In Friday's issue of 7 I talk with director Nancy Miller about the new Good Company Players production of "42nd Street" at Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater. Here's a continuation of the interview:

Were any of your current cast members in GCP's 2000 production of the musical?

Steve Souza is reprising the role of Bert Barry, co-author & composer of the show-within-the-show, and Robert Sanchez is a returning dancer/actor. Kaye Migaki choreographed the prior show, although she's doing some different numbers for me than she did last time.

When preparing to direct a musical that has been done before at Good Company, do you usually start from scratch? Or do you build on what's been done before?

Both. I start with the problem-solving things that will work for me, mostly to do with moving the show forward from scene to scene fluidly & with logic. Sometimes when you're casting, a role traditionally played by a man could be played by a woman, or vice versa, even if that wasn't the way it was done before. But a lot of the problem-solving of design, etc. has been done for previous productions, and I'm not interested in tampering with what works. Each production will be defined a great deal by who plays the parts, and you rotate emphasis and style based on the strengths of your cast. A big part of the director's job is to see to it that the performers succeed, and what that will take might vary widely from production to production.

Describe a director's relationship with a choreographer (in this case Good Company veteran Kaye Migaki). Do you suggest specific dance moves or just give general thoughts on what the dancing should convey?

In this particular show, Kaye knows what to do and my job is to enable her to do it. There was one number that she hadn't choreographed before and I had a request based on the tradition of the moves you see in the 30s Busby Berkeley movies -- it passes by in 5 seconds, you wouldn't even notice, but it tickled me, so I asked her for it. I've worked with Kaye on other shows where I might tell her what listening to a piece of music makes me visualize, or about what I want the audience to feel about a character in a particular dance, or how I'd like a dance to advance or supplement the story in some way, but in "42nd Street," I just tried to stay out of her way and give her enough time with the dancers.

What are some of the challenges directing a show that is so heavy in dance?

You have to give up time to the dance rehearsals - no question. And this year, because of holidays falling on Mondays and Tuesdays (traditionally our long nights to rehearse), it was especially tight. Performers came in early before the usual 6:00 start of rehearsal to work numbers. Some of my principals came in to work for an hour or so on New Year's Eve - they also worked with me on Saturdays and Sundays. I wanted the dancers to have their time, but didn't want to give up my time with the actors on the scene work. We all gave a little extra.

Talk a little about the character of Julian Marsh.

Julian has had some tough times, you feel - stock market crash, no shows to work on for anybody for a while - certainly not the kind of shows he directs. (In the movie of 42nd Street, it's suggested that Julian has maybe had a heart attack and is considered a risk by the producers). In any event, this is a big chance for him and maybe his last shot at a comeback. Dean and I have both worked to put in a few things that suggest his vulnerabilities as well as his dynamism as he travels from early rehearsals to the opening night.

I was reading a little about the history of the show on Wikipedia and was amazed to learn that in 1980 "the opening night triumph was overshadowed by tragedy:

"Following eleven curtain calls, producer David Merrick went onstage and stated, "This is tragic," drawing gales of laughter from the ecstatic audience. He went on to explain that director-choreographer Gower Champion had died of cancer just hours before the performance, and his shocking announcement, made before an army of reporters and cameramen, drew a stunned reaction. The producer had advised only book writer Mark Bramble of Champion's death and managed to keep the news a secret from the cast (including Wanda Richert, the director's girlfriend), crew, and the public in order to guarantee nationwide headlines and extraordinary media publicity for the show the following day."

Has this become one of those amazing stories of theater lore?

It has always seemed so to me. I knew Gower Champion a little in LA in the early 70s, and I was shocked by that story. Mostly for what it said about Mr. Merrick.

"42nd Street" is known for its razzle-dazzle. How do you balance that with the more character-driven part of the story?

The story is the heart. You want to give the audience what they expect from the musical numbers, but the most satisfying thing about live theater - the thing theater can do that movies/computer images/videos/TV cannot - is the personal connection between those watching and those performing. They are human size. They are us. And this is a show about a show, about what it takes to do a performance. Even if you know how this story is going to turn out, you should be rooting for these characters.

Has Good Company ever had a "Peggy Sawyer" moment when the star of a show was incapacitated and the understudy had to step in to save the performance?

I can think of several, our history is filled with extraordinary "saves," but the closest parallel to the story of "42nd Streer" would probably have been in 1991. We didn't have understudies in those days to the degree we try to now. We were doing a big dance musical called "My One & Only," and the female lead got sick right before curtain time. It was the first and only time in GCP history we had to cancel the show and offer people their money back or an exchange of tickets (barring a power outage or other acts of God).

Andrea Chamberlain, who is currently starring in the Sutton Foster role in the national tour of "The Drowsy Chaperone," was in the chorus. Just like "42nd Street" 's Peggy Sawyer, she spent one day and night learning all these complicated song and dance numbers, plus dialogue scenes, etc. and the show went
on the next night. And she was wonderful. Andrea had been in the Junior Company since age nine and was in a lot of shows, but this was an extraordinary thing she did.