• Source: The Connection (play)

      • The Connection is a 1959 play by Jack Gelber. It was first produced by the Living Theatre, directed by Living Theatre co-founder Judith Malina, designed by co-founder Julian Beck, and featured music by jazz pianist Freddie Redd.


      Synopsis


      The play has a play-within-a-play format, with characters Jim Dunn as the "producer" and Jaybird as the "writer" attempting to stage a production about the underbelly of society using "real" addicts. Some of the addicts are jazz musicians. They all (except for the "producer", "writer", and two "photographers") have one thing in common: they are waiting for their drug dealer, their "connection". The dialogue of the characters is interspersed with jazz music.


      Original cast


      Jim Dunn – Leonard Hicks
      Jaybird – Ira Lewis
      Leach – Warren Finnerty
      Solly – Jerome Raphel
      Sam – John McCurry
      Ernie – Garry Goodrow
      1st Musician – Freddie Redd (composer, piano)
      4th Musician – Jimmy Corbett (bass)
      First Photographer – Louis McKenzie
      Second Photographer – Jamil Zakkai
      2nd Musician – Jackie McLean (alto saxophone)
      3rd Musician – Clyde Harris (drums)
      Harry – Henry Proach
      Sister Salvation – Barbara Winchester
      Cowboy – Carl Lee
      Man in audience – Martin Sheen (uncredited)


      Original production credits


      Written by Jack Gelber
      Directed by Judith Malina
      Designed by Julian Beck


      Other performances of The Connection




      = Revised Cast, 1961

      =
      Redd's score, new cast
      Freddie Redd, composer/piano
      Howard McGhee, trumpet
      Tina Brooks (originally Jackie McLean's understudy), tenor saxophone
      Milt Hinton, bass
      Osie Johnson, drums


      = Touring Cast, 1961/62

      =
      Score by Cecil Payne and Kenny Drew, Conducted by Cecil Payne

      Cecil Payne, baritone sax
      Clark Terry, trumpet
      Bennie Green, trombone
      Duke Jordan, piano
      Ron Carter, bass
      Charlie Persip, drums


      = Los Angeles Production

      =
      The score to accompany the Los Angeles production was performed by Dexter Gordon who also played "Number One Musician". He later recorded several pieces from this production for his Blue Note release Dexter Calling... (1961).
      Quote (from the liner notes to the Blue Note album):
      "Soul Sister," the original that launches the first side is one of the themes Dexter wrote for the score of the Hollywood version of The Connection in which he had an acting, playing, and writing role; it is the equivalent of Freddie Redd's "(Theme for) Sister Salvation"...
      "I Want More", the significantly titled Gordon theme that closes the first side, is the West Coast equivalent of "O.D. (Overdose)"...
      "Ernie's Theme", is the last of the three themes on this LP from Dexter's Connection score. It parallels "Music Forever".


      Awards and honors




      = 1959–60 Village Voice Obie Awards

      =
      Obie Award for Best New Play
      Obie Award for Best All-Around Production
      Obie Award for Best Actor - Warren Finnerty


      = 1959–60 Vernon Rice Awards

      =
      Vernon Rice Award for outstanding achievement in the off-broadway theatre - Jack Gelber


      = Other

      =
      Grand Prix for Best Play at the Théâtre des Nations, Paris, 1961


      Related works


      Film adaptation

      The Connection, produced by Lewis M. Allen, directed by Shirley Clarke, 1961. Released on DVD, Jazz Movie Classics/EFORFILMS 2869032
      Recordings

      The Music from "The Connection", music composed by Freddie Redd, with Freddie Redd, Jackie McLean, Michael Mattos and Larry Ritchie, February 15, 1960, Blue Note, BLP 4027 (m)/BST 84027 (s). Released on CD, Blue Note 89392.
      Music from the Connection, different recording of the above score, issued as under Howard McGhee, with Tina Brooks, I. Ching (Freddie Redd), Milt Hinton and Osie Johnson
      The Music from "The Connection", rewritten score by Cecil Payne and Kenny Drew, Conducted by Cecil Payne, with Cecil Payne, Clark Terry, Bennie Green, Duke Jordan, Ron Carter and Charlie Persip, Recorded 14, 15, 16 March 1962 - Charlie Parker Records PLP 806
      Other productions

      London, 1960
      European Tour, 1962: Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands
      London, 1974, at Hampstead Theatre Club with Bill Wallis, John Ratzenberger, Harry Ditson, Mark Russel, Richard Moore, and Philip Hinton. Directed by Michael Rudman
      New York, 1981, with Morgan Freeman as Cowboy
      Chicago, 1992, the inaugural production of A Red Orchid Theatre, featuring Michael Shannon and Guy Van Swearingen
      New York, 2009, 50th Anniversary Production at the Living Theatre, directed by Judith Malina, music director Rene McLean
      Seattle, 2011, Sight by Sound productions, directed by Gavin Reub in The Little Theater


      References




      = General references

      =
      Kenneth Tynan, preface, The Connection, Grove Press, 1960
      Lionel Abel, Partisan Review, Winter, 1960 - "What adds to the play's power is that the characters are so like other people, though in such a different situation from most people."
      Ira Gitler, Liner notes to Blue Note BLP 4027/BST 84027


      Further reading




      External links


      New York University's Fales Library and Special Collections Guide to the Jack Gelber Papers
      Jackie McLean recalls The Connection
      Jackie McLean discusses The Connection

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