This past week, Broadway legend Tommy Tune was seen putting the finishing touches on his new musical Fifty Four Forever. Tommy Tune, who is no foreigner to the Great White Way was an engaging actor, fantastic director, and astounding choreographer. He was to join the ranks of Broadway legends such as Bob Fosse and Michael Bennet; however, he disappeared off the map.
He was made famous after he received a Tony Award for his work in “Seesaw” in 1973. This paved the way for tune to begin to exercise his ability to direct. It seemed that he had found his calling and went on to produce some of the best musicals of his generation: “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”, “Nine”, “Grand Hotel”, and “The Will Rogers Follies”. It seemed as if his career would work itself. However, “The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public” and “Busker Alley” were both major flops that premeired in 1990. Closing after a month and during previews respectively, these productions began to highlight a major issue that was occurring on Broadway at the time. Tune began to see that Broadway was no longer a mecca for originality. Instead, it played host to many revivals and shows that “played it safe”. Producers were solely concerned with making a profit and were scared to invest their time in something that may have seemed too advanced and that period in time.
Fifty Four Forever is centered around the Golden Age of Studio 54. the plays central focus follows Steve Rubell, who brought Studio 54 to life after the sun went down. Here, endless lines of hopeful people stood behind those iconic rope lines just to get in. The play also spends time focusing on the many patrons that spent ample time in 54: Liza Minelli, Andy Warhol, and Truman are among those that grace the stage with their presence. The famous manic DJ and dancing shirtless men can also be found in the glitz and glamour of this crazy world. As the club continues to spin more and more out of control, we track Rubell’s downfall, which came as a result of the seduction of an IRS agent.
Although many books have been published documenting Rubell’s rise and fall and the movie “54″ starring Mike Myers was premiered, a stage production has never been imagined. In an interview, Tommy Tune stated, “I just got tired of playing by the rules of commercial theater, of producers and their fear of the critics driving everything, and I decided to start working in places where those confining rules didn’t exist,” said Mr. Tune, who decamped to Las Vegas to work on shows and now splits his time between New York and South Beach. Still, he added, “I’d love to be doing a new Broadway show.”
Hopefully, Fifty Four Forever will bring Tune out of the dirt and back to the Great White Way. And who knows….maybe he will have the opportunity to showcase his work at the original Studio 54…
