tryout, Broadway opening and beyond, Chapin was there. We get to know many of the principals through his eyes (Alexis, Dorothy, Yvonne) and see how a musical is put together from start to finish. This is must reading for any Broadway fan and fascinating even if you arent much of one. Hopefully, if you havent listened to the score, this will motivate you to go out and buy one of the various recordings (they all have their pluses and minuses, The Paper Mill Playhouse recording is the most complete). Chapin is discrete (Was Yvonne just a pal or a romance?) keeping gossip to a minimum, but the book never loses momentum. A real page turner. I hated to see it end! Bravo!