ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 26, 1996 TAG: 9601260017
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: MARY CAMPBELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
Goethe was one of the writers inspired by the legend of Faust, who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for renewed youth. Gounod was one of the composers who turned it into an opera.
Now singer-songwriter Randy Newman, whose song ``Short People'' is a sometimes-misunderstood parody of bigotry, has turned his hand to it.
Newman's album, ``Faust,'' has James Taylor singing as the Lord. Don Henley is Faust, Newman himself is the devil, and Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt and Elton John have smaller roles. Reprise Records released the recording in September.
The Wall Street Journal wrote, ``The music is typical Newman: clever, well-constructed with sweeping orchestrations that combine pathos, biting wit and a dash of New Orleans spice.''
Also in September, a staged production of Newman's ``Faust'' opened for a month at the La Jolla Playhouse in California. None of the singers on the album were in it. Newman and director Michael Grief conferred daily during rehearsals.
There are currently negotiations with a theater in another city for a production with the intent to move it to Broadway.
Newman read Goethe's ``Faust'' 15 years ago. It was one of the books he most wanted to read in his life. ``On every page you can tell you're in the company of a great mind,'' Newman says. ``That's no longer true with my version.''
Newman adds, ``I love everything about heaven - `Green Pastures,' `The Horn Blows at Midnight.' I liked the idea of the Lord and devil trying to play this game.'' He says Goethe set one scene in heaven. He sets more than one there.
In Newman's version, he calls both the Lord and the devil ``a bit behind the curve.''
When the Lord and the devil choose David Faust, who is a student at Notre Dame University, as the person they make a bet can or can't be corrupted by the devil, both are surprised by Faust's lack of manners and his inability to say what he wants out of life. ``They can't connect with him,'' Newman says.
Newman, who put some personal experiences and observations into his musical, says that his Faust is ``like brain dead. He's a difficult protagonist for a director. But he's a kid. I've had teen-agers of my own. There is a point at which you don't know what they want.
``Like teen-agers, the kid has a bad temper. I come from a family with mercurial tempers. You don't know why they lost their temper. They don't know themselves. Without a doubt there is more of me in this than in anything I've ever done.''
Three of Newman's uncles, Alfred, Emil and Lionel, wrote and conducted movie music. Now, two cousins, David and Tom, do. Alfred began his career conducting on Broadway, Newman says, and went to Hollywood in 1929.
Asked whether his portrayal of God and the devil may upset people, Newman replies, ``I think portraying the Lord at all will upset people. The Lord does nothing untoward. I was very careful. This Lord doesn't have an ounce of cynicism. But I've turned him into a human. He plays golf, likes one kind of stuff and doesn't like another kind. He worries.
``The devil thinks he is smarter than the Lord. He doesn't understand why he is losing over and over. The devil has to scuffle and resents it. That's my kind of person. That's what I am.''
Newman says, ```Faust' is not about what is going to happen to Faust. It is about the relationship of the devil and the Lord. We do care about Margaret.'' Margaret, who loves Faust, to her detriment, is sung by Ronstadt on the record.
In the Faust legend, the devil was once the Lord's favorite angel.
Newman says, ``The Lord expelled him from heaven, in my version, for telling him, `Do you realize we're figments of their imagination?' He hits the Lord with a lot of pure reason, as God sings a gospel song that rocks, `Glory Train.' The power of the gospel song is more than the devil's reasoning.''
Asked whether any character runs away with his ``Faust,'' Newman says, ``In any version, the devil is the most interesting character. I like the kid best.''
Contemporary songwriters seldom tackle theatrical projects. Newman says, ``There's no money in this. Not yet. If ever. Is Sting going to take a $40 million cut in pay and do a Broadway show?''
Actually, Sting did perform in ``The Three-Penny Opera'' on Broadway, but he hasn't spent the long period of time it takes to write a show.
The 1986 movie ``Three Amigos'' was Newman's first extended work. He wrote the screenplay with Steve Martin and Lorne Michaels and he wrote the songs.
``Faust'' is his first musical for the stage. ``It'll be the last if it doesn't do well,'' he says. ``I can't afford it. But I sure have enjoyed it. I'd love to do this all the time.''
Newman kept money coming in during the two years he worked on ``Faust'' by spending some time writing for movies, ``Maverick,'' ``Avalon'' and ``The Paper.'' He also wrote the score for ``Toy Story,'' including three songs which he sings on the soundtrack.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Composer Randy Newman (center) is photographed withby CNBthe cast of Newman's musical version of ``Faust,'' staged at
California's La Jolla Playhouse last fall. The actors included David
Garrison as the devil (left), Kurt Deutsch as Henry Faust and Ken
Page as the Lord. color.