This is Part 7 of a multi-part series of posts.  I suggest that you start with Part 1 if you have the time and really want to appreciate the full effulgence.

Les Girls of Iphigenia:

Twelve young starlets play one classic role in the same opera.  Twelve variations of the same young girl facing her death at the hands of her father all in the service of her country.  We wondered if it would work, if the audiences would ‘get it’.  They had no trouble with the concept and the musical/rock opera rode on the giant wings of these twelve amazingly talented women in every performance.

How I loved these women!  Twelve of the top talents in NYC to work with, to write for, to arrange for.  It was a composer’s dream come true.

Over the couple of years of the run, first in workshops in NYC, then in London and then again in performances back in NYC, there were a number of other women who came in and out – understudies, swings and replacements, (Broadway star Patti Lupone was one) but the core twelve were something special and over the years, after the run of the show, I had the gratifying opportunity to watch nearly every one of them blossom into a star on a major scale.

Julianne — Julianne Marshall was our rock.  She was there for the entire run of the show and I can’t remember that she ever missed a performance.  She was a beautiful presence on stage, one of the quieter side of Iphigenia, but the leader of the kettle drum choir – six of the twelve learned to play timpani and would erupt periodically throughout the show in a grand tattoo of rhythmic pounding which represented the war around them.  Julianne would radically change in an instant from demure to powerful when she got those mallets in her hands.

Nell – Nell Carter was our trumpet.  With a voice that would cut diamonds and shatter glass she was a tremendous presence.  There were moments when I could put Nell on the melody and everybody else on the harmonies and Nell’s voice would still cut through the other eleven and state the theme.  And she was funny – probably our one true comic relief in the cast – with her wide body and her crazy spirit, she could have handled the role by herself in another production.

Nell went on to win a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway musical Ain’t Misbehavin’, as well as an Emmy Award for her reprisal of the role on television.

She also received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her starring role in the long-running 1980s’ sitcom Gimme a Break!.

 

 

 

 

Sharon – Sharon Redd was simply beautiful and talented.  She had the fire and had one of those classic R&B voices that you heard on the radio.  Often it was Sharon, singing on commercials, as one of Bette Midler’s Harlettes and finally having a most successful career as a background vocalist, most notably with the group Soirée, which also included among its members Luther Vandross and Jocelyn Brown.

Trish – Trish Hawkins was the vulnerable side of Iphigenia.  Trish always felt to me like a fresh breath of air from the country.  She was the strongest actress of the group and, consequently, the turn-to girl that handled most of the spoken lines.  I secretly fell in love with her in the course of the run because of her natural beauty and great presence.

Later in life she became Lanford Wilson’s female lead in his Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway play Talley’s Folly, as well as his Broadway plays The Happy Hooker and Fifth of July.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marion – Marion Ramsey was the energy!  Here was a blast-‘em-through-the-roof R&B/Gospel singer with serious chops and the great ability to get the audience standin’ up and clappin’.  Her big number was a song called Gate Tender which never failed to bring the house down.

She seemed always happy and ready for a laugh and was one of the most popular among the girls. She was later a regular on the TV series Cos but is best known for her role as the timid Officer Laverne Hooks in the Police Academy movies.

 

 

Pam – Pamela Pentony was our Janis Joplin.  The music of the show covered many pop genres and Pam’s number, I Wonder, was a screamin’ gut wrenching rock n’ roll moment that she just tore up every night.  One wondered how she could sing like that whiskey-voiced and rockin’ and rollin’ night after night.  How could her voice possibly hold out?  But it did – 8 performances a week for a couple of years.  Pam was special.  Everybody loved her because she gave it everything she had night after night, night after night …

Bonnie – Bonnie Guidry was our soft-spoken shy and Southern Iphigenia.  Direct from Louisiana or Mississippi or Texas, Bonnie was the quiet one in the cast, but deeply respected by all.  She had one of those smokey alto voices that speaks of hot August nights and crickets on the back porch.  She was a tall drink of water who everyone just trusted.  She rarely spoke, but when she did, it seemed like she always had something to say of content.  In a cast of such dynamic individuals you always have to have the balancer.  That was Bonnie.

Margaret – Margaret Dorn was the one who epitomized the little girl in Iphigenia.  She too was one of the quieter ones, but was the best musician of the group.  One of our top sopranos, she was the glue that made the whole group sound good together as an ensemble and her opening solo to our biggest show-stopper, Unhappiness Remembering Happiness, still rings in my ears to this day.  Margaret went on to have a tremendous career as a NYC vocalist, top session singer, one of the world’s greatest vocal arrangers, one of Bette Midler’s Harlettes, leader of the National Accapella Champion vocal group, The Accidentals, and my most trusted personal and professional friend and co-worker for the next 30 years.

Andrea – Andrea Marcovicci was elegance personified.  A drop-dead gorgeous movie star beauty with a voice to match, Andrea had it all.  She was a strong writer, pianist, vocalist and actress and she brought an elegance to the show that spoke of the East side of New York and royalty.  When you let your eyes rove over these women/girls you always ended up stopping on the natural beauty of this flawless face.  She too was simply there and committed every night – a total pro.  Andrea went on to have a tremendous career in all areas of show business and became probably the most famous cabaret singer in America.  Her bio reads like a wish list of every woman starting out.

 

 

 

Linda – Linda Lawley also had it all.  First of all she looked like a young Elizabeth Taylor and sang like Grace Slick.  She combined breath-taking looks with great funk and could rock the house with honest rock conviction or soar on a big ballad and stop the heart.  I think Linda was my favorite pure singer in the group.  She was also simply a lit box of dynamite on stage.  Linda loved to laugh and was also a total favorite among the cast members.  She passed away far too early in life, but I will never forget her spirit and her 100% commitment to the moment of just singing a song.

 

 

Leata  — Leata Galloway was our ghetto girl – a wisp of a creature, African American with alabaster skin, a bass alto voice that could soar 3 octaves into Yma Sumac territory, and a tough street personality that demanded respect or get-out-of-my-way.  She was simply a tremendously riveting performer and sang a show-stopper called (Now Where My Heart Was There Is) Only Stone.  Leata was really a jazz singer, but she was also completely at home in R&B and Funk.  For most of the run I was scared to death of Leata, but I learned, in the course of the run, her softer side and trusted her implicitly on stage.  We became life-friends and I’ve remained a big fan all these years.

Marta – Marta Heflin, for me, was Iphigenia.  She was the niece of movie star Van Heflin, I had originally cast her in my rock musical, Salvation, there fell in love with her and worked closely with her for over a decade in countless productions.  She was my girlfriend and later my wife for an all-too-short period of time.  If Joe Papp had not said on that fateful day, “Let them all play Iphigenia” for me the choice would have been Marta.  It probably did not hurt that I was in love with her, but I think all the girls would have supported the idea as well because Marta was the center of the character and I think everyone knew that.  She understood and personified the classic girl and on top of it all had the acting, singing and performing chops to carry it off.  With a voice like Karen Carpenter she had a strength that Karen Carpenter never imagined.  She had done leading roles on Broadway in Fiddler On The Roof, Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair and was the biggest star in the group as well.  I don’t believe our relationship ever got in the way during the run.  The girls respected Marta enormously and, in fact, it was probably a blessing for me because during this whole experience with all these fantastic beauties around, I was taken.  Looking through all the pictures of the show years later, whenever Marta is in the picture, it’s Iphigenia and the girls.  They were all aspects of her personality, but, for me, Marta was Iphigenia.