CAST
Anna Antonelli: Kathi Such
Angel Antonelli: Nicole Giguere
Little Girl: Maria Meier
Guy and others: Tom Denihan
Lino and others: Tom Russell
Ben and others: Michael Reilly
Buddy and others: Dallas Hosmer
Lucky and others: Sam Donovan
Tony and others: Mark Wantroba
The Rink is a musical with lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander (the team that wrote Chicago and Cabaret) and a book by Terence McNally (Ragtime, Kiss of the Spider Woman)
The tenth Kander and Ebb collaboration, it focuses on Anna (originally played by Chita Rivera), the owner of a dilapidated roller skating rink on the boardwalk of a decaying seaside resort, who has decided to sell it to developers. Complicating her plans are her prodigal daughter Angel (originally played by Liza Minelli), who returns to town seeking to reconnect with the people and places she long ago left behind. Through a series of flashbacks, revelations, and minimal forward-moving plot development, the two deal with their pasts in their attempt to reconcile and move on with their lives.
"A serious musical ... Terence McNally's book is lean and hard even in its sentimentality McNally uses a very fluid time warp for his story ... The Rink ... provides much pleasure as well as real emotion." New York Post "A family relations saga that can be both tough and sentimental ... The Rink looks back at the period culminating in the 1970s with a perspective touched with humor" The Christian Science Monitor "Since the music and lyrics were supplied by John Kander and Fred Ebb, who wrote Cabaret, it is not surprising that the score is stuffed with bouncy, melodic songs that echo the jagged rhythms of Kurt Weill and the jaunty aura of the fairground." London Evening Standard
This innovative musical is set in a Coney Island of the mind, on the ragged fringe of the New York show-biz world. Anna's roller rink is about to be demolished and with it Anna's sour memories of her husband and daughter. The rink becomes an extra arena in which mother and daughter examine their past, present and future.
All roles in the flashbacks, men and women, are played by the Wreckers.
Musical Numbers:
Coloured Lights - Angel - "I was sitting on a sand-dune in Santa Cruz"
1a - Underscore - "Coloured Lights"
1b - Wreckers' Entrance
Chief Cook and Bottle Washer - Anna - "When I sit and remember the past"
2a - Angel's Entrance
Don't Ah Ma Me - Anna and Angel - "If the earth had opened up"
Blue Crystal - Dino - "Was it three days? Only three days?"
4a - Music Cue - Blue Crystal/Korea
Familiar Things - Angel - "Under the roller coaster next to the jungle ride"
5a - Blue Crystal Underscore
Not Enough Magic - Dino, Angel, Anna, Sugar, Hiram, Tom, Lenny, & Dino's father - "There's not enough magic, not enough sparkle"
We Can Make It Happen - Anna - "People may hurt us, we can take it"
After All These Years - The Wreckers - "Gee! It's good to see you after all these years"
Angel's Rink and Social Centre - Anna and the Wreckers - "I got plans, ma, lots of plans"
What Happened To the Old Days? - Anna, Mrs Silverman and Mrs Jackson - "What happened to the old boardwalk?"
10a - Finale Act I - Colored Lights (Reprise) - Angel- "Beads and bleachers and coloured lights"
The Apple Doesn't Fall - Angel and Anna - "I hate Uncle Fausto, God, me too!"
Marry Me - Lenny - "Good Old Lenny"
12a - Arnie's Underscore
12b - Underscore - Blue Crystal/Korea
We Can Make It (Reprise) - Anna - "People may hurt us we can take it"
13a - Quintet Part I/Part II - Mrs A. - Anna, Angel, Lenny & Suitors
The Rink - The Wreckers - "I planned on taking Polly to the picture show"
Wallflower Part I - Anna and Angel - "Never be a wallflower sitting on a chair"
15a - Wallflower Part II - Anna and Angel - "You've got to stand, Baby"
15b - The Prom
All The Children In a Row - Angel and Danny - "All the children in a row leaving home behind"
16a - Music Cue - Garage Door
Finale Act II (Coda) - "Here's to the Rink"
Bows
Final Exit
