The Complete Book of 1980s Broadway Musicals (2016) PDF

The Complete Book of
1980s Broadway Musicals

The Complete Book of
1980s Broadway Musicals
Dan Dietz
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
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Copyright © 2016 by Rowman & Littlefield
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dietz, Dan, 1945–

The complete book of 1980s Broadway musicals / Dan Dietz.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4422-6091-7 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4422-6092-4
(ebook) 1. Musicals—New York (State)—New York—20th century—History
and criticism. I. Title.
ML1711.8.N3D533 2016
792.6'45097471—dc23
2015032510
™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements

of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the
United States of America
To Barnes Block and 258
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Alphabetical List of Shows xiii
BROADWAY MUSICALS OF THE 1980s

1979–1980 Season 1
1980–1981 Season 31
1981–1982 Season 93
1982–1983 Season 139
1983–1984 Season 181
1984–1985 Season 221
1985–1986 Season 247
1986–1987 Season 287
1987–1988 Season 321
1988–1989 Season 369
1989 Season 401
APPENDIXES
A Chronology (by Season) 431
B Chronology (by Classification) 435
C Discography 443
D Filmography 445
E Gilbert and Sullivan Operettas 447
F Other Productions 449
G Black-Themed Revues and Musicals 455
H Jewish-Themed Revues and Musicals 457
I Radio City Music Hall Productions 459
J Published Scripts 461
K Theatres 463
vii
viii THE COMPLETE BOOK OF 1970s BROADWAY MUSICALS
Bibliography 469
Index 471
About the Author 511
Acknowledgments
I want to take this opportunity to thank my friends Mike Baskin and Ken DePew for their helpful comments
and suggestions in the writing of this book.
ix
Introduction
The Complete Book of 1980s Broadway Musicals examines in detail all 250 musicals that opened (or, in one
case, didn’t open because it closed at the last minute without ever giving its first Broadway preview) between
January 1, 1980, and December 31, 1989. The musicals discussed are: fifty book musicals with new music;
ten book musicals with preexisting music; two plays with incidental songs; fifteen more or less traditional re-
vues; twenty-three personality revues; three dance musicals and revues; six magic revues; nine musicals that
originated Off- or Off-Off-Broadway; thirty imports; forty commercial revivals; forty institutional revivals;
and twenty-two pre-Broadway closings (including a few that closed during Broadway previews). For a quick
rundown of these shows, see Alphabetical List of Shows; appendix A (Chronology by Season); and appendix
B (Chronology by Classification).
The goal of this book is to provide a convenient reference source that gives both technical information
(such as cast and song lists) and commentary (including obscure details that personalize both familiar and
forgotten musicals).
The decade of the 1980s is notable as the era in which the British invaded Broadway. To be sure, London
successes were always part of most Broadway seasons, but usually these imports were nonmusicals. Occa-
sionally a hit musical (such as The Boy Friend and Oliver!) opened on Broadway and enjoyed acclaim, but for
the most part a hit British musical was the rare exception during a typical Broadway semester. All this began
to change in the 1970s, when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita became
major theatrical events in New York and on the road.
The British Invasion took hold in the 1980s, and some two-thirds of the decade’s imports had first been
produced in London prior to their New York productions, including plays with incidental songs (such as Cen-
sored Scenes from King Kong, Piaf, and Ghetto), one musical that was considerably revised when it reached
New York (A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine), and the blockbusters Cats, Me and My Girl, Les
Miserables, and The Phantom of the Opera. As of this writing, Phantom is still playing on Broadway and cur-
rently holds the record of the longest-running musical in the history of Broadway theatre, and Les Miserables
is now in the second year of its second New York revival.
The decade of the 1970s belonged to Stephen Sondheim, who dominated those years with a dazzling
parade of innovative musicals such as Company, Follies, Pacific Overtures, and Sweeney Todd, the Demon
Barber of Fleet Street. He was still active in the 1980s, and his musicals continued to cause controversy with
wildly divergent receptions from critics and audiences. The decade saw three Sondheim musicals open on
Broadway (Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into the Woods) as well as one that
was produced Off Broadway (Assassins).
Sadly, the decade saw the continued decline of book musicals with new music, which were once the
mainstay of musical theatre during Broadway’s Golden Age. The 1980s saw fifty book musicals with new
music, and forty commercial revivals; in contrast, the 1940s offered eighty book musicals with new music and
eighteen commercial revivals; the 1950s, seventy-one book musicals with new music and ten revivals; the
1960s, ninety-eight book musicals with new music, and just one commercial revival; and the 1970s offered
eighty-four book musicals with new music and thirty-seven revivals. The 1980s saw the lowest number of
xi
xii INTRODUCTION
book musicals with new music in five decades (and down almost 50 percent from the 1960s), and also marked
the highest number of commercial revivals in a half-century.
In regard to technical information, the entries in this book include: name of theatre (and transfers, if ap-
plicable); opening and closing dates of productions; number of performances (for consistency, I’ve used the
performance numbers reported in Best Plays); the show’s advertising tag (including variations); names of book
(or sketch) writers, lyricists, composers, directors, choreographers, musical directors, producers; and scenic,
costume, and lighting designers. The names of all cast members are included, and each performer’s name is
followed by the name of the character portrayed (performers’ names in italics reflect those billed above the
title).
Also included are the numbers of acts; for book musicals, the time and locale of the show; and the titles
of musical numbers, by act (following each song title is the name of the performer, not character, who intro-
duced the song); if a song is known by a variant title, the alternate title is also given. If a musical is based on
source material, such information is cited.
The commentary for each musical includes a brief plot summary; brief quotes from the critics; informative
trivia; details about London and other major international productions; data about recordings and published
scripts; and information on film, television, and home video adaptations. In many cases, the commentary also
includes information regarding the show’s gestation and pre-Broadway tryout history. When applicable, Tony
Award winners and nominees are listed at the end of each entry (the names of winners are bolded) and the
winners of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize are also cited. Throughout the
text, bolded titles refer to productions that are represented with an entry in the book.
The book also includes eleven appendixes: chronology by season; chronology by classification; discogra-
phy; filmography; a list of published scripts; a list of Gilbert and Sullivan revivals; a chronology of selected
productions that includes incidental songs and background music; a list of black revues and musicals; a list
of Jewish revues and musicals; a list of productions that opened at Radio City Music Hall; and a list of the
theatres where the musicals were presented.
The book also includes a bibliography. Virtually all the information in this book is drawn from such origi-
nal source materials as programs, souvenir programs, flyers, window cards (posters), recordings, scripts (both
published and unpublished), and contemporary reviews.
Alphabetical List of Shows
The following is an alphabetical list of all 250 musicals discussed in this book. There are multiple listings for
those musicals that were produced more than once during the decade, and those entries are followed by the
year of the production (if presented more than once during a calendar year, both month and year are given).
Aaah oui Genty! 76 Candide (1983) 186

Ain’t Misbehavin’ 372 Candide (1984) 221
Alice in Wonderland 159 Candide (1986) 287
Amen Corner 189 Candide (1989) 402
The American Dance Machine 274 Canterbury Tales 1
America’s Sweetheart 244 Carrie 361
Anything Goes 331 Cats 151
An April Song 86 Censored Scenes from King Kong 8
Aznavour 166 Chaplin 217
Baby 196 Charlie and Algernon 45
Banjo Dancing, or The 48th Annual Squitters Chess 357
Mountain Song Dance Folklore Convention Chu Chem 387
and Banjo Contest . . . and How I Lost 51 City of Angels 425
Barbara Cook: A Concert for the Theatre 319 Cleavage 141
Barnum 15 Colette 131
Barry Manilow at the Gershwin 392 Copperfield 77
Big Deal 277 The Curse of an Aching Heart 119
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 241 Czardas Princess 207
Billy Bishop Goes to War 26 Dance a Little Closer 177
Black and Blue 378 Dangerous Games (two one-act dance
Black Broadway 20 musicals, Tango and Orfeo) 408
Blackstone! 25 Dangerous Music 396
Blues in the Night 139 A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine 17
Brigadoon (1980) 48 The Desert Song (1987) 324
Brigadoon (1986) 275 The Desert Song (1989) 406
Bring Back Birdie 71 Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really
Broadway Follies 73 Reflect Up? 130
Cabaret 334 A Doll’s Life 148
La Cage aux Folles 183 Don’t Get God Started 336
Camelot (1980) 37 Doonesbury 195
Camelot (1981) 105 Doug Henning and His World of Magic 229
Can-Can 79 Dreamgirls (1981) 111
Canciones de mi padre 370 Dreamgirls (1987) 321
Candide (1982) 153 Duddy 218
xiii
xiv ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SHOWS
Durante 428 Kismet (1985) 254

I due sergenti 258 Kismet (1986) 288
Elvis: A Rockin’ Remembrance 401 Late Nite Comic 329
An Evening with Dave Allen 101 Leader of the Pack 235
An Evening with Robert Klein 369 Legs Diamond 376
Fearless Frank 36 Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music 84
Fiddler on the Roof 94 Little Johnny Jones 123
The First 110 A Little Like Magic 304
The Five O’Clock Girl 63 Little Me 116
Flamenco puro 301 The Little Prince and the Aviator 133
Die Fledermaus (February 1980) 5 Mail 353
Die Fledermaus (September 1980) 44 Mame 181
Die Fledermaus (1981) 101 Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Dress Casual 403
Die Fledermaus (1984) 206 Manhattan Rhythm 145
Die Fledermaus (1986) 289 Marilyn 192
Die Fledermaus (1987) 326 Marlowe 102
The Flying Karamazov Brothers 176 Mayor 259
42nd Street 40 Me and My Girl 291
La gatta Cenerentola 257 Meet Me in St. Louis 413
Georgia Brown and Friends 87 Merlin 161
Ghetto 394 Merrily We Roll Along 106
The Gospel at Colonus 350 The Merry Widow (1982) 146
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (April 1982) 125 The Merry Widow (1983) 186
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein The Merry Widow (1984) 206
(October 1982) 155 The Merry Widow (1985) 251
Grand Hotel 420 The Merry Widow (1988) 370
Grind 239 The Merry Widow (1989) 402
Grover’s Corners 365 Michael Feinstein in Concert 355
Gypsy 423 Michael Feinstein in Concert: Isn’t
Haarlem Nocturne 227 It Romantic 376
Happy New Year 13 Les Miserables 314
Harrigan ’n Hart 232 The Moony Shapiro Songbook 81
Heartaches of a Pussycat 9 Mort Sahl on Broadway! 328
Herman Van Veen: All of Him 158 Musical Chairs 23
Hoagy, Bix and Wolfgang Beethoven Bunkhaus 88 The Music Man (1980) 34
Honky Tonk Nights 289 The Music Man (1988) 349
The Human Comedy 204 My Fair Lady 96
Inacent Black 83 My One and Only 173
Insideoutsideandallaround with The Mystery of Edwin Drood (aka Drood) 263
Shelley Berman 47 My Three Angels 283
Into the Light 302 Naughty Marietta 374
Into the Woods 338 The New Moon (1986) 297
Is There Life after High School? 125 The New Moon (1988) 371
It’s So Nice to Be Civilized 32 The News 261
Jackie Mason’s “The World According to Me!” 310 Nimrod and the Tower of Babel 397
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living Nine 127
in Paris 67 Oba Oba 352
Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood 270 Oh, Brother! 103
Jerome Robbins’ Broadway 381 Oh Coward! 305
Jerry’s Girls 265 Oliver! 209
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor One Night Stand 89
Dreamcoat 120 On Your Toes 164
Juggling and Cheap Theatrics 276 Onward Victoria 57
The King and I 230 The Pajama Game 385
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SHOWS xv
Peg 198 and the dance-musical Dance

Penn & Teller 343 [aka Variations]) 252
Penny by Penny: The Story of Ebenezer Song of Norway 99
Scrooge (aka A Christmas Carol) 135 Sophisticated Ladies 68
Perfectly Frank 55 South Pacific 312
The Phantom of the Opera 344 Stardust 311
Piaf 64 Starlight Express 316
Pieces of Eight 284 Starmites 392
Pipino il breve 260 Streetheat 231
The Pirates of Penzance 59 The Student Prince (1980) 42
Play Me a Country Song 141 The Student Prince (1981) 98
Porgy and Bess 167 The Student Prince (1985) 250
Prince of Central Park 418 The Student Prince (1987) 323
Pump Boys and Dinettes 122 Sunday in the Park with George 212
Quick Change 54 Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet
Quilters 224 Street (1984) 222
Raggedy Ann 299 Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet
Rags 294 Street (1987) 324
A Reel American Hero 90 Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet
Reggae 11 Street (1989) 407
The Rink 201 Sweet Charity 279
The Robert Klein Show! 269 Swing 27
Rock ’n Roll! The First 5,000 Years 156 Take Me Along 237
Rodney Dangerfield on Broadway 348 Tango Argentino 256
Romance Romance (two one-act musicals, The Tap Dance Kid 199
The Little Comedy and Summer Share) 359 Takarazuka 410
Rowan Atkinson at the Atkinson 298 Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap 170
Roza 326 Teddy & Alice 341
Sarafina! 346 This Was Burlesque 93
Satchmo 367 The Three Musketeers 225
Say Hello to Harvey! 136 3 Penny Opera 416
Senator Joe 398 Tintypes 52
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 143 La tragedie de Carmen (aka Carmen) 191
Shakespeare’s Cabaret 61 Uptown . . . It’s Hot! 272
Shenandoah 405 The Victor Borge Holiday Show on Broadway 425
Shirley MacLaine on Broadway 208 Waltz of the Stork 115
Show Boat 171 Welcome to the Club 390
Sid Caesar & Company: Does Anybody West Side Story 3
Know What I’m Talking About? 411 Wind in the Willows 267
Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale (March 1980) 6 Wish Me Mazel-Tov 50
Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale (October 1980) 47 The Wiz 215
Singin’ in the Rain 247 The Wizard of Oz 389
Sing, Mahalia, Sing! 285 Woman of the Year 74
Smile 308 Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1980) 31
Song & Dance (two one-act musicals, the Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1982) 147
musical Song [aka Tell Me on a Sunday] Zorba 187
1979–1980 Season
CANTERBURY TALES
Theatre: Rialto Theatre
Opening Date: February 12, 1980; Closing Date: February 24, 1980
Performances: 16
Book: Martin Starkie and Nevill Coghill (adaptation based on Coghill’s translation of Geoffrey Chaucer)
Lyrics: Nevill Coghill
Music: Richard Hill and John Hawkins
Based on Geoffrey Chaucer’s collection of stories The Canterbury Tales (written between 1387 and 1400); for
the musical, four of the twenty-four tales were adapted: “The Miller’s Tale,” “The Steward’s Tale,” “The
Merchant’s Tale,” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale.”
Direction: Robert Johanson; Producers: Burry Fredrik and Bruce Schwartz; Choreography: Randy Hugill; Scen-
ery: Michael Anania; Costumes: Sigrid Insull; Lighting: Gregg Marriner; Musical Direction: John Kroner
Cast: Earl McCarroll (Chaucer, January), Robert Stoeckle (Knight), Robert Tetirick (Squire, Nicholas, Damian,
Horse), Andy Ferrell (Yeoman, John, King Arthur), Mimi Sherwin (Prioress), K. K. Preece (Nun, Proser-
pina), Kaylyn Dillehay (Molly, Guenevere), Tricia Witham (May), Krista Neumann (Alison, Sweetheart),
Andrew Traines (Friar, Justinus), Vance Mizelle (Merchant, Gervase), Richard Stillman (Clerk, Robin,
Page, Horse), Polly Pen (Cook, Miller’s Wife, Duenna), Win Atkins (Miller), Ted Houck Jr. (Stewart, Car-
penter, Placebo), Maureen Sadusk (Wife of Bath, Old Woman), Kelly Walters (Summoner, Absalon, Alan),
Martin Walsh (Pardoner, Executioner), George Maguire (Host, Pluto)
The musical was presented in two acts.
The action takes place in England over a period of four days during the late 1300s.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Prologue” (Earl McCarroll, Company); “Welcome Song” (George Maguire, Company); “Goodnight
Hymn” (Company); “Canterbury Day” (Company); “Horse Ride” (Company); The Miller’s Tale: “I Have
a Noble Cock” (Robert Tetirick); “There’s the Moon” (Robert Tetirick, Krista Neumann); and “Darling,
Let Me Teach You How to Kiss” (Kelly Walters); “It Depends on What You’re At” (Maureen Sadusk,
K. K. Preece, Company); The Steward’s Tale: “Beer Is Best” (Win Atkins, Polly Pen, Kaylyn Dillehay,
Kelly Walters, Andy Ferrell); “Love Will Conquer All” (Mimi Sherwin, K. K. Preece, Company); “Canter-
bury Day” (reprise) (Company)
Act Two: “Come on and Marry Me, Honey” (Maureen Sadusk, Company); “Where Are the Girls of Yester-
day?” (George Maguire; danced by Krista Neumann, Tricia Witham, Kaylyn Dillehay); The Merchant’s
Tale: “April Song” (Company); “If She Has Never Loved Before” (Earl McCarroll, Tricia Witham); “I’ll
Give My Love a Ring” (Robert Tetirick, Tricia Witham); “Pear Tree Sextet” (Earl McCarroll, Tricia
Witham, Robert Tetirick, George Maguire, K. K. Preece, Vance Mizelle); The Wife of Bath’s Tale: “What
1
2 THE COMPLETE BOOK OF 1980s BROADWAY MUSICALS
Do Women Most Desire” (Knights and Ladies) and “I Am All Ablaze” (Robert Stoeckle; danced by Andy
Ferrell and Kaylyn Dillehay); “Love Will Conquer All” (Mimi Sherwin, K. K. Preece, Company)
The 1980s began with two revivals, Canterbury Tales and West Side Story, which were followed by the
New York City Opera Company’s frequently revived Die Fledermaus and the company’s American premiere
of Kurt Weill’s Silverlake. From there, the season saw two imports with incidental music, Censored Scenes
from King Kong and Heartaches of a Pussycat. In late March, the decade finally saw its first original book
musical when the short-running Reggae opened, and it was followed by the quick-closing Happy New Year,
which grafted Cole Porter songs into a new adaptation of Philip Barry’s comedy-drama Holiday. It wasn’t until
April 30 that Barnum gave the decade its first long-running book musical, and so the circus show joined the
earlier revival of Peter Pan, the London import Evita, and the revue Sugar Babies as the 1979–1980 season’s
fourth hit musical. Barnum was soon followed by the season’s fifth success with the two one-act musical
imports A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine. Black Broadway was a limited-engagement celebra-
tion of black performers from both old and new Broadway, the book musical Musical Chairs was a fast flop,
Blackstone! was a well-received magic revue, and the season’s final show was the import Billy Bishop Goes to
War, which had a short Broadway run and quickly transferred to Off Broadway where it played a few weeks.
The British musical Canterbury Tales first saw life as a college production, and was later recorded as
The Canterbury Pilgrims, a collection of excerpts from Nevill Coghill’s translation of Chaucer as well as
original songs and background music by Richard Hill and John Hawkins. The London production opened at
the Phoenix Theatre on March 21, 1968, and enjoyed a marathon run of 2,082 performances. But the original
Broadway mounting, which opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on February 3, 1969, lasted for just 121
showings (it received mixed reviews, and Edwin Newman on WNBCTV4 noted it seemed to take place on
“Cape Codpiece” rather than on the road to Canterbury). Despite the brief Broadway run, the musical em-
barked on a national tour (with Ray Walston, Constance Carpenter, Martyn Green, and Reid Shelton) and
omitted two dance numbers (“Mug Dance” and “Love Pas de Deux”) and one song (“Pear Tree Quintet”) from
the Broadway production.
The musical took place in the late 1300s during a four-day pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral; in order
to pass the time on their journey, the pilgrims entertain one another with various stories, all of which deal
with romantic if not downright ribald events (seductions, cuckolded husbands, and older men incapable of
sexual arousal and thus in need of aphrodisiacs).
The current revival had first been seen Off Broadway at the Equity Library Theatre on November 29, 1979,
where it ran for thirty performances before transferring to the Rialto Theatre where it played for two weeks.
The reviews were mostly indifferent, and John Corry in the New York Times said the “lumpy” show had gen-
erally indistinguishable characters, “leaden” song cues, and a mostly disappointing score. But he noted there
was a “feeling of fun” throughout the show, and Robert Johanson’s “adroit” direction and Randy Hugill’s
“imaginative” choreography were helpful. Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News felt the production
lacked style and was “genuinely wearing” with “routine” and “stock quality” performances. Further, the
small stage looked “cluttered” and the limited playing area made Hugill’s dance numbers look “constrained.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post noted that free champagne was offered to the audience after the
opening-night performance but a blood transfusion would have been more helpful. The evening was a “hor-
ror” with “essentially characterless” music, a “nasty-looking” set, “look-nothing” costumes, and a lighting
scheme that was a “mistake if only because it was on.” Overall, the evening had the aura of “sad, semi-am-
ateur circumstances.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily felt the coy revival offered “negligible” songs
and a certain “inevitable kittenishness” of conception. But the direction was “clever” and the dances were
“lively,” and he hoped the musical might induce theatergoers to actually read Chaucer. Dennis Cunningham
on WCBSTV2 mentioned that the direction provided “all manner of shtick to make us forget how God-awful
the script really is.”
The London cast album was released by Decca Records (LP # SKL/LK-4956; later issued by That’s Enter-
tainment Records LP # TER-1076). The original Broadway production was recorded by Capitol Records (LP #
SW-2290), and was later issued on CD by Broadway Angel Records (# ZDM-5-65171-2) and reissued on CD
by Arkiv Records/EMI (# 65171).
There were two other lyric versions of The Canterbury Tales. The opera The Canterbury Pilgrims pre-
miered at the Metropolitan Opera House on March 8, 1917, for seven performances; the music was by Regi-
1979–1980 SEASON 3
nald De Koven (who had composed the hit 1891 operetta Robin Hood) and the libretto was by playwright
Percy MacKaye, who adapted the work from his 1903 play of the same name. An unsigned review in the New
York Times praised the “really sumptuous” production and the “unceasingly melodious” score.
Another lyric adaptation of the work was the Canadian musical Get Thee to Canterbury (book by Jan
Steen and David Secter, lyrics by Secter, and music by Paul Hoffert), which opened Off Broadway at the Sheri-
dan Square Playhouse on January 15, 1969, some two weeks before the 1969 Broadway premiere of the London
production. Noting that two different versions of The Canterbury Tales had opened in New York within
such a short time, Clive Barnes, then reviewing for the New York Times, commented that there were “flying
Chaucers” everywhere. As for the score of the Off-Broadway version (which was advertised as “A Medieval
Happenynge”), Barnes said the music reminded him of the “duller and more forgettable hymns in the English
hymnal.” Get Thee to Canterbury closed after twenty performances.
The current Canterbury Tales was the first legitimate production to play at the refurbished Rialto The-
atre, which was located on Broadway between 42nd and 43rd Streets. The venue was originally a film theatre,
and eventually deteriorated into an X-rated movie house. With its restoration there were hopes the 499-seat
venue would become a viable Middle (or Limited) Broadway theatre. Kissel said the house looked “spiffy,” and
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal reported that the theatre was “elegantly refurbished, chandeliered,
sconced, and comfortably seated.” But one or two critics noted the stage was too small and that the theatre
was lacking in generous wing space. The house had a handful of bookings during the years 1980–1982, and
Blues in the Night was the final show to play there. It soon became a television studio, and in 2002 was de-
molished to make way for a high-rise office building.
WEST SIDE STORY

Theatre: Minskoff Theatre
Opening Date: February 14, 1980; Closing Date: November 30, 1980
Performances: 333
Book: Arthur Laurents
Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Music: Leonard Bernstein
Based on a conception of Jerome Robbins and loosely based on William Shakespeare’s 1594 play Romeo and
Juliet.
Direction: Jerome Robbins (Gerald Freedman, Codirector); Producers: Gladys Rackmil, The John F. Kennedy
Center, and James M. Nederlander in association with Zev Bufman (Ruth Mitchell, Executive Producer;
Allan Tessler, Steven Jacobson, and Stewart F. Lane, Associate Producers); Choreography: Jerome Rob-
bins (Peter Gennaro, Co-Choreographer; choreography reproduced with the assistance of Tom Abbott and
Lee Becker Theodore); Scenery: Oliver Smith; Costumes: Irene Sharaff; Lighting: Jean Rosenthal; Musical
Directors: John DeMain and Donald Jennings
Cast: The Jets—James J. Mellon (Riff), Ken Marshall (Tony), Mark Bove (Action), Todd Lester (A-Rab), Brian
Kaman (Baby John), Cleve Asbury (Snowboy), Reed Jones (Big Deal), Brent Barrett (Diesel), G. Russell Wei-
landich (Gee-Tar), Stephen Bogardus (Mouth Piece), Mark Fotopoulos (Tiger); The Jets’ Girls—Georganna
Mills (Graziella), Heather Lea Gerdes (Velma), Frankie Wade (Minnie), Charlene Gehm (Clarice), Nancy
Louise Chismar (Pauline); Missy Whitchuch (Anybodys); The Sharks—Hector Jaime Mercado (Bernardo),
Jossie De Guzman (Maria), Debbie Allen (Anita), Ray Contreras (Chino), Michael Rivera (Pepe), Darryl
Tribble (Indio), Adrian Rosario (Luis), Michael De Lorenzo (Anxious), Willie Rosario (Nibbles), Michael
Franks (Juano), Mark Morales (Toro), Gary-Michael Davies (Moose); The Sharks’ Girls—Yamil Borges (Ro-
salia), Nancy Ticotin (Consuelo), Harolyn Blackwell (Francisca), Stephanie E. Williams (Teresita), Marlene
Danielle (Estella), Amy Lester (Marguerita); The Adults—Sammy Smith (Doc), Arch Johnson (Schrank),
John Bentley (Krupke), Jake Turner (Gladhand)
The action takes place during the last days of Summer 1957 on the West Side of New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Prologue” (danced by The Jets and The Sharks); “Jet Song” (James J. Mellon, The Jets); “Some-
thing’s Coming” (Ken Marshall); “The Dance at the Gym” (The Jets and The Sharks); “Maria” (Ken Mar-
shall); “Tonight” (Ken Marshall, Jossie De Guzman); “America” (Debbie Allen, Yamil Borges, The Shark
Girls); “Cool” (James J. Mellon, The Jets); “One Hand, One Heart” (Ken Marshall, Jossie De Guzman);
“Tonight” (Quintet and Chorus) (Company); “The Rumble” (danced by James J. Mellon, Hector Jaime
Mercado, The Jets, The Sharks)
Act Two: “I Feel Pretty” (Jossie De Guzman, Yamil Borges, Nancy Ticotin, Harolyn Blackwell); “Somewhere”
(danced by Company; sung by Harolyn Blackwell); “Gee, Officer Krupke” (Mark Bove, The Jets); “A Boy
Like That”/“I Have a Love” (Debbie Allen, Jossie De Guzman); “Taunting” (danced by Debbie Allen and
The Jets); Finale (Company)
West Side Story was the first Broadway musical to use book, lyrics, music, and choreography to tell its
story. Other musicals had used a dance or two to further the plot, but most Broadway dances emanated from,
or were attached to, a song. For the most part, dance segments in most Broadway musicals could have been
removed and the plot would have still moved forward. But eliminating the dances from West Side Story (“Pro-
logue,” “The Dance at the Gym,” “America,” “Cool,” “Rumble,” “Somewhere,” “Taunting,” and even the
vaudeville-styled antics accompanying “Gee, Officer Krupke”) is unthinkable: these dances advance the plot,
explore character, and provide atmosphere. Without them, the story of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, here
transplanted to the New York City of the 1950s with its American and Puerto Rican street gangs, would be
eviscerated. Few musicals can be called landmarks, but with its innovative use of dance West Side Story is
one of the towering achievements of American musical theatre.
The original production opened on September 26, 1957, at the Winter Garden Theatre for 732 perfor-
mances, and ten months after its Broadway closing it reopened at the same theatre for an additional 249
showings. Since then, the work has been revived in New York four times: a New York City Center Light
Opera Company production opened on April 8, 1964, at City Center for 31 performances; a Music Theatre of
Lincoln Center engagement opened on June 24, 1968, at the New York State Theatre for 89 performances; the
current production; and a revival that opened at the Palace Theatre on March 19, 2009, for 748 performances.
The first London production premiered at Her Majesty’s Theatre on December 12, 1958, for 1,039 per-
formances, and the popular 1961 film version released by United Artists was directed by Robert Wise and
Jerome Robbins (the film won nine competitive Academy Awards, including Best Picture). Ironically, George
Chakiris, who played the role of the Jets’ gang leader Riff in the London stage version played the Sharks’
gang leader Bernardo for the film, and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal (Rita Moreno
played Anita and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and Robbins won a special Academy Award for
his choreography).
Walter Kerr in the New York Times noted that seeing the musical some twenty-five years after its original
production allowed him to enjoy the choreography more. In 1957, the dances provided a “new look in move-
ment [that] was mesmerizing.” But now he was “freer” to watch and enjoy “the dance as dance.” As a result,
the revival was “colorful, edgy, with energy, and exciting in its dance confrontations.” However, he noted that
the evening sometimes tended to “press its Shakespearean parallels too hard” and as a result the first meet-
ing of Tony and Maria seemed too “arbitrarily stylized”; further, Laurent’s “street jargon” wasn’t authentic.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News praised the “vivid, precedent-shattering” musical but noted it
wasn’t without flaws and that an “air of quaintness” had overtaken it. Bernstein’s “superior” score still had
“power and versatility,” but Laurents’s book, while “still serviceable,” revealed “more and more weak spots.”
But Jossie (aka Josie) De Guzman was an “engaging” Maria, Debbie Allen was “all one could ask for” as the
“mercurial” Anita, and Hector Jaime Mercado was “impressive.” However, Ken Marshall’s Tony was “less
effective”; he sang “capably enough,” but the show was so heavily miked it was somewhat difficult to judge
his singing (and he acted “rather woodenly”). Clive Barnes in the New York Post praised the “grandeur” of
one of Broadway’s “imperial” scores, said the choreography was “tremendous,” and both the original produc-
tion and the current revival were landmarks. But he noted that the “stumbles” in Laurents’s book were “a bit
more noticeable” in its wavering between “legitimate melodrama and ordinary theatrics.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal also had qualms about Laurents’s contributions. The musical’s
“obvious and simplistic” message was that gang wars could be stopped if “prejudice and poverty” could be
1979–1980 SEASON 5
eliminated. As a result, the show’s “sociology” was “heavy-handed” and burdened the story. John Beaufort in
the Christian Science Monitor said the revival was “an occasion for rejoicing”; there was “spectacular energy”
in Robbins’s dances, the music offered “riches,” the lyrics were “adroit,” and Debbie Allen brought down the
house with her “uproarious” look at “America.”
T. E. Kalem in Time said Robbins was “the Jove of theatre choreography,” whose dances were “thunder-
bolts of invention” that turned his dancers “into airborne Ariels who touch the ground merely to skip sky-
ward again.” Charles Michener in Newsweek felt the musical was “soft” in its social commentary, and com-
plained that Robbins had “defanged” the revival with some “curious casting.” Most of the Jets came across
“like teacher’s pets” and Marshall looked as if he’d “apple-polished his way into Columbia from somewhere
in the Middle West.” But the choreography was “menacing and exultant,” Bernstein’s music “knifes through
the air,” and Sondheim’s lyrics punched “a song into meaning with poetic urgency.” Further, Debbie Allen
was a “knockout” and her performance conveyed “a sense of real, hard-won survival.”
The script was published in hardback by Random House in 1958, and while there are numerous recordings
of the score, the original Broadway cast album is the best all-around version (Columbia Records LP # OL-5230
and # OS-2001; later issued on CD # SK-60724 by Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy Records, which includes
a suite of symphonic dances from the score by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Bernstein).
AWARDS
Tony Award Nominations: Best Revival (West Side Story); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Debbie Allen);
Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Jossie De Guzman)
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Theatre: New York State Theatre
Opening Date: February 23, 1980; Closing Date: March 1, 1980
Performances: 4 (in repertory)
Libretto: Carl Haffner and Richard Genee (English adaptation by Ruth and Thomas Martin)
Music: Johann Strauss
Based on the play Le reveillon by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy.
Direction: Gerald Freedman; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director);
Choreography: Thomas Andrew (Andrew’s original choreography reconstructed by Jessica Redel); Cho-
reography for Cynthia Gregory by Dennis Nahat; Scenery: Lloyd Evans; Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge;
Lighting: Hans Sondheimer; Chorus Master: Lloyd Walser; Musical Direction: Imre Pallo
Cast: Gerald Grahame (Alfred), Inga Nielsen (Adele), Maralin Niska (Rosalinda von Eisenstein), Charles Roe
(Gabriel von Eisenstein), Norman Large (Doctor Blind), Dominic Cossa (Doctor Falke), Richard McKee
(Frank), Puli Toro (Sally), Gary J. Dietrich (Ivan), David Rae Smith (Prince Orlofsky), Jack Harrold (Frosch);
Solo Dancers: Esperanza Galan and Taras Kalba; Special Guest Dance Soloist: Cynthia Gregory; Ensem-
ble: The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers
The operetta was presented in three acts.
The action takes place in a summer resort near Vienna during the latter part of the nineteenth century.
Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus (The Bat) premiered on April 5, 1874, at the Theatre an der Wien in
Vienna, and was an immediate success because of Strauss’s enchanting music and the light-as-air plot of
amorous misbehavior, marital deceptions, mistaken identities, and the requisite happy and romantic ending.
The work was first sung in New York in German at Brooklyn’s Thalia Theatre on October 18, 1879, for
7 performances in repertory, and the first English adaptation (by Sydney Rosenfeld) opened at the Casino
Theatre on March 16, 1885, for 42 performances. The operetta has been revived numerous times in both Ger-
man and English, including such adaptations as The Merry Countess (Casino Theatre, August 20, 1912, for
135 performances; adaptation by Gladys Unger and lyrics by Arthur Anderson); A Wonderful Night (Majestic
Theatre, October 31, 1929, for 125 performances with Archie Leach, who later changed his name to Cary
Grant; adaptation by Fanny Todd Mitchell); Champagne, Sec (Morosco Theatre, October 30, 1933, for 113
performances; adaptation by Alan Child [aka Lawrence Langer] and lyrics by Robert A. Simon); and the most
successful of all, Rosalinda (44th Street Theatre, October 28, 1942, for 521 performances; the adaptation by
Gottfried Reinhardt and John Meehan Jr., was based on an earlier version by Max Reinhardt). In 1943, The
Rose Masque was another version of the operetta; in this instance, the production was seen in Los Angeles
and San Francisco but never risked New York.
During the 1980s, the New York City Opera Company revived the operetta five times for a total of
twenty-seven performances (besides the current production, the work was seen in September 1980, 1981,
1986, and 1987; for information about these four revivals, see specific entries). The operetta was also per-
formed in German by the Vienna Volksoper in 1984 (see entry).
For the current revival, Joseph Horowitz in the New York Times said the evening was “generally spar-
kling” and he noted that Maralin Niska, Inga Nielsen, and Cynthia Gregory made “strong contributions.”
Niska’s Rosalinda was “feisty” and had “poise and enthusiasm,” and while her voice wasn’t “sweet” it
was a “substantial instrument” that she used with “authority.” As Adele, Inga Nielsen “handled her notes
smoothly and accurately” with a voice “of notable size and luster for a soubrette.” American Ballet Theatre’s
Cynthia Gregory was given a “lyrical, long-lined solo” that was choreographed by Dennis Nahat, and it
proved a “vital addition” to the ballroom scene where Gregory was “absorbed into the festivities rather than
outsizing them.” Conductor Imre Pallo had a “light touch and a strong affinity for the style” of the operetta.
There are innumerable recordings of Strauss’s score (almost all of which include a libretto), but there
doesn’t seem to be a recording of the Reinhardt and Meehan adaptation, which has proven to be the most
popular of all the English versions.
SILVERLAKE, OR A WINTER’S TALE

