Matt Cavenaugh, star of Broadway's "Urban Cowboy," has a mile-wide smile that grabs your attention immediately, but it is his infectious enthusiasm and sense of honesty that make it impossible to ignore what has been happening lately with what he has dubbed "the little show that could."
That uniquely honest quality is somehow characteristic of the cast of "Urban Cowboy" as a whole, something not often seen in the jaded world of Broadway. Perhaps it has something to do with all they have been through.
The road to Broadway was about as smooth for "Urban Cowboy" as a ride on a mechanical bull. Audiences negatively received the show's series of workshops, but producers went ahead until the death of director Philip Oesterman in July 2002 halted production.
Scrambling to replace Oesterman, producers brought in actor and director Lonny Price ("Merrily We Roll Along," "A Class Act"). Despite the setback, the show performed a pre-Broadway tryout at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami from Nov. 7 through Dec. 1 to mostly positive reviews, and it seemed the show would transition well to New York.
"Urban Cowboy" began previews Feb. 27 on Broadway and played seven performances before the musicians' strike shut down the show and rehearsals for four days. Though that time was lost, Price continued a complete overhaul of the show based on reactions and comments from New York audiences, who they found much less receptive than Florida theater-goers. They rehearsed all day, sometimes with up to 40 pages of changes to memorize, and then performed at night. Needless to say, the onset of the war in Iraq the week before the show's opening did not help ticket sales.
On Thursday, March 27, "Urban Cowboy" celebrated a festive opening night, transforming a ballroom at the Marriott Marquis into a straight-up honky-tonk. The cast and creative team were open about how hard they had worked on the show during previews, but were exuberant over finally making it to Broadway.
The reviews the next morning were not great, but most of the problems critics cited were with the source material rather than individual performers.
The next night, however, just before show time, the producers of "Urban Cowboy" posted a closing notice effective immediately. The show's last performance would be Saturday, March 29, the notice said, making it the first musical since 1989's "Dangerous Games" and "Prince of Central Park" to stage only four regular performances. "Urban Cowboy" would have had a shorter run than the infamous Broadway flop "Carrie." The 13 cast members making their Broadway debuts, including Canenaugh and his spunky leading lady, Jenn Colella, would end their run in the blink of an eye and all the work would be lost.
Saturday night I went to the show and the audience was insane from the moment the lights went down. Cavenaugh's opening number, an a cappella ditty by Jeff Blumenkrantz, took on a bitter-sweet new meaning. As he ended with "I'm leavin' home ... but I'll be back some day," the audience roared with support.
The "Urban Cowboy" castmembers threw their hearts, souls and every inch of their bodies into this last performance. Composer and musical director Jason Robert Brown later told Broadway.com that he needed to "go soak [his] arm in ice." There was an electric energy in the house unlike anything I had felt before. The cast members took their last looks at the audience with a mixture of incredible sadness and pure joy in the audience's support.
At the curtain call, the cast pulled director Price on stage. He announced that they had prepared a concert of songs cut from the show during the previews, and then paused.
"We have the greatest producers in the world, Chase Mishkin and Leonard Soloway," Price said. "And they just informed me that we are not going to close tonight!"
Pandemonium erupted both on-stage and off, creating 20 of the greatest minutes I have ever experienced in a theater in my life.
Half of the cast members burst into tears, while the other half threw their arms into the air or around one another. Price continued, inviting cast member Rozz Morehead to sing one of the cut songs. She howled out a gospel number, ad-libbing to the line "and we'll be right here" with the additional words "...on Monday," as the cast sprawled across the stage, basking in their moments of glory.
Just before they left the stage, Cavenaugh read an excerpt from a note he received from a fan. It elaborated on how much he enjoyed the show and wanted to tell the cast that despite any negative buzz, he simply wanted to thank them for working hard to make people happy. "We are a humble show," Cavenaugh said, obviously moved, "and that is all we are trying to do."
The producers later said they kept the show open partly because of an outpouring of positive phone calls immediately after the closing notice was posted.
Regardless of how long "Urban Cowboy" stays open now, this show has been given a gift that the cast surely will not take for granted, and a little magic from that night will be found in every performance they give. Take a chance on this brilliant coast and see for yourself. It is not one to miss.
"Urban Cowboy" is playing at the Broadhurst Theater, 235 W. 44th St. Student tickets are available at the box office on the day of the performance.
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