Platinum (musical)
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Platinum is a Broadway musical with a book by Bruce Vilanch and Will Holt, lyrics by Holt, and music by Gary William Friedman.
Entitled Sunset when first presented by the Studio Arena Theatre in Buffalo, it's set in a Hollywood recording studio, where Lila Halliday, a faded star of 1940s movie musicals, is attempting a misguided comeback as a rock singer under the guidance of Svengali-like Dan Danger.
After 12 previews, the Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Joe Layton, opened on November 12, 1978 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, with Alexis Smith (following her successful run in Follies), Richard Cox, and Lisa Mordente heading the cast. Critics acknowledged Smith looked sensational and performed with gusto, but most described the show as an overtly camp trifle aimed at the predominantly gay After Dark crowd, with little appeal for mainstream audiences. It closed after 33 performances.
Despite its short run, it garnered Tony Award nominations for Smith and Cox and Drama Desk Award nominations for Cox and Mordente.
In 1983, a revised version with the original title Sunset opened off-Broadway at the Village Gate with Tammy Grimes in the lead. It closed after one performance.
[edit] Song list
Act I
- Back With a Beat/Nothing But
- Sunset
- Ride Baby Ride
- Destiny
- Disco Destiny
- I Am the Light
- Movie Star Mansion
Act II
- Platinum Dreams
- Trials and Tribulations/I Like You
- 1945
- Too Many Mirrors
- Old Times, Good Times
[edit] Reference
Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops by Ken Mandelbaum, published by St. Martin's Press, October 1991
