I met up with Pat Addiss, a Broadway producer, at the National
Arts Club at Gramercy Park, where she invited me for lunch and a nice chat.
AskaNewYorker: Hi Pat. What’s going on here today?
Pat: Well, I’m rehearsing a reading that we’re doing tomorrow.
I was up in the rehearsal room. Somehow or another I signed on to do a whole
series at the club, which is quite exciting. What I did last month is a one-person
show on Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, which my associate Heather
Duke and myself are going to farm out across the country, hopefully. www.littlewomenonbroadway.com
AskaNewYorker: So, you’re a member of the National Arts Club?
Pat: Yes, I am. It’s a wonderful, fabulous club. I hope you are enjoying
the ambience because it is very, very special indeed.
AskaNewYorker: Do you live in the neighborhood?
Pat: Yes, I do, as a matter of fact. It’s a great neighborhood, the Gramercy
Park area, Flatiron. We have all the wonderful restaurants, and we have lots
of theater in our neighborhood. And, as I’m a theater and foodie person,
my neighborhood fits me just fine.
AskaNewYorker: Have you always been a foodie, theater producing person? Tell
us a little about your producing.
Pat: Well, I produced Three Children, which was my major production, and I
ran a company for 30 years in the premium promotions field called Pat Addiss
Enterprises, which I’ve given to my daughter Wendy, who runs it now out
of McLean, Virginia. That freed me up to be a Broadway producer. I’ve
taken the Commercial Theater Institute course and that gave me a lot of information,
but of course nothing is as good as doing the actual thing yourself. That started
me off. I dabbled in Off-Broadway. Then last year I was very lucky to be part
of the beautiful, beautiful musical Little Women, which is now traveling across
America. This season I am the very proud producer, one of several, of Chita
Rivera, The Dancers Life, starring of course Chita Rivera and written by Terrence
McNally, choreographed and directed by Graciela Daniele.
AskaNewYorker: Where is the production in New York? Which theater?
Pat: The production is going to open on Broadway at the Schoenfeld, which used
to be the Plymouth Theater. It’s named after Gerald Schoenfeld of the
Schubert Organization, and it’s on 45th Street between Broadway and Eighth
Avenue. This is going to happen on December 11. But, if people want to be on
the cutting edge, they can start seeing previews on Nov. 23.
AskaNewYorker: Chita Rivera. A broadway
legend. Tell us about her!
Pat: It’s her autobiography. She was born in Washington DC. Her father
was a Puerto Rican saxophonist in the Navy band. Her mother was Irish. She was
a rather hyper kid when she was growing up. There is a scene in the play that
shows her dancing on the kitchen table and the family was a little bit concerned
about their hyper daughter. The solution was to send her to dancing school at
the age of seven. When she was 16 she came to New York on an American Ballet
scholarship and she went to an audition with a friend of hers. It was her friend
who asked her to come along. And, of course, she got the part. So, she became
what is known in the theater as a gypsie. That’s a chorus girl. She went
traveling as a chorus girl and moved up on the ladder and her high hit was West
Side Story. That was a breakthrough. Anita in West Side Story. And she has done
so many other things. The upcoming show even tells you about her affair with
Mr. Wonderful, Sammy Davis Jr. One of the interesting things to me about the
play is that we have this wonderful, wonderful number showing all the different
styles of different choreographers she has worked with. Jerome Robbins is certainly
different from Bob Fosse. When you see one after another you can see the difference
of their movements and the way they worked. So, it’s fascinating to watch.
AskaNewYorker: Chita sounds great. Anything else we should know?
Pat: I must tell you that Chita is 72 years old, has 16 pins in her leg and
was told after a taxi crash that she’ll never walk again, and here she
is, dancing up a storm and could dance any 18 year old under the table. She
is totally amazing.
AskaNewYorker: What does a show like Chita cost to bring to Broadway?
Pat: Chita is not one of the top most expensive shows. It’s only a four
million dollar budget. We expect to make back our money if we have 80% capacity
in about 26 weeks. I think that’s very exciting.
AskaNewYorker: What is with all the birds chirping and all the cages in here
at the top of the stairs?
Pat: I don’t really know. I suppose someone died and willed us their
birds, you know, as a form of art. Birds are a form of art, as everything is
a form of art.
AskaNewYorker: How long have you lived in New York City?
Pat: I’ve lived here all my life! I was born in Brooklyn and to a very
early passport and I’ve lived in Manhattan forever, which I call New York
City, which I know is erroneous, but you never refer to it as Manhattan, you
all say New York City or you live “in the city”. I love it; I think
it’s the most exciting city in the whole world. I’ve traveled extensively
all over the world but no place has the electricity that New York has. There’s
an energy that’s just wonderful.
AskaNewYorker: Thank you, Pat, for sharing with us. The lunch was delicious!