Opening Date: March 20, 1980; Closing Date: April 4, 1980
Book: Georg Kaiser (adaptation by Hugh Wheeler)
Lyrics: Georg Kaiser (new lyrics by Lys Symonette)
Music: Kurt Weill (other incidental music by Weill was interpolated into the current production by Lys Sy-
monette)
Direction: Harold Prince; Producers: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director)
and Gert von Gontard; Choreography: Larry Fuller; Scenery and Costumes: Manuel Lutgenhorst; Lighting:
Ken Billington; Chorus Master: Lloyd Walser; Musical Direction: Julius Rudel
Cast: Harlan Foss (Johann), Robert McFarland (Dietrich), William Neill (Severin), Edward Zimmerman
(Heckler), James Clark (Klaus), Norman Large (Hans), Gary Chryst (Hunger), Penny Orloff (Salesgirl), Jane
Shaulis (Salesgirl), David Rae Smith (Handke), Joey Grey (Officer Olim), William Poplaski (City Inspec-
tor), Jack Harrold (Lottery Agent, Baron Laur), Richard L. Porter (Doctor), Elizabeth Hynes (Fennimore),
Gary Dietrich (Liveried Footman), Elaine Bonazzi (Frau von Luber), Michael Rubino (Chef), Rafael Romero
(Chef); Singing Ensemble: The New York City Opera Chorus; Dancing Ensemble: The New York City
Opera Dancers
The opera was presented in two acts.
The action takes place in and around the village of Silverlake.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t identify musical numbers; the following list is taken from the cast recording of the
City Opera production.
Act One: “Duet of the Woodcutters” (Harlan Foss, Robert McFarland); “Duet of the Salesgirls” (Penny Or-
loff, Jane Shaulis); “In the Police Station” (Unseen Chorus); “Tango” (Joel Grey); “Olim! Olim!” (Unseen
Chorus); “Duet in the Hospital” (William Neill, Joel Grey); “Fennimore’s Song” (Elizabeth Hynes); “The
Ballad of Caesar’s Death” (Elaine Bonazzi); “Severin’s Revenge Aria” (William Neill); “Severin-Fennimore
Duet” (William Neill, Elizabeth Hynes); Act One Finale (Chorus)
1979–1980 SEASON 7
Act Two: “Severin in Chains” (William Neill); “First Laur and Von Luber Duet” (Elaine Bonazzi, Jack Har-
rold); “Friendship Duet” (Joel Grey, William Neill); “Second Laur and Von Luber Duet” (Elaine Bonazzi,
Jack Harrold); Act Two Finale (Chorus, Elizabeth Hynes, Joel Grey, William Neill)
Kurt Weill’s opera Silverlake; or, A Winter’s Tale was first presented in New York by the New York City
Opera Company some forty-seven years after the work premiered in Germany as Der silbersee: Ein winter-
marchen in 1933. The original German production actually held three simultaneous premieres in three Ger-
man cities (Leipzig, Magdeburg, and Erfurt) on the night of February 18, 1933, just three weeks after Hitler
was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Because of the political nature of Weill’s and librettist Georg Kaiser’s
various works, the German government looked askance at the opera, and some performances were disrupted
and eventually shut down. In his The Days Grow Short/The Life and Music of Kurt Weill, Ronald Sanders
reports that a review of the opera in the Nazi mouthpiece Volkischer Beobachter stated that the “Jew” Weill
“must be approached with the greatest suspicion,” and a viewing of Der Silbersee proved that “suspicion”
of the composer was indeed “well grounded.” Further, some four weeks after the opera’s premiere Weill was
secretly notified that the Gestapo planned to arrest him, and so he surreptitiously made his way out of Ger-
many and temporarily settled in Paris.
Silverlake contained political elements, most notably the controversial song “Ballad of Caesar’s Death”
which stated that a political leader who lives by the sword will die by it, clearly a comment which didn’t sit
well with Hitler’s supporters. The current production was adapted by Hugh Wheeler and Lys Symonette, and
theirs was a free adaptation which played down the work’s political elements and focused on the humanitar-
ian aspects of the story.
The plot focused on the initial hostility between police officer Olim (Joel Grey) and homeless man Severin
(William Neill). When Olim attains wealth he becomes more aware of the disparity between the rich and
poor, and he and Severin become friends. The two begin a journey to Silverlake, a city that espouses brother-
hood and freedom, and that lies on the opposite side of a huge lake. Although the winter weather has turned
spring-like, a miracle occurs when the ice on the lake remains frozen and allows the two men to walk across
it to the peaceful city of Silverlake.
In some ways, the opera was the antithesis of Weill’s and Bertolt Brecht’s Rise and Fall of the City of
Mahagonny, which looked at the corrupt and evil city that is miraculously spared from destruction by a fierce
hurricane. But in the case of Mahagonny, the miracle is interpreted as God’s blessing upon the city, and so
corruption becomes manifest and the opera ends on a cynical note when the hero is executed for the worst
crime imaginable, that of not paying his bills.
Alan Rich in New York said some of the musical “distortion” (including the assignment of “The Ballad
of Caesar’s Death” to a different character) was “one symptom” of director Harold Prince’s “overall failure to
comprehend either play or music.” He complained about the “perverse” casting of Joel Grey as a “towering
avatar of conscience and moral probity” when instead the actor should have been cast in a role “he might
possibly qualify for,” such as “Skippy, say, or Sandy in a dinner-theatre Annie.” As a result, Grey brought “a
timid squeak even smaller than himself” to Weill’s “splendid” songs. As for the lake of the title, it was the
“size and shape of one of those patio fish-ponds.”
Thor Eckert Jr., in the Christian Science Monitor noted that all the singers were “amplified in true Broad-
way tradition, a most ominous event for an opera house” (but he doubted Grey “could have managed” with-
out the amplification). As for the lake, it was “a very tiny puddle of silverized plastic sheeting that is given
the semblance of waves with forced air.”
In reviewing a performance of Silverlake during its second round of City Opera performances, Peter G.
Davis in the New York Times noted that while there had been “critical reservations” about the revamped
opera, he felt that Wheeler and Symonette had created an “eminently stageworthy piece” that brimmed “with
theatrical energy.”
Incidentally, the director of the Leipzig production was Detlef Sierck, who as Douglas Sirk made his mark
in Hollywood as the director of a series of intense over-the-top soap opera–like films that used symbolism
and blazing colors to tell their stories. Among his films were Magnificent Obsession (1953), All That Heaven
Allows (1956), Written on the Wind (1956), and Imitation of Life (1959).
The current production was recorded by Nonesuch Records on a two-LP set that includes the libretto
(# DB-79003). In 1990, a recording in the original German was released on a two-CD set by Capriccio Records
(# 60011-2). The opera is analyzed in R. J. Spencer’s An Historical Study of Kurt Weill’s Der Silbersee: Ein
wintermachen, published in softcover in 2013 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
The opera returned to City Opera’s repertory during the following season when it opened at the New York
State Theatre on October 11, 1980, for four performances in repertory; this time around, John Lankston sang
the role of Officer Olim. (See entry for more information.)
CENSORED SCENES FROM KING KONG

“A Comic Extravaganza”
Theatre: Princess Theatre

Opening Date: March 6, 1980; Closing Date: March 9, 1980
Performances: 5
Play and Lyrics: Howard Schuman
Music: Andy Roberts
Direction: Colin Bucksey; Producers: Michael White and Eddie Kulukundis (Robert S. Fishko, Associate Pro-
ducer); Choreography: David Toguri; Scenery: Mike Porter; Costumes: Jennifer Von Mayrhauser; Lighting:
Richard Nelson; Musical Direction: Not Credited
Cast: Stephen Collins (Stephen), Nicky Mieholes (The Voice of the Producer), Pete Flasher (The Voice of the
Author), Peter Reigert (S. K. Vogel, S. L. Vogel, Sauvage Sagar, Vincenzo Chiaruggi); The Fantoccini Sis-
ters: Carrie Fisher (Iris) and Alma Cuervo (Deborah); Chris Sarandon (Benchgelter), Edward Love (Walter
Wilma)
The play with music was presented in two acts.
The action takes place in London during the present time.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Ha-Cha” (Carrie Fisher, Alma Cuervo, Edward Love); “Banana Oil” (Carrie Fisher, Alma Cuervo,
Edward Love); “He Ain’t Sacred of Nothing” (Stephen Collins)
Act Two: “Number One” (Carrie Fisher, Alma Cuervo, Edward Love); “Soft Shoe Freak” (Peter Reigert); “The
Other Side of the Wall” (Edward Love)
The work advertised itself as “a comic extravaganza,” but as far as the critics were concerned, Howard
Schuman’s play-with-songs Censored Scenes from King Kong offered little in the way of comedy. And with
one set and a six-member cast (along with prerecorded music and an offstage piano), one assumes the word
“extravaganza” was used tongue-in-cheek. Along with Heartaches of a Pussycat and Bruce Forsyth on Broad-
way! (which had opened during the previous summer), Censored Scenes was the shortest-running musical of
the season.
The show had first been seen at the Edinburgh Festival in 1977 and was followed by a London production
at the Open Space Theatre on October 21, 1977. A few years prior to its stage premiere, the work was report-
edly filmed by the BBC (with a cast that included Julie Covington), but the network later declined to telecast
the production. It appears the film has never been shown publicly, and along with the 1929 film version of
The Five O’Clock Girl may well be the only film version of a play to be shelved upon completion and never
released.
All the action took place in the System, a tacky London nightclub where former journalist Stephen (Ste-
phen Collins) is investigating the rumor that cut scenes from the 1933 film King Kong contained coded (and
secret!) information for German agents during the years before World War II. As a result, the spies had to wait
for Son of Kong in order to ascertain if that film might contain more secret information. Or maybe the deleted
scenes had nothing whatsoever to do with politics and were instead coded messages for an international dope
ring. The plot wasn’t any too clear, and the critics weren’t entirely certain what the play was about (but Joel
Siegel on WABCTV7 was sure there “ain’t no Nazis” in the story and the “only international dopes” were the
ones who brought the play to Broadway).
1979–1980 SEASON 9
At the club, Stephen meets the System’s owner Benchgelter (Chris Sarandon) and the club’s black piano
player Walter Wilma (Edward Love), both of whom brought to mind another movie (Casablanca). Among the
club’s menagerie are Iris (Carrie Fisher) and Deborah (Alma Cuervo), two singers and dancers who hope to
make it in show business, as well as a trio of mysterious characters (all played by Peter Reigert). In what is
perhaps a pre-Producers homage, one of Reigert’s roles was that of Sauvage Sagar, a collector of King Kong
memorabilia: he’s unable to walk without the help of canes, and at one point he tosses sand on the stage,
clicks his metal canes in place, and proceeds to go into a mean soft shoe.
The headline of Douglas Watt’s review in the New York Daily News said to “Drop It Off the Empire
State Building” because the show was a “disaster” and a “godawful mess” with “dumb” songs. Siegel said the
evening had no “material,” only “remnants.” His television review included a snippet of one of the show’s
songs, and he noted it was “one of the six worst songs ever performed on a Broadway stage” and warned that
“the other five are in this show, too.”
Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 said the first act was “confused,” the first twenty minutes of the
second were “consistently zany,” and then the remainder of the second act collapsed. As a result, it was im-
possible “to go ape over” the show. Mel Gussow in the New York Times noted the evening was “sparse on
laughs” and “about as spectacular as a cocktail piano.” The show was “as whimsical as it is witless” and it
was “sub-Monty Python” in its comedy. He mentioned that one line spoken by Carrie Fisher summed up the
entire evening: “What a load of banana oil!”
The Princess Theatre (which was no relation to the fabled theatre on West 39th Street that had seen the
premieres of a series of so-called “Princess” musicals by Jerome Kern and was demolished in 1955) had been
the site of the popular nightclub the Latin Quarter. The venue was located at Broadway and West 47th Street;
once the night spot closed, the space eventually deteriorated into an X-rated movie house, but was briefly
resurrected as a traditional theatre known as the 22 Steps when Coquelico opened on February 22, 1979. The
theatre was so named because one had to ascend twenty-two steps in order to reach the auditorium, which
was located on the second floor of a mid-town building. The venue was generally considered as both a Broad-
way and Off-Broadway house, but it appears most if not all its productions were under a Middle or Limited
Broadway contract (the theatre seated a total of 450 patrons, but except for an occasional opening night it’s
unlikely the venue ever enjoyed a sold-out performance).
In 1980, the theater was renamed the Princess, but by 1984 it reverted to its original name, the Latin
Quarter. The final show to play there was Charles Strouse’s Mayor, which transferred from Off Broadway
in 1985. In 1989, the building that housed the theatre was demolished and today a hotel stands on the site.
Clive Barnes in the New York Post commented that the theatre season would be hard-pressed to “out-
match in horror” the “little number” called Censored Scenes from King Kong. (The headline of his review
read that Kong was “more to be pitied than censored.”) After this “debacle,” he suggested the Princess The-
atre should be called the Duchess Theatre or perhaps even the 21 Steps because “no theater is quite the same
after an experience like this.”
Besides the six songs heard during the evening, Irving Berlin’s “There’s No Business Like Show Business”
(Annie Get Your Gun, 1946) was sung by Carrie Fisher. Barnes trusted that “ASCAP is arranging for Berlin to
receive royalties” because “why should everyone suffer?” The critic also noted that during the entire 1979–
1980 season, one show would no doubt claim a gold medal for being “unutterably awful,” “stupendously
bad,” and “pitifully dismal,” and he clearly believed Censored Scenes from King Kong had a good chance for
winning that award.
HEARTACHES OF A PUSSYCAT
Theatre: ANTA Theatre
Performances: 5
Text: Genevieve Serreau and James Lord
Music: Not credited
Based on a story by Honore de Balzac.
Direction: Alfredo Rodriguez-Arias; Producers: Kim D’Estainville and The Group TSE (Jack Schlissel, Asso-
ciate Producer); Choreography: Marilu Marini; Scenery: Emilio Carcano; Original Designs: Andre Diot;
Costumes: Claudie Gastine; Masks: Rostislav Doboujinsky; Lighting: Beverly Emmons; Musical Direc-
tion: Michel Sanvoisin
Cast: Jacques Jolivet (Christy, Tomcat, Doctor, Altolaguirre), Amelie Berg (Pussycat, Lulu, Cactus), Facundo
Bo (Old Maid, Risque, Puss-in-Boots), Larry Hager (Minister, Tomcat, Beggar), Raquel Iruzubieta (Mother
of Beauty, Rhoda, Rose), Marilu Marini (Beauty), Horatio Pedrazzini (Mother of Lulu, Sir Midas, Asset),
Zobeid Jaua (Lord Plumage, Thistle), Alain Salomon (Captain Pack, Tomcat), Jerome Nicolin (Arabella,
Butterfly), Joachin Riano (Rabbit, Guitarist), Jean-Jacques Gueroult (Dog, Viola Player)
The play with incidental music was presented in two acts.
The action takes place circa 1840 in Ireland, London, the English countryside, and Paris.
Musical Sequences
The program did not list individual musical numbers.
The import Heartaches of a Pussycat was based on a French script that was first produced in Argentina in
1977 and was later seen in such cities as Paris and London. Broadway hadn’t been quite ready for the “cats”
musical Shinbone Alley in 1957, and it wasn’t receptive to Pussycat, which lasted less than a week (and with
Censored Scenes from King Kong and Bruce Forsyth on Broadway!, which had opened during the previous
summer, it became the season’s shortest-running musical).
But fifteen months after the current feline heartache, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats opened in London in
June 1981 and became an immediate sensation. The following year Cats premiered on Broadway for almost
“now and forever” and made up for the short shrift given to Shinbone Alley and Heartaches of a Pussycat.
The work was based on a short story by Honore de Balzac, and the production design was inspired by the
drawings of French illustrator J. J. Grandville as seen in the 1843 work Scenes de la vie privee et publique des
animaux, which included the story upon which Pussycat was based.
The plot followed the adventures of Beauty (Marilu Marini), a lovely pussycat whose memoirs describe
her birth in Ireland, her life in London society, her marriage to a fat-cat financier, her dalliance with the hand-
some Puss-in-Boots (named Risque), and the latter’s death at the hands of a jealous fox.
The performers wore charming animal masks for the characters they portrayed (cats as well as a dog,
rabbit, fox, peacock, mouse, butterfly, and owl), and Walter Kerr in the New York Times wondered if anyone
had ever created such realistic three-dimensional masks as those designed by Rostislav Doboujinsky for the
production. Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the masks “admirable” and Clive Barnes in the
New York Post said they were “perfectly animal and yet perfectly human.” However, the wonderful masks
got in the way of the storytelling, and Kerr mentioned that the dialogue was “somewhat muffled” because of
the masks. Another problem was that the foreign-born performers had learned their English phonetically and
thus their pronunciations further contributed to the dialogue’s lack of clarity.
The critics also praised the scenic designs, particularly one that depicted the rooftops of Paris under a
starry sky. Kerr said the “stunning” sequence might “make you sick with yearning for the story-book illus-
trations of your childhood” and noted the décor included “intricately painted detail” that seemed “to have
been lacquered all over.”
Otherwise, Kerr felt that throughout the evening each sequence began strong and then quickly became
tedious with meandering dialogue and little in the way of compelling narrative. Barnes noted that Balzac’s
original story was a satire of society, but now the humor was “merely quaint.” Howard Kissel in Women’s
Wear Daily suggested the charms of the evening were primarily visual, and felt it was a shame the produc-
tion’s “opulence” didn’t give the performers more to do. Instead, the direction and the cast’s movements were
evocative of “children’s theatre.”
Watt said Pussycat “deserves to have a shoe thrown at it” because the action was “dull, doggedly (or
cattily) attenuated.” He wanted to “forget the whole business” and noted that a “good part” of the audience
“slinked off at intermission.” He concluded his review by exclaiming “Scratch! Claw! Phfftt!”
As for the music, Kerr said it was “bafflingly undeveloped” and so when a “lively quadrille” started to
“put its best paw forward,” the number suddenly “crumpled” away and wound down “to an unemphatic
finish.” Watt mentioned the evening offered a brief dream dance, and Barnes suggested that dance audiences
would most enjoy the production.
1979–1980 SEASON 11
Barnes mentioned that Jerome Robbins had “supervised” the Broadway production, and so presumably he
had a hand in the direction, the movements of the cast, and the choreography. Some of the critics noted that
the work was presented by the TSE Group, and Kerr reported that the director Alfredo Rodriguez-Arias stated
that if TSE “stands for anything, it’s T.S. Eliot.” Because the evening centered on the life of a cat, Eliot may
well have been the spiritual mentor of the production, and of course his 1939 volume of poetry Old Possum’s
Book of Practical Cats was the inspiration for Cats.
REGGAE
“A Musical Revelation”
Theatre: Biltmore Theatre

Performances: 21
Book: Melvin Van Peebles, Kendrew Lascelles, and Stafford Harrison
Lyrics and Music: Ras Karbi, Max Romeo, Michael Kamen, Randy Bishop, Kendrew Lascelles, Jackie Mittoo,
and Stafford Harrison (Note: See song list for specific credits.)
Direction: Glenda Dickerson (Gui Andrisano, Additional Direction); Producer: Michael Butler and Eric Ne-
zhad with David Cogan (Woodie King Jr., Executive Producer); Choreography: Mike Malone (Rex Net-
tleford, Cultural Consultant for Dances); Scenery: Ed Burbridge; Costumes: Raoul Pene du Bois; Lighting:
Beverly Emmons; Musical Direction: Michael Tschudin
Cast: Alvin McDuffie (Anancy aka The Spider), Sheryl Lee Ralph (Faith), Philip Michael Thomas (Esau),
Obba Babatunde (Rockets), Fran Salisbury (Mrs. Brown), Louise Robinson (Louise), Calvin Lockhart (Ras
Joseph), Ras Karbi (Natty), Charles Wisnet (Gorson), Sam Harkness (Binghi Maytal); Ensemble: Loretta
Abbott, Breeha Clarke, Ralph Glenmore, Jeffrey Anderson Gunter, Thomas Pinnock, Louise Robinson,
Kiki Shepard, Beth Shorter, Paul Cook’Tartt, Bruce Taylor, Ras-jawara Tesfa, Avon Testamark, Constance
Thomas, Juanita Grace Tyler, Byron Utley, Lewis Whitlock
The action takes place in Jamaica during the period of twenty-four hours.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Junkanoo” (lyric and music by Michael Kamen) (Masquerade Parade); “Jamaica Is Waiting” (lyric
and music by Ras Karbi, Max Romeo, and Michael Kamen) (Ensemble); “Rise Tafari” (lyric and music by
Ras Karbi) (Ensemble); “Farmer” (lyric and music by Max Romeo) (Philip Michael Thomas); “Hey, Man”
(lyric and music by Ras Karbi and Michael Kamen) (Sheryl Lee Ralph, Philip Michael Thomas); “Mash
’Em Up” (lyric and music by Kendrew Lascelles, Ras Karbi, Jackie Mittoo, and Michael Kamen) (Obba
Babatunde, Rude Boys); “Mrs. Brown” (lyric and music by Stafford Harrison and Max Romeo) (Fran Salis-
bury, Louise Robinson, Ensemble); “Everything That Touches You” (lyric and music by Michael Kamen)
(Fran Salisbury and unidentified performer); “Mash Ethiopia” (lyric and music by Kendrew Lascelles, Staf-
ford Harrison, Ras Karbi, Jackie Mittoo, and Michael Kamen) (Obba Babatunde, Rude Boys); “Star of Zion”
(lyric and music by Michael Kamen) (Ras Karbi); “Reggae Music Got Soul” (lyric and music by Jackie
Mittoo) (Sam Harkness, Ensemble); “Talkin’ ’Bout Reggae” (lyric and music by Kendrew Lascelles, Staf-
ford Harrison, Michael Kamen, and Jackie Mittoo) (Sam Harkness, Ensemble); “Everything That Touches
You” (reprise) (Sheryl Lee Ralph)
Act Two: “Rise Up, Jah-Jah Children” (lyric and music by Ras Karbi) (The Rastas, Calvin Lockhart); “No Sin-
ners in Jah Yard” (lyric and music by Max Romeo and Ras Karbi) (Calvin Lockhart, The Rastas); “Banana,
Banana, Banana” (lyric and music by Ras Karbi and Michael Kamen) (Ensemble); “Promised Land” (lyric
and music by Ras Karbi) (Ras Karbi); “Rasta Roll Call” (lyric and music by Ras Karbi) (Calvin Lockhart,
The Rastas); “Ethiopian Pageant” (music by Michael Kamen) (Orchestra); “Rastafari” (lyric and music by
Michael Kamen) (Ensemble); “Roots of the Tree” (lyric and music by Kendrew Lascelles and Ras Karbi)
(Calvin Lockhart, The Rastas); “I and I” (lyric and music by Kendrew Lascelles and Max Romeo) (Sheryl
Lee Ralph, Philip Michael Thomas); “Gotta Take a Chance” (lyric and music by Max Romeo and Michael
Kamen) (Obba Babatunde, Rude Boys); “Star of Zion” (reprise) (Ras Karbi, Sheryl Lee Ralph); “Chase the
Devil” (lyric and music by Max Romeo) (Philip Michael Thomas); “Now I See It” (lyric and music by Ken-
drew Lascelles and Randy Bishop) (Sheryl Lee Ralph); “Now I See It” (Reggae version) (reprise) (Sheryl Lee
Ralph, Ensemble); “Everything That Touches You” (reprise) (Sheryl Lee Ralph, Philip Michael Thomas);
“Reggae Music Got Soul” (reprise) (Sheryl Lee Ralph, Philip Michael Thomas, Ensemble); “Jamaica Is
Waiting” (reprise) (Sheryl Lee Ralph, Philip Michael Thomas, Ensemble)
Producer Michael Butler was credited with the “concept and production” of Reggae, and perhaps he was
looking for his second “hair” musical: he had produced the Broadway edition of Hair in 1968, which, like
Reggae, had played at the Biltmore Theatre; and while Hair celebrated long “snaggy shaggy ratty matty” hair
as emblematic of a rebellious lifestyle, many of the characters in Reggae sported dreadlocks to establish their
bona fides. But Hair played on Broadway for 1,750 performances, and Reggae managed just twenty-one show-
ings.
Reportedly written over a five-year period, the musical credited three book writers, seven lyricists and
composers, two directors, one choreographer, and one dance consultant. The show never found its tone, and
more than one critic noted the work seemed to have been created by a committee. The scattershot plot, which
took place within a twenty-four-hour period in modern-day Jamaica, observed the classical unities but forgot
to present a coherent and unified story. As a result, the evening offered too many subplots and characters and
left the critics confused about what was going on. The program even included a full-page insert of “Jamaican
Patois and Rastafarian Terminology” for the uninitiated.
Popular singer Faith (Sheryl Lee Ralph) arrives in Jamaica from the United States (which according to the
musical’s suspect politics is called Babylon) to seek her roots and meet her old flame, Esau (Philip Michael
Thomas), who grows marijuana. Another character (Natty, played by Ras Karbi, who also contributed lyrics
and music to the production) is an illiterate farmer in search of God; Ras Joseph (Calvin Lockhart) is a priest of
the Rastafarian sect (which recognizes the divinity of Ethiopian leader Haile Selassie and the religious proper-
ties of marijuana, and also espouses the notion that all blacks should return to their homeland of Africa); and
Rockets (Obba Babatunde), a member of the “rude boys” gang, which plots to steal Esau’s marijuana.
The evening also offered Binghi Maytal (Sam Harkness), a local Jamaican entertainer; Anancy, aka The
Spider (Alvin McDuffie), a kind of narrator who throughout the evening weaves in and out of the action while
striking slightly menacing and spidery poses (Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News suggested he was
similar in nature to El Pachuco, the mysterious narrator of the previous season’s Zoot Suit); and there was
even a white character, the tourist Gorson (Charles Wisnet), who had featured billing but was barely seen
throughout the show (Mel Gussow in the New York Times suspected he was a “leftover” from an earlier
version of the musical and Watt mentioned that once the tourist had his picture taken with the natives he
apparently “returned to his ship with his souvenir photo”).
Gussow said the production was a “musical confusion” that was “clotted” with characters and plots. The
dialogue was sometimes “fatuous,” the scenery was of the “tin-can” variety, and he suspected the produc-
tion might have been more successful as a concert. Clive Barnes in the New York Post found the dialogue
“simplistic” and the plot “simply simple,” and Watt said the “simpleminded” musical’s ending sequence
took place in a nightclub that found “everybody bouncing about to a disco beat while singing ‘Reggae Music
Got Soul.’” Watt suggested a nightclub venue was where Reggae “probably belonged in the first place,” and
he also observed that when Faith attends a Rastafarian religious ritual “she sees the shining ideal behind the
squalor of the Jamaican slums.” But Watt said he was “unclear” about just what Faith saw.
Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily said Reggae was “a message musical without a message” and
didn’t seem to have a plot. Further, most of the songs “could be put anywhere in the show and be just as
confusing as they are now.” Jack Kroll in Newsweek regretted that the production never “jelled,” but said the
score offered some of the “freshest” music “heard on Broadway in some time,” and Edwin Wilson in the Wall
Street Journal felt the musical “had the appearance of still being assembled when it opened.”
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 noted that reggae music was “exciting, multi-rhythmed, and infectious,” but
Reggae was “none of the above.” Whatever was seen on stage “at any given moment has nothing whatsoever
to do with what you might have seen before—or what you’re going to see next.” The musical had “no focus”
and “no point.”
1979–1980 SEASON 13
During previews, the following songs were cut: “Flowers,” “Vision,” “No Sinners,” “Market,” “Silly Si-
mon,” and “Have a Grand Time” (the latter was a traditional Jamaican song). Ruth Cooke was succeeded by
Sheryl Lee Ralph, and when his character of Turner was written out of the script, Bill McCutcheon left the
show. In preproduction, the musical was known as Rise Tafari.
Incidentally, in his review Siegel mentioned that throughout the opening-night performance the Bilt-
more’s sound system picked up a radio transmission, and so over the theatre’s speakers the audience could
hear announcer Marv Albert reporting on a Knicks game. Later in the season, Frank Rich reviewed Musical
Chairs for the New York Times and noted that Musical Chairs replaced Reggae as “the worst musical of the
1979–80 season.” But he cautioned that Musical Chairs didn’t come by this “perverse victory” in an easy
manner because the book scenes of Reggae offered the added attraction of a Knicks game that was broadcast
“incessantly” through the theatre’s loudspeakers (and the reportage of the Knicks game was the “best” part
of Reggae).
HAPPY NEW YEAR

