Judy Kaye’s Pittsburgh Paradise
Boy, would I like to be a fly on the wall at the reading being done this week in New York of a new musical called “Paradise Found.” Inspired by a Joseph Roth novel set in Vienna, the show has a libretto by Richard Nelson, lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh, music by Jonathan Tunick and waltzmeister Johann Strauss II, and direction by Harold Prince and Susan Stroman. The week of rehearsals will culminate in an industry-only presentation on February 1. Among the starry cast is Judy Kaye, which leads me to the following question: how can the estimable Ms. Kaye take part in this project when she is scheduled to be appearing as Mrs. Lovett in the touring production of “Sweeney Todd” all week in Pittsburgh? As my friend Erica Silverman’s grandmother used to say, “You can’t dance at two weddings with one tuchus!” If Ms. Kaye’s travel is affected by the snow gods, her understudy may have a lively week of it in Pittsburgh.
