Purlie

My father, Robert R. Thiel, produced this show when I was--calculating--13! It was the last show he ever produced due to some trouble that, sadly, got him out of the business permanently. It was also his crowning achievement.

I believe this was his only production for television, though there may have been one more. I'll make sure to ask him.

Being a 13 year old on this set, with these famous stars, doing my best to embarrass the Producer--my dad--was a fantastic experience.

Melba Moore in person had the beauty and charm of Audrey Hepburn.

TRIVIA:

Originally the corporate folks wanted to do this on a closed set, like any television program or movie, but my father's love of the theatre and live/real audience reactions overpowered, and therefore the whole thing was shot in sequence with a live audience that was provided free tickets. If I remember correctly, there were three performances, and therefore three takes of each scene. They did not do more than one take of each scene per performance. During set changes, some celebrity would come out and keep the audience entertained--which worked quite well.

During one of these set change intermissions, an actor (Jose Ferrar I think) was standing in front of the asbestos curtain and joked that it was 'asbestos we could do' that day because of some problem with the front curtain.

The Lighting was all computerized and I believe it won and Emmy. The particular challenge was that since most of the actors were African-American, the lighting you would normally use with 'White' actors wouldn't have looked very good. This effected everything including the colors of the costumes and the set. I also seem to remember there was a fatal malfunction that required that the entire lighting sequence program to be dumped and reprogrammed at some point. It was tremendously complex, a real technical landmark.

The picture on the cover of the video was taken during a dress rehearsal. If you look not so carefully you can see their tights/leotards showing beneath the dancers' skirts.

VIDEOS and DVDs:

As for DVDs, my younger brother, who was 8 at the time, just a couple of Christmases ago had the video converted to DVD as a gift for my father--which is not available in stores of course. Also, as you can imagine having produced such a thing yourself, my father still has boxes full of hundreds of the Playbills and--I have no doubt--cases upon cases of the video in his basement.

I'm sure he would absolutely gush if someone were to request one of the videos.

I'm also quite sure a huge pile of money, enough for him to retire with a smile, is owed him from the sale and showing of those videos but he hasn't been up to fighting that battle. Bottom line is, he never saw a cent of it.

I leave it up to you fans to make it your business to pursue the re-release of the video on DVD if you are so inclined and passionate about it, which would bring my father tremendous joy in his old age if nothing else.

I first heard this musical when i was in college in 1980 and checked the LP out of the library. Later on , I got a cassette version of the soundtrack and listened to it so much I wore out the tape. It has always been one of my favorite musicals. the songs are so catchy, you want to sing along. Almost everyone in the original cast went on to fantastic careers. You can listen to the 1981 tv movie on YouTube.

Maybe I did not sufficiently love the 1963 Civil Rights era satire, PURLIE VICTORIOUS (aka GONE ARE THE DAYS!), starring Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis. Based on Ossie's Broadway play. Ruby gives a delightfully sweet, ditzy performance. The show became the hit Broadway musical, PURLIE. According to the NY Times, "by far the most successful and richest of all black musicals". From the roof-rocking opening gospel number to the static "hallelujah chorus" grand finale, "Purlie" is a rollicking, wildly comic folk yarn that should have set me romping and stomping with genuine delight. Set on a Georgia plantation, Lutiebelle, a spirited girl, sets her cap for the preacher Purlie Victorious Judson, a high prancing self styled churchman who involves Lutiebelle in his scheme to hoodwink $500 from Ol' Cap'n Cotcchipee. With its joyous songs and dances-ranging from soul to gospel to blues-and its optimistic zaniness "Purlie" is kinda landmark. Maybe I did not sufficiently love it. If a dvd is released I'll surely rent it.

Beautiful taping of a ground breaking musical comedy. Rhythm and blues elements are mixed with traditional American theater music to produce a show which can satisfy all. The surprisingly complex and rich score is by Geld and Udell, a pair of pop songsmiths famous for "Sealed with a Kiss" and the Carpenters' "Hurting Each Other". Geld and Udell later wrote very satisfying theater scores for "Shenandoah" and "Angel". This is the show which made stars out of Melba Moore, Cleavon Little, and Sherman Helmsley. Robert Guilliame replaces Little, and is an effective substitute. Moore's "I Got Love" is a show stopper! A must see for musical theater buffs.

What I wouldn't give to once again see the play, "Purlie." My family spent many hours watching our tape of Purlie. Unforutnately, our VHS version did not withstand the test of time. If anyone has a copy that could be redistributed, we would all greatly appreciate it and benefit. Please, someone hear all of our calls. With so many negative films being watched today, it would be good to once again see Purlie and view the awesome talents of all of the actors in this wonderful play. Melba Moore and the cast did a superb job! Recently I purchased a copy of the musical score from Purlie and I still remember all of the wonderful songs and was able to sing along. Surely, one of the actors or producers of this great production has a copy that can be put into DVD format for today's audience to view. Hopefully, someone will come forward very soon.