Theatre: Morosco Theatre
Opening Date: April 27, 1980; Closing Date: May 10, 1980
Performances: 25
Book: Burt Shevelove
Lyrics: Cole Porter; additional lyrics by Burt Shevelove
Music: Cole Porter
Based on the 1928 play Holiday by Philip Barry.
Direction: Burt Shevelove; Producers: Leonard Soloway, Allan Francis, and Hale Matthews in association
with Marble Arch Productions (Dorothy Cherry, Associate Producer); Choreography: Donald Saddler
(Mercedes Ellington, Assistant Choreographer); Scenery: Michael Eagan; Costumes: Pierre Balmain; Light-
ing: Ken Billington; Musical Direction: Buster Davis; Note: The program indicated that the songs were
“edited” by Buster Davis.
Cast: John McMartin (Narrator), William Roerick (Edward Seton), Richard Bekins (Ned aka Edward Seton Jr.),
Kimberly Farr (Julia Seton), Leslie Denniston (Linda Seton), Michael Scott (Johnny Case); The Staff: Roger
Hamilton (Frazer), Morgan Ensminger (Charles), J. Thomas Smith (Patrick), Tim Flavin (George), Richard
Christopher (Steven), Lara Teeter (Victor), Lauren Goler (Rose), Mary Sue Finnerty (Maude, Miss Madden),
Bobbie Nord (Annie), and Michelle Marshall (Bridget); Some of the Stork Club Set: Lauren Goler (Nancy),
Mary Sue Finnerty (Mary), Michelle Marshall (Joan), Bobbie Nord (Gloria), Tim Flavin (Thompson), Lara
Teeter (Dixon), Morgan Ensminger (Anderson), and Richard Christopher (Harrison)
The action takes place in New York City during December 1933 and January 1934.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “At Long Last Love” (1938 musical You Never Know) (Kimberly Farr, Leslie Denniston, Richard
Bekins); “Ridin’ High” (1936 musical Red Hot and Blue) (Michael Scott, Kimberly Farr); “Let’s Be Bud-
dies” (1940 musical Panama Hattie) (Michael Scott, Leslie Denniston); “Boy, Oh Boy” (lyric by Burt Shev-
elove; the original lyric was known as “Pitter-Patter,” a song cut from the tryout of Hitchy-Koo of 1922)
(Leslie Denniston); “Easy to Love” (1936 film Born to Dance) (Young Men); “You Do Something to Me”
(1929 musical Fifty Million Frenchmen) (Michael Scott); “Red Hot and Blue” (1936 musical Red Hot and
Blue) (Leslie Denniston, Michael Scott, J. Thomas Smith, Stork Club Set); “Once Upon a Time” (intended
for unproduced musical Ever Yours; written during 1933–1934) (Richard Bekins, Leslie Denniston)
Act Two: “Night and Day” (1932 musical Gay Divorce) (John McMartin, Michael Scott); “Let’s Make It a
Night” (written for but not used in 1955 musical Silk Stockings) (Leslie Denniston, Tim Flavin, Lara
Teeter); “Ours” (1936 musical Red Hot and Blue) (Kimberly Farr); “After You, Who?” (1932 musical Gay
Divorce) (Michael Scott); “I Am Loved” (1950 musical Out of This World) (Kimberly Farr); “When Your
Troubles Have Started” (cut during the tryout of 1936 musical Red Hot and Blue) (Leslie Denniston,
Richard Bekins)
Note: The production also included incidental music by Cole Porter: “Just One of Those Things” (1935 musi-
cal Jubilee); “It’s De-Lovely” (1936 musical Red Hot and Blue); “Take Me Back to Manhattan” (1930 mu-
sical The New Yorkers); “Make It Another Old Fashioned, Please” (1940 musical Panama Hattie); “They
Couldn’t Compare to You” (1950 musical Out of This World); “You’ve Got That Thing” (1929 musical
Fifty Million Frenchmen); “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” (1944 musical Seven Lively Arts); “Let’s Do
It” (aka “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love”) (1928 musical Paree); “Where Have You Been?” (1930 musical
The New Yorkers); “Let’s Fly Away” (1930 musical The New Yorkers); “Girls” (1944 musical Mexican
Hayride); and “What Is This Thing Called Love?” (March 1929 London musical Wake Up and Dream;
produced in New York in December 1929).
Happy New Year was Burt Shevelove’s failed attempt to graft a number of Cole Porter songs from vari-
ous stage and film musicals into a lyric adaptation of Philip Barry’s memorable 1928 comedy-drama Holiday.
The show didn’t work and was gone in three weeks. Besides awkwardly shoehorning preexisting songs into
the storyline, the musical employed the lazy device of using a narrator (John McMartin) to comment on the
action. Further, the new adaptation dropped two characters from the original play, the amusing and eccentric
Nick and Susan Potter, both of whom would have been perfect for a musical comedy.
The musical advanced the original play’s action from the late 1920s to the early 1930s, and focused on
a wealthy Manhattan family: the stuffy Edward Seton (William Roerick) and his three adult children, the
conventional Julia (Kimberly Farr), the vaguely unhappy Linda (Leslie Denniston), and the semi-alcoholic
Ned (Richard Bekins), who, like Linda, is discontent and somewhat disdainful of the family’s sacred gods
of money and social position. Julia becomes engaged to Johnny Case (Michael Scott), a dashing and unique
young man with a distinctly iconoclastic point of view: he’s earned a packet of money and plans to retire
young and enjoy life, and then settle down and work when he’s older. Although Julia is appalled by Johnny’s
unconventional approach to life and money, Linda is charmed by his views. At the end of the musical,
Johnny and Julia are no longer engaged and Johnny realizes he loves Linda. And moments before the final
curtain, the narrator springs a surprise on the audience and reveals that he’s the older Johnny, who has been
reminiscing; and he tells us that three days after the final scene he and Linda were married aboard the Ile
de France.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the “limp” musical never really gained momentum and
was “a pale imitation of the genuine article” of the musicals that Barry and Porter were undoubtedly turning
out in heaven every season. Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily felt that the Porter songs heard during
the evening had “minimal emotional content” and thus made the characters who sang them “commenta-
tors” rather than “participants.” Further, the use of narration made the action “seem remote,” and thus the
distance created by the musical’s structure and its use of songs slowed down the action.
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor found the musical “intermittently agreeable” but admit-
ted it didn’t “quite work out.” He liked the cast; praised “Let’s Make It a Night” (performed by Leslie Den-
niston, Tim Flavin, and Lara Teeter) and noted it was Donald Saddler’s best choreographic inspiration; and he
singled out the “spiffy” costumes by Pierre Balmain. But he thought the set was “cluttered” and commented
that the use of black drapes strewn across the stage was not one of the show’s “happier concepts.”
Jack Kroll in Newsweek said Happy New Year “tastes more like Howard Johnson’s than haute cuisine.”
The script was “skeletalized,” the songs were “pasted on,” and the use of a narrator indicated that Shevelove
didn’t trust his adaptation. T. E. Kalem in Time suggested the narrator was necessary “to fill in the gaps,” and
although John McMartin performed the role “with guileful urbanity,” the use of a narrator was like giving
the show a “sleeping pill.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal felt the musical was “neither an authentic period piece nor
a modern musical,” and he quoted a line from Porter’s “It’s All Right with Me” (from the 1953 musical
Can-Can): It’s “the wrong time and the wrong place.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the musical wasn’t
“big enough for Broadway,” and he would have enjoyed the show more had it been produced in a small Off-
Broadway theatre or in a nightclub.
But Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 praised the “style and spirit,” “class,” and “fun” of the musical
and hoped the show would “live to see many of its own Happy New Years” on Broadway; Mel Gussow in the
New York Times found the show “a welcome end-of-season surprise” (although he noted the use of a narrator
1979–1980 SEASON 15
was one of “the hoariest of devices”); and while Clive Barnes in the New York Post had reservations about
the show (it should have been an “unalloyed delight” and was instead “distinctly alloyed”), he nonetheless
said the evening was a “playful, tuneful, civilized musical” with “exquisite” choreography, and he tipped his
critical hat to the “anonymous” wig-makers, hair-dressers, and makeup artists who made the cast look “like
passengers on the maiden voyage of the S.S. Normandie.”
The musical had originally been produced at the Avon Stage at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada,
during Summer 1979. The cast included Ted Follows (Narrator), Eric Donkin (Edward Seton), David Dunbar
(Ned Seton), Leigh Beery (Julia Seton), Victoria Snow (Linda Seton), and Ed Evanko (Johnny Case), none of
whom appeared in the Broadway production. Songs performed in this version which weren’t heard in New
York were: “I’m in Love at Last”; “To Hell with Everyone (Ev’rything) but Us” (written for but not used in
1950 musical Out of This World); “See for Yourself”; “Nervous”; “Find Me a Primitive Man” (1929 musical
Fifty Million Frenchmen); “Bless the Bride”; “Good-Bye, Little Dream, Good-Bye” (written for but not used
in 1936 film Born to Dance; later performed in 1936 musical Red Hot and Blue but cut during its tryout, and
finally heard in 1936 London musical O Mistress Mine); and “My Lover Loves Me.” It’s probable that the
lyrics for “I’m in Love at Last,” “See for Yourself,” “Nervous,” “Bless the Bride,” and “My Lover Loves Me”
were written by Shevelove (sources of music unknown).
During New York previews, William Atherton played the role of Johnny and was succeeded by Michael
Scott. Of the incidental music heard during the preview period, the following numbers were cut: “Get Out of
Town” (1938 musical Leave It to Me); “Looking at You” (March 1929 London musical Wake Up and Dream;
produced in New York in December 1929); “Them” (lyric probably written by Shevelove; source of music un-
known); and “To Think That This Could Happen to Me” (written for but not used in 1953 musical Can-Can).
A “collaboration” of sorts by Porter and Barry had actually occurred in 1956, seven years after Barry’s
death. Porter wrote the songs for the film musical adaptation of Barry’s 1939 play The Philadelphia Story.
MGM’s High Society starred Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, and Louis Armstrong,
and Porter’s score yielded one of the era’s biggest hit songs, “True Love.”
The script of Happy New Year was published in softcover by Samuel French, Inc., in 1982.
Happy New Year marked John McMartin’s first of two Cole Porter rehashes. He also appeared in the des-
ultory stage version of High Society, which opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on April 27, 1998,
for 144 performances.
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Costume Designer (Pierre Balmain)
BARNUM
“A New Musical”
Theatre: St. James Theatre

Performances: 854
Book: Mark Bramble
Lyrics: Michael Stewart
Music: Cy Coleman
Direction and Choreography: Joe Layton; Producers: Judy Gordon, Cy Coleman, and Maurice and Lois F. Rosen-
feld in association with Irvin Feld and Kenneth Feld (Steven A. Greenberg and Michael Scharf, Associate
Producers); Circus Training: The Big Apple Circus and The New York School for Circus Arts; Scenery:
David Mitchell; Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge; Lighting: Craig Miller; Musical Direction: Peter Howard
Cast: Jim Dale (Phineas Taylor Barnum), Glenn Close (Chairy Barnum), William C. Witter (Ringmaster,
Julius Goldschmidt, James A. Bailey), Terrence V. Mann (Chester Lyman, Humbert Morrissey), Terri
White (Joice Heth), Kelly Walters (Amos Scudder, Edgar Templeton), Catherine Carr (Lady Plate Balancer),
Barbara Nadel (Lady Juggler), Edward T. Jacobs (Chief Bricklayer), Andy Tierstein (White-Faced Clown),
Dirk Lumbard (Sherwood Stratton), Sophie Schwab (Mrs. Sherwood Stratton), Leonard John Crofoot (Tom
Thumb), Karen Trott (Susan B. Anthony), Marianne Tatum (Jenny Lind), Steven Michael (One-Man Band),
Bruce Robertson (Wilton), Robbi Morgan (Lady Aerialist)
The action takes place all over America and in the major world capitals during the period 1835–1880.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “There’s a Sucker Born Ev’ry Minute” (Jim Dale); “Thank God I’m Old” (Terri White, Tambourine
Players); “The Colors of My Life” (Jim Dale, Glenn Close); “One Brick at a Time” (Glenn Close, Jim Dale,
Bricklayers); “Museum Song” (Jim Dale); “I Like Your Style” (Jim Dale, Glenn Close); “Bigger Isn’t Better”
(Leonard John Crofoot); “Love Makes Such Fools of Us All” (Marianne Tatum); “Out There” (Jim Dale)
Act Two: “Come Follow the Band” (The Potomac Marching Band, Washingtonians); “Black and White”
(Glenn Close, Choir, Blues Singer, Jim Dale, Citizens of Bridgeport); “The Colors of My Life” (reprise)
(Jim Dale, Glenn Close); “The Prince of Humbug” (Jim Dale); “Join the Circus” (William C. Witter, All
Circus Performers, Jim Dale)
Cy Coleman’s Barnum avoided the typical by-the-numbers approach of most show-biz sagas by telling
the story of P. T. Barnum (Jim Dale) with an appropriate circus motif, a gimmick that succeeded in Archibald
MacLeish’s 1958 drama JB, Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse’s Stop the World—I Want to Get Off (Lon-
don, 1961; New York, 1962), and the 2013 revival of Bob Fosse’s Pippin. The circus trappings surrounding
Barnum made for a fast-moving evening that never got too bogged down in conventional storytelling.
Michael Stewart’s book encompassed and compressed Barnum’s life and times into a colorful circus en-
vironment that included juggling, baton twirling, rope-swinging, somersaulting, and high-wire performing,
not to mention antics with trampolines and unicycles as well as marching bands and representations of such
animals as tigers and elephants (the latter made an impressive scenic effect when contrasted against tiny Tom
Thumb, who was portrayed by Leonard John Crofoot). If all this weren’t enough, the audience was showered
with confetti, balloons, and handbills (which announce that “President and Mrs. Fillmore respectfully invite
the good citizens of Washington to join them on the White House lawn, where Miss Jenny Lind will make
her first appearance in our nation’s capital”).
As a result, the ups and downs of charming huckster Phineas Taylor Barnum’s life were glossed over with
the circus conception, and a good thing, too. The depiction of his marriage to the somewhat tiresome Chairy
(Glenn Close) was dreary, and his brief fling with singer Jenny Lind (Marianne Tatum) was over almost as
soon as it began, and so there was little in the way of plot, character, and conflict. And of course when Barnum
is at his lowest ebb, he joins forces with James A. Bailey (William C. Witter) and the two present the grandeur
of the three-ring circus to an eager ticket-buying public.
Coleman’s score was pleasant, but hardly represented his best work. For all that, it enjoyed a number of
recordings and is one of his most-recorded scores (five cast albums and one instrumental version; for more
information, see below). Many of the songs were lively, particularly “There’s a Sucker Born Ev’ry Minute,”
“Come Follow the Band,” and “Join the Circus.” However, the “big” ballad “The Colors of My Life” was
lugubrious and festooned with clichéd images, and one or two numbers (such as “Love Makes Such Fools of
Us All”) missed the mark.
For the most part, the critics raved about the show and showered valentines on Dale, who won the Tony
Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal said Dale was “the most
engaging con man to hit town since old P.T. Barnum himself”; Jack Kroll in Newsweek said that for his
“tour de force” Dale did “everything but eat a can of Alpo”; T. E. Kalem in Time proclaimed that Dale was
“the Decathlon Man of the musical theatre”; Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the star was “a one-
man, three-ring, four-star circus”; John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor found Dale a “dazzlingly
multi-talented entertainer”; and Frank Rich in the New York Times said Dale was a “human wonder” who
performed “enough tricks to make all but a Houdini dizzy.”
Barnes told his readers to “grab this one,” but he noted that the script was “flawed” because book writer
Mark Bramble “rambles, and his book emerges as a library of good intentions.” However, Coleman’s score
was “honey-combed with both wit and feeling” and director-choreographer Joe Layton’s contributions were
“unobtrusively effective” with a “seamless style.” Although Rich said the production wasn’t “the greatest
1979–1980 SEASON 17
show on earth—or even the greatest musical on 44th Street,” he nonetheless enjoyed the “evening of pure, ex-
hilarating fun.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News also noted the musical wasn’t “the greatest show
on earth,” but it was still “colorful, eye-catching and abundantly high-spirited.” The book was “sketchy” but
“serviceable,” and the show was “joyously staged” by Layton.
But Kroll said Barnum was a “one-idea” show that was “a bomb disguised as a bombshell.” There was a
“weird sameness” about most of its songs (and Coleman’s score was a “doleful disappointment”) and overall
the musical was a “humdrum humbug, even though the hum is loud and the drum is deafening.” Kalem
stated Bramble had “sketched in the details of Barnum’s career like a superficially canned guided tour,” and
Wilson noted that whenever the musical dwelled too long on its theme and story it fell “from its high wire
to earth with a plop.”
During previews, Barnum was performed in one act and the following songs were cut: “Now You See It,
Now You Don’t,” “That’s What the Poor Woman Is,” and “At Least I Tried.”
The script was published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday, Inc., in 1980. The original cast album was
released by Columbia Records (LP # JS-36576) and later on CD by Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy (# SK-
89999); the latter release offers four bonus tracks sung either by Coleman or by both Coleman and Michael
Stewart, including the cut “At Least I Tried” and the unused “So Little Time.”
The Paris production opened at the Cirque d’Hiver at a cost of $2 million, but closed after two months.
The cast included Jean-Luc Moreau in the title role, and the cast album, which was issued by JMB Records/
RCA (LP # ZL-37467), includes “Un pigeon toutes les minutes,” “Tom Pouce,” “L’amour est fou tant pis pour
vous,” and “Le roi du bla bla.”
The Italian cast album was issued by CGD Records (LP # CGD-20392), and the Madrid cast album by Bat
Discos (LP # BM-001). The Cy Coleman Trio (Coleman, Jonathan Miller, and Ron Zito) recorded Barnum, an
album of songs from the production that includes the cut number “At Least I Tried” (Gryphon Records LP #
G-918).
The London production starred Michael Crawford, and opened at the London Palladium on June 11, 1981,
for 655 performances. The cast album was released by Chrysalis Records (CD # CDL-1348). Crawford later
reprised his role in the mid-1980s, and the production was first shown on the BBC in 1986, and then later on
American television; this version was released on DVD by Water Bearer Films.
Eleven years after Barnum opened, Coleman composed a similar musical with The Will Rogers Follies.
The new show also employed a show business–styled technique to tell its story, but instead of a circus motif
the structure of a Broadway revue was used to examine the private and professional worlds of humorist Will
Rogers (the musical was in fact subtitled A Life in Revue). Although both Barnum and Rogers enjoyed long
runs and numerous Tony Awards, the latter didn’t recoup its entire investment. But it was a more enjoyable
show than Barnum, and while Rogers’s wife Betty was almost as tiresome as Barnum’s Chairy, the character
redeemed herself with a knock-out blues number. The musical also offered show-stopping Ziegfeldian produc-
tion numbers and a strong score, and it ended on a poignant note with the elegiac “Never Met a Man I Didn’t
Like” and Rogers’s premature death in an airplane accident.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Barnum); Leading Actor in a Musical (Jim Dale); Best Featured
Actress in a Musical (Glenn Close); Best Director of a Musical (Joe Layton); Best Book of a Musical (Mark
Bramble); Best Score (music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Michael Stewart); Best Scenic Designer (David
Mitchell, in a tie with John Lee Beatty for the drama Talley’s Folly); Best Costume Designer (Theoni V.
Aldredge); Best Lighting Designer (Craig Miller); Best Choreographer (Joe Layton)
A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD/A NIGHT IN THE UKRAINE

“A Musical Double Feature” / “The Funniest Musical the Marx Brothers Never Wrote!”
Theatre: John Golden Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Royale Theatre)
Opening Date: May 1, 1980; Closing Date: September 27, 1981
Performances: 588
Book and Lyrics: Dick Vosburgh

Music: Frank Lazarus
A Night in the Ukraine was based on Anton Chekhov’s 1888 play “The Bear.”
Direction and Choreography: Tommy Tune (Thommie Walsh, Co-choreographer); Producers: Alexander H.
Cohen and Hildy Parks (Roy A. Somlyo, Coproducer; Philip M. Getter, Associate Producer); Scenery: Tony
Walton; Costumes: Michel Stuart; Lighting: Beverly Emmons; Musical Direction: Wally Harper
Cast: Priscilla Lopez, David Garrison, Frank Lazarus, Stephen James, Peggy Hewett, Kate Draper, Niki Harris,
Albert Stephenson
The two one-act musicals A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine were first seen in London where
they opened on January 15, 1979, at the Theatre at New End before transferring to the Mayfair Theatre
in the West End on March 28, 1979, for 168 performances; the evening was billed as “A Thirties Double
Feature” and was directed by Ian Davidson. By the time the double bill reached New York, the two mu-
sicals had been rewritten and restaged: Tommy Tune was now the director and choreographer, and Jerry
Herman contributed three new songs for the Hollywood portion of the evening (“Just Go to the Movies,”
“Nelson,” and “The Best in the World”).
The cast album was recorded by DRG Records (LP # SBL-12580 and CD # 12580).
A Day in Hollywood
The musical was presented in one act.
The action takes place in Hollywood on New Year’s Eve of 1939.
Note: The New York program listed the names of performers, but didn’t assign them character names; the
following list includes character names that appeared in the tryout program; for New York, all the char-
acters, with the exception of the dancers, portrayed ushers and usherettes.
Cast: David Garrison (Junior Usher, Stage Manager), Stephen James (Theater Doorman, Comedy Writer),
Priscilla Lopez (Ticket-Taker, Wardrobe Supervisor), Kate Draper (Usherette, Property Mistress), Peggy
Hewett (Chief Usher, Dance Director), Frank Lazarus (Lobby Captain, Tunesmith), Niki Harris and Albert
Stephenson (Dancing Feet)
Musical Numbers
“Just Go to the Movies” (lyric and music by Jerry Herman) (Priscilla Lopez, David Garrison, Frank Lazarus,
Stephen James, Peggy Hewett, Kate Draper); “Famous Feet” (lyric by Dick Vosburgh, music by Frank
Lazarus) (Priscilla Lopez, David Garrison; danced by Niki Harris and Albert Stephenson); “I Love a Film
Cliché” (lyric by Dick Vosburgh, music by Trevor Lyttleton, and additional music by Frank Lazarus)
(Frank Lazarus); “Nelson” (lyric and music by Jerry Herman) (Peggy Hewett); “The Best in the World”
(lyric and music by Jerry Herman) (Priscilla Lopez); “It All Comes Out of the Piano” (lyric by Dick Vos-
burgh and Frank Lazarus, music by Frank Lazarus) (Frank Lazarus); Richard A. Whiting Medley (Entire
Cast); “Thanks for the Memory” (1938 film The Big Broadcast of 1938; lyric by Leo Robin, music by
Ralph Rainger); “Another Memory” (lyric by Dick Vosburgh, music by Frank Lazarus);“Doin’ the Pro-
duction Code” (lyric by Dick Vosburgh, music by Frank Lazarus) (Priscilla Lopez, David Garrison, Frank
Lazarus, Stephen James, Peggy Hewett, Kate Draper); “A Night in the Ukraine” (lyric by Dick Vosburgh,
music by Frank Lazarus) (Entire Cast)
Other songs heard in A Day in Hollywood were: “Louise” (1929 film Innocents of Paris; lyric by Leo Robin,
music by Richard A. Whiting); “Beyond the Blue Horizon” (1930 film Monte Carlo; lyric by Leo Robin,
music by W. Franke Harling and Richard A. Whiting): “Two Sleepy People” (1938 film Thanks for the
Memory; lyric by Frank Loesser, music by Hoagy Carmichael); “Double Trouble” (1935 film The Big
Broadcast of 1936; lyric by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger, music by Richard A. Whiting); “Sleepy Time
Gal” (lyric by Joseph Reed Alden and Raymond B. Egan, music by Ange Lorenzo and Richard A. Whit-
ing); “Over the Rainbow” (1939 film The Wizard of Oz; lyric by E. Y. Harburg, music by Harold Arlen);
1979–1980 SEASON 19
“On the Good Ship Lollipop” (1934 film Bright Eyes; lyric by Sidney Clare, music by Richard A. Whit-
ing); “Too Marvelous for Words” (1937 film Ready, Willing and Able; lyric by Johnny Mercer, music by
Richard A. Whiting); “The Japanese Sandman” (lyric by Raymond Egan, music by Richard A. Whiting);
“Hooray for Hollywood” (1938 film Hollywood Hotel; lyric by Johnny Mercer, music by Richard A. Whit-
ing); “Ain’t We Got Fun?” (1920 musical Satires of 1920; lyric by Raymond B. Egan and Gus Kahn, music
by Richard A. Whiting); “Easy to Love” (1936 film Born to Dance; lyric and music by Cole Porter); and
“Cocktails for Two” (1934 film Murder at the Vanities; lyric by Sam Coslow, music by Arthur Johnston)
A Day in Hollywood was a revue in which the ushers and usherettes at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in
Hollywood pay tribute to the songs and styles of 1930s movie musicals. The evening’s highlight was the in-
genious “Famous Feet,” danced by Niki Harris and Albert Stephenson. The clever staging included a raised
platform connected to a mirrored scenic device that allowed the audience to see only the performers’ feet and
legs as they danced their tributes to Hollywood royalty by the use of tell-tale, trademark shoes. Among the
saluted stars were Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Charlie Chaplin, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and the
Mouses Mickey and Minnie.
The staging idea of “Famous Feet” was first used in an entirely different musical. Before Hollywood/
Ukraine offered “Famous Feet,” the musical Double Feature premiered at the Long Wharf Theatre on No-
vember 15, 1979, with book, lyrics, and music by Jeffrey Moss. The director was Mike Nichols, the choreog-
rapher was Tommy Tune (Thommie Walsh was assistant choreographer), the décor was by Tony Walton, the
costumes were by Dona Granata and Michel Stuart, Wally Harper was the musical director, and dancers Niki
Harris and Albert Stephenson performed “One Step at a Time,” for which Tune had devised the choreographic
conceit of using the dancers’ feet to represent Hollywood stars of yore. Of course, Tune, Walsh, Walton, Stu-
art, Harper, Harris, and Stephenson were also on hand for Hollywood/Ukraine.
Double Feature opened Off Broadway a few days after Hollywood/Ukraine gave its final Broadway show-
ing. The production premiered on October 8, 1981, at The Theatre at St. Peter’s Church for seven perfor-
mances, and this time around the choreographer was Adam Grammis and “One Step at a Time” was sung
(but not danced) by Don Scardino and Pamela Blair.
Besides “Famous Feet,” other highlights of Hollywood included “Nelson,” Peggy Hewett’s tribute to Jea-
nette MacDonald which found her serenading a cardboard cutout of the almost always wooden Nelson Eddy;
the crowd-pleaser “Doin’ the Production Code,” a list song that celebrated verboten subjects on the silver
screen; and a tribute to composer Richard A. Whiting. For the finale of Hollywood, the cast sang “A Night in
the Ukraine” as a preview of the coming attraction.
T. E. Kalem in Time praised Hollywood for perfectly capturing “the clichés, the formulas, and the juicily
idiotic emotional punch lines of the period” and singled out Hewett for her “slyly ironic” tribute to the Mac-
Donald and Eddy school of 1930s musicals. Mel Gussow in the New York Times liked the “double-barreled
pastiche” of 1930s movies; Jack Kroll in Newsweek hailed the “celebration of the wit and wisdom of movie
clichés”; and Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 enjoyed the “splendidly funny and remarkably clever” nod
to movie musicals.
During the tryout, the following songs were dropped: “All God’s Chillun Got Movie Shows,” “Grauman’s
Chinese Theatre,” “Movie Fan’s Love Song,” “First-Class Feature,” and “Tinseltown.” During the earlier
London run of the musical, the songs “Goldwyn & Warner & May’r, & Zanuck & Zukor & Cohn” and “Mov-
ies Are Your Best Entertainment” were heard.
A Night in the Ukraine

