One of my favorites, Jerry Orbach, died yesterday. Many know him as the voice of Lumiere in Disney’s wonderful “Beauty and the Beast.” Many others know him from the TV show “Law and Order.” But I prefer to remember him as the definitive “El Gallo” in the original Off-Broadway production of the musical “The Fantasticks.” A great personal favorite. Many years ago in Seattle, I had the happy chance of performing in that beloved show. It was my first “big break,” as such, into Seattle theatre and I was utterly dumbfounded as to how I got there. I still am. Anyway, I quickly developed a clumsy, hopeless crush on the actor playing “El Gallo.” Really, I think THAT was just an extension of my “true” crush on the voice of Jerry Orbach from the soundtrack I played — incessantly. (Secretly, I think I’ve always wanted to play “El Gallo,” a sort of mysterious rogue, narrator character; however, I am not a man. And, frankly, any version of “The Fantasticks” with “El Gallo” as a woman would be a theatrical abomination that should close that same night with the theatre subsequently burnt to the ground. Not that I have an opinion on the matter.)
But “El Gallo” is a man and that man, if I could have my way, would always be Jerry Orbach. A quiet, yet immense, talent.
I’m listening to my original cast album this afternoon just so I can swoon and sigh to his rich, rumbly baritone singing “Try to Remember.” (I’m such a sucker for a man who can sing.)
Listen to some of these lovely, yearning lyrics. And sing along if you like:
“Try to remember when life was so tender that no one wept except the willow
“Try to remember when life was so tender that dreams were kept beside your pillow
“Try to remember when life was so tender that love was an ember about to billow
“Try to remember, and if you remember, then follow.”
I guess, for me, Jerry Orbach is forever tied to a time in my life just like that.
Here’s my last indulgence, I promise — a beautiful line that “El Gallo” speaks near the end of “The Fantasticks”:
“There is a curious paradox
that no one can explain.
Who understands the secret
of the reaping of the grain?
Who understands why Spring is born
out of Winter’s labouring pain?
Or why we all must die a bit
before we grow again.”
And if you’ve read this far, thanks for indulging me. Really. And mostly, thank you, Mr. Orbach, for the memories.
Thank you for posting those lines by El Gallo at end of Fantasticks … I was trying to find those by a search online. The best doggie I ever had just died and I was looking for anything that might help in explaining it to my son. Indeed, “Who understands …” these things, but I do have faith that spring will be born out of the pain of winter. Thank you and luck to you in every way.
Best regards,
Ed in Baton Rouge