Musical to feature heart, drama of Clooney’s life

Singer, actress Rosemary Clooney focus of new work.

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By Terry Morris, Staff Writer 2:00 PM Saturday, February 11, 2012

One good thing about having a writing partner is that the two of you can take turns eating and talking while combining dinner and an interview during a quick rehearsal break.

Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman, who have worked together often enough to be able to complete each other’s sentences, lyrics and musical phrasing, did some adept multi-tasking at Uno’s in downtown Dayton Tuesday.

Their show “Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical” will have its world premiere Feb. 21-March 4 on the Broadway Series at the Victoria Theatre in a production by Dayton’s Human Race Theatre Company.

It has been through several iterations since they started on it five years ago, including a workshop version presented by The Human Race in 2010.

“We’re still tweaking it,” Friedman said, although the alterations have now evolved to very fine ones.

“On the drive up here today we had a 12-minute discussion about one word I want to add to one line,” Vogt said.

The Cincinnati-based composer-lyricist-playwright duo also teamed for the delightful musical “Anne of Green Gables” that was launched by The Human Race at the Victoria in 2005. They have paired for several other shows.

“Tenderly” is closest to home for them because the Queen City was homebase for singer and screen performer Rosemary Clooney (1928-2002), the aunt of film star George Clooney, sister of longtime Cincinnati TV newsman Nick Clooney and mother in law of singer Debby Boone. The family, including some of Rosemary’s five children with film actor Jose Ferrer, have signed off on the project.

Hamilton native and Human Race leader Kevin Moore, who staged “Anne of Green Gables,” has also nurtured and shaped “Tenderly” since “we approached him with our first draft three to four years ago,” Vogt said.

“To see this show on this stage is going to be a real thrill for us,” Friedman said.

“Tenderly,” which is attracting interest beyond the region, has only two cast members. Tory Ross, a Broadway-tested performer who got her start at the Miami Valley School and with the Muse Machine, plays the singer. Dayton theater veteran Scott Stoney plays all of the other parts.

Friedman said growing up watching movies featuring Clooney, Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby and others “is probably why I got into musical theater. Rosemary (who was born in Maysville, Ky.) is part of Cincinnati history.”

The co-authors, who usually write their own songs, have this time interspersed many of Clooney’s best-known numbers to help tell the story — including pop standards “Come On-A My House,” “Mambo Italiano,” “Tenderly,” “Botch-A-Me” and “Sway.”

If you only know Rosemary from her songs, you might not know that her life included struggles with mental illness and drug dependency, or that she was standing very close to Robert F. Kennedy when the presidential candidate was assassinated in Los Angeles. Drama is part of the play.

“We show her vulnerability and the challenges she faced. That’s what makes her triumph so great,” Vogt said.

Tickets for “Tenderly” are on sale through Ticket Center Stage. Call (937) 228-3630 or (888) 228-3630 or go to www.ticketcenterstage.com.

Bit parts

A production of David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning drama “Proof” by Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre is coming to Kuss Auditorium, 300 S. Fountain Ave., Springfield, for an 8 p.m. performance Feb. 17. Tickets are $15-$40. Call (937) 328-3874 or go to www .springfieldartscouncil.org.

The Dayton Playhouse YouTheatre is offering audition workshops for children and teens on Feb. 18 — 10 a.m. for ages 5 to 12, 1 p.m. for ages 13-19. Fee is $10. Call (937) 424-8477 or go to www.daytonplayhouse.org.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2377 or tmorris@Dayton DailyNews.com.

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