The action takes place in the Ukraine before the Revolution.
Based on the 1888 play The Bear by Anton Chekhov.
Cast: Peggy Hewett (Mrs. Pavlenko), Frank Lazarus (Carlo), Priscilla Lopez (Gino), David Garrison (Serge
B. Samovar), Kate Draper (Nina), Stephen James (Constantine), Niki Harris (Masha), Albert Stephenson
(Sascha)
Musical Numbers
“Samovar the Lawyer” (David Garrison); “Just Like That” (Kate Draper, Stephen James); “Again” (Kate
Draper, Stephen James); “A Duel! A Duel!” (Peggy Hewett, David Garrison); “Natasha” (David Garrison);
“A Night in the Ukraine” (reprise) (Entire Cast)
A Night in the Ukraine was loosely based on Anton Chekhov’s play “The Bear” (the show identified
Chekhov as “Russia’s greatest gag writer”) and was presented as a typical Marx Brothers’ comedy. The action
takes place in the luxurious estate of the haughty and wealthy widow Mrs. Pavlenko (Peggy Hewett, in the
Margaret Dumont role); Groucho (David Garrison) is Serge B. Samovar, a shyster lawyer from Moscow seeking
legal fees due him by the late Mr. Pavlenko; Chico (Frank Lazarus) is Carlo, an Italian footman, and Harpo is
Carlo’s brother Gino (Priscilla Lopez), a gardener. And in what might be deemed the Kitty Carlisle and Allan
Jones roles are Mrs. Pavlenko’s lovely daughter Nina (Kate Draper) and her handsome boyfriend Constantine,
the coachman (Stephen James). Jones sang “Alone” incessantly throughout the 1935 Marx Brothers’ film A
Night at the Opera, and his counterpart in Ukraine sings “Again” again and again and again.
Zaniness of course reigns (if not pours), and there are mistaken identities, confusions, bad puns, surreal
dialogue, and non sequiturs. And naturally Carlo finds time for a piano interlude, Gino honks his familiar
horn and plays the harp (actually this time around he strums the spokes of an upside-down bicycle wheel),
and Serge develops a sudden interest in Mrs. Pavlenko (not that her wealth affects his ardor).
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor found Ukraine “hilarious” with its “Marxian dialogue”
and Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the parody was “as funny as the Marx Brothers” themselves (and he en-
joyed the parade of insults showered on Mrs. Pavlenko by Samovar, such as “You and I could make beautiful
music together. After all, you’re shaped like a piano”). Gussow praised the “crackling compendium of Marx
Brothers comedies”; Kroll noted that “an hour of Marxian dialectics might be a big dose for some treasonous
American souls, but for Brother-lovers it’s pure caviar, or at least the ultimate in herring”; and Kalem said
Ukraine was “an exercise in dementia.”
For Clive Barnes in the New York Post, the “smashing” evening in Hollywood and the Ukraine was a
“classy, sassy nostalgia combined with the zip and zap of the day after tomorrow,” and he stated that Tommy
Tune “goes to the top of the class with such choreographer/directors as Michael Bennett, Bob Fosse, Joe
Layton and the incomparable Jerome Robbins.” While Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the
evening occasionally “thin,” he nonetheless predicted audiences would leave the theatre “with the dizzy feel-
ing of having witnessed a super, impossibly professional, senior-class spring show. Not a bad feeling, at all.”
During the tryout, the song “Sing Me a Sensible Song” was deleted.
Incidentally, Peggy Hewett was one of the subjects of William Finn’s 2003 song cycle Elegies, which
evoked memories of departed friends and loved ones. He noted that their “living was the prize” and their
“ending’s not the story.” The song tribute to Hewett was titled “Peggy Hewett & Misty del Giorno,” and it
was performed by Christian Borle, Carolee Carmello, Keith Byron Kirk, and Michael Rupert.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine); Best Featured
Actor in a Musical (David Garrison); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Priscilla Lopez); Best Director
of a Musical (Tommy Tune); Best Book (Dick Vosburgh); Best Score (lyrics by Dick Vosburgh, music by
Frank Lazarus); Best Scenic Designer (Tony Walton); Best Lighting Designer (Beverly Emmons); Best Cho-
reographer (Tommy Tune)
BLACK BROADWAY
Theatre: Town Hall
Opening Date: May 4, 1980; Closing Date: May 24, 1980
Performances: 25
1979–1980 SEASON 21
Producers: George Wein in association with Honi Coles, Robert Kimball, and Bobby Short (John P. Fleming,
Associate Producer); Production Design: Lee Gambacorta; Musical Direction: Frank Owens
Cast: John W. Bubbles, Nell Carter, Honi Coles, Adelaide Hall, Gregory Hines, Bobby Short, Elisabeth Welch,
Edith Wilson, Charles “Cookie” Cook, Leslie “Bubba” Gaines, Mercedes Ellington, Carla Earle, Terri
Griffin, Wyetta Turner
The concert was presented in two acts.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (medley of songs from 1923 musical Runnin’ Wild: “Ginger Brown,” “Old-Fashioned
Love,” and “Charleston”; music by James P. Johnson) (Frank Owens and Orchestra); “The Story of Black
Broadway” (by George Wein, Dick Hyman, Honi Coles, and Robert Kimball) (narrated at alternate perfor-
mances by either Bobby Short or Honi Coles); “Liza” (“Entrance of Copasetics”) (1922 musical Liza; lyric
and music by Maceo Pinkard) (danced at alternate performances by either Gregory Hines or Honi Coles,
with Charles “Cookie” Cook and Leslie “Bubba” Gaines); “Blue Turning Grey Over You” (lyric by Andy
Razaf, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Charles “Cookie” Cook); “I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love
with Me” (lyric by Clarence Gaskill, music by Jimmy McHugh); “Perdido” (lyric by Hans Lengsfelder
and Ervin Drake, music attributed to both Duke Ellington and Juan Tizol); “Who” (lyricist and composer
uncredited) (Leslie “Bubba” Gaines); “Christopher Columbus” (1939 musical Swingin’ the Dream; lyric
by Andy Razaf, music by Leon Barry) (Gregory Hines or Honi Coles, with Charles “Cookie” Cook and
Leslie “Bubba” Gaines); “Under the Bamboo Tree” (song was interpolated into the score of the 1902 musi-
cal Sally in Our Alley; lyric by Robert Cole, music by J. Rosamond Johnson); “Wouldn’t It Be a Dream”
(source unknown; attributed to 1903 musical In Dahomey; lyric and music by Earl Jones and Joe Jordan);
and “(On) Broadway in Dahomey (Bye and Bye)” (1903 musical In Dahomey; lyric by Alex Rogers, music
by Al Johns) (Bobby Short); “(What Did I Do to Get So) Black and Blue” (1929 musical Hot Chocolates;
lyric by Andy Razaf, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Brooks) and “He May Be Your Man, but
He Comes to See Me Sometimes” (1922 musical Plantation Revue: lyric and music by Perry Bradford)
(Edith Wilson); “The Unbeliever” (lyric and music by Chris Smith, Frederick Bryan, and Bert Williams)
(Bobby Short); “The Mayor of Harlem” (patter by Honi Coles) and “Doin’ the New Low-Down” (revue
Blackbirds of 1928; lyric by Dorothy Fields, music by Jimmy McHugh) (Gregory Hines or Honi Coles
with Charles “Cookie” Cook, Leslie “Bubba” Gaines, Mercedes Ellington, Carla Earle, Terri Griffin, and
Wyetta Turner); “Creole Love Call” (lyric and music by Duke Ellington), and “I Must Have That Man”
(revue Blackbirds of 1928; lyric by Dorothy Fields, music by Jimmy McHugh), “Diga, Diga, Do” (revue
Blackbirds of 1928; lyric by Dorothy Fields, music by Jimmy McHugh) (Adelaide Hall); Harlem Medley:
“She’s Tall, She’s Tan, She’s Terrific” (1937 edition of revue Cotton Club Parade; lyric by Benny Davis,
music by J. Fred Coots); “Posin’” (1937 revue Grand Terrace Revue; lyric by Sammy Cahn, music by Saul
Chaplin); “Truckin’” (1935 edition of revue Cotton Club Parade; lyric by Ted Koehler, music by Rube
Bloom); “Breakfast in Harlem” (lyricist and composer uncredited); and “Gimme a Pigfoot (and a Bottle
of Beer)” (lyric and music by Wesley Wilson; some sources cite Coot Grant as one of the creators of the
song) (Bobby Short); “Ill Wind” (1934 edition of revue Cotton Club Parade; lyric by Ted Koehler, music
by Harold Arlen) (Adelaide Hall); “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” (1931 revue Rhyth-mania
[a Cotton Club revue]; lyric by Ted Koehler, music by Harold Arlen) (Adelaide Hall and Bobby Short); “As
Long as I Live” (1934 edition of revue Cotton Club Parade; lyric by Ted Koehler, music by Harold Arlen)
(Bobby Short); “The Brown-Skin Gal in the Calico Gown” (1941 revue Jump for Joy [closed prior to Broad-
way]; lyric by Paul Francis Webster, music by Duke Ellington) (Bobby Short); “Jump for Joy” (1941 revue
Jump for Joy; lyric by Paul Francis Webster, music by Duke Ellington) (Bobby Short, Company)
Act Two: “Cotton Club Stomp” (1929 revue Cotton Club Revue); lyric and music by Duke Ellington, Johnny
Hodges, and Harry Carney) (Frank Owens and Orchestra); “Tan Manhattan” (1940 musical Tan Manhat-
tan [closed prior to Broadway]; lyric by Andy Razaf, music by Eubie Blake) (Gregory Hines); “Charleston
Rag” (music by Eubie Blake) (Gregory Hines); “When Lights Are Low” (lyric and music by Spencer Wil-
liams and Benny Carter); “Love for Sale” (1930 musical The New Yorkers; lyric and music by Cole Porter)
(Elisabeth Welch); “Solomon” (1933 London musical Nymph Errant; lyric and music by Cole Porter)
(Elisabeth Welch); “Charleston” (1923 musical Runnin’ Wild; lyric by Cecil Mack, music by James P.
Johnson) (Elisabeth Welch); “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (1929 revue Hot Chocolates; lyric by Andy Razaf, music
by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Brooks) (Nell Carter); “I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling” (lyric by Billy
Rose, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Link) (Nell Carter); “Legalize My Name” (1946 musical
St. Louis Woman; lyric by Johnny Mercer, music by Harold Arlen) (Nell Carter); Tribute to Florence Mills:
“I’m a Little Blackbird Looking for a Bluebird” (1924 revue Dixie to Broadway; lyric by Grant Clarke and
Roy Turk, music by George W. Meyer and Arthur Johnston) (Edith Wilson) and “Silver Rose” (London re-
vue Blackbirds of 1926; lyric and music by George W. Meyer) (Elisabeth Welch); Tribute to Ethel Waters:
“Heat Wave” (1933 revue As Thousands Cheer; lyric and music by Irving Berlin) (Nell Carter); “(You’re)
Lucky to Me” (revue Blackbirds of 1930; lyric by Andy Razaf, music by Eubie Blake) (Edith Wilson); “Sup-
per Time” (1933 revue As Thousands Cheer; lyric and music by Irving Berlin) (Adelaide Hall); “Honey in
the Honeycomb” (1940 musical Cabin in the Sky; lyric by John LaTouche, music by Vernon Duke) (Nell
Carter); “Stormy Weather” (1933 edition of revue Cotton Club Parade; lyric by Ted Koehler, music by
Harold Arlen) (Elisabeth Welch); “Taking a Chance on Love” (1940 musical Cabin in the Sky; lyric by
John LaTouche and Ted Fetter, music by Vernon Duke) (Adelaide Hall, Edith Wilson, Elisabeth Welch,
Nell Carter, Gregory Hines or Honi Coles); and “Dinah” (attributed to 1924 revue The Plantation Revue;
lyric by Sam Lewis, Joe Young, and Harry Akst) (Gregory Hines or Bobby Short); “Sweet Georgia Brown”
(lyric and music by Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard, and Kenneth Casey) (Gregory Hines, Ensemble); “It Ain’t
Necessarily So” (1935 musical Porgy and Bess; lyric by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin) and
“There’s a Boat That’s Leavin’ Soon for New York” (1935 musical Porgy and Bess; lyric by Ira Gershwin,
music by George Gershwin) (John W. Bubbles); “Memories of You” (revue Blackbirds of 1930; lyric by
Andy Razaf, music by Eubie Blake) (John W. Bubbles, Entire Company); “Jump for Joy”(reprise) (Entire
Company)
The concert Black Broadway saluted both old and new black performers. The evening included such
legendary singers and dancers as John W. Bubbles (who created the role of Sportin’ Life in the original 1935
production of Porgy and Bess), Adelaide Hall (who introduced the scorching torch song “I Must Have That
Man” in Blackbirds of 1928), Elisabeth Welch (who was the first to sing the iconic “Charleston” in the 1923
musical Runnin’ Wild and who trumpeted the saga of “Solomon” in Cole Porter’s 1933 musical Nymph Er-
rant), and Edith Wilson (who introduced “Why Did I Do to Get So Black and Blue” in the 1929 revue Hot
Chocolates). And new Black Broadway was represented, too, with Nell Carter and Gregory Hines, both fresh
from their leading roles in the respective long-running tribute revues of the late 1970s, Ain’t Misbehavin’
and Eubie! And while saloon singer Bobby Short hadn’t much in the way of a Broadway career (just two brief
visits, the New York City Center Light Opera Company’s 1956 revival of Kiss Me, Kate and Sidney Kingsley’s
1962 drama Night Life), he served as the evening’s host and of course performed a number of songs (a few too
many, according to one or two of the critics).
The concert had been first produced by the Newport Jazz Festival at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall
on June 24, 1979, and the new version differed in a number of ways. There was more emphasis on dance, and
so Gregory Hines, Honi Coles, Charles “Cookie” Cook, and Leslie “Bubba” Gaines performed a number of
tap routines and were occasionally backed by a four-member female chorus (Mercedes Ellington, Carla Earle,
Terri Griffin, and Wyetta Turner). Further, Elisabeth Welch joined the production, and while Diahann Carroll
had appeared in the first version and had performed a medley of songs associated with Ethel Waters, this time
around the songs for the Waters tribute were divided among Welch, Carter, and other cast members.
John S. Wilson in the New York Times was glad to see more dancing, and noted that the routines brought
“color and flair” and “a vitalizing lift” to the proceedings. Wilson mentioned that Welch provided one of the
revue’s “most moving moments” when she sang “Silver Rose,” and she was equally effective in her “strong,
lyrical treatment of “Stormy Weather.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said the “beautiful
and bountiful” and “bright and bouncy” entertainment also managed to be “moving,” and he singled out the
“impeccably soignée” Bobby Short and the “ineffably sassy” Nell Carter. Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear
Daily commented that the “warmth” and “eloquence” of the singers’ voices were “quite unlike anything we
hear these days,” and said Welch performed “Silver Rose” with “a powerful sense of controlled emotion.”
But Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal indicated the production “badly needs a director to give it or-
ganization and pace.” Don Nelsen in the New York Daily News felt the “sentimental valentine” was “sorely
tested” because it wasn’t “quite in shape.” At two and a half hours, it was too long; Bobby Short needed to
trim some of his numbers (the critic mentioned that during the first act, Short was on stage longer than any of
1979–1980 SEASON 23
the other performers); and the theatre and its sound system made many of the lyrics “unintelligible.” But the
evening offered “bittersweet nostalgia,” and he praised Nell Carter (the only way to prevent her from stealing
a show “would be to send her on stage in straitjacket and mask and even then she could probably draw the
eye by wiggling her toes”).
Richard M. Sudhalter in the New York Post noted that at the opening night performance Eubie Blake
made an appearance, and seeing the “ever-vibrant” composer on stage while the entire cast sang his “Memo-
ries of You” (from Blackbirds of 1930) “was to know why such historical traditions as this must be preserved.
They are all we have.” But the critic noted there was no historical context to the evening, and he suspected
many viewers needed a “frame of reference” because they probably didn’t know the names of such performers
as Ethel Waters and Florence Mills. He also commented that the show was too long and needed to be pruned
and tightened.
Certainly Black Broadway was a show that demanded to be preserved. It was a once-in-a-lifetime reunion
of some of the most legendary performers in Broadway revues and musicals, and it seemed a given that after
the limited run a cast album and a performance on public television would follow. Sadly, there was neither a
record nor a televised version, and so an opportunity to capture many unique stars performing songs they had
introduced on Broadway forty or fifty years earlier never materialized.
MUSICAL CHAIRS
“A New Musical” / “A Musical Play”
Theatre: Rialto
Performances: 14
Book: Barry Berg, Ken Donnelly, and Tom Savage
Music: Tom Savage
Based on an original story concept by Larry P. Pontillo.
Direction and Choreography: Rudy Tronto (Susan Stroman, Assistant Director and Assistant Choreographer);
Producers: Lesley Savage and Bert Stratford; Scenery: Ernest Allen Smith; Costumes: Michael J. Cesario;
Lighting: Peggy Clark; Musical Direction: Barry H. Gordon
Cast: Ron Holgate (Joe Preston), Eileen McCabe (Matty), Douglas Walker (Stage Manager), Scott Ellis (Sally’s
Boyfriend), Enid Blaymore (Millie), Grace Keagy (Roberta), Randall Easterbook (Brad), Leslie-Anne Wolfe
(Miranda), Patti Karr (Lillian), Brandon Maggart (Harold), Jess Richards (Gary), Joy Franz (Janet), Edward
Earle (Brown Suit), Tom Breslin (Blue Suit), Rick Emery (Tuxedo), Lee Meredith (Valerie Brooks); and Su-
san Stroman (Sally) (unbilled role)
The action takes place during the present time in a partial area of the orchestra section of an Off-Broadway
theatre on the opening night of the play Forest of Shadows.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Tonight’s the Night” (Company); “My Time” (Ron Holgate); “Who’s Who”
(Company); “If I Could Be Beautiful” (Leslie-Ann Wolfe, Boys); “What I Could Have Done Tonight” (Bran-
don Maggart, Joy Franz); “There You Are” (Rick Emery); “Sally” (Scott Ellis, Company); “Other People”
(Joy Franz); “My Time” (reprise) (Ron Holgate); “Hit the Ladies” (Patti Karr, Ladies)
Act Two: “Musical Chairs” (Rick Emery, Tom Breslin, Edward Earle); “Suddenly Love” (Jess Richards); “Bet-
ter Than Broadway” (Enid Blaymore, Grace Keagy); “Every Time the Music Starts” (Randall Easterbrook,
Company); “There You Are” (reprise) (Rick Emery, Ron Holgate, Lee Meredith); “My Time” (reprise) (Ron
Holgate)
If A Chorus Line offered an audience the perspective of watching the casting call of a new Broadway mu-
sical, why not create a musical about the audience itself? And so Musical Chairs looked at an assortment of
audience members attending the opening night of a new Off-Broadway drama called Forest of Shadows.
The musical focused on the drama’s playwright Joe Preston (Ronald Holgate), a formerly successful
writer with one Pulitzer Prize and two Tony Awards to his credit but who in recent years hasn’t had much
in the way of success and is now hoping that Forest of Shadows will put him back in the winner’s circle.
Among those in the audience are: Lillian (Patti Karr) and Harold (Brandon Maggart) as well as Janet (Joy
Franz) and Gary (Jess Richards), both somewhat mismatched couples (Lillian is upwardly mobile in terms
of culture, and she helpfully explains to Harold that Forest of Shadows is an expressionistic drama, the
kind of play in which “subjective thoughts” are shown “through a variety of non-naturalistic techniques”
that include “abstraction, distortion, and symbolism,” but Harold would rather be home watching a Mets
game); Miranda (Leslie-Ann Wolf) and Brad (Randall Easterbrook), a couple on their first date; Millie (Enid
Blaymore) and Roberta (Grace Keagy), two matrons excited about attending an opening night (Roberta is
certain she could have had a great career in show business, but instead of being a Delores Del Rio type she
was more in the style of Marie Dressler); Valerie Brooks (Lee Meredith), a starlet and Joe’s former wife; a
young man (Boyfriend, played by Scott Ellis) impatiently waiting for his date Sally, who misses the entire
show; and three critics, Brown Suit (Edward Earle), Blue Suit (Tom Breslin), and Tuxedo (Rick Emery), all of
whom play “musical chairs” as they go from theatre to theatre every night reviewing the latest plays and
musicals (Tuxedo is disconcerted to discover he’ll have to review the performance of a former boyfriend
who’s in the cast of Forest of Shadows).
Not surprisingly, things generally sort themselves out: it appears that Forest of Shadows will be a hit
and that Joe and Valerie are destined to tie the knot again. Further, Boyfriend is happily surprised when the
elusive Sally finally shows up . . . during the curtain calls of Musical Chairs. The little joke worked well, and
the musical’s assistant director and choreographer Susan Stroman came on just for the finale, uncredited as
the elusive Sally.
Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily found the musical “dreary,” and said “the thought of turning around
and watching the audience watch Musical Chairs seemed a more bearable prospect that watching Musical
Chairs itself”; and Patricia O’Haire in the New York Daily News said that for $20 a ticket the musical wasn’t
“enough” and it required “better” music, a “new” lyricist, and a stronger book.
Frank Rich in the New York Times proclaimed that the “honor” of the season’s “worst” musical had now
passed from Reggae to Musical Chairs. He recalled that for the former musical a radio broadcast of a Knicks
game had found its way into the theatre’s sound system, and he suggested the producers of Musical Chairs
should have piped a Mets game into the Rialto Theatre’s speakers (and noted he’d even settle for “the col-
lected hits of Jerry Vale”). He concluded that the musical’s performers were “game” and “dignified” and had
“nowhere to go but up.”
But Clive Barnes in the New York Post had “an absolutely adorable time” and enjoyed the “modest” and
low-key rather than “splashy and razzmatazz” musical. The major flaw was the music; it was “by no means
unpleasant” but was “never more than conventional.” But the evening was “sweet” and left him with a
“warm afterglow.”
While Forest of Shadows seemed poised to be a hit, Musical Chairs was not; it ran for less than two
weeks. Midway through its brief run, Ron Holgate and Grace Keagy left the cast, and were succeeded by Tom
Urich and Helon Blount. The cast recording (which includes Urich and Blount) was released by Original Cast
Records (LP # OC-2084), and the script was published in softcover by Samuel French, Inc., in 1982.
As How’s the House?, Musical Chairs had first been produced in a showcase production Off Off Broadway
at the Park Royal Theatre during October 1979. For Off Off Broadway, Scott Newborn was the director and
choreographer (and Susan Stroman was the assistant director and choreographer, duties she also performed
for the Broadway production). Cast members who later appeared in the Broadway version were: Scott Ellis,
Enid Blaymore, Leslie-Ann Wolfe, Eileen McCabe, Rick Emery, and Lee Meredith. Songs heard in the Off-Off-
Broadway production but cut for Broadway were “Is Everybody Happy?,” “What’s Goin’ On,” and “Stop the
Presses.” Ellis and Stroman later collaborated as respective director and choreographer for the John Kander
and Fred Ebb Off-Broadway tribute revue And the World Goes ’Round (1991) and Kander and Ebb’s Broadway
musical Steel Pier (1997).
1979–1980 SEASON 25
BLACKSTONE!
“The Magnificent Musical Magic Show”
Theatre: Majestic Theatre

Opening Date: May 19, 1980; Closing Date: August 17, 1980
Performances: 104
Direction and Choreography: Kevin Carlisle (Betty Brawley, Assistant); Magic Direction: Charles Reynolds;
Production Supervisor: Jackie Schrock; Producers: Columbia Artists Theatricals Corp. and Blackstone
Magik Enterprises, Inc.; Magic Production Designer: Jack Hart; Scenery: Peter Wolf; Costumes: Winn
Morton (Costumes for “The Enchanted Garden” sequence by Blevins); Lighting: Martin Aronstein; Musi-
cal Direction: Milton Setzer
Cast: Harry Blackstone, Gay Blackstone, Becky Garrett, Elaine Barnes, Lynn Castles, Karen Curlee, Ann
McLean, Robbin McDowell, Mary McNamara, Reenie Moore, Richard Ruth, Bill Smith, Nikki Summer-
ford, Jim Thompson, John Traub, Michael Weir
The magic revue was presented in two acts.
Magic Sequences
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “The Vanishing Birdcage”; “A Salute to Our Heritage”; “The Wizard”; “Cas-
sadaga Propaganda”; “Mysteries of the Orient” (music by Michael Valenti); “Hare”; “The Incredible
Buzzsaw”
Act Two: “The Enchanted Garden”; “Roses for Your Lady”; “The Wizard Returns”; “The Extraordinary Float-
ing Light Bulb”; “Moorish Fantasies”; “So You Want to Be a Magician”; “Circus of Mysteries”
In the magic revue Blackstone!, Harry Blackstone, the son of the famous magician Blackstone, proved that
he was indeed his father’s son. He had learned his lessons well, and was a dazzling successor to his legendary
father. The critics had a few qualms about the overblown revue aspects of the evening, but all showered raves
on the magician and were especially taken with his astounding feat with the floating light bulb.
Mel Gussow in the New York Times noted that with Barnum just across the street, Broadway had sud-
denly morphed into “a merry circus lane,” and John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor mentioned
that West 44th Street was “a midway of super spectacle and high hokum.” Among the feats of the evening
were vanishing pigeons, rabbits, and an elephant. Gussow wondered if the elephant had a dressing room or
did Blackstone simply make him vanish between performances? Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily
wryly noted that the magician made a few audience members disappear because they were never again seen
after intermission.
Blackstone’s wife, Gay, was sawed in half by a thirty-six-inch rotary saw; another cast member was turned
into a tiger; and in true Houdini fashion Blackstone asked thirteen volunteers from the audience to tie him
up with ropes (Marilyn Stasio in the New York Post noted that audience members “practically broke their
necks rushing to the stage”), but quicker than you could say presto-chango Blackstone broke free of the knotty
problem.
Blackstone also made an audience member’s handkerchief dance through the air; invited a little boy on
stage and proceeded to magically produce a box of candy and a rabbit, both of which he gave to the child as
souvenirs from the show; and at one point somehow managed to remove an audience member’s watch, belt,
wallet, and fountain pen.
But the thrill of the evening was the jaw-dropping floating light bulb, which danced in the air above the
stage and proceeded to float into the audience and dance over their heads. In order to prove there were no
wires or strings attached to the bulb to keep it levitated, Blackstone encircled a spinning hoop around the
general circumference of the bulb. Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said this was “the greatest
marvel of them all,” and Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 revealed how Blackstone did all his tricks, including the
floating light bulb: he did them “brilliantly.”
Sharp noted that Blackstone “filibustered” in order to stretch out the magic show into a full Broadway
evening: the “tacky” overture was “prolonged”; there was an “amateurish” flag-waving number that “would
never have passed an audition at Radio City”; and Blackstone sometimes killed time by chatting up the audi-
ence and occasionally using “stalling techniques” for padding. There were also various corny dance interludes
on the order of “Mysteries of the Orient” and “Moorish Fantasies” (Watt mentioned that in one sequence
the dancers “slither about like slaves from a Republic Pictures Ali Baba epic”), and Gussow commented that
Blackstone “restlessly” changed costumes, many of the “spangled variety” that would “bring a tear of envy
to the eye of Liberace.”
Gussow suggested Blackstone lacked the “charm” of Doug Henning and that the current revue wasn’t
in the “class” of The Magic Show. But Blackstone’s tricks were nonetheless “spectacular,” and while the
program indicated Kevin Carlisle was the director and choreographer and Charles Reynolds was in charge of
the “magic direction,” Gussow surmised that no one would dare tell Blackstone what to do lest the magician
make them disappear.
BILLY BISHOP GOES TO WAR

Opening Date: May 29, 1980; Closing Date: June 7, 1980
Performances: 12
Book, Lyrics, and Music: John Gray (in collaboration with Eric Peterson)
Direction: John Gray (in collaboration with Eric Peterson); Producers: Mike Nichols and Lewis Allen (Stephen
Graham and Ventures West Capital, Inc.); Scenery: David Gropman; Costumes: Not Credited; Lighting:
Jennifer Tipton; Musical Direction: John Gray
Cast: Eric Peterson (Billy Bishop, Upperclassman, Adjutant Perrault, Officer, Sir Hugh Cecil, Lady St. Helier,
Cedric, Doctor, General John Higgins, Tommy, Lovely Helene, Albert Ball, Walter Bourne, Officer, Gen-
eral Hugh M. Trenchard, Servant, King George V), John Gray (Narrator, Pianist)
The action takes place in Canada and Europe during World War I.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t list musical numbers. The following titles are taken from the Canadian cast album
of the musical; all songs were performed by Eric Peterson, and John Gray was the pianist and narrator.
Act One: “Off to Fight the Hun”; “Canada at War”; “The Good Ship Caledonia”; “Buried Alive in the Mud”;
“December Nights”; “The RE-7”; “Nobody Shoots No-One in Canada”; “Lady St. Helier”; “My First Solo
Flight”; “In the Sky”
Act Two: “As Calm as the Ocean”; “Friends Ain’t Supposed to Die”; “General Sir Hugh M. Trenchard”; “The
Empire Soiree”; “In the Sky” (reprise)
The Canadian import Billy Bishop Goes to War was essentially a one-man musical in which Eric Peter-
son portrayed the title character as well as sixteen other roles that ranged from a servant to King George V
himself; John Gray who, in collaboration with Peterson, wrote the book and lyrics, also composed the music,
directed the production, and served as the evening’s narrator and pianist.
Billy Bishop (1894–1956) was the most decorated pilot of World War I, and the program noted that in the
course of just over one year he shot down seventy-two enemy aircraft, twenty-five of them in one ten-day
stretch in 1918.
The musical premiered at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre on November 3, 1978, with Peterson and
Gray, who then toured with the musical, which played in twelve Canadian cities for a total of 253 perfor-
mances. The American premiere took place at Arena Stage’s Kreeger Theatre in Washington, D.C., on March
4, 1980, with Peterson and Gray. Two months after the Washington run, the two performers appeared in the
Broadway production, which lasted less than two weeks. But in a reversal of the usual process, the musical
transferred to Off Broadway, where it played for seventy-eight performances. It opened at the Theatre de Lys
on June 17, 1980, just ten days after the Broadway closing, and while Peterson and Gray again appeared in the
show, they were eventually succeeded by Cedric Smith and Ross Douglas.
1979–1980 SEASON 27
Walter Kerr in the New York Times praised the musical’s clever touches, such as the use of a toy airplane
to depict one of Billy Bishop’s flights, and later the stage’s rear doors, which were designed to resemble an
airfield’s hanger, opened to reveal a full-fledged reproduction of Billy’s plane. As for the show itself, Kerr noted
that Billy was somewhat remote and detached from the action and as a result it was easy to grow “a bit cool”
toward his character.
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily suggested the most interesting aspect of the evening was watch-
ing Peterson perform so many roles; otherwise, the script didn’t allow him much in the way of emotional
complexity. As for the score, it was “thoroughly simpleminded” and did “nothing to enrich the play.”
But John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said the show was “a soaring accomplishment of the-
atrical make-believe” that had a “cutting edge” to its ironic antiwar viewpoint. Like Kerr and Kissel, however,
he felt the evening lacked urgency because emotions were kept at arm’s length. Joel Siegel on WABCTV7
commented that war stories could be “funny,” “fascinating,” and, alas, “interminable.” The show was more
performance than play, and we never knew the “why” of what makes Billy fly.
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the musical was reminiscent of Joan Littlewood’s antiwar dia-
tribe Oh What a Lovely War (London, 1963; New York, 1964). He praised the score’s “mixture of ballad and
razzmatazz,” and noted the evening offered two “wonderful” sequences, one “theatrical” and one “emo-
tional”: the former was the sudden appearance of the replica of Billy’s plane and the latter was a description
of a doomed German plane in which two pilots tumble out and fall to their deaths. In this moment, Billy’s
abstract attitude toward war and death is “rudely questioned.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal found the work “a clever indictment of war and hero worship”
which resulted in “a highly entertaining evening of theatre.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News liked
the “diverting” evening and praised Peterson’s “marvelously animated and accomplished performance.” The
critic didn’t find the score “particularly original or striking,” but he singled out “The Empire Soiree,” which
was “awash in champagne and gaiety” and “fit snugly into the period, false rhymes and all.”
The script was published in softcover by Talon Books in 1981, and the Canadian cast album was recorded
by Tapestry Records (LP # GD-7372). In 1999, the musical was revised, and a cast album was reportedly re-
corded for this version.
CBC and BBC coproduced a televised adaptation of the work, which was broadcast in 1982, and in 2010
a second television film version was released; both productions starred Peterson and Gray, and the latter was
released on DVD.
The era also saw a musical about another famous World War I flying ace, in this case Manfred Von Rich-
thofen, aka the Red Baron. On July 29, 1982, Des McAnuff’s The Death of Von Richthofen as Witnessed from
Earth opened at the Public Theatre’s Newman Theatre for forty-five performances.
SWING
“A New Musical”
The musical opened at the Playhouse Theatre, Wilmington, Delaware, on February 23, 1980, closed there
on February 29, opened on March 5 at the Opera House, Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., and perma-
nently closed there on March 30.
Book: Conn Fleming
Lyrics: Alfred Uhry
Music: Robert Waldman
Direction: Stuart Ostrow; Producers: Stuart Ostrow in association with Edgar M. Bronfman (George T. Simon,
Associate Producer); Choreography: Kenneth Rinker; Scenery: Robin Wagner; Costumes: Patricia Zip-
prodt; Lighting: Richard Pilbrow; Musical Direction: Peter Howard
Cast: Roy Brocksmith (The Announcer); The Band: Trumpets—Lloyd Michels, Dick Vance, Glenn Zottola,
David Blackinton, and Jim Cara; Trombones—Bruce Bonvissuto, Ted Bragin, Bill Berger, and Jay Hilde-
brandt; Saxophones—Joel Kaye, Ralph Olsen, Peter Hill, Vincent Marinelli, Hank Meyermann, and Rick
Rossi; Drums—Butch Miles; Guitar—Mike Peters; Bass—John Burr; and Piano—Paul Bogaev; Adam
Redfield (Claude), Janet Eilber (Norma), Robert LuPone (Glenn), Lisa Embs (Joan), John Hammil (Harry
Donovan), Mary Catherine Wright (Marilyn), Debbie Shapiro (Ginny Hall), William Thomas, Jr. (Larry),
Deborah Malone (Harriet), M. W. Reid (Daryl), Sheryl Lee Ralph (Helen), Raymond Baker (Henry), Pat
Lysinger (Mildred), Donna McCowen (Ann), Paul Binotto (Tony Audino), Paul Bogaev (Elliot Pierce), Ellen
March (Eleanor), David Wilson (Little Joe), Rebecca Gilchrist (Jane), Jerry Colker (Dooley), Dick Vance
(Blues Singer), Tim Flavin (Sailor); The Dancers: Beth Davis, Lisa Embs, Tim Flavin, Donna McCowen,
Marty McDonough, and Jeff Mooring
The action occurs at a single dance which takes place one night all over the United States during the period
1937–1945.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Swing” (The People at the Dance); “Good from Any Angle” (Robert LuPone); “Michigan Bound”
(Debbie Shapiro); “The Love Jitters” (Deborah Malone, William Thomas Jr., Sheryl Lee Ralph, M. W.
Reid); “The Real Thing” (The Band); “Marilyn” (Adam Redfield, Mary Catherine Wright); “A Piece of
Cake” (Roy Brocksmith, The People at the Dance); “Home” (Paul Binotto); “Miliaria Rubra” (David Wil-
son); “One-Hundred-Percent Cockeyed” (Debbie Shapiro)
Act Two: “Saroot” (Roy Brocksmith, Paul Binotto, Debbie Shapiro, John Hammil, The Band Slickers); “All
Clear” (Debbie Shapiro, David Wilson, The People at the Dance); “A Girl Can Go Wacky” (Rebecca Gil-
christ); “Pas de Deux” (Rebecca Gilchrist, Jerry Colker); “The Doowah Diddy Blues” (Dick Vance); “If
You Can’t Trot, Don’t Get Hot” (Janet Eilber, Butch Miles, John Burr, Mike Peters); “Dream Time” (Paul
Binotto, Debbie Shapiro, The People at the Dance)
Swing was an ambitious concept musical that attempted to capture the mood of the United States during
World War II, an era when the nation was for perhaps the last time united in a common goal. Conn Fleming’s
surreal book viewed swing music as a symbol of national harmony, and his story took place during a phantas-
magoric evening at a single swing dance in which the characters experience the entire era during one night, a
night that lasts from 1937 to 1945 and that takes place throughout the country. During the evening, the years
go by: the dance begins during peacetime in the late 1930s, and with the attack on Pearl Harbor the country
is united in a common cause; at the end of the war, the nation has lost its innocence, characters drift away
from one another, and the ballroom world of alternately dreamy and swinging big-band music gives way to
sleek and intimate nightclubs with their jazzy, combo-styled sound.
With the exception of Follies, perhaps no other musical explored the use of time and space in so innova-
tive a manner. During the course of the single-evening dance, an era is born and dies. A young man in zoot-
suit civvies leaves the dance floor, perhaps to buy a pack of cigarettes, and when he returns he’s in uniform.
Further, there are continuous announcements that the locale has switched from a ballroom in one city to a
ballroom in another. And yet the band musicians and singers, as well as those attending the dance, never age
and are always in essentially the same city and in the same ballroom. The years are rushing by and before
they realize what’s happened, eight years are gone, the war is over, innocence is lost, and the nation is never
again quite the same.
Robert Waldman’s music and Alfred Uhry’s lyrics created a score in the big-band style; it was so authentic
some of its numbers could have been heard on the jukeboxes and in the movies and shows of the 1940s. “Good
from Any Angle” was a terrifically jaunty and yet heartfelt ballad, and “Dream Time” was a melancholy
one that closed the musical with its aching farewell to an era that has suddenly vanished. Debbie Shapiro’s
melting rendition of the latter was juxtaposed with the promising expectation and excitement of her being
“Michigan Bound,” a number from the “Chattanooga Choo-Choo”/“I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo” genre. “A Girl
Can Go Wacky” was a tongue-twisting salute to Betty Hutton in which a girl looks for a “permanent poppa”
(a tinker, a tailor, a soldier, a sailor, any will do); “Home” was a lump-in-the-throat Sinatra-styled “The House
I Live In” number; “A Piece of Cake” was a languid and insinuating ballad for the dance crowd, and “The Real
Thing” was a jive interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. Toward the end of the evening when the big bands were
morphing into jazz combos, the sultry “If You Can’t Trot, Don’t Get Hot” made a vivid impression as Janet
Eilber sang and danced across the platforms, benches, and music stands of the onstage bandstand.
The musical also offered a notoriously campy number that was widely talked about among theatre afi-
cionados. One of the characters is rejected for military service because of a skin condition called miliaria
rubra, which was also the title of his song about the medical condition. He notes that the name of the disease
1979–1980 SEASON 29
“sounds like a dance,” but it “burns.” The number was heard during the Wilmington, Delaware, run and for
part of the Kennedy Center engagement, but was dropped from the show during its final performances.
Unfortunately, the musical’s ingenious concept and melodic score were done in by the overall pattern of
the book, which lacked a strong narrative to hold together the many characters, most of whom came across
as generic types. Further, as written the concept was confusing, and it was likely that many in the audience
didn’t grasp the musical’s point of view. As the tryout progressed, the dreamlike concept of time and space
was leavened out and later performances indicated the entire plot was taking place in real time, at one dance
in one city during one evening. As a result, the surreal tone became less magical and more mundane.
In his would-be Broadway debut as a choreographer, Kenneth Rinker created some of the most exciting
theatre dances of the era. The aforementioned “If You Can’t Trot, Don’t Get Hot” was a tour de force for Janet
Eilber as she practically flew across the stage; the title song offered dazzling choreography; there was a lindy
and an amusingly weary marathon-styled dance; and “The Doowah Diddy Blues” was a swing jazz-ballet that
slyly incorporated Agnes de Mille–like movements.
Despite the concept, the score, the choreography, and the cast, the critics were generally brutal. They
praised Eilber, Shapiro, and the songs, but otherwise were dismissive. Shol in Variety said Swing had “little
or no chance of Broadway success” and noted “the chances of bringing it all together are minimal.” Ernest
Schier in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin found the evening “disorganized” without a “unifying style,”
Fleming’s book was “a humorless patchwork” with “equally awful” lyrics, and the music made the critic
yearn for “Sing, Sing, Sing” and “Take the ‘A’ Train.”
The headline of James Lardner’s review in the Washington Post called the musical the “Big Bland,” but
noted that with “subtlety and originality” Waldman had composed “a convincing approximation of big band
music.” Rinker’s dances were “sleek and energetic,” and Eilber’s “If You Can’t Trot, Don’t Get Hot” was
“particularly eye-opening.” Alton Miller in the Washington Star complained that the musical lacked “unity”
and that there was no character development; but the score was “peppy,” the company was “young and
wonderfully talented,” Robin Wagner’s décor was “all late-deco chrome and black,” and the songs “Home,”
“Michigan Bound,” and “One- Hundred-Percent Cockeyed” were standouts.
During the course of the tryout, “The Love Jitters,” “Saroot,” “Good from Any Angle,” “Miliaria Rubra,”
“If You Can’t Trot, Don’t Get Hot,” and “Pas de Deux” were dropped (some programs listed the number
“Duet,” which was probably an alternate title for “Pas de Deux”). Added during the run were: “The Future
Me” (which used the same music as “Good from Any Angle”), “(In) The Shelter of Your Arms,” “It’s Eight
O’Clock,” “So Long, Soldier,” and “Dime Store Girl, Rich Man’s Boy.” Once Janet Eilber’s brilliant solo song-
and-dance “If You Can’t Trot, Don’t Get Hot” was deleted, the number was refashioned as a straight (and
untitled) dance for her (which well could have been titled “Bandstand Dance”). And some musical sequences
seem never to have been performed, such as “Mocha,” “Sign Off,” “Trombones on Parade,” “Mixed Doubles,”
and “High Tea.” For part of the Washington run, there was a mid–second act instrumental sequence for the
band (which was set to the music of “Miliaria Rubra”) in which each band member performed a brief solo.
Variety reported that the musical cost $1.2 million, and of course the show lost its entire investment.
However, after the Washington closing the musical received a reprieve, albeit a very short one. Cast member
Robert LuPone was so taken with the musical’s score that he wanted to give it another chance. As a result,
Dream Time (subtitled “A Musical Fable of the Swing Era”) was briefly seen at Off-Off-Broadway’s Harold
Clurman Theatre, where it opened on December 17, 1980, some eight months after the musical had closed
in Washington. This three-character chamber version had a book by Alfred Uhry; LuPone and Myra Turley
codirected and co-choreographed, and among the cast members was Ann Morrison, who would make an im-
pression two seasons later when she was seen in Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along.
Swing shouldn’t be confused with two other musicals with the same title. The first was conceived and
directed by Elizabeth Swados, and played at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the period October 20–No-
vember 1, 1987. The second was a dance revue titled Swing! which opened on Broadway at the St. James
Theatre on December 9, 1999, for 461 performances.
Incidentally, choreographer Kenneth Rinker later created a dance number titled “Swing Suite,” which
premiered at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 1983, three years after
Swing had closed at the same complex. Julie Van Camp in the Washington Times reported that the work uti-
lized authentic big band music and at one point “briefly turns somber as the upbeat music gradually drowns
out a radio broadcast about the attack on Pearl Harbor.” The critic also noted that at this point the dancers
morphed into soldiers, but the “social commentary” was “brief and undeveloped.”
1980–1981 Season
YOUR ARMS TOO SHORT TO BOX WITH GOD

