 Grind
A Musical in Two Acts, a Prologue and 23 Scenes. Book by Fay Kanin.
Music by Larry Grossman. Lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh.
Mark Hellinger Theatre, New York - 16 April 1985 (79 perfs)
Synopsis
Act 1
Grind takes place in and around Harry Earle's
Burlesk in Chicago, 1933, the depths of the depression. The black
and white company of the burlesque house is allowed to exist through
payoffs to local authorities, so long as segregation is maintained
both on and off stage.
Satin, the principal black stripper, who has fought
her way out of the black Chicago Ghetto, teases the audience with her
songs. Gus, the top white banana, tries valiantly to hide from the
boss, Harry, the fact that he's going blind. With his timing awry,
he's unable to hang on to his stooges, and in desperation recruits
one of the bums, Thomas Doyle, who inhabit the theatre alley.
Backstage, in playful camaraderie, LeRoy, the top
black comic, engages the girls in song, using his rough childhood as
a come-on. Unable to show his true feelings for her, LeRoy lets Satin
think of him as only a good-time-guy. In her number she conveys to
him the depth of what she's looking for.
Onstage, LeRoy steps out of his funny-man role to
share with the audience his unexpressed emotions.
After Thomas Doyle's first day as a stooge, Gus urges him to return.
Alone, Doyle appeals to the memory of his wife and asks forgiveness
for still being alive.
The next morning, as The Grind begins, the company
is concerned that Gus' new stooge hasn't shown up. But, as Maybelle,
the theatre's wardrobe mistress, predicts, Providence intervenes, and
by the time the day is underway, Gus discovers Doyle waiting for him
in the dressing room, and a new partnership has begun.
LeRoy arrives backstage with a bicycle which Satin purchased as a birthday
present for her little brother, Grover. Dreading the disapproval of
her stoic mother over this gift bought with ill-gotten money, Satin
lets LeRoy cheer her up with his impersonation of her mother's probable
reaction.
Since Doyle turns out to be the only person in the
company who can ride a bike, he delivers it to the birthday party and,
with his Irish charm, wins over Satin's mother. In a mood of celebration,
LeRoy, Satin, and Doyle are teaching Grover to ride the bicycle when
a gang of toughs appear, taunting them and eventually breaking the
bike into pieces. Unable to deal with this violent act, LeRoy calls
on the only remedy he knows — entertainment — and re-creates
the burlesque house, their one safe place, in a frenzied escape from
reality as the first act ends.
Act 2
The bond between Gus and Doyle is deepening as
they continue to develop their bits. Satin looks on, intrigued by
the mystery of Doyle. Her thoughts are heard in counterpoint to their
musical conversation.
After an onstage mishap and an ultimatum from Harry,
Gus realises that it's no longer possible to cover for his worsening
loss of vision. A strip number performed by Harry's wife, Romaine,
comments on taking life as it comes while, offstage, Gus decides that
it's time for his own life to end. Gradually, all of the company joins
Maybelle in a tribute to their friend, Gus. During this, Doyle, grief-stricken,
disappears.
After a day's unsuccessful search for Doyle, LeRoy
and Satin return to the theatre where LeRoy, finally letting himself
be vulnerable, tells Satin how he feels. Touched, she agrees to meet
him later for dinner, and LeRoy, overjoyed, celebrates his breakthrough.
On her way to meet LeRoy, Satin stumbles on a once-again
drunken Doyle who's being brutally rolled by a gang of toughs. She
rescues him and takes him to her home where, in his tortured sleep,
he reveals the secret that has haunted him and his guilt that, as an
Irish terrorist, he unwittingly brought about his own greatest loss
through an act of violence.
The next morning, with a new awakening of caring
for each other, Satin leaves Doyle to rush to work. She finds an angry
and rejected LeRoy, who humiliates her onstage then, in a rage, physically
attacks Doyle, who has returned to the theatre. Latent racial tensions
arise as the company takes sides.
A shaken Satin goes on for her strip. Toughs begin
to invade the theatre, bringing the violence and prejudice of the streets
inside with them. Attacked, the company fights back. Even LeRoy, putting
away his hurt and expressing his love for Satin, joins the battle.
One by one, all members of the company begin to realise they are a
family, protecting their home against a common enemy.
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