“A Soaring Celebration in Song and Dance”
Theatre: Ambassador Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Belasco Theatre)
Opening Date: June 2, 1980; Closing Date: October 12, 1980
Performances: 149
Text: Vinnette Carroll
Lyrics and Music: Alex Bradford; additional lyrics and music by Micki Grant; dance music by H. B. Barnum
Based on the Book of Matthew.
Direction: Vinnette Carroll; Production Supervisors: Jerry R. Moore and Richard Martini; Producers: Tom
Mallow in association with James Janek; Choreography: Talley Beatty; Scenery and Costumes: William
Schroder; Lighting: Richard Winkler; Musical Direction: Michael Powell
Cast: Julius Richard Brown, Cleavant Derricks, Sheila Ellis, Ralph Farrington, Jamil K. Garland, Elijah Gill,
William-Keebler Hardy Jr., Jennifer-Yvette Holliday, Garry Q. Lewis, Linda Morton, Jai Oscar St. John,
Kiki Shepard, Leslie Hardesty Sisson, Ray Stephens, Quincella Swyningan, Faruma S. Williams, Marilynn
Winbush, Linda E. Young, Adrian Bailey, Linda James; Note: The roles performed by Julius Richard Brown
and Cleavant Derricks were alternated.
The concert-styled evening was presented in two acts.
Musical Numbers
(Note: * = Lyric and music by Micki Grant; ** = Lyric and music by Alex Bradford; *** = Music by H. B.
Barnum)
Act One: “Beatitudes” (*) (Company); “We’re Gonna Have a Good Time” (*) (Julius Richard Brown or Cleav-
ant Derricks, Company); “There’s a Stranger in Town” (**) (Sheila Ellis, Company); “Do You Know Je-
sus?” (**) and “He’s a Wonder” (**) (Jamil K. Garland, Company); “Just a Little Bit of Jesus Goes a Long
Way” (**) (Jennifer-Yvette Holliday); “We Are the Priests and Elders” (*) (Julius Richard Brown or Cleav-
ant Derricks, William-Keebler Hardy Jr., Jai Oscar St. John); “Something Is Wrong in Jerusalem” (*) (Sheila
Ellis, Quincella Swyningan); “It Was Alone” (**) and “I Know I Have to Leave Here” (**) (Jennifer-Yvette
Holliday, Company); “Be Careful Whom You Kiss” (**) (Sheila Ellis, Quincella Swyningan); “Trial” (*)
(Company); “It’s Too Late” (*) (Company); “Judas Dance” (***) (Ralph Farrington); “Your Arms Too Short
to Box with God” (**) (Jennifer-Yvette Holliday, Company); “Give Us Barabbas” (**) (Company); “See
How They Done My Lord” (**) (Sheila Ellis, Company); “Come On Down” (**) (Linda E. Young, Jamil
K. Garland, Jai Oscar St. John); “Can’t No Grave Hold My Body Down” (**) (Ray Stephens, Company);
“Beatitudes” (*) (reprise) (Cleavant Derricks, Company)
Act Two: “Didn’t I Tell You” (**) (Julius Richard Brown or Cleavant Derricks); “When the Power Comes”
(**) (Company); “Everybody Has His Own Way” (**) (Julius Richard Brown or Cleavant Derricks, Ray
31
Stephens); “Down by the Riverside” (traditional) (Cleavant Derricks, Company); “I Love You So Much,
Jesus” (**) (Jennifer-Yvette Holliday); “The Band” (**) (Company)
The revival of the apostrophe-challenged Your Arms Too Short to Box with God was a gospel song cycle
loosely adapted from the Book of Matthew, and it came across as a black version of Jesus Christ Superstar and
Godspell. But while the scores of those two musicals were varied, Your Arms Too Short was a full evening of
generally monotonous gospel-styled singing, foot-stomping, and hand-clapping. If the score had been stronger
and more inventive, the production might have been more satisfying, but the overall lack of variety and the
one-note treatment soon became tiresome. The earlier Broadway production had been presented in one act,
but the current revival had two, and no doubt the intermission stretched out what was already a long evening.
The musical took place in a church in which the parishioners reenact the story of Christ’s Passion. The
character of Jesus never spoke or sang, and the major solo dance was by Judas. At the conclusion of the revue
and once Matthew’s story had been told, the evening suddenly morphed into a tribute to black gospel singers
such as Clara Ward and Mahalia Jackson.
The critics had been enthusiastic over the original 1976 Broadway production, and this time around they
were equally effusive. Mel Gussow in the New York Times praised the “durability and soulfulness” of the
score and said the cast filled the theatre with “evangelical passion.” He noted that the “musicalized sermon”
had made a “star” of Delores Hall (who for the original production had won the Tony Award for Best Fea-
tured Actress in a Musical) and it was likely the revival would do the same for Jennifer-Yvette Holliday, who
as Jennifer Holliday enjoyed a brief Broadway career and created one Broadway role (in Michael Bennett’s
Dreamgirls, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical).
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the “rousing” evening “an exhilarating piece of theatre”
which was “as winning and welcome as ever,” and Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said gospel music was the “pur-
est home-grown American art form” and the “State Department should tour [the musical] around the world
as an example of the best of American art.”
Marilyn Stasio in the New York Post gushed over the “rousing” production and said its “impassioned
singing could probably be heard around the globe.” But she mentioned the show was a “wee bit pretentiously
done” and she couldn’t recall if Talley Beatty’s dance numbers for the original production had gone on “quite
so long” as they now did. As for Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily, the “energetic” musical was “expertly
staged and performed” and he liked Holliday’s “show-stopping moments” of “showy shouting-and-growling.”
His one complaint was that the company had been so “well-drilled” that the production had been “robbed”
of much of its previous “joy and spontaneity.”
The revue had first been seen at the Festival of Two Worlds, Spoleto, Italy, in Summer 1975, and then
was produced at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. The original Broadway production opened at the Lyceum
Theatre on December 12, 1976, for 429 performances. After the current revival, the musical was again seen in
New York at the Alvin Theatre on September 9, 1982, for seventy performances (see entry).
The cast album of the 1976 production was released by ABC Records (LP # AB-1004).
The current revival omitted four songs that had been heard in the 1976 version: “I Ain’t Had My Fill,”
“That’s What the Bible Say,” “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?,” and “I Left My Sins Behind
Me” (lyricists and composers unknown).
IT’S SO NICE TO BE CIVILIZED

Theatre: Martin Beck Theatre
Opening Date: June 3, 1980; Closing Date: June 8, 1980
Performances: 8
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Micki Grant
Direction: Frank Corsaro; Producers: Jay Julien, Arnon Milchan, and Larry Kalish (Danny Holgate, Associate
Producer); Choreography: Mabel Robinson; Scenery and Visuals: Charles E. Hoeffler; Costumes: Ruth
Morley; Lighting: Charles E. Hoeffler and Ralph Madero; Musical Direction: Coleridge Taylor Perkinson
Cast: Obba Babatunde (Sharky), Vivian Reed (Mollie), Larry Stewart (Larry), Vickie D. Chappell (Sissy), Carol
Lynn Maillard (LuAnne), Mabel King (Grandma), Stephen Pender (Mr. Anderson), Dan Strayhorn (Blade),
Eugene Edwards (Reverend Williams), Deborah Burrell (Mother), Juanita Grace Tyler (Dancing Bag Lady);
1980–1981 SEASON 33
Ensemble: Daria Atanian, Paul Binotto, Sharon K. Brooks, P. L. Brown, Jean Cheek, Vondie Curtis-Hall,
Paul Harman, Esther Marrow, Wellington Perkins, Dwayne Phelps, Juanita Grace Tyler
The action takes place during the present time over a weekend in late summer on Sweetbitter Street.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Step into My World” (Ensemble);”Keep Your Eye on the Red” (Obba Babatunde); “Wake Up, Sun”
(Obba Babatunde, Vivian Reed); “Subway Rider” (Ensemble); “God Help Us” (Larry Stewart, Carol Lynn
Maillard); “Who’s Going to Teach the Children?” (Mabel King); “Out on the Street” (Ensemble); “Wel-
come, Mr. Anderson” (Dan Strayhorn, The Hawks Gang); “Why Can’t Me and You?” (Stephen Pender);
“Why Can’t Me and You?” (reprise) (Vickie D. Chappell, Stephen Pender); “Out on the Street” (reprise)
(Ensemble); “When I Rise” (Eugene Edwards); “World Keeps Going Round” (Vivian Reed, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Antiquity” (Ensemble); “I’ve Still Got My Bite” (Mabel King); “Look at Us” (Larry Stewart, Carol
Lynn Maillard); “Keep Your Eye on the Red” (reprise) (Obba Babatunde); “The American Dream” (Stephen
Pender); “Bright Lights” (Vivian Reed); “Step into My World” (reprise) (Obba Babatunde, Vivian Reed);
“It’s So Nice to Be Civilized” (Stephen Pender, Vickie D. Chappell, The Hawks Gang); “Like a Lady” (Viv-
ian Reed); “Pass a Little Love Around” (Ensemble)
Micki Grant’s revue-like musical It’s So Nice to Be Civilized had been first produced Off Off Broadway in
a showcase production. The wispy piece no doubt worked better in an intimate venue, but in a large Broadway
house the musical’s modest charms were lost and so the show managed just one week of performances. The
slender story was a collection of weak vignettes about inner-city life, including a grandmother (Mabel King),
a nightclub owner (Vivian Reed), a bag lady (Juanita Grace Tyler), a white social worker (Stephen Pender) who
hopes to teach gang kids the joy of painting a neighborhood mural, and Sharky (Obba Babatunde), a street-
smart sharpie who serves as a narrator of sorts throughout the evening.
Mel Gussow in the New York Times said the musical “drifts along as if it were a meandering stream”
with characters barely connected to one another; in fact, it took “a long time” to “even distinguish all of
the character relationships.” Ultimately, the show lacked “definition” as it wandered “to an all-join-hands
destination.” But Mabel King and Vivian Reed were stars of the “highest caliber” and they gave a “special
wattage” to the production.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News complained that the evening had “no shape” and “no book
to speak of.” He noted that Grant had written the book, lyrics, and music for the production but complained
that she had “no ability at all” to construct a proper book and that her music was “common place.” But the
critic praised Babatunde, King, and, especially, the “stunning” Reed, who was “almost alone worth the price
of admission.”
Marilyn Stasio in the New York Post noted the book had “no plot” and only “storybook ideals” that
preached (according to one of the song titles) that we all should “Pass a Little Love Around.” But Stasio said
Reed was “breathtakingly beautiful” and, like Watt, found her “worth the admission.” Christopher Sharp in
Women’s Wear Daily felt he was “sinking in a tank of Rice Krispies” because the music “snaps, crackles and
pops to little avail” and the characters were “icky and soggy.” The book was “just terrible” with its “flimsy
pretext” and it treated the audience as if they weren’t “mature adults.” Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street
Journal found the book “predictable and banal” but he praised Reed’s “intoxicating singing,” King’s “deep-
throated belting,” and Babatunde’s “loose-limbed dancing.” As for Joel Siegel on WABCTV7, he was “sorry”
that the talented cast was stuck with just one “so-so” song (apparently “Step into My World”) and a book that
didn’t “deserve to be considered a paragraph.”
During Broadway previews, the songs “Alice,” “Terrible Tuesday,” “Jub-Jub,” and “Me and Jesus” were
dropped.
The showcase production had opened at the AMAS Repertory Theatre on February 22, 1979, for twelve
performances. The Broadway version added three songs not heard in the showcase (“Keep Your Eye on the
Red,” “Antiquity,” and “The American Dream”), and omitted ten that had been performed during the AMAS
run (“Up Front Behind,” “Walkin’ the Dog,” “I Want to Be Your Congressman,” “Everybody’s Got a Pitch,”
“Come Back, Baby,” “Talking to People,” “Old Things,” “Terrible Tuesday,” “Jub-Jub,” and “Me and Jesus”
[as noted above, the last three songs were heard during Broadway previews]).
The musical’s opening number “Step into My World” was heard in Micki Grant’s retrospective revue Step
into My World, which was presented by the AMAS Repertory Theatre on February 16, 1989, for twenty-four
performances.
THE MUSIC MAN

Theatre: City Center
Performances: 21
Book: Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey
Lyrics and Music: Meredith Willson
Based on an unpublished story by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey.
Direction and Choreography: Michael Kidd; Producers: James M. Nederlander, Raymond Lussa, and Fred
Walker; Scenery: Peter Wolf; Costumes: Stanley Simmons; Lighting: Marcia Madeira; Musical Direction:
Milton Rosenstock
Cast: Traveling Salesmen—Dennis Holland, Lee Winston, Michael J. Rockne, Randy Morgan, Tom Garrett,
Ralph Braun, Andy Hostettler, Dennis Batutis, and Larry Cahn; Jay Stuart (Charlie Cowell), Peter Wandel
(Conductor), Dick Van Dyke (Harold Hill), Iggie Wolfington (Mayor Shinn), Larry Cahn (Ewart Dunlop),
Randy Morgan (Oliver Hix), Lee Winston (Jacey Squires), Ralph Braun (Olin Britt), Richard Warren Pugh
(Marcellus Washburn), Calvin McRae (Tommy Djilas), Meg Bussert (Marian Paroo), Carol Arthur (Mrs.
Paroo), Lara Jill Miller (Amaryllis), Christian Slater (Winthrop Paroo), Jen Jones (Eulalie MacKechnie
Shinn), Christina Saffran (Zeneeta Shinn), Marcia Brushingham (Alma Hix), Mary Gaebler (Maude Dun-
lop), P. J. Nelson (Ethel Toffelmier), Mary Roche (Mrs. Squires), Dennis Holland (Constable Locke); River
City Townspeople and Kids: Victoria Ally, Carol Ann Basch, Dennis Batutis, David Beckett, Mark A. Es-
posito, Tom Garrett, Liza Gennaro, Dennis Holland, Andy Hostettler, Tony Jaeger, Wendy Kimball, Ara
Marx, Darleigh Miller, Gail Pennington, Rosemary Rado, Michael J. Rockne, Coley Sohn, Peter Wandel
The action takes place in River City, Iowa, during July 1912.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Rock Island” (Jay Stuart, Salesmen); “Iowa Stubborn” (Townspeople of River City); “Trouble”
(Dick Van Dyke, Townspeople); “Piano Lesson” (Meg Bussert, Carol Arthur, Lara Jill Miller); “Goodnight,
My Someone” (Meg Bussert); “Seventy-Six Trombones” (Dick Van Dyke, Boys and Girls); “Sincere”
(Ralph Braun, Randy Morgan, Larry Cahn, Lee Winston); “The Sadder-but-Wiser Girl” (Dick Van Dyke,
Richard Warren Pugh); “Pickalittle” (Jen Jones, Mary Gaebler, P. J. Nelson, Marcia Brushingham, Mary
Roche, Ladies of River City); “Goodnight, Ladies” (Ralph Braun, Randy Morgan, Larry Cahn, Lee Win-
ston); “Marian the Librarian” (Dick Van Dyke, Meg Bussert, Boys and Girls); “My White Knight” (Meg
Bussert); “Wells Fargo Wagon” (Christian Slater, Townspeople)
Act Two: “It’s You” (Ralph Braun, Randy Morgan, Larry Cahn, Lee Winston, Jen Jones, Mary Gaebler, P. J.
Nelson, Marcia Brushingham, Mary Roche); “Shipoopi” (Richard Warren Pugh, Dick Van Dyke, Meg Bus-
sert, Calvin McRae, Christina Saffran, Kids); “Pickalittle” (reprise) (Jen Jones, Mary Gaebler, P. J. Nelson,
Marcia Brushingham, Mary Roche, Ladies of River City); “Lida Rose” (Ralph Braun, Randy Morgan, Larry
Cahn, Lee Winston); “Will I Ever Tell You?” (Meg Bussert); “Gary, Indiana” (Christian Slater); “It’s You”
(reprise) (Townspeople, Boys and Girls); “Till There Was You” (Meg Bussert, Dick Van Dyke); “Seventy-
Six Trombones” (reprise) and “Goodnight, My Someone” (reprise) (Dick Van Dyke, Meg Bussert); “Till
There Was You” (reprise) (Dick Van Dyke); Finale (Company)
The revival of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man had played on tour, and its New York visit was sched-
uled for three months at City Center. Despite many good reviews, the production never took off and closed in
less than three weeks. Michael Kidd’s direction and choreography were praised, and the critics were impressed
with Meg Bussert, here making her Broadway debut in the role of Marian (she returned later in the season in
a revival of Brigadoon).
1980–1981 SEASON 35
As for Dick Van Dyke, a number of reviewers suggested he was good but not good enough: His natural
charm and likability mitigated against his character of the con artist Harold Hill. Walter Kerr in the New
York Times said Van Dyke wasn’t a “scalawag, and we’ve got to have one”; Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street
Journal said he was “too nice” and missed the “roguish quality” necessary for the role; and Joel Siegel on
WABCTV7 said Van Dyke was a “great performer” who was “just too darn nice to be believable” as a con
man.
Kerr praised the “charming” Bussert, and Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily liked her “lovely voice”
and “good comic sense”; Wilson said she was “one of the liveliest Marians on record” because of her “excep-
tionally beautiful singing” and her “incredible sparkle”; and Siegel found her “delightful.”
Kerr singled out Kidd’s “new, vigorous, precisely patterned dance eruptions”; Kissel praised the “ener-
getic” dances; Siegel said Kidd’s direction and choreography “sparkle like diamonds”; and Wilson said that
“for the beauty of its singing and the vigor of its dancing,” the revival of The Music Man was “hard to beat.”
Siegel hailed the “American classic” and noted that Willson had taken the show’s “corn” and had popped,
buttered, and baked it and then turned it into fritters. And Siegel said he “ate it up.”
If John Phillip Sousa, George M. Cohan, and Mark Twain had ever collaborated on a musical, the result
might have been The Music Man, which may well be the great old-fashioned American musical comedy. The
opening scene takes place on July 4, 1912, in the small town of River City, Iowa, and the affectionate but
somewhat sardonic show looked at small-town America from the perspective of that quintessential American
type, the confidence man. The perfect book is chockablock with humor and sentiment (and the “Grant Wood”
sequence is one of the funniest visual jokes in all musical theatre), the story is full of amusing and quirky
characters, and the tuneful score is one of the best ever written for a musical: Willson created idiosyncratic
touches that give the score a sound like no other (“Rock Island,” “Trouble,” “Piano Lesson,” and “Gary, In-
diana”), “Seventy-Six Trombones” became such an instant classic it seems to have been around since Sousa
himself composed his grand American marches, and both Harold’s “Seventy-Six Trombones” and Marian’s
“Goodnight, My Someone” actually share the same melody and thus musically suggest the two characters
have more in common than meets the eye and thus are surely destined for a happy ending together.
The plot centers on con man and traveling salesman Harold Hill, a lovable charlatan who knows abso-
lutely nothing about music but nonetheless specializes in duping gullible parents into believing he can teach
their children through his revolutionary “think” system of music. But instead of creating marching bands, he
marches off with the money he makes from selling musical instruments and band uniforms. When Harold
meets local girl Marian, he falls in love with her, and even though she’s on to his tricks, she succumbs to his
charms.
The original Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on December 19, 1957, for 1,375 per-
formances, and the cast members included Robert Preston (Harold Hill), Barbara Cook (Marian), David Burns
(Mayor Shinn), and Iggie Wolfington (Marcellus Washburn). The first New York revival was produced under
the auspices of the New York City Center Light Opera Company at City Center on June 16, 1965, for a lim-
ited engagement of fifteen performances, and the cast included Bert Parks and Gaylea Byrne; after the current
engagement (with Wolfington now playing the role of Mayor Shinn), the musical was revived at the New
York State Theatre by the New York City Opera Company on February 26, 1988, for fifty-one performances
(Bob Gunton and Leigh Munro; for more information about this production, see entry) and at the Neil Simon
Theatre on April 27, 2000, for 685 showings (Craig Bierko and Rebecca Luker).
The delightful and faithful film adaptation was released by Warner Brothers in 1962 with Morton Da
Costa reprising his original stage direction. From the 1957 Broadway cast, Preston and Pert Kelton (Mrs.
Paroo) re-created their original roles, and others in the film included Shirley Jones (Marian), Paul Ford (Mayor
Shinn, a role Ford played during the original Broadway run when he succeeded David Burns), Hermione Gin-
gold (Mrs. Shinn), Buddy Hackett (Marcellus), and Ronny Howard (Winthrop). The film dropped one song
(“My White Knight,” which according to Broadway rumor had been written by Frank Loesser) and replaced
it with another in the same spot (“Being in Love”). A charm-free television adaptation was shown by ABC
on February 16, 2003, with Matthew Broderick and Kristin Chenoweth, and the original London production
opened at the Adelphi Theatre on March 16, 1961, for 395 performances (Van Johnson and Patricia Lambert).
The script was published in hardback by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in 1958. There are numerous recordings of
the score, but the original Broadway cast album is the essential one to own (Capitol Records LP # W/WAO-
990; Broadway Angel Records CD # ZDM-7-64663-2-3). Another worthwhile recording is . . . And Then I
Wrote “The Music Man” (Capitol Records LP # T-1320) in which Willson and his wife, Rini, discuss the
musical and perform songs from the score. Willson also wrote a book about the genesis of the show, But He
Doesn’t Know the Territory: The Making of Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man” (published in hardback
by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in 1959 and republished in paperback by the University of Minnesota Press in 2009).
FEARLESS FRANK
“A New Musical”

Performances: 12
Book and Lyrics: Andrew Davies
Music: Dave Brown
Direction: Robert Gillespie; Producers: David Black and Robert Fabian in association with Oscar Lewenstein
and Theodore P. Donahue Jr.; Choreography: Michael Vernon; Scenery: Martin Tilley; Costumes: Super-
vised by Carrie F. Robbins; Lighting: Ruth Roberts; Musical Direction: Michael Rose
Cast: Niall Toibin (Frank Harris), Alex Wipf (French Waiter, Headmaster, Kendrick, Lord Folkestone, Whis-
tler), Valerie Mahaffey (Secretary, School Girl, Jessie, Lilly), Kristen Meadows (Nellie, Kate, Laura), Steve
Burney (Tobin, Whitehouse, Smith, Chapman, Oscar Wilde), Ann Hodapp (Nursemaid, Actress, Boot-
black, Topsy, Newsboy, Enid), Olivier Pierre (Cowboy, Carlyle, Mr. Clapton, de Maupassant, Dowson),
Evalyn Baron (Mrs. Mayhew, Mrs. Clapton, Mrs. Clayton); Note: The company also played the roles of
School Boys, New Yorkers, Hotel Guests, Cowboys, Indians, A Crowd, Newsboys, Strollers, Opera Cho-
rus, Harris Detractors, and Harris Praisers.
The action takes place during 1921 in Nice and in the mind of Frank Harris.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Man Who Made His Life into a Work of Art” (Niall Toibin, Girls); “Nora, the Nursemaid’s
Door” (Valerie Mahaffey); “The Examination Song” or “Get Me on That Boat” (Alex Wipf, Steve Burney,
and Niall Toibin); “Halted at the Very Gates of Paradise—A Song of Frustration” (Niall Toibin, Girls);
“Come and Help Yourself to America” or “Frank in the Melting Pot” (Company); “Dandy Night Clerk” or
“How to Get On in the Hotel Trade” (Company); “Riding on the Range—A Song of the Old West” (Com-
pany); “Oh, Catch Me, Mr. Harris, ‘Cause I’m Falling for You!” (Kristen Meadows, Ann Hodapp, Valerie
Mahaffey, Evalyn Baron, and Niall Toibin); “The Greatest Man of All” (Niall Toibin)
Act Two: “My Poor Wee Lassie—A Scottish Lament” (Olivier Pierre); “My Own” or “True Love at Last”
(Niall Toibin, Kristen Meadows, Evalyn Baron, and Olivier Pierre); “Evening News—A Song of Success”
(Company); “La mâitre de la conte” or “de Maupassant Tells All” (Olivier Pierre); “Oh, Mr. Harris, You’re
a Naughty, Naughty Man!” (Niall Toibin, Evalyn Baron); “Great Men, Great Days” or “The King of the
Café Royal” (Niall Toibin); “Free Speech, Free Thought, Free Love” (Ann Hodapp, Niall Toibin, Com-
pany); “Mr. Harris, It’s All Over Now!” (Niall Toibin, Company); “Fearless Frank” (Company)
The London import Fearless Frank lasted less than two weeks on Broadway. The work looked at Victorian
writer, critic, and editor Frank Harris (born circa 1856, died 1931) and dealt with his amorous adventures as
well as his ability to appreciate the potential of unknown writers such as Oscar Wilde and George Bernard
Shaw. The musical takes place in 1921 when Harris (Niall Toibin) looks back upon his life, which is enacted
as a series of music-hall turns, and the evening’s emphasis was definitely on his sexual appetites. When he
meets Maupassant (Olivier Pierre), the latter sees Harris as a kindred spirit who also views life as “one long
fornication” (which is as close as the musical ever got to the “F” word, as it somewhat genteely referred to a
man’s “organ of fertilization,” which stands up and “salutes”).
Frank Rich in the New York Times praised the “uniformly ingratiating cast,” and noted the book was
one of the “wittiest” of the season. Further, the lyrics were “intricate” and “at times wicked,” the evening
was “always pleasant, literate and sweet,” and its message was that Harris’s life was “his greatest work of
art.” Unfortunately, Dave Brown’s music and Michael Vernon’s choreography and musical staging remained
1980–1981 SEASON 37
“unexplored” and were “usually lifeless.” Somewhere in the proceedings was a “lively” musical that never
quite took off and that lacked “showbiz know-how.”
Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily found the evening “fearfully inept” with its series of “cluttered skits”
of “kindergarten salaciousness.” The music was an “endless string of ricky-ticky melodies” and in the title
role Niall Toibin was “listless.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the production wasn’t “fearless, frank
nor even interesting.” Harris was a “fascinating rogue” but the musical made him a “bore” with a “thin,
watery” score that had “the consistency of gruel” and was “bleakly beige.” The choreography was “almost
invisible,” the “repetitious” book was a “mere recital” of Harris’s life and times, and while the work might
have had its “pallid charms” in London, it was “folly” to bring it to Broadway.
An early and apparently nonmusical version of the material had been presented as a special on the BBC,
and this led to the musical’s presentation at the King’s Head Theatre Club on May 31, 1979, for fifty-two
performances.
A few seasons after Fearless Frank collapsed, the Off-Off-Broadway nonmusical Flesh, Flash and Frank
Harris opened on October 27, 1983, at the Marquee Theatre in two slightly separated engagements for a total
of thirty-seven performances. Written by Paul Stephen Lim, the play utilized three actors to portray Harris
during different stages of his life.
CAMELOT
Opening Date: July 8, 1980; Closing Date: August 23, 1980
Performances: 56
Book and Lyrics: Alan Jay Lerner
Music: Frederick Loewe
Based on the 1958 novel The Once and Future King by T. H. White.
Direction: Frank Dunlop; Producers: Mike Merrick and Don Gregory (A Dome/Cutler-Herman Production);
Choreography: Buddy Schwab; Scenery and Costumes: Desmond Heeley; Lighting: Thomas Skelton; Mu-
sical Direction: James Martin
Cast: Richard Burton (Arthur), Andy McAvin (Sir Sagramore), James Valentine (Merlyn, Friar), Christine
Ebersole (Guenevere), William Parry (Sir Dinadan), Jeanne Caryl (Nimue), Richard Muenz (Lancelot du
Lac), Robert Fox (Mordred), Robert Molnar (Dap), Nora Brennan (Lady Anne), Deborah Magid (Lady Sybil),
William James (Sir Lionel), Paxton Whitehead (King Pellinore), Bob (Horrid), Davis Gaines (Sir Lionel’s
Squire), Steve Osborn (Sir Sagramore’s Squire), Herndon Lackey (Sir Dinadan’s Squire); Knights of the
Investiture: Ken Henley, Gary Jaketic, Jack Starkey, and Ronald Bennett Stratton; Thor Fields (Tom);
Knights, Lords, and Ladies of the Court: Nora Brennan, Jeanne Caryl, Melanie Clements, Stephanie Con-
low, Van Craig, John Deyle, Debra Dickinson, Richard Dodd, Cecil Fulfer, Davis Gaines, Lisa Ann Grant,
Ken Henley, John Herrera, Gary Jaketic, William James, Kelby Kirk, Herndon Lackey, Deborah Magid,
Kevin Marcum, Andy McAvin, Laura McCarthy, Robert Molnar, Steve Osborn, Patrice Pickering, Janelle
Price, Nancy Reith, Patrick Rogers, Deborah Roshe, D. Paul Shannon, Jack Starkey, Ronald Bennett Strat-
ton, Sally Ann Swarm, Sally Williams
The action takes place “a long time ago” in Camelot.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Guenevere” (Ensemble); “I Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight?” (Richard Burton); “The
Simple Joys of Maidenhood” (Christine Ebersole); “Camelot” (Richard Burton, Christine Ebersole); “Fol-
low Me” (Jeanne Caryl); “Camelot” (reprise) (Richard Burton, Christine Ebersole); “C’est moi” (Richard
Muenz); “The Lusty Month of May” (Christine Ebersole, Ensemble); “How to Handle a Woman” (Rich-
ard Burton); “The Jousts” (Richard Burton, Christine Ebersole, Ensemble); “Before I Gaze at You Again”
(Christine Ebersole)
Act Two: “If Ever I Would Leave You” (Richard Muenz); “The Seven Deadly Virtues” (Robert Fox); “What Do
the Simple Folk Do?” (Christine Ebersole, Richard Burton); “Fie on Goodness!” (Robert Fox, Knights); “I
Loved You Once in Silence” (Christine Ebersole); “Guenevere” (reprise) (Ensemble); “Camelot” (reprise)
(Richard Burton)
The touring production of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s 1960 musical Camelot played a limited
engagement of seven weeks in New York with Richard Burton reprising his original role of King Arthur.
Camelot marked the first of two Lerner and Loewe musicals to be revived during the season (Brigadoon
opened a few months later), and the following season saw another revival of Camelot (with Richard Harris,
who portrayed Arthur in the 1967 film version) as well as a revival of the team’s My Fair Lady in which Rex
Harrison revisited his original role.
Based on T. H. White’s novel The Once and Future King, Camelot told the familiar stories of Arthur’s
vision of a democratic society presided over by the knights of the round table as well as his marriage to
Guenevere (Christine Ebersole in the revival) and her love for the knight Lancelot (Richard Muenz). Others in
the story include Arthur’s friend Pellinore (Paxton Whitehead), Arthur’s mentor Merlin (aka Merlyn; James
Valentine), and Arthur’s evil illegitimate son Mordred (Robert Fox).
When Camelot premiered on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre on December 3, 1960, everyone agreed
that the first half of the first act was the equal of My Fair Lady. The early scenes struck just the right tone of
wit and self-mockery: Arthur’s self-effacing “I Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight?,” Guenevere’s lyri-
cally hard-edged “The Simple Joys of Maidenhood” (which was all the more effective because Lerner’s coldly
calculated lyric was set to one of Loewe’s loveliest musical confections), Lancelot’s ode to self-love “C’est
moi,” and the felicitous title song, which hyperbolically promised perfect weather, including a legal limit to
the amount of snowfall during a Camelot winter.
But soon the musical took wrong turns and never recovered. It became deadly serious when Lancelot
brings Sir Lionel back from the dead; Guenevere and Lancelot’s romance wasn’t dramatized and seemed to
have happened somewhere offstage; Arthur broods a bit too much about his vision of a democratic ideal and
the shambles of his marriage; and Mordred comes across like a B-movie villain in his attempts to destroy
Arthur, Guenevere, and Camelot. As the evening plodded on, even the supposedly endearing nicknames for
the characters became tiresome: Wart (Arthur), Jenny (Guenevere), and Pelly (Pellinore).
A few weeks after the premiere of the original production and the recording of the cast album, director
Moss Hart restaged the musical, sped up the action, and cut two songs (“Then You May Take Me to the Fair”
and “Fie on Goodness!”). But the inherent book troubles remained because the love triangle was unconvinc-
ingly written and the plot still carried too much baggage. And why was silly-twit Pellinore still around? He’s
one of the most tiresome characters in the canon of modern musical theatre (and is rivaled only by the equally
annoying Sancho Panza in Man of La Mancha), and he should have been left in Toronto or Boston (Camelot
underwent one of the most grueling of tryouts in those cities and its problems led to a cover story in Time
titled “The Rough Road to Broadway”).
Further, the characters of Merlin and Nimue were given more stage time than was warranted, and prob-
ably Nimue’s lovely “Follow Me,” along with the tiresome “The Lusty Month of May,” should have been cut
(perhaps the latter could have been reworked as a dance number called “May Dance” or “May Pole Dance”).
Although much had been done to streamline Camelot and clarify the plot lines and the characters, the
changes didn’t go far enough. What really was warranted was an almost complete rewrite. As a result, the
musical isn’t quite satisfying to watch and makes a better impression as a recording.
Frank Rich in the New York Times noted the musical still had its “flaws” and arbitrary turns of plot, and
director Frank Dunlop’s staging brought an “operatic heaviness” to the “windiness of the book.” Further, the
“opulent and gargantuan” production looked somewhat “uninhabited” and the choreography added “distract-
ing tackiness” to some of the numbers. But Richard Burton didn’t “merely command” the stage, he seemed
“to own it by divine right.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the musical “too long and too often too silly and preten-
tious.” It was “half lovely, half dopey and ultimately a bore,” but Burton was “the whole show,” looked “just
great,” and had a “distinctive” and “irresistible” voice. T. E. Kalem in Time commented that the evening was
“sometimes historical pageant” and “sometimes operetta,” and the “language veers from the chivalric mode
to slangy vernacular.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily complained about the “disintegrating quality”
of theatergoers who were “infinitely less sophisticated today than they were 20 years ago.” Now “all they can
1980–1981 SEASON 39
do is stand” for bombastic performances and “minimalist” acting skills, and so Burton didn’t “exert” himself
(and “why should he?”) because he could get $50,000 a week and standing ovations for “just appearing.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said that while the original production of Camelot was “half-baked
and had to be re-heated into success,” the current revival was “simply half-baked.” He also thought Burton
looked “wan” and seemed “little more than a burnt-out dummy.” There were still “glints of greatness” in his
performance, but despite his final scene’s “nobility and compassion,” it was all “too little, too late.”
The original Broadway production played for 873 performances, and the lavish cast album was released
by Columbia Records (LP # KOL-5620) and included thirteen color photographs that featured memorable
glimpses of Oliver Smith’s sumptuous décor and Tony Duquette and Adrian’s richly elegant costumes (the
CD was issued by Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy Records # SK-60552). It’s worth noting that for the cast
album Marjorie Smith (the original Nimue) doesn’t perform the song, which instead was recorded by her un-
derstudy Mary Sue Berry (who later in the run succeeded Smith).The script was published in hardback by Ran-
dom House in 1961, and the production’s souvenir program was the first to use color photographs throughout.
As mentioned, “Then You May Take Me to the Fair” and “Fie on Goodness!” were cut from the New
York production (but not before they were recorded for the cast album). Curiously, three numbers that were
heard during the entire Broadway run weren’t recorded for the album (“The Jousts,” “The Persuasion,” and
Lancelot’s “Madrigal,” and in fact the latter was never listed in the New York program). There were also two
charming orchestral sequences omitted from the New York program, and although only one was listed on
the cast album, both are heard on the recording. These are the “Processional” (sometimes referred to as the
“March”) for Guenevere’s entourage during the first scene and the “Parade” (also referred to as the “March”)
for the knights late in the first act (the music for “Parade” was also used for “The Jousts”).
Over the years, various revivals have included the “other” Camelot songs, such as “Then You May Take
Me to the Fair,” “Fie on Goodness!,” “The Jousts,” “The Persuasion,” “Madrigal,” “Processional,” and “Pa-
rade.” On occasion, “Madrigal” is actually listed in a revival’s program, but the two instrumental sequences
are generally ignored in program listings and so it’s almost impossible to determine which revivals included
the numbers. For the current revival, two songs were definitely cut: “Then You May Take Me to the Fair”
and “The Persuasion,” and the character of Morgan Le Fay was completely eliminated. The musical was
now bookended by the older Arthur reminiscing about the past as he readies himself for battle, and the late
second-act “Guenevere” became the show’s opening number (and was later heard in a reprise version for the
latter part of the second act).
One of the musical’s most charming songs is Arthur and Guenevere’s “What Do the Simple Folk Do?”
It’s worth noting that the tryout of Lerner and Loewe’s 1951 musical Paint Your Wagon included the song
“What Do Other Folk Do?,” which was performed by James Barton and Olga San Juan, and the number seems
to have been reworked for Camelot.
After the current revival, the musical was seen in New York two more times: at the Winter Garden The-
atre on November 15, 1981, with Richard Harris, Meg Bussert, and Richard Muenz, the latter reprising his
role of Lancelot from the 1980 revival (the 1981 production was seen on Home Box Office in 1983 and was
released on DVD by Acorn Media # AMP-8925; for more information about the production, see separate entry)
and at the Gershwin Theatre on August 7, 1993, for fifty-six performances (with the original Lancelot Robert
Goulet now portraying Arthur). A concert version was presented at Avery Fisher Hall for five performances
beginning on May 7, 2008, a production seriously marred by director Lonny Price’s unfortunate staging con-
cepts and mostly poor casting choices (the happy exception was Nathan Gunn’s Lancelot, whom one critic
described as “impossibly handsome” and whose “C’est moi” and “If Ever I Would Leave You” were definitive
interpretations).
The original London production opened at the Drury Lane on August 19, 1964, for 518 performances
with a cast that included Lawrence Harvey, Elizabeth Lerner, and Barry Kent (Nicky Henson was Mordred).
The cast album, which was released by EMI Records (LP # CSD-1559) and was issued on CD by Kritzerland
Records (# KR-200184), includes “The Jousts.”
The bloated 1967 film version was released by Warner Brothers; Joshua Logan directed, Lerner wrote the
screenplay, and the cast included Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, and Franco Nero. The film retained “I
Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight?,” “The Simple Joys of Maidenhood,” “Camelot,” “C’est moi,” “The
Lusty Month of May,” “Then You May Take Me to the Fair,” “How to Handle a Woman,” “If Ever I Would
Leave You,” “What Do the Simple Folk Do?,” “Follow Me,” “I Loved You Once in Silence,” and “Guenevere”
(the “March” was heard during the film’s overture). Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the film is that
Logan, who always seemed to find a way to work male beefcake into a play, musical, or movie, didn’t show
a scene of Franco Nero emerging from his bath during the “C’est moi” sequence (it’s amusing to note that
for the Logan-directed film version of Bus Stop, it was Don Murray and not Marilyn Monroe who is seen in a
bubble bath). The soundtrack album (LP # B/BS-1712) and DVD (# 12238) were released by Warner Brothers.
Besides the original cast albums of the Broadway and London productions and the film soundtrack, there
are numerous recordings of the score, including a Living Strings album that includes “The Quests,” a song cut
during the pre-Broadway tryout (RCA Camden Records LP # 657, and issued on CD as Two Classic Albums
from Living Strings: The Living Strings Play All the Music from “Camelot” and The Living Strings Play Music
of the Sea).
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Revival (Camelot); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Paxton Whitehead)
42ND STREET
“The Song and Dance Fable of Broadway”
Theatre: Winter Garden Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Majestic and St. James Theatres)
Opening Date: August 25, 1980; Closing Date: January 8, 1989
Performances: 3,486
Book (Lead-Ins and Crossovers): Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble
Lyrics: Al Dubin; other lyrics by Johnny Mercer and Mort Dixon
Music: Harry Warren
Based on the 1932 novel 42nd Street by Bradford Ropes and the 1933 film 42nd Street (produced by Warner
Brothers with direction by Lloyd Bacon, choreography by Busby Berkeley, and screenplay by Rian James
and James Seymour).
Direction and Choreography: Gower Champion; Producer: David Merrick; Scenery: Robin Wagner; Cos-
tumes: Theoni V. Aldredge; Lighting: Tharon Muser; Musical Direction: John Lesko
Cast: Danny Carroll (Andy Lee), Robert Colston (Oscar), Stan Page (Mac), Karen Prunczik (Annie), Carole
Cook (Maggie Jones), Joseph Bova (Bert Barry), Lee Roy Reams (Billy Lawlor). Wanda Richert (Peggy
Sawyer), Ginny King (Lorraine), Jeri Kansas (Phyllis), Jerry Orbach (Julian Marsh), Tammy Grimes (Doro-
thy Brock), Don Crabtree (Abner Dillon), James Congdon (Pat Denning), Stan Page (Thug, Doctor), Ron
Schwinn (Thug); Ensemble: Carole Banninger, Steve Belin, Robin Black, Joel Blum, Mary Cadorette,
Ronny DeVito, Denise DiRenzo, Mark Dovey, Brandt Edwards, Jon Engstrom, Sharon Ferrol, Cathy
Greco, Dawn Herbert, Christine Jacobsen, Jeri Kansas, Ginny King, Terri Ann Kundrat, Shan Martin,
Beth McVey, Maureen Mellon, Sandra Menhart, Bill Nabel, Tony Parise, Don Percassi, Jean Preece, Vicki
Regan, Lars Rosager, Linda Sabatelli, Nikki Sahagen, Ron Schwinn, Yveline Semeria, Alison Sherve,
Robin Stephens, David Storey, Karen Tamburrelli
The action takes place during 1933 in New York City and Philadelphia.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Audition” (dance) (Danny Carroll, Ensemble); “Young and Healthy” (1933 film 42nd Street; lyric
by Al Dubin) (Lee Roy Reams, Wanda Richert); “Shadow Waltz” (Gold Diggers of 1933; lyric by Al Dubin)
(Carole Cook, Tammy Grimes, Girls); “Shadow Waltz” (reprise) (Tammy Grimes); “Go into Your Dance”
(1935 film Go into Your Dance; lyric by Al Dubin) (Carole Cook, Wanda Richert, Karen Prunczik, Danny
Carroll, Ginny King, Jeri Kansas); “You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me” (1933 film 42nd Street; lyric by
Al Dubin) (Tammy Grimes, Lee Roy Reams, Wanda Richert, Ensemble); “Getting Out of Town” (in 1931
musical The Laugh Parade, the song was introduced as “Got to Go to Town” with lyric by Mort Dixon
and possibly Joe Young; lyric revised for stage version of 42nd Street) (James Congdon, Joseph Bova, Carole
1980–1981 SEASON 41
Cooke, Karen Prunczik, Tammy Grimes, Ensemble); “Dames” (1934 film Dames, lyric by Al Dubin) (Lee
Roy Reams); “I Know Now” (1937 film The Singing Marine; lyric by Johnny Mercer) (Tammy Grimes);
“I Know Now” (reprise) (Lee Roy Reams, Girls); “We’re in the Money” (Gold Diggers of 1933; lyric by Al
Dubin) (Karen Prunczik, Wanda Richert, Ginny King, Jeri Kansas, Lee Roy Reams, Ensemble); Act One
Finale (Tammy Grimes, Wanda Richert, Company)
Act Two: “(There’s a) Sunny Side to Every Situation” (1938 film Hard to Get; lyric by Johnny Mercer) (Karen
Prunczik, Ensemble); “Lullaby of Broadway” (film Gold Diggers of 1935; lyric by Al Dubin) (Jerry Orbach,
Company); “About a Quarter to Nine” (1935 film Go into Your Dance; lyric by Al Dubin) (Tammy Grimes,
Wanda Richert); Overture to Pretty Lady (Orchestra); “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” (1933 film 42nd Street; lyric
by Al Dubin) (Karen Prunczik, Joseph Bova, Carole Cook, Girls); “42nd Street” (1933 film 42nd Street; lyric
by Al Dubin) (Wanda Richert, Lee Roy Reams, Ensemble); “42nd Street” (reprise) (Jerry Orbach)
Gower Champion’s 42nd Street was the longest-running musical of the 1980–1981 season, and when it
closed in 1989 it had chalked up 3,486 performances. Based on the legendary 1933 film of the same name,
the backstage story told the familiar show-biz saga about the unknown chorus girl who goes on for the ail-
ing star and becomes a star herself. In this case, diva Dorothy Brock (Tammy Grimes) breaks her ankle prior
to the first Philadelphia tryout performance of the new musical Pretty Lady and chorus-girl Peggy Sawyer
(Wanda Richert), who has just thirty-six hours to learn twenty-five pages of dialogue, six songs, and ten dance
routines, steps in at the last minute and emerges triumphant. Added to the mix are Pretty Lady’s stalwart
director Julian Marsh (Jerry Orbach), the wise-cracking chorine Annie (Karen Prunczik), and juvenile lead Billy
Lawlor (Lee Roy Reams).
The show’s thin book (during the tryout, the word book was changed to lead-ins and crossovers) served
as a delightful excuse to present a cornucopia of elaborate dance routines and an array of sumptuous scenery
and colorful costumes. From the very beginning, it was clear the show knew where it was going because even
the first tryout preview performance at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House on June 22, 1980, was in shape
with its minimalist and serviceable script that connected the musical numbers together: the first act was a
trim one-and-a-quarter hours and the second ran forty-six minutes.
Four songs from the original film, with lyrics by Al Dubin and music by Harry Warren, were supplemented
by other film songs (and one stage song) by Warren (with lyrics by Dubin, Johnny Mercer, or Mort Dixon; see
song list for specific credits and sources). In many respects, the show was a tribute-revue to Warren, whose
film songs include three Oscar winners (“Lullaby of Broadway” from Gold Diggers of 1935, lyric by Al Dubin;
“You’ll Never Know” from 1943’s Hello, Frisco, Hello, lyric by Mack Gordon; and “On the Atchison, Topeka
and the Santa Fe” from 1946’s The Harvey Girls, lyric by Johnny Mercer).
Critics and audiences were enchanted with 42nd Street, but the opening night was tempered by the tragic
news of Champion’s death, which had occurred just hours before the curtain. Had the event happened in a
movie, no one would have believed it, for this was one of a handful of truly dramatic and memorable opening
nights. After the cast members had taken their curtain calls and were still on stage, producer David Merrick
suddenly appeared. Everyone probably expected him to say a few pleasant words, and perhaps to crow a bit
because clearly the musical was destined for success. But instead Merrick announced that Champion had died
earlier in the day. The cast and audience were stunned, and Champion was never to know that he had directed
and choreographed a Broadway blockbuster that would run longer than any of his previous successes, such
as Bye Bye Birdie, Carnival!, Hello, Dolly!, and I Do! I Do! Champion’s death made headlines, and everyone
agreed that no stage show could ever hope to emulate the offstage drama of the historic opening night.
The musical began with a spectacular image: the curtain rose just a few feet, and revealed dozens of feet
tapping away with musical comedy abandon. And when the curtain was completely up, the chorus performed
exciting combinations of classic tap routines. And this was only the beginning. The beguiling “Shadow Waltz”
was soon followed by the jaw-dropping “Dames,” one of the era’s most impressive production numbers. As
Lee Roy Reams saluted the dames, the showgirls appeared one by one in gowns of Ziegfeldian splendor. The
colors of their gowns created dazzling rainbow effects, and they were backed by tuxedoed gentlemen in top
hats, and all the while the showgirls and gentlemen were surrounded by acres of glittering mirrors. As the
number reached its crescendo, it provided an amusing sight gag: Reams and the chorus had been performing
the show-stopping number, but in true star-lady fashion Dorothy Brock, who hadn’t been part of the sequence,
suddenly appears out of nowhere, takes over center stage, and with her arms raised to the heavens she imperi-
ously acknowledges the audience’s applause.
“We’re in the Money” was another dazzler, a fantasy in gold and silver that found the dancers tapping
on oversized gold coins; “Lullaby of Broadway” was a heartfelt tribute to musicals and was sung with spine-
tingling effect by Jerry Orbach; “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” was a lighthearted interlude replete with Pullman
car berths laden with streetwise chorines; and then the title number blossomed in full glory as the audience
was treated to a world of drama, comedy, and socko production effects on that naughty, bawdy New York
thoroughfare of 42nd Street.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News praised the “dazzling Broadway eyeful” and noted the musi-
cal offered “more singers, dancers, brilliant costumes and striking scenery filling the stage than you’ve seen
in 25 years or more.” Champion “lived up to his name as never before” and “Dames” was “perhaps the most
striking number in an evening full of delights.” Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal said “everything is
done on a grand scale” and Champion, who here “outdid himself,” wrote “his own final tribute” with a show
so “lavish” that nothing like it had “been seen on Broadway in 40 years.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times said Champion’s choreography was his “best,” served “as a strangely
ironic tribute” to his other musicals, and gave him the “unparalleled opportunity to let his considerable
imagination go berserk” in a “final display of blazing theatrical fireworks.” Clive Barnes in the New York
Post said Champion wasn’t dead but was “still, gloriously, gloriously, alive somewhere between 42nd Street
and the Winter Garden Theatre.” There was no need to say “Bye, Bye, Gower” because he had left behind “a
permanent mark.”
The film retained four of the show’s five songs (“You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me,” “Shuffle Off to
Buffalo,” “Young and Healthy,” and the title song), and “It Must Be June” was omitted.
During the tryout, Curt Dawson was succeeded by James Congdon who had heretofore played the role of
Nick Murphy, a part written out of the musical; “You Gotta Know How to Dance” (source and lyricist un-
known) and “Keep Young and Beautiful” were cut (but as noted below the latter song was reinstated for the
2001 Broadway revival); and “Getting Out of Town” was titled “Time to Leave Town.”
The original cast album was released by RCA Victor Records (LP # CBL1-3891 and CD # 3891), and there
were a few foreign cast albums, including the Australian recording (RCA Victor Records LP # VRL1-0812).
The London production opened on August 8, 1984, at the Drury Lane, and a Broadway revival at the Ford
Center for the Performing Arts opened on May 2, 2001, for 1,524 performances and won the Tony Award for
Best Revival of a Musical. This production added “I Only Have Eyes for You” (1934 film Dames, lyric by Al
Dubin) and “Keep Young and Beautiful” (1933 film Roman Scandals, lyric by Al Dubin) and omitted “I Know
Now.”
Awards
Tony Nominations and Awards: Best Musical (42nd Street); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Lee Roy
Reams); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Wanda Richert); Best Director of a Musical (Gower Cham-
pion); Best Book (Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble); Best Costume Designer (Theoni V. Aldredge); Best
Lighting Designer (Tharon Musser); Best Choreography (Gower Champion)
THE STUDENT PRINCE

Opening Date: August 29, 1980; Closing Date: September 7, 1980
Performances: 13
Book and Lyrics: Dorothy Donnelly (book adaptation by Hugh Wheeler)
Music: Sigmund Romberg
Based on the 1901 play Alt-Heidelberg by Wilhelm Meyer-Forster (which had been adapted from Meyer-
Forster’s 1898 novel Karl Heinrich).
Direction: Jack Hofsiss (Christian Smith, Assistant Stage Director); Producer: The New York City Opera
Company (Beverly Sills, General Director, and John S. White, Managing Director); Choreography: Donald
Saddler; Scenery: David Jenkins; Costumes: Patton Campbell; Lighting: Gilbert V. Hemsley Jr.; Choral
Direction: Lloyd Walser; Musical Direction: Andrew Meltzer
1980–1981 SEASON 43
Cast: Edward Zimmerman (Lackey), Louis Perry (Lackey, Freshman, Student), Harris Davis (Lackey), Mervin
Crook (Lackey), Dominic Cossa or Charles Roe (Dr. Engel), David Rae Smith (Count von Mark), Sven Leaf
(Secretary), Barry Carl (Secretary), Jacque Trussel or Henry Price (Prince Karl Franz), James Billings or Jack
Harrold (Lutz), Martha Thigpen (Gretchen), Dan Sullivan (Ruder), Robert LaFosse (Nicholas), Jack Harrold
or James Billings (Toni), Harlan Foss (Hubert), John Lankston (Detlef), Thomas Jamerson (von Asterberg),
Ralph Bassett (Lucas), Leigh Munro or Elizabeth Hynes (Kathie), Madeleine Mines (Girl), Jean Rawn (Girl),
Barbara Wright (Girl), Dominick Farone (Student), Merle Schmidt (Student, Huzzar), Spencer Smith (Stu-
dent), Muriel Costa-Greenspon (Grand Duchess Anastasia), Kathryn Bouleyn (Princess Margaret); Joseph
Evans (Captain Tarnitz), Jane Shaulis (Countess Leydon), Richard Nelson (Huzzar), Herbert Hunsberger
(Huzzar), Robert Brubaker (Huzzar); Friends of the Huzzars: Madeleine Mines, Jean Rawn, Barbara Wright,
and Maria Donaldi; Ensemble: The New York City Opera Chorus and Dancers
The musical was presented in three acts.
The action takes place “in the golden years” of 1830–1832 in Karlsberg and Heidelberg, Germany.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “By Our Bearing So Sedate” (Edward Zimmerman, Louis Perry, Harris Davis, Mervin Crook);
“Golden Days” (Dominic Cossa, Jacque Trussel); “Garlands Bright (with Glowing Flowers)” (Martha
Thigpen, Dan Sullivan, Girls); “To the Inn We’re Marching” (John Lankston, Ralph Bassett, Thomas Ja-
merson, Students); “Drink, Drink, Drink” (aka “Drinking Song”) (John Lankston, Ralph Bassett, Thomas
Jamerson, Students); “Come Boys, Let’s All Be Gay, Boys” (Leigh Munro, John Lankston, Ralph Bassett,
Thomas Jamerson, Students); “Drink, Drink, Drink” (reprise) and “To the Inn We’re Marching” (reprise)
(John Lankston, Ralph Bassett, Thomas Jamerson, Students); “Heidelberg, Beloved Vision of My Heart”
(Dominic Cossa, Jacque Trussel, Leigh Munro, Dan Sullivan, Martha Thigpen, Girls); “Gaudeamus Igi-
tur” (traditional) (Students); “Golden Days” (reprise) (Dominic Cossa); “Deep in My Heart, Dear” (Leigh
Munro, Jacque Trussel); “Come, Sir, Will You Join Our Noble Saxon Corps?” (Students); “Overhead the
Moon Is Beaming” (aka “Serenade”) (Jacque Trussel, Students); “When the Spring Wakens Everything”
(Company)
Act Two: “Farmer Jacob Lay Asnoring” (Students); “Student Life” (Company); “Golden Days” (reprise) (Jacque
Trussel, Dominic Cossa); “Thoughts Will Come to Me” (aka “What Memories”) (Jacque Trussel, Dominic
Cossa); Finale (Leigh Munro, Jacque Trussel)
Act Three: Ballet (Orchestra); “Just We Two” (Kathryn Bouleyn, Joseph Evans, Men); “What Memories, Sweet
Rose” (Men); “Let Us Sing a Song” (Students); “If He Knew” (Leigh Munro, Kathryn Bouleyn); Finale
(Company)
The New York City Opera Company’s production of Sigmund Romberg’s venerable 1924 operetta The
Student Prince in Heidelberg (which soon became known by its shortened title The Student Prince) was its
first New York presentation in thirty-seven years. Because the book was revised by Hugh Wheeler and the
director was Jack Hofsiss, who had helmed the recent Broadway hit The Elephant Man, there were high hopes
that the revival would breathe new life into the operetta format.
Donal Henahan in the New York Times said Hofsiss directed with “affection and respect,” and the critic
was happy to note Wheeler’s book was “not only respectful but intelligent” and there were no “gauche
attempts” to insert “trendy” references to Billy Carter or Teddy Kennedy. But musically the revival was
“disappointing.” As Prince Karl, the “fine-looking” Jacque Trussel sang in an “uncomfortable, medium-high
range that pushed his basically pleasant voice into the suggestion of a juvenile’s croak,” and Leigh Munro’s
Kathie was sung “rather ineffectively.” Further, Andrew Meltzer’s conducting didn’t bring “sufficient snap
and rhythmic brio” to the ensemble numbers and thus the “Drinking Song” seemed “surprisingly tame and
undersung.” Overall, Henahan felt the production emphasized the work as a “theatrical show” and failed to
ignite its musical values, and he hoped that as the run progressed “a better balance” would be found. (Hena-
han also noted that Jack Harrold, who played the innkeeper Toni, “gave a fair imitation” of S. K. “Cuddles”
Sakall [who appeared in the 1954 film version].)
The operetta premiered in New York on December 2, 1924, at Jolson’s Theatre for 608 performances, and
Prince Karl was played by Howard Marsh (who three years later created the role of Gaylord Ravenal in the
original production of Show Boat).
The bittersweet story dealt with Prince Karl, who attends school at Heidelberg University for a few
months and falls in love with the barmaid Kathie, who works at the Three Golden Apples Inn, a popular
student gathering place. But royal duty soon calls when the prince’s father dies and Karl must ascend the
throne and enter into an arranged marriage with a princess. Romberg’s richly melodic score offered the soaring
ballads “Deep in My Heart, Dear” and “Serenade” (aka “Overhead the Moon Is Beaming”), the lilting waltz
“Just We Two,” the stirring march “To the Inn We’re Marching,” the carefree and lighthearted “Student Life,”
and perhaps the ultimate Broadway salute to drinking, the rich male chorus “Drinking Song” (aka “Drink,
Drink, Drink”), a number undoubtedly dear to the hearts of Prohibition audiences. And serving as a theme
song throughout the evening was the sadly nostalgic “Golden Days.”
The operetta’s first New York revival took place at the Majestic Theatre on January 29, 1931, for forty-five
performances, and the second opened on June 8, 1943, at the Broadway Theatre where it played for 153 show-
ings. After the current production, the New York City Opera Company revived the work four more times: on
August 27, 1981 (six performances), July 5, 1985 (nine performances), July 7, 1987 (fourteen performances), and
August 17, 1993 (thirteen performances). (See separate entries for the 1981, 1985, and 1987 productions.) Dur-
ing summer 1973, two beautifully sung revivals of Romberg’s The Desert Song (1926) and The Student Prince
were given full-scale productions that had lengthy tours and were intended for Broadway; the former played
at the Uris Theatre for just two weeks, and The Student Prince closed at the conclusion of its scheduled tour
and never opened in New York.
The original London production opened at His Majesty’s Theatre on February 3, 1926, for ninety-six
performances, and there were two film versions by MGM. The 1928 film was a silent version directed by
Ernst Lubitsch, and the cast included Ramon Navarro and Norma Shearer. The second, released in 1954 and
directed by Richard Thorpe, was colorful, melodic, and had a sweetly romantic old-fashioned charm. Mario
Lanza had been scheduled to play Prince Karl, but was replaced by Edmund Purdom (whose singing voice was
dubbed by Lanza). Ann Blyth was Kathie, and others in the cast were Louis Calhern, S. Z. “Cuddles” Sakall,
Edmund Gwenn, John Williams, Evelyn Varden, and Betta St. John (who had created the role of Liat in South
Pacific). The film included three pleasant new songs, “Summertime in Heidelberg,” “I’ll Walk with God,”
and “Beloved” (lyrics by Paul Francis Webster and music by Nicholas Brodszky). Lanza later recorded songs
from the film, including the three new ones, and these and other vocals by him were issued by Sepia Records
(CD # 1200).
The most complete recording of the score was released by That’s Entertainment Records on a two-CD set
(# CDTER2-1172).
The operetta’s source was Wilhelm Meyer-Forster’s 1901 play Alt-Heidelberg, which was first produced
in New York as Heidelberg, or When All the World Was Young; it opened at the Princess Theatre on Decem-
ber 15, 1902, and another adaptation of the drama was produced as Old Heidelberg at the Lyric Theatre on
October 12, 1903.
Romberg’s version of Alt-Heidelberg wasn’t the first lyric adaptation of the material. The opera Eidelberga
mia premiered in Genoa, Italy, in 1908 (music by Ubaldo Pacchierotti and libretto by Alberto Colantuoni).
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Opening Date: September 12, 1980; Closing Date: September 20, 1980
Direction: Gerald Freedman; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director);
Choreography: Thomas Andrew (Andrew’s original choreography reconstructed by Jessica Redel); Cho-
reography for Cynthia Gregory by Dennis Nahat; Scenery: Lloyd Evans; Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge;
Lighting: Hans Sondheimer; Choral Direction: Lloyd Walser; Musical Direction: Imre Pallo
1980–1981 SEASON 45
Cast: Henry Price (Alfred), Inga Nielsen (Adele), Maralin Niska (Rosalina von Eisenstein), Alan Titus (Gabriel
von Eisenstein), Norman Large (Doctor Blind), Richard Fredericks (Doctor Falke), Harlan Foss (Frank), Puli
Toro (Sally), Gary J. Dietrich (Ivan), James Billings (Prince Orlofsky), Jack Harrold (Frosch); Solo Dancers:
Esperanza Galan and Taras Kalba; Special Guest Dance Soloist: Cynthia Gregory; Ensemble: The New
York City Opera Chorus and Dancers
In February 1980, Johann Strauss’s operetta Die Fledermaus (The Bat) was produced by the New York City
Opera Company, and the current offering was the company’s second of five revivals during the decade (the
other productions were seen in 1981, 1986, and 1987; see entries). The entry for the February 1980 revival also
includes general background information about the operetta. The work was also presented in German by the
Vienna Volksoper in 1984 (see entry).
In reviewing the current production, Edward Rothstein in the New York Times felt that despite “some
solid singing” by Alan Titus (as von Eisenstein) and “flawed but dramatic performances” by Henry Price (Al-
fred) and Maralin Niska (Rosalinda), the production “never took off.” He suggested there were “darker themes
hidden in this masquerade,” and like a Viennese waltz the operetta should be “slipping and pulling in and out
of time” with a “piquancy” that was “never captured” by either the production or by Imre Pallo’s conducting.
CHARLIE AND ALGERNON

“A Very Special Musical”
Theatre: Helen Hayes Theatre

Performances: 17
Book and Lyrics: David Rogers
Music: Charles Strouse
Based on the 1959 short story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, who in 1966 adapted the work into a
full-length novel.
Direction: Louis W. Scheeder; Producers: The Kennedy Center, Isobel Robins Konecky, Fisher Theater Foun-
dation, and The Folger Theatre Group (produced for the Kennedy Center and Folger Theatre Group by
Michael Sheehan and Louis W. Scheeder); Choreography: Virginia Freeman; Scenery: Kate Edmunds; Cos-
tumes: Jess Goldstein; Lighting: Hugh Lester; Musical Direction: Liza Redfield
Cast: P. J. Benjamin (Charlie), Sandy Faison (Alice Kinnian), Edward Earle (Doctor Strauss), Robert Sevra
(Doctor Nemur), Nancy Franklin (Mrs. Donner), Loida Santos (Lita), Patrick Jude (Frank), Julienne Marie
(Charlie’s Mother), Matthew Duda (Little Charlie), Michael Vita (Charlie’s Father)
The action takes place during the present time in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Musical Numbers
“Have I the Right” (Sandy Faison, Robert Sevra, Edward Earle); “I Got a Friend” (P. J. Benjamin); “I Got a
Friend” (reprise) (P. J. Benjamin, Sandy Faison); “Some Bright Morning” (Robert Sevra, P. J. Benjamin,
Edward Earle, Sandy Faison); “Jelly Donuts and Chocolate Cake” (Nancy Franklin, Loida Santos, Patrick
Jude); “Hey, Look at Me” (P. J. Benjamin, Sandy Faison); “Reading” (P. J. Benjamin, Sandy Faison); “No
Surprises” (Sandy Faison); “Midnight Riding” (Patrick Jude, Loida Santos); “Dream Safe with Me” (Ju-
lienne Marie); “Not Another Day Like This” (Julienne Marie, Michael Vita); “Somebody New” (Nancy
Franklin, P. J. Benjamin); “I Can’t Tell You” (P. J. Benjamin); “Now” (P. J. Benjamin, Sandy Faison);
“Charlie and Algernon” (P. J. Benjamin, Algernon); “The Maze” (P. J. Benjamin); “Whatever Time There
Is” (Sandy Faison, P. J. Benjamin); “Everything Was Perfect” (Edward Earle, Robert Sevra); “Charlie”
(P. J. Benjamin); “I Really Loved You” (P. J. Benjamin); “Whatever Time There Is” (reprise) (Sandy Faison)
The import Charlie and Algernon had first been produced as Flowers for Algernon on December 21, 1978,
at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and then in London for twenty-nine performances at
the Queen’s Theatre on June 14, 1979, with Michael Crawford and Cheryl Kennedy in the leading roles of
Charlie and Alice. The musical was based on the 1959 short story “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes,
who in 1966 adapted the work into a full-length novel. In 1961, a television adaptation of the short story titled
“The Two Worlds of Charlie Gordon” was produced on the U.S. Steel Hour with Cliff Robertson in the title
role, and in 1968 Robertson starred in the film adaptation Charly, for which he won the Academy Award for
Best Actor.
The science fiction story dealt with Charlie Gordon (P. J. Benjamin), whose IQ is 68. He has no family,
supports himself as a sweeper and delivery boy at a bakery, and attends classes for the mentally challenged
that are given by Alice Kinnian (Sandy Faison). Alice is approached by two doctors who want to perform an
experimental operation that may increase Charlie’s intelligence, and while the operation heretofore has been
performed only on mice, the doctors note that the intelligence of the mouse Algernon has increased threefold
since the operation.
As a result of his operation, Charlie’s IQ rises to the level of genius, and soon he and Alice become ro-
mantically involved. But ultimately Algernon’s intelligence begins to regress, and Charlie realizes that he too
will return to his earlier state. By the end of the musical, the operation has indeed reversed itself and Charlie
is barely literate. As the curtain falls, Charlie sits by himself, and, talking into a tape recorder, asks Alice to
place flowers on Algernon’s grave because the little animal was one of God’s creatures.
The well-meaning musical suffered from a rather perfunctory and surprisingly bland book and a generally
weak score. But there were three outstanding numbers: two brooding ballads (“Whatever Time There Is” for
Charlie and Alice, and “I Really Loved You” for Charlie) and the title song, a razzmatazz vaudeville routine
for Charlie and Algernon in which the former goes into hoary patter (Algernon plans to appear at the Metro-
politan Opera in Mice-tersinger, and one of Algernon’s latest gigs was at the Conrad Stilton).
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the “predictable” show and its “simplistic content” and stereo-
typed characters (with the possible exception of Algernon) might have gotten by if the evening had possessed
the “grace or pizzazz of a first-rate musical,” but all too often it came across like a play with songs rather
than a fully integrated work. He also noted that Strouse’s score was “often tuneful but rarely rousing.” And
while P. J. Benjamin was a “gifted performer,” his early scenes with a “mindless grin” were “a little too remi-
niscent of Jerry Lewis in mid-telethon” (in truth, on the London cast album Michael Crawford also seems to
be channeling Lewis).
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the musical a “hapless affair” that both trivialized and
sentimentalized its subject. The book and “undistinguished” lyrics dealt “uneasily” with the material and
the sometimes “pleasingly melodic” score reduced “the heavy subject to bathos.” Howard Kissel in Women’s
Wear Daily suggested the self-described “very special musical” should be called “a thoroughly ordinary musi-
cal.” Situations that “demanded especially sensitive treatment” were dealt with in “a standardized manner,”
and while Algernon all but stole the show during the title song, this feat was perhaps “not as difficult as it
may sound.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the “realistic” show was “musically enchanting” with a “beauti-
fully melodic” score and “syrupy but catchy lyrics”; but he noted the evening seemed to “manipulate” rather
than “arouse” his feelings. John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor found the adaptation “consistently
sympathetic,” “compassionate,” and “decent and honest” but said the material was presented in “fragments”
that only occasionally had “coherent force.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal said that while Strouse’s contributions were “interesting” and
“agreeable,” Rogers’s efforts were “lackluster.” And Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 wished that Alger-
non had had more to do: the “smart” mouse had the “good sense” to not utter one word of the “dismal dia-
logue” and the “awful” lyrics, and the critic wondered who his agent was.
The Broadway production omitted one song from the London version (“Our Boy Charlie”). The pre-
Broadway engagements were at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre in March 1980 and later at the Kennedy
Center’s Eisenhower Theatre in July 1980. During parts of the Kennedy Center run, the song “One Step at a
Time” was heard, and the roles of Doctor Strauss and Frank were respectively played by Chev Rodgers and
Timothy Meyers.
The script was published as Charlie and Algernon in paperback by The Dramatic Publishing Company
in 1981, and the London cast album was recorded as Flowers for Algernon. The album was issued by Original
1980–1981 SEASON 47
Cast Records (LP # OC-8021, and later on CD # OC-9221) as Flowers for Algernon, and subtitled Charlie and
Algernon.
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Score (lyrics by David Rogers and music by Charles Strouse)
INSIDEOUTSIDEANDALLAROUND WITH SHELLEY BERMAN

Theatre: Bijou Theatre
Opening Date: October 2, 1980; Closing Date: October 25, 1980
Performances: 28
Text: Shelley Berman
Production Supervisor: Kitzi Becker; Producers: Arthur Shafman International Ltd.
Cast: Shelley Berman
The comedy revue was presented in two acts.
Comedian Shelley Berman’s one-man comedy revue Insideoutsideandallaround with Shelley Berman
consisted of approximately thirty comic monologues by the popular stand-up comedian, who had last been
seen on Broadway in the short-running 1962 musical A Family Affair.
John Corry in the New York Times felt the evening wore “thin” and that Berman was “entertaining only
now and again.” Some of the routines had been part of the humorist’s repertoire for years and they still had
“impeccable timing and absolute assurance.” But some went on too long: a sequence involving the come-
dian’s frustrations with a hotel maid who supplies him with tiny bars of soap was essentially a “one-line
joke,” and another about a man trying to fall asleep was “terribly clever” but soon became “terribly tedious.”
But there were some very funny moments, especially one in which Berman played the roles of a “callow”
American ambassador, an “abject” prime minister of a friendly country, and the prime minister’s conniving
interpreter. By the time the sequence is over, the heretofore innocuous meeting has resulted in a declaration
of war between the two countries. There were also looks at life’s “tiny catastrophes,” in which Berman por-
trayed a “baffled” man who lives “in fear of small disasters.”
SILVERLAKE, OR A WINTER’S TALE

Book: Georg Kaiser (adaptation by Hugh Wheeler)
Lyrics: Georg Kaiser (new lyrics by Lys Symonette)
Music: Kurt Weill (other incidental music by Weill was interpolated into the current production by Lys Sy-
monette)
Direction: Harold Prince; Producers: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director)
and Gert von Gontard; Choreography: Larry Fuller; Scenery and Costumes: Manuel Lutgenhorst; Lighting:
Ken Billington; Choral Direction: Lloyd Walser; Musical Direction: Julius Rudel
Cast: Harlan Foss (Johann), Robert McFarland (Dietrich), William Neill (Severin), Edward Zimmerman
(Heckler), James Clark (Klaus), Norman Large (Hans), Gary Chryst (Hunger), Penny Orloff (Salesgirl),
Jane Shaulis (Salesgirl), David Rae Smith (Handke), John Lankston (Officer Olim), William Poplaski (City
Inspector), Jack Harrold (Lottery Agent, Baron Laur), Richard Nelson (Doctor), Kathleen Hegierski (Fen-
nimore), Gary Dietrich (Liveried Footman), Muriel Costa-Greenspon (Frau von Luber), Michael Rubino
(Chef), Rafael Romero (Chef); Singing Ensemble: The New York City Opera Chorus; Dancing Ensemble:
The New York City Opera Dancers
The action takes place in and around the village of Silverlake.
The New York City Opera Company revived Kurt Weill’s opera Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale one more
time before dropping it from their repertoire. The company had first presented the work during their 1980
spring season (see entry), and including the current run the opera was seen for a total of ten performances in
repertory.
In the earlier production, the role of Officer Olim was played by Joel Grey, but this time around John
Lankston sang the role. As a result, Peter G. Davis in the New York Times noted that the conception of the
character was “drastically altered.” Lankston brought “an extra measure of vocal strength” to the production,
and while he didn’t capture Grey’s “fey gracefulness” he was nonetheless “appealing and effective” and was
“more in tune” with the rest of the company.
Davis mentioned that City Opera’s version of the work differed “drastically” from the original German
presentation. But for all that, the new adaptation was “eminently stageworthy” and was “often touching in
its humanistic message.” The opera brimmed with “theatrical energy” and it offered some of Weill’s “happi-
est lyrical inspirations.”
For more information about the opera’s background and for a list of musical numbers, see entry for the
March 1980 production.
BRIGADOON
Opening Date: October 16, 1980; Closing Date: February 8, 1981
Performances: 133
Direction: Vivian Matalon; Producers: Zev Bufman and The Shubert Organization (A Wolf Trap Production);
Choreography: Agnes De Mille (David Evans, De Mille’s Assistant; De Mille’s choreography re-created
by James Jamieson); Scenery: Michael J. Hotopp and Paul de Pass; Costumes: Stanley Simmons; Lighting:
Thomas Skelton; Musical Direction: Wally Harper
Cast: Martin Vidnovic (Tommy Albright), Mark Zimmerman (Jeff Douglas), Kenneth Kantor (Angus Mc-
Guffie), Casper Roos (Archie Beaton), Michael Cone (Sandy Dean), Marina Eglevsky (Maggie Anderson),
John Curry (Harry Beaton), Elaine Hausman (Meg Brockie), Jack Dabdoub (Andrew MacLaren), Meg Bus-
sert (Fiona MacLaren), Mollie Smith (Jean MacLaren), Stephen Lehew (Charlie Dalrymple), Frank Ham-
ilton (Mr. Lundie), Mark Herrier (Frank), Betsy Craig (Jane Ashton); Singers: Michael Cone, Betsy Craig,
Larry French, Linda Hohenfeld, Michael Hayward-Jones, Joseph Kolinski, Diane Pennington, Cheryl
Russell, Linda Wonneberger; Dancers: Bill Badolato, Cherie Bower, Amy Danis, Tom Fowler, John Giffin,
Mickey Gunnersen, Jennifer Henson, David Hughes, Phil LaDuca, Elena Malfitano, Susi McCarter, Jerry
Mitchell, Eric Nesbitt, Holly Reeve, Dale Robbins, Harry Williams
The action takes place in Brigadoon (a village in the Scottish Highlands) and in New York City during a recent
May.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Once in the Highlands” (Ensemble); “Brigadoon” (Ensemble); “Down on MacConnachy Square”
(Michael Cone, Elaine Hausman, Men and Women of Brigadoon); “Waitin’ for My Dearie” (Meg Bussert,
Girls); “I’ll Go Home with Bonnie Jean” (Stephen Lehew, Men); “Bonnie Jean” (dance) (danced by John
Curry, Marina Eglevsky, Men and Women of Brigadoon); “The Heather on the Hill” (Martin Vidnovic,
Meg Bussert); “Rain Exorcism” (Men and Women of Brigadoon); “The Love of My Life” (Elaine Hausman);
“Jeannie’s Packin’ Up” (dance) (danced by Girls); “Come to Me, Bend to Me” (Stephen Lehew); “Come to
Me, Bend to Me” (dance) (danced by Mollie Smith, Girls); “Almost Like Being in Love” (Martin Vidnovic,
Meg Bussert)
Act Two: “Wedding Dance” (led by Mollie Smith and Stephen Lehew, and danced by the Men and Women of
Brigadoon); “Sword Dance” (led by John Curry and danced by the Company); “The Chase” (John Curry,
1980–1981 SEASON 49
Men of Brigadoon); “There but for You Go I” (Martin Vidnovic, Meg Bussert); “Steps Stately” (dance)
(danced by Men and Women of Brigadoon); “Drunken Reel” (dance) (danced by Men and Women of
Brigadoon); “Funeral Dance” (danced by Marina Eglevsky); “From This Day On” (Martin Vidnovic, Meg
Bussert); “Brigadoon” (reprise) (Ensemble); “Come to Me, Bend to Me” (reprise) and “The Heather on
the Hill” (reprise) (Meg Bussert); “From This Day On” (reprise) (Martin Vidnovic); “Brigadoon” (reprise)
(Ensemble)
The new production of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s Brigadoon was one of the era’s best reviv-
als: it was beautifully sung and danced, the décor was handsome, and Vivian Matalon’s direction was forceful
and dramatic. But for some reason many of the critics were somewhat cool to the musical’s delicate charms
and found it somewhat old-fashioned, the audiences didn’t come, and the memorable show was gone in less
than four months and regrettably didn’t leave behind a cast album.
The ethereal fantasy told of the magical Scottish village of Brigadoon, which comes to life every one hun-
dred years (during each night, a century passes). By not remaining too long in any one century, the townsfolk
remain untouched (and untainted) by any one period of time. But the magic spell will be broken if any villager
steps beyond the prescribed boundaries of the town. Except for Harry Beaton (John Curry), everyone is happy
with this arrangement, but Harry finds Brigadoon his own personal brig because his love for Jean MacLaren
(Mollie Smith) is unrequited and she plans to wed Charlie Dalrymple (Stephen Lehew). When present-day
New Yorkers Tommy Albright (Martin Vidnovic) and Jeff Douglas (Mark Zimmerman) stumble upon Briga-
doon, the former is immediately attracted to both the village and Fiona MacLaren (Meg Bussert), Jean’s sister.
For the evening’s comic relief, Jeff is pursued by villager Meg Brockie (Elaine Hausman), who seems to have
come to Scotland by way of Oklahoma and in the proud tradition of Ado Annie has her sights set on a man
(any man).
Overwhelmed with rage by the nuptials of Jean and Charlie, Harry hopes to destroy Brigadoon by crossing
its boundaries, but he’s inadvertently shot and killed by Jeff, who has been hunting in the woods. Tommy and
Jeff leave Brigadoon, but when Tommy returns a miracle occurs: the town wakes from its sleep and Tommy
is forever united with Fiona.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said that when Martin Vidnovic and Meg Bussert sang “Almost Like
Being in Love” they “sent the audience into the stratosphere of ecstasy” and they “catapult themselves into
the loftiest firmament of musical comedy performers.” In fact, their pairing was “so exciting” they deserved
“a modern romantic musical all their own.” Vivian Matalon had recently directed the successful revival of
Paul Osborn’s 1939 comedy-drama Mornings at Seven, and here again he revealed “a true affinity for the
particular charms of vintage entertainments.” But Rich was disappointed that Brigadoon was bound by the
conventions of 1940s musical theatre with its comic romantic couple (Meg and Jeff), a “scowling bad guy”
(Harry), and far too much stage time devoted to the marriage of “two exceedingly minor characters” (Jean and
Charlie). Further, he noted the first act was “almost all songs” and the second “almost all dancing and plot.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal praised the cast, the score, and the choreography, but noted that
in the second act the show began “to take itself too seriously” and thus it slowed down “considerably”; Den-
nis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 and Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 had much to praise about the revival, but the
former felt it needed a good fifteen minutes’ worth of pruning and the latter noted the book was “weak,” the
dialogue “laughable,” and the pacing “deadly.” Although Clive Barnes in the New York Post noted the musi-
cal was now “somewhat dated,” it was nonetheless a “handsome” revival that “deserves to be a hit again.”
Jack Kroll in Newsweek said Brigadoon was “the most unabashedly romantic of musicals” and Loewe’s
score was a blend of “Scotch mist” and “delicate Viennese-Schlag” that formed melodies “to melt your
heart.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily praised the “magnificent” revival with its “wonderfully en-
dearing” book, “absolutely glorious” score, and “unusually dramatic ideas for dance.” Vidnovic and Bussert
sang with “emotional genuineness” and “thrilling” musicianship, and he noted that “we have not heard this
kind of excitement in our musical theatre for a long time.”
The revival omitted Meg’s “My Mother’s Weddin’ Day”; a first-act reprise of “Down on MacConnachy
Square,” which was sung during a rain storm, was here retitled “Rain Exorcism”; and a self-described “Coun-
try Dance” in the original production seems to have morphed into two separate dance sequences (“Steps
Stately” and “Drunken Reel”) for the revival. Lerner also restructured some of the scenes: the first act origi-
nally ended with the wedding and sword dances, but for the revival the first act curtain fell after “Almost Like
Being in Love” and the second act began with the two dances.
The musical first opened on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre on March 13, 1947, for 581 performances,
and as of this writing has been revived ten times in New York. The first six visits were produced at City
Center by the New York City Center Light Opera Company on May 2, 1950 (24 performances); March 27,
1957 (47 performances, which includes a brief transfer to Broadway at the Adelphi Theatre); May 30, 1962 (16
performances); January 30, 1963 (15 performances); December 23, 1964 (17 performances); and December 13,
1967 (23 performances). After the current production, the musical was revived three times by the New York
City Opera Company: on March 1, 1986 (40 performances; see entry for more information about this produc-
tion); November 7, 1991 (12 performances); and November 13, 1996 (14 performances).
The original London production opened at His Majesty’s Theatre on April 14, 1949, and at 685 perfor-
mances bypassed the New York run. The musical was filmed by MGM in 1954 (directed by Vincente Min-
nelli, the cast included Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse), and there have been two television
adaptations, one produced in the Netherlands and shown on January 25, 1964, and the other presented by
ABC on October 15, 1966.
The script was published in hardback by Coward-McCann in 1947, and an undated paperback edition was
issued in Great Britain by Chappell & Co., Ltd. The original Broadway cast recording was released by RCA
Victor Records (LP # LOC/LSO-1001; later issued by RCA on CD # 1001-2-RG). There are numerous record-
ings of the score, but perhaps the best is a studio cast version issued by Columbia Records (LP # CL-1132 and
reissued on # OL-7040) and later released on CD by DRG Records (# 19071). Sung by Jack Cassidy, Shirley
Jones, Susan Johnson, and Frank Porretta, the studio cast album is more complete than the Broadway album
and includes the previously unrecorded “The Love of My Life,” “Jeannie’s Packin’ Up,” and “The Chase.”
Although Brigadoon is an original story not credited to any specific source material, the musical’s basic
premise forms the plot of Friedrich Gerstacker’s 1862 short story “Germelshausen.”
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Revival (Brigadoon); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Martin Vidnovic); Best
Leading Actress in a Musical (Meg Bussert)
WISH ME MAZEL-TOV
Theatre: Town Hall
Opening Date: October 19, 1980; Closing Date: January 11, 1981
Performances: 84
Book: Moshe Tamir
Lyrics: Y. Alperin
Music: D. Blitenthal and A. Lustig
Direction: Michal Greenstein; Producers: Shalom Yiddish Musical Comedy Theatre, Raymond Ariel, David
Carey, and Theo Roller; Choreography: Yankele Kaluski; Scenery and Costumes: Adina Rich; Lighting:
Not Credited; Musical Direction: Renee Solomon
Cast: Reizi Bizyk (Rivkah), Karol Latowicz (Yankl), Solo-Moise Aron (Pinye), Mary Soreanu (Daliah), Eleanor
Reissa (Estee), Sandy Levitt (Tzvikah), Raquel Yossifon (Jeanette), Ruth T. Kaminska (Ryah), David Ellin
(Emanuel Kaufman), David Carey (Captain Shimon Kaufman); Boys and Girls of Yafo, Soldiers, and Oth-
ers: Shelly Pappas, Luis Manuel, Karl Petersen, and Mark Rubin
The action takes place in Israel during the present time.
Musical Numbers
Note: Division of acts and performance credits are unknown; however, songs are listed in performance order.
“Yafo Ballet”; “Honesty’s the Hard Way”; “Daliah”; “A Yiddish Yingele”; “Ver s’iz avek”; “Soldiers’ Dance”;
“Whatever You Want”; “We Went Forth”; “My Dearest”; “God Will Provide”; “Peace”; “I Need a Hus-
band”; “Wish Me Mazel-Tov”
1980–1981 SEASON 51
The Yiddish-American musical Wish Me Mazel-Tov was performed in Yiddish, but Richard F. Shepard in
the New York Times noted that for those whose Yiddish was at “half-mast,” the evening offered “occasional
summaries” in English and that the program included a full synopsis of the plot.
The musical took place in present-day Israel, and Shepard reported that the “strong” if not “logical” plot
dealt with Daliah, a daughter from a poor family who poses as the secret wife of a lost war hero who came
from a wealthy family. Of course, the missing hero turns up, and so Shepard stated, “Such complications!
Go see!”
Shepard noted the score (played by a four-member band) was “bouncy and bright,” the direction was
“light-hearted,” and Roumanian-by-way-of-Israel Mary Soreanu was “attractive and talented” and “just the
shot in the arm that Yiddish Theatre needs.” In fact, with her Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway visits,
Soreanu was the era’s stalwart who almost single-handedly kept old-time Yiddish musical theatre alive with
her appearances in such shows as Rebecca, The Rabbi’s Daughter (1979), The Roumanian Wedding (1981),
The Showgirl (1982), The Jewish Gypsy (1983), and Oy Mama! Am I in Love! (1984).
BANJO DANCING, OR THE 48TH ANNUAL SQUITTERS

MOUNTAIN SONG DANCE FOLKLORE CONVENTION
AND BANJO CONTEST . . . AND HOW I LOST
Theatre: Century Theatre
Opening Date: October 21, 1980; Closing Date: November 30, 1980
Performances: 38
Text: Stephen Wade with Milton Kramer
Direction: Milton Kramer; Producers: Stuart Oken and Jason Brett and The Klezmer Group (An Apollo Group
Production in association with Jeffrey Wachtel); Scenery: David Emmons; Costumes: Stephen Wade’s
clothing by Bigsby & Kruthers; Lighting: Dennis Parichy
Cast: Stephen Wade
The revue was presented in two acts.
Musical Numbers
Note: All songs and commentary were performed by Stephen Wade. The program didn’t list individual songs
and monologues.
Banjo Dancing, or The 48th Annual Squitters Mountain Song Dance Folklore Convention and Banjo
Contest . . . and How I Lost was a one-man show in which Stephen Wade played the banjo, sang, told stories
and jokes, and even indulged in a bit of clog-dancing. The modest evening was amiable and amusing, and
while its run on Broadway was brief, the work was successful in regional theatre.
The production was first presented at the Apollo Theatre in Chicago in May 1979 and played there for
over a year, and a few weeks after the New York run the show opened on January 13, 1981, at Arena Stage’s
Old Vat Room in Washington, D.C., where it ran for almost a decade. In 1989, Wade’s new one-man show On
My Way Home opened at the Arena, and in 1990 his recording Dancing Home was released by Flying Fish
Records (CD # FF-70543) and included numbers from both Banjo Dancing and On My Way Home.
In his review of the New York production, Frank Rich in the New York Times said the evening was “a
nice, old-time folk club act” that had been “unconscionably inflated” into a full evening of theatre, and he
noted that after a half hour some audience members might find themselves in search of a waiter and a drink.
Wade told us “more than we want to know” about the history of the banjo, and his stories included the overly
familiar fence-whitewashing sequence from Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Rich noted that
Wade was at his best with the banjo, and the evening’s finest moment occurred when he played “Dixie.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the banjo could be an “irritating instrument,” and at
best Banjo Dancing wasn’t much more than a “polished parlor entertainment” which might even wear thin
in a nightclub. Wade was “good-natured,” but there was too much of everything in the show, including lots
of stories and some occasional clog-dancing, and he decided Wade had “a mind like an old attic: not dusty,
exactly, but not sorted out, either.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post stated that apart from “disliking” banjos he had nothing much against
them and even preferred them to bagpipes and harmonicas. But for him the banjo was to music what ping-
pong was to sport: “essentially unserious.” However, he praised the “engaging” Wade, who was a “manic lep-
rechaun” and a “pleasing fellow.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said Banjo Dancing was closer to nightclub than
theatre, and while the show was “fun” and might be “wonderful” for children, it wasn’t right for Broadway.
However, in his review of the earlier Chicago production, T. E. Kalem in Time wrote that Banjo Dancing
was “an evening of intimate, unmarred intensity” presided over by the “wondrous” Wade who performed in
the tradition of Charles Aznavour and Woody Guthrie. Kalem noted that Wade surfaced in Chicago “but his
potential fame defies augury.”
TINTYPES
“A Ragtime Revue” / “A Musical Revue” / “The New Musical”
Theatre: John Golden Theatre

Performances: 93
Direction: Gary Pearle; Producers: Richmond Crinkley and Royal Pardon Productions; Ivan Bloch, Larry J.
Silva, and Eve Skina; in association with Joan F. Tobin (The American National Theatre and Academy
Production); Choreography: Musical staging by Mary Kyte; Scenery: Tom Lynch; Costumes: Jess Gold-
stein; Lighting: Paul Gallo; Musical Direction: Mel Marvin
Cast: Carolyn Mignini, Lynne Thigpen, Trey Wilson, Mary Catherine Wright, Jerry Zaks, Mel Marvin (Piano)
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t identify specific performers for the musical numbers.
Act One: Arrivals: “Ragtime Nightingale” (lyric and music by Joseph F. Lamb); “The Yankee Doodle Boy”
(aka “Yankee Doodle Dandy”; from 1904 musical Little Johnny Jones; lyric and music by George M.
Cohan); “Ta-Ra-Ra Boom-De-Ay!” (lyric and music by Harry J. Sayers); “I Don’t Care” (lyric and music
by Jean Lenox and Harry C. Sutton); “Come Take a Trip in My Airship” (lyric and music by George Ev-
ans and Ren Shields); “Kentucky Babe” (lyric and music by Richard H. Buck and Adam Geibel); “A Hot
Time in the Old Town Tonight” (lyric and music by Joe Hayden and Theo A. Metz); “Stars and Stripes
Forever” (lyric and music by John Philip Sousa); Ingenuity and Inventions: “Electricity” (lyric and music
by Harry B. Smith and Karl Hoschna); TR: “El Capitan” (1896 operetta El Capitan; lyric and music by
John Philip Sousa); Wheels: “Pastime Rag” (lyric and music by Artie Matthews); “Meet Me in St. Louis”
(lyric and music by Andrew Sterling and Kerry Mills); “Solace” (lyric and music by Scott Joplin); “Waltz
Me Around Again, Willie” (1906 musical His Honor, the Mayor; lyric by Will D. Cobb, music by Ren
Shields); “Wabash Cannonball” (traditional); “In My Merry Oldsmobile” (lyric and music by Gus Edwards
and Vincent P. Bryan); The Factory: “Wayfaring Stranger” (traditional); “Sometimes I Feel Like a Mother-
less Child” (traditional); “Aye, Lye, Lyu Lye” (traditional); “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen” (lyric
and music by Thomas P. Westendorf); “America the Beautiful” (lyric and music by Katherine Lee Bates
and Samuel Ward); “Wait for the Wagon” (traditional); “What It Takes to Make Me Love You—You’ve
Got It” (lyric by James Weldon Johnson, music by James Reese Europe); Anna Held: “The Maiden with
the Dreamy Eyes” (1901 musical The Little Duchess; lyric by James Weldon Johnson, music by Bob Cole);
“If I Were on the Stage (Kiss Me Again)” (1905 musical Mlle. Modiste; lyric by Harry Blossom, music by
Victor Herbert); Outside Looking In: “Shortnin’ Bread” (traditional); “(I Ain’t Never Done Nothing to)
Nobody” (added to Ziegfeld Follies of 1910; lyric and music by Alex Rogers and Bert Williams); Fitting
In: “Elite Syncopations” (music by Scott Joplin); “I’m Goin’ to Live Anyhow, ’Til I Die” (lyric and music
by Shepard N. Edmonds)
Act Two: “The Ragtime Dance” (music by Scott Joplin); Panama: “I Want What I Want When I Want It”
(1905 musical Mlle. Modiste; lyric by Henry Blossom, music by Victor Herbert); The Ladies: “It’s Delight-
ful to Be Married!” (lyric and music by Anna Held and V. Scotto); “Fifty-Fifty” (lyric and music by Jim
1980–1981 SEASON 53
Burris and Chris Smith); “American Beauty” (lyric and music by Joseph F. Lamb); Rich and Poor: “Then
I’d Be Satisfied with Life” (added for the tour of The Governor’s Son, 1901; lyric and music by George M.
Cohan); “Narcissus” (lyric and music by Ethelbert Nevin); “Jonah Man” (lyric and music by Alex Rogers);
“When It’s All Goin’ Out and Nothin’ Comin’ In” (1902 musical Sally in Our Alley; lyric and music by
Bert Williams and George Walker); “We Shall Not Be Moved” (traditional); Vaudeville: “Hello, Ma Baby”
(lyric and music by Joseph E. Howard and Ida Emerson); “Teddy Da Roose” (lyric and music by Ed Moran
and J. Fred Helf); “A Bird in a Gilded Cage” (lyric by Arthur J. Lamb, music by Harry Von Tilzer); “Bill
Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?” (lyric and music by Hughie Cannon); “She’s Gettin’ More Like
the White Folks Every Day” (lyric and music by Bert Williams and George Walker); “You’re a Grand Old
Flag” (1906 musical George Washington, Jr.; lyric and music by George M. Cohan); “The Yankee Doodle
Boy” (reprise); Finale: “Toyland” (1903 musical Babes in Toyland; lyric by Glen MacDonough, music by
Victor Herbert); “Smile” (revue Passing Show of 1918; lyric by J. Will Callahan, music by Lee S. Roberts)
Tintypes was well-meaning enough, but it should have stayed in regional theatre or Off Broadway. The
revue purported to examine the immigrant experience through songs of the turn-of-the-twentieth-century
variety, but its scattershot approach, which pulled together songs from various sources and tried to make
statements about immigrant life and the nature of American politics, was on the order of such also-rans as
the Bicentennial revues Music! Music! (1974), A Musical Jubilee (1975), and Sing America Sing (1975). These
revues attempted to “organize” American popular music into some kind of grand statement, and the later
short-running Off-Broadway revue The All-Night Strut! (1979) also tried to give structure to various styles
of American popular music. Tintypes was certainly sincere, but it went on too long and was all too much. It
received positive reviews, but lasted less than three months on Broadway.
Tintypes was divided into random sections such as Arrivals, TR, The Factory, Panama, and Vaudeville.
And random was the operative word because the songs were often shoehorned into the narrative and some-
times seemed gratuitously out of place. “America the Beautiful” was heard in The Factory section but could
easily have been inserted into Arrivals; “El Capitan” was in the TR section, but it had nothing to do with
Teddy Roosevelt and was in fact the title song from John Philip Sousa’s 1896 operetta; and “I Don’t Care”
didn’t belong in Arrivals and would probably have been more suited to the Vaudeville section. Further, “I
Want What I Want When I Want It” was a comedy number from Victor Herbert’s 1905 operetta Mlle. Modiste
but was heard in the Panama sequence as a negative comment on U.S. foreign policy.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the “pleasant” and “modest” revue “very rarely boils over into
excitement.” But he praised Jerry Zaks’s “Yankee Doodle Dandy”: at the beginning of the revue, the per-
former played a Jewish immigrant who sings the number in a “heavily accented rendition,” but by the finale
the character has “evolved into a self-assured vaudevillian who can deliver the same song with full Cohan
pizzazz.” But “explicit digressions” into imperialism, feminism, and industrialism fell “flat” and Trey Wilson
and Mary Catherine Wright (as Teddy Roosevelt and Emma Goldman) gave “comic-book incarnations” in the
style of “superficial political primers.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found himself “more often than not wincing at” the “cute-
ness” of Tintypes as he watched it “slip mincingly by”; further, there were “too many utterly forgotten” songs
that deserved their obscurity and the John Golden was too large a venue for such a “very intimate show.” But
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said Tintypes was a “delight”; Jack Kroll in Newsweek liked
the “sweet and loving” revue; Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal praised the “captivating evocation”
of an earlier era; and Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the “winner” was a “very welcome Broadway
arrival” and he singled out Jerry Zaks for his “nuclear radiance” and “show-biz pizzazz.”
The production premiered at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., where it was subtitled “A Ragtime
Revue”; it later opened Off Broadway at The Common/The Theatre of Saint Peter’s Church on April 17, 1980,
for 137 performances, and then transferred to Broadway. Carolyn Mignini, Mary Catherine Wright, Jerry Zaks,
and Mel Marvin were in all three productions; for Washington, the cast included Timothy Jerome and Nedra
Dixon, who were succeeded by Trey Wilson and Lynne Thigpen for the Off-Broadway and Broadway versions.
A number of songs heard during the Washington and Off-Broadway runs weren’t included in the Broad-
way production, such as: “Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider” (lyric and music by Eddie Leonard and Eddie Munson);
“St. Louis Blues” (lyric and music by W. C. Handy); “A Real Slow Drag” (lyric and music by Scott Joplin);
“Shine On, Harvest Moon” (Ziegfeld Follies of 1908; lyric by Jack Norworth, music by Nora Bayes and Jack
Norworth); and “Bethena” (lyric and music by Scott Joplin).
The New York cast appeared in a Los Angeles production that was recorded on a two-LP set by DRG Re-
cords (# 2SL-5196), and on November 28, 2001, the revue was briefly revived Off Off Broadway by the Melting
Pot Theatre Company.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Musical (Tintypes); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Lynne Thigpen); Best
Book (Mary Kyte)
QUICK CHANGE
Performances: 5
Text: Bruce Belland, Roy M. Rogosin, and Michael McGiveney
Lyrics: Bruce Belland
Music: Roy M. Rogosin
Direction: Roy M. Rogosin; Producer: Arthur Shafman International, Ltd.; Scenery: John Shipley and Chris
Flower; Costumes: Mary Wills
Cast: Michael McGiveney
Sketches and Musical Numbers

Note: All sketches and musical numbers were performed by Michael McGiveney.
Act One: “Carnival”; “The Triumph of Arthur”; “The Lady Recites”; “Bill Sikes” (from Charles Dickens’s
Oliver Twist)
Act Two: “Pitchman and the Cop”; “Quicker Than the Eye”; “A Misunderstood Minority”; “Shoot-Out at
Belle’s Saloon”
The one-man revue Quick Change brought back the vaudeville novelty of the quick-change artist who
performs skits that include a number of characters, all of whom are presented in a succession of quick cos-
tume changes.
During the course of the evening, Michael McGiveney portrayed thirty different characters who wore a to-
tal of seventy-five costumes. Although the production was a one-man show, McGiveney was helped by Judith
Hudson, Mark Bodine, and Chris Flower, all of whom probably assisted him in the wings during his changes.
During the previous season, magician Harry Blackstone had paid homage to his father in Blackstone!,
and in Quick Change Michael McGiveney saluted his father Owen McGiveney (1884–1967), a quick-change
artist who appeared in vaudeville for a number of decades and was later featured in the Broadway revue Ken
Murray’s Blackouts of 1949 when he performed his most famous specialty “Bill Sikes” (aka “A Page from
Oliver Twist”) in which he depicted five characters (including Sikes, Fagin, Nancy, and the Artful Dodger) in
a mini-version of Charles Dickens’s novel.
But time had passed by the modest charms of the quick-change artist, and the critics were unimpressed
with the current offering. Marilyn Stasio in the New York Post said vaudeville acts had “no business pretend-
ing to be full-scale theatrical events.” Further, the notion of a quick-change artist was an “arcane specialty”
destined to join the extinct dodo bird. Stasio noted that McGiveney reprised his father’s “Bill Sikes” specialty
and had cooked up a “creditable” Old-West sequence (“Shoot-Out at Belle’s Saloon”), in which he portrayed
sheriff, villain, Indian, prospector, and saloon owner (the latter a homage to Mae West). But the evening’s
other offerings relied “more on posing than on interaction.”
Mel Gussow in the New York Times suggested the quick-change artist was a specialty “considerably
lower on the vaudeville scale” than sword-swallowing and baton-twirling. A single quick-change skit might
1980–1981 SEASON 55
work in a vaudeville-styled revue, but an entire evening (even a short one like Quick Change, which lasted
just one hour, plus intermission) was too long. There was “no sense of transformation” during the quick
changes, and when McGiveney told the audience the quick-change artist was an “endangered species” Gus-
sow could well understand why.
Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily found the performance “a mildly distracting entertainment,” but
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the evening was “so modest it could pass by unnoticed.”
Watt said McGiveney might make “an engaging straight actor,” but as a quick-change artist he lacked “the
dash, enthusiasm and intensity” of his father.
PERFECTLY FRANK
Opening Date: November 30, 1980; Closing Date: December 13, 1980
Performances: 17
Lyrics and Music: Frank Loesser (See song list for specific credits.)
Direction: Fritz Holt; Producers: Gladys Rackmil and Fred Levinson in association with Emhan, Inc. (Vivian
Serota, Associate Producer); Choreography: Tony Stevens; Scenery and Costumes: John Falabella; Light-
ing: Ken Billington; Musical Direction: Yolanda Segovia
Cast: Andra Akers, Wayne Cilento, Jill Cook, Don Correia, David Holliday, David Ruprecht, Virginia Sandi-
fur, Debbie Shapiro, Jo Sullivan, Jim Walton
Musical Numbers
Note: All lyrics are by Frank Loesser, and unless otherwise noted all music is by Loesser. Programs, press
materials, and various reference books are at variance as to which songs were performed on opening night;
the following is a compilation that seems to reflect the opening night material, but in some cases the
performer (or performers) is unknown.
Act One: Overture: “Fanfare”; “Guys and Dolls” (Guys and Dolls, 1950); “On a Slow Boat to China” (writ-
ten for, but not used in, 1949 film Neptune’s Daughter); “A Bushel and a Peck” (Guys and Dolls); “My
Heart Is So Full of You” (The Most Happy Fella, 1956); and “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” (Guys
and Dolls) (Orchestra); Prologue: “Heart and Soul” (independent song; music by Hoagy Carmichael); “I
Hear Music” (1940 film Dancing on a Dime; music by Burton Lane); “Three-Cornered Tune” (cut from
Guys and Dolls); “Happy to Make Your Acquaintance” (The Most Happy Fella); and “I Hear Music”
(reprise) (Company); Screen Test: “Kiss the Boys Goodbye” (1941 film Kiss the Boys Goodbye; music by
Victor Schertzinger); “Snug as a Bug in a Rug” (1939 film The Gracie Allen Murder Case; music by Matty
Malneck); “The Moon of Manakoora” (heard as background music in 1937 film The Hurricane; lyric by
Alfred Newman); and “The Boys in the Backroom” (1939 film Destry Rides Again; music by Frederick
Hollander) (Virginia Sandifur); USO Show: “The Boys in the Backroom” (reprise); “Murder, He Says”
(1943 film Happy Go Lucky; music by Jimmy McHugh) (Jill Cook, Wayne Cilento); “Some Like It Hot”
(1939 film Some Like It Hot; music by Gene Krupa and Remo Biondi) (Jill Cook, Wayne Cilento); “I Don’t
Want to Walk without You” (1942 film Sweater Girl; music by Jule Styne) (Debbie Shapiro); “Roseanna”
(aka “Roseanna McCoy”; 1949 film Roseanna McCoy) (Jim Walton); “I Wish I Didn’t Love You So” (1947
film The Perils of Pauline) (David Holliday); “(Where Are You) Now That I Need You” (1949 film Red,
Hot and Blue) (David Holliday); “They’re Either Too Young or Too Old” (1943 film Thank Your Lucky
Stars; music by Arthur Schwartz) (Andra Akers); “What Do You Do in the Infantry?” (independent song)
(Andra Akers, Men); “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” (independent song) (David Holliday);
and “Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year” (1944 film Christmas Holiday) (Jo Sullivan); Dressing Room:
“You’ve Got That Look (That Leaves Me Weak!)” (film Destry Rides Again) (music by Frederick Hol-
lander); “How Sweet You Are” (film Thank Your Lucky Stars; music by Arthur Schwartz); “I Fall in
Love with You Every Day” (1938 film College Swing; music by Manning Sherwin and Arthur Altman);
“Paris Original” (How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, 1961); and “I Believe in You” (How
to Succeed in Business without Really Trying) (David Ruprecht, Men); Understudy Rehearsal: “Make a
Miracle” (Where’s Charley?, 1948) (Don Correia, Jill Cook) and “My Darling, My Darling” (Where’s Char-
ley?) (Don Correia, Jill Cook); Manhattan: “My Time of Day” (Guys and Dolls) (David Holliday); “Two
Sleepy People” (1938 film Thanks for the Memory; music by Hoagy Carmichael) (Andra Akers, David
Ruprecht); “No Two People” (1952 film Hans Christian Andersen) (Don Correia, Jill Cook); “Baby, It’s
Cold Outside” (film Neptune’s Daughter) (Virginia Sandifur, Jim Walton); “Luck Be a Lady” (Guys and
Dolls) (David Holliday); “Fugue for Tinhorns” (Guys and Dolls) (Debbie Shapiro, Wayne Cilento, David
Holliday); “Take Back Your Mink” (Guys and Dolls) (Virginia Sandifur); “How’dja Like to Love Me?”
(film College Swing; music by Burton Lane) (Jill Cook); “The Lady’s in Love with You” (film Some Like It
Hot) (music by Burton Lane) (Debbie Shapiro); “Guys and Dolls” (Guys and Dolls) (Company); and “I’ve
Never Been in Love Before” (Guys and Dolls) (David Holliday, Company)
Act Two: Entr’acte: “Wonderful Copenhagen,” “Anywhere I Wander,” “The Ugly Duckling,” and “Thum-
belina” (all from film Hans Christian Andersen) (Orchestra); Rumble Rumble: “I Hear Music” (reprise);
“Heart and Soul” (reprise); and “Rumble, Rumble, Rumble” (film The Perils of Pauline ) (Debbie Shapiro,
Jim Walton, Jill Cook); Marriage: “Standing on the Corner” (The Most Happy Fella) (David Ruprecht,
Wayne Cilento, Jim Walton); “Once in Love with Amy” (Where’s Charley?) (Wayne Cilento); “Marry the
Man Today” (Guys and Dolls); (Virginia Sandifur, Andra Akers, Jill Cook); “Happy to Keep His Dinner
Warm” (How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying) (Virginia Sandifur); “Never Will I Marry”
(Greenwillow, 1960) (Jim Walton); and “Adelaide’s Lament” (Guys and Dolls) (Andra Akers); Rosabella:
“The Letter” (aka “I Don’t Know Nothing about You”) (Jo Sullivan, David Holliday), “Somebody, Some-
where” (Jo Sullivan), “Rosabella” (David Holliday), “Warm All Over” (Jo Sullivan), “Like a Woman Loves
a Man” (Jo Sullivan), and “My Heart Is So Full of You” (David Holliday) (all from The Most Happy Fella);
Jo Dialogue: “Central Park Duck” (aka “The Duck”; independent song) (Jo Sullivan): Blues: “Can’t Get
Out of This Mood” (1942 film Seven Days’ Leave) (music by Jimmy McHugh) (Virginia Sandifur); “Luck
Be a Lady” (Guys and Dolls) (dance) (Debbie Shapiro, Don Correia); and “Junk Man” (independent song;
music by Joseph Meyer) (Debbie Shapiro); Finale: “More I Cannot Wish You” (Guys and Dolls) (Com-
pany); “If I Were a Bell” (Guys and Dolls) (Virginia Sandifur, David Holliday); “Hoop-Dee-Doo” (indepen-
dent song; music by Milton DeLugg) (Wayne Cilento and Virginia Sandifur, Don Correia and Jill Cook);
“Just Another Polka” (independent song; lyric and music by Frank Loesser and Milton DeLugg) (Com-
pany); “The New Ashmolean Marching Society and Students’ Conservatory Band” (Where’s Charley?)
(Company); “Bubbles in the Wine” (lyric and music by Frank Loesser, Bob Calame, and Lawrence Welk;
1939 film short The Champagne Music of Lawrence Welk) (David Ruprecht); “What Are You Doing New
Year’s Eve?” (independent song) (David Holliday, Debbie Shapiro); “Sposalizio” (The Most Happy Fella)
(Company); “Jingle, Jangle, Jingle” (1942 film The Forest Rangers; music by Joseph L. Lilley) (Wayne Ci-
lento, Don Correia); “Big D” (The Most Happy Fella) (Jill Cook, Wayne Cilento, Don Correia, Debbie Sha-
piro); “Anywhere I Wander” (film Hans Christian Andersen) (Jo Sullivan); “Sand in My Shoes” (film Kiss
the Boys Goodbye; music by Victor Schertzinger) (Andra Akers); “Dolores” (1941 film Las Vegas Nights;
music by Louis Alter) (David Holliday, Men); “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” (Guys and Dolls)
(Company); “Brotherhood of Man” (How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying) (Company); “On
a Slow Boat to China” (for more information, see Overture above) (Virginia Sandifur); “Small Fry” (1938
film Sing You Sinners; music by Hoagy Carmichael) (Jill Cook); “A Bushel and a Peck” (Guys and Dolls)
(Andra Akers); “I Hear Music” (reprise) (Company); “Three-Cornered Tune” (reprise) (Jo Sullivan, Com-
pany); “Heart and Soul” (reprise) (Company); Exit Music: “Rumble, Rumble, Rumble” (Orchestra)
Perfectly Frank was a tribute revue to lyricist and composer Frank Loesser (1910–1969). The heartfelt
evening was sincere in its salute to one of the premier songwriters of theatre and film and even included in
the cast his widow, Jo Sullivan, who created the role of Amy/Rosabella in Loesser’s 1956 Broadway hit The
Most Happy Fella. Although some critics were enthusiastic about the evening, others were less so and as a
result the production closed after just two weeks.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the tribute to Loesser was “long overdue” and felt the evening
should have had “the polish and assured tone of Ain’t Misbehavin’.” But the production was “pervaded by an
aura of tackiness” with a “cheap,” “silly,” and “flimsy” set and “mostly vulgar” dialogue. Further, the “half-
hearted” attempt to use sketches to framework the songs was “stale and forced.” But he praised the female
1980–1981 SEASON 57
members of the cast (he said the men were like “interchangeable, blandly cheery chorus boys”), and singled
out Debbie Shapiro’s “Junk Man,” which “explodes with a ferocity worthy of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News liked the “lively, tuneful and diversified entertainment” and
commented that when it danced it was “perfectly swell,” when it sang it was “rarely less than engaging,” and
when it talked it was “mostly marking time.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said the “pro-
lific” Loesser songbook offered “versatile” melody and “fascinating” rhythms, and he enjoyed the “razzle-
dazzle choreography” created by Tony Stevens. And T. E. Kalem in Time commented that Loesser’s music
had “melodic grace,” “wit, humor, intelligence, a mist-blown romanticism and staggering versatility” (as for
“Junk Man,” he noted that Shapiro “torridly belts and writhes her way” through the “incendiary” number
and he predicted “you will not be quite sure whether you are on Broadway or at the equator at high noon”).
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 liked the “wonderful” songs; however, because they were placed in a context
that lacked a point of view he decided that “to be frank, Perfectly Frank isn’t perfect. To be perfectly frank,
Perfectly Frank isn’t very good.” But Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the revue was “crammed
full with showstoppers and talent” and exuded “the distinctive, pulse-quickening dazzle of a well-tooled
Broadway song-and-dance product,” and Clive Barnes in the New York Post liked the “honey” of a cast and
the “splendid” evening of “great” songs, which were “handsomely” and “dramatically” staged.
During previews, the commentary was by Kenny Solms, who later asked that his name be removed from
the credits, and a program note thanked Ron Field and John Calvert “for their contributions to this produc-
tion.”
ONWARD VICTORIA
“A New Musical”

Opening Date: December 14, 1980; Closing Date: December 14, 1980
Performances: 1
Book and Lyrics: Charlotte Anker and Irene Rosenberg
Music: Keith Herrmann
Direction: Julianne Boyd; Producers: John N. Hart Jr., in association with Hugh J. Hubbard and Robert M.
Browne; Choreography: Michael Shawn; Scenery: William Ritman; Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge; Light-
ing: Richard Nelson; Musical Direction: Larry Blank
Cast: Lora Jeanne Martens (Little Girl, Mrs. Randolph), Jill Eikenberry (Victoria Woodhull), Beth Austin (Ten-
nie Claflin), Marty McDonough (Telegraph Boy, Randolph), Dan Cronin (Jim), Ted Thurston (Cornelius
Vanderbilt), Carrie Wilder (Mrs. Fleming), Karen Gibson (Mrs. Baxter), Gordon Stanley (Fleming), John
Kidahl (Baxter), Carol Lurie (Woman Investor # 1), Scott Fless (Johnson), Ian Michael Towers (Perkins),
Rex Hays (William Evarts), Dru Alexandrine (Woman Investor # 2), Martha Jean Sterner (Beth Tilton),
Edmond Genest (Theodore Tilton), Laura Waterbury (Elizabeth Cady Stanton), Lauren Goler (Jim’s Girl-
friend), Ken Waller (Congressman Butler), Michael Zaslow (Henry Ward Beecher), Dorothy Holland (Susan
B. Anthony), Kenneth H. Waller (Grant Speaker, Maginnes, Judge), Linda Poser (Eunice Beecher), Lenny
Wolpe (Charlie Delmonico, Fullerton), Jim Jansen (Anthony Comstock)
The action takes place during 1871 and 1872 in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Age of Brass” (Jill Eikenberry, Beth Austin, Michael Zaslow, Jim Jansen, Edmond Genest,
Martha Jean Sterner, Laura Waterbury, Ensemble); “Magnetic Healing” (Jill Eikenberry, Beth Austin, Ted
Thurston); “Curiosity” (Rex Hays, Martha Jean Sterner, Edmond Genest, Laura Waterbury, Ted Thurston,
Ensemble); “Beecher’s Processional” (Michael Zaslow, Congregation); “I Depend on You” (Jill Eikenberry,
Beth Austin); “Victoria’s Banner” (Jill Eikenberry, Beth Austin, Laura Waterbury, Dorothy Holland, En-
semble); “Changes” (Jill Eikenberry); “A Taste of Forever” (Jill Eikenberry, Edmond Genest); “Unescorted
Women” (Lenny Wolpe, Beth Austin, Jill Eikenberry, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Love and Joy” (Jill Eikenberry, Michael Zaslow); “Every Day I Do a Little Something for the Lord”
(Jim Jansen); “It’s Easy for Her” (Michael Zaslow); “You Cannot Drown the Dreamer” (Jill Eikenberry,
Laura Waterbury); “Respectable” (Beth Austin); “Another Life” (Jill Eikenberry); “Read It in the Weekly”
(Jill Eikenberry, Michael Zaslow, Edmond Genest, Beth Austin, Jim Jansen, Newsboys, Readers); “A
Valentine for Beecher” (Ensemble); “Beecher’s Defense” (Jill Eikenberry); “Another Life” (reprise) (Jill
Eikenberry, Michael Zaslow); “You Cannot Drown the Dreamer” (reprise) (Jill Eikenberry, Beth Austin)
Onward Victoria, the first of the season’s three musicals to play for just one performance apiece, was
capitalized at $1 million, a substantial sum for the era. Broadway Follies and The Moony Shapiro Songbook
soon followed, but at least these three shows opened. One Night Stand and A Reel American Hero closed in
previews without risking an official opening night.
Onward Victoria dealt with suffragette Victoria Woodhull (1838–1927) and her quest for women’s rights.
She was the first woman to run a Wall Street brokerage firm, in 1872 became the first to run for president,
with her sister Tennie ran her own newspaper, and was perhaps most controversial as an advocate of free love.
The musical’s cast of characters included such figures of the era as minister Henry Ward Beecher (Michael
Zaslow), millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt (Ted Thurston), feminist Susan B. Anthony (Dorothy Holland), and
even restaurateur Charlie Delmonico (Lenny Wolpe).
The critics complained about the weak story and bland score, but the latter was generally pleasant if de-
rivative, and composer Keith Herrmann’s best number was “Beecher’s Defense.” In this song, Woodhull takes
the stand to defend Beecher against a morals charge; the music offered a serpentine melody and surprising
harmonics, and the lyric was amusing as Woodhull defended Beecher in a most unorthodox manner: Beecher’s
congregation should be proud to have a minister “so well endowed” and who offered such “divine uplift.”
The headline in Douglas Watt’s review in the New York Daily News said Victoria marched “onward and
downward,” the musical took “sluggishness to a form of art,” and each performance set back the women’s
movement. The show preached of “free love, free speech, and free thought,” and Watt noted that many mem-
bers of the audience “opted for the freedom of the streets at intermission.” The lyrics were “bad enough in
themselves,” Herrmann’s score was of “no help,” and Eikenberry looked “glum” (the critic suspected she was
“fully aware that hers is a lost cause”).
Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily commented that the show’s opening number was “so amor-
phous” he never really knew what the authors Charlotte Anker and Irene Rosenberg felt about the subject
matter, and so even Eikenberry’s “presence and beauty” couldn’t make him follow Victoria “onward into the
second act.” Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 said the musical might “be going any number of ways, but
onward is not one of them.” He overheard an audience member comment that the show might set back mu-
sical theatre by forty years, but Cunningham felt the assessment was too harsh and he suggested thirty-five
years was more likely.
For Joel Siegel on WABCTV7, the musical was “a textbook on how not to bring history to the stage.” The
show played like a “catalogue,” its history was “emotionless,” the characters were “historical figures” who
recited instead of speaking, and their musical numbers were “slogans” instead of “songs.” Clive Barnes in the
New York Post said the evening was defeated by a “dull” score, “leaden” book, and “miscast” star. Further,
Eikenberry had a “tiny vocal apparatus” and a “cool demeanor” and thus “no woman would follow her to the
powder room, let alone the barricades.” Herrmann’s score lacked distinction and staggered from “Broadway
brassy to pretentiously operatic to country cornpone,” but the show wasn’t a “total debacle” because a few
songs “hit their mark” and a few lines had “a witty bite.”
Hobe in Variety said the “inept” musical was a “fiasco,” an “outsize bore,” and “a waste of everyone’s
time.” The songs were “instantly forgettable,” the choreography was “negligible,” and the performances
generally “unconvincing,” but Theoni V. Aldredge’s costumes were “resplendent.” Brendan Gill in the New
Yorker said the musical “went wrong, and in a fashion so thorough as to have had the look of being inten-
tional.” He complained that the music was more in the style of the 1960s, and the dialogue appropriated
current-day jargon such as “top secret,” “phony,” and “screwed.” Further, the creators “fell victim to Docto-
row’s Syndrome, which consists of a wanton mingling of fact and fiction.” But like Hobe he praised Aldredge’s
costumes (“exquisite”), and he noted that William Ritman’s décor was “mock-Victorian.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times proclaimed that the musical “marches very peaceably to oblivion” and
if one wanted a good night’s sleep all one had to do was buy a ticket to the show and then “rest in peace.”
He suggested the evening’s “only distinction” was “Read It in the Weekly,” which began “conventionally
1980–1981 SEASON 59
enough” and then “went berserk.” He couldn’t tell what exactly was going on here, but the number ensured
that Onward Victoria was “the first Broadway musical to suffer a nervous breakdown.” He also complained
that Victoria and Tennie came across like “yesteryear’s answer to television’s Laverne and Shirley,” Julianne
Boyd’s direction was “laughable,” Michael Shawn’s choreography was “lame,” and Eikenberry and Zaslow
were “stuck in non-roles.”
During previews, the title song (with a lyric based on Woodhull’s actual presidential campaign song) and
“(In New York) The Only Sin Is Being Timid” were cut.
The cast album was recorded by Original Cast Records (LP # OC-8135; later released by the company on
CD # 9366). The recording includes the two cut songs and omitted five heard on opening night (“The Age of
Brass,” “Curiosity,” “Beecher’s Processional,” “A Woman Like Her [Like Beth],” and “It’s Easy for Her”). The
LP also included an insert with song lyrics.
In 1979, the musical had been produced Off Off Broadway by the Manhattan Theatre Club and then by the
Joseph Jefferson Theatre Company on February 22, 1979, where it opened at the Greenwich Mews Theatre for
twelve performances. On September 14, 1987, Onward Victoria was revived in a concert version for one per-
formance only in the Helen Hayes Lounge of the National Theatre, Washington, D.C.; Freddie Lee directed,
and the concert was conducted by Rob Bowman.
For a number of seasons during the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were announcements that Carol
Channing would appear in Vicky for President (book by Burt Shevelove, lyrics by E. Y. Harburg, and music
by Arthur Schwartz). The musical never materialized, but with Channing, Shevelove, and Harburg involved,
one suspects this version would have had a sense of humor as well as political thrust.
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE

Theatre: Uris Theatre (during run, the operetta transferred to the Minskoff Theatre)
Opening Date: January 8, 1981; Closing Date: November 28, 1982
Performances: 772
Libretto: W. S. Gilbert
Music: Arthur Sullivan; music adaptation by William Elliott
Direction: Wilford Leach; Producer: Joseph Papp (A New York Shakespeare Festival Production); Choreogra-
phy: Graciela Daniele; Scenery: Bob Shaw and Wilford Leach (scenery supervised by Paul Eads); Costumes:
Patricia McGourty; Lighting: Jennifer Tipton; Musical Direction: William Elliott
Cast: Kevin Kline (The Pirate King), Stephen Hanan (Samuel), Rex Smith (Frederic), Estelle Parsons (Ruth),
Major-General Stanley’s Daughters: Robin Boudreau, Maria Guida, Nancy Heikin, Bonnie Simmons; Al-
exandra Korey (Edith), Marcie Shaw (Kate), Wendy Wolfe (Isabel), Linda Ronstadt (Mabel), George Rose
(Major-General Stanley), Tony Azito (The Sergeant); Pirates and Police: Dean Badolato, Mark Beudert,
Brian Bullard, Scott Burkholder, Walter Caldwell, Tim Flavin, Ray Gill, George Kmeck, Daniel Marcus,
G. Eugene Moose, Joseph Neal, Walter Niehenke, Joe Pichette, Ellis Skeeter Williams, Michael Edwin
Willson
The operetta was presented in two acts.
The action takes place in England during the reign of Queen Victoria.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Pour, O Pour the Pirate Sherry” (Kevin Kline, Stephen Hanan, Rex Smith, Pirates); “When Fred-
eric Was a Little Lad” (Estelle Parsons); “Oh, Better Far to Live and Die” (Kevin Kline, Pirates); “Oh,
False One, You Have Deceived Me!” (Estelle Parsons, Rex Smith); “Climbing Over Rocky Mountains”
(Daughters); “Stop, Ladies, Pray!” (Rex Smith, Daughters); “Oh, Is There Not One Maiden Breast” (Rex
Smith, Daughters); “Poor Wandering One” (Linda Ronstadt, Daughters); “What Ought We to Do?” (Mar-
cie Shaw, Alexandra Korey, Daughters); “How Beautifully Blue the Sky” (Linda Ronstadt, Rex Smith,
Daughters); “Stay, We Must Not Lose Our Senses” (Rex Smith, Daughters, Pirates); “Hold, Monsters!”
(Linda Ronstadt, Stephen Hanan, George Rose, Daughters, Pirates); “I Am the Very Model of a Modern
Major-General” (George Rose, Ensemble); “Oh, Men of Dark and Dismal Fate” (Ensemble)
Act Two: “Oh, Dry the Glistening Tear” (Linda Ronstadt, Daughters); “Then Frederic” (George Rose, Rex
Smith); “When the Foeman Bares His Steel” (Tony Azito, Linda Ronstadt, Police, Daughters); “Now for
the Pirates’ Lair!” (Rex Smith, Kevin Kline, Estelle Parsons); “When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold” (Es-
telle Parsons, Rex Smith, Kevin Kline); “My Eyes Are Fully Open (Opened)” (Rex Smith, Estelle Parsons,
Kevin Kline); “Away, Away! My Heart’s on Fire” (Estelle Parsons, Kevin Kline, Rex Smith); “All Is Pre-
pared” (Linda Ronstadt, Rex Smith): “Stay, Frederic, Stay!” (Linda Ronstadt, Rex Smith); “Sorry Her Lot”
(Linda Ronstadt); “No, I Am Brave” (Linda Ronstadt, Tony Azito, Police); “When a Felon’s Not Engaged
in His Employment” (Tony Azito, Police); “A Rollicking Band of Pirates We” (Pirates, Tony Azito, Police);
“With Cat-Like Tread, Upon Our Prey We Steal” (Pirates, Police, Stephen Hanan); “Hush, Hush! Not a
Word” (Rex Smith, Pirates, Police, George Rose); “Sighing Softly to the River” (George Rose, Ensemble);
Finale (Ensemble)
W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s operetta The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty had been a
surprise hit the previous summer when it opened on July 15, 1980, at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park
for forty-two performances, and so a Broadway transfer was a given. Except for one major cast change (Estelle
Parsons succeeded Patricia Routledge in the role of Ruth), the production moved to Broadway the following
winter and became a hit all over again. In fact, the Broadway production of 772 performances marks the lon-
gest run of any Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in New York, which seems fitting because the operetta is the
only one of the team’s works to have had its world premiere in New York (on December 31, 1879, at the Fifth
Avenue Theatre for a then healthy run of ninety-one performances in two slightly separated engagements).
For the purposes of copyright protection, a special matinee performance (as The Pirates of Penzance, or Love
and Duty) had been given in England at the Royal Bijou Theatre in Paignton on December 30, 1879, the day
before the New York opening, and a few months later the official British premiere was presented in London
at the Opera Comique on April 3, 1880, for 363 showings.
The satiric story dealt with a group of quirky pirates (led by the Pirate King, portrayed by Kevin Kline)
who prefer sherry to ale. The whole of England seems to know that the pirates never kidnap orphans, and
so curiously enough the pirates have never kidnapped anyone because all their would-be captives quickly
announce that they are orphans. Among the pirate band is Frederic (Rex Smith), who as a baby was to be ap-
prenticed to a sea pilot but because of a misunderstanding was delivered to the pirate ship. Frederic is thus
duty bound to serve with the pirates until his twenty-first birthday, but because he was born on February
29 he must serve his apprenticeship until 1940 because in that year twenty-five of his birth days will have
passed. He and his intended, Mabel (Linda Ronstadt), agree to be faithful to one another and look forward to
the day in 1940 when they’ll be in their eighties and can finally marry. But a combination of inept pirates and
equally inept policemen, as well as the happy circumstances of operetta conventions, ensures that Frederic
and Mabel will tie the knot sooner than later.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News praised Wilford Leach’s “wonderfully nutty and meticulous
staging” and said Kevin Kline was the show’s “shooting star” who was “a wild mixture of dexterity and bun-
gling, a kind of winged Errol Flynn forever landing in the wrong place.” Frank Rich in the New York Times
noted the production was a “rethinking” but not a “rewriting” of the classic operetta into “the highly charged
terms of modern musical comedy.” He mentioned that Kline had “the grace and timing of a silent-movie
clown” and that Graciela Daniele’s choreography for “With Cat-Like Tread” threatened “to incite the audi-
ence to riot in [its] climatic kick-line march.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post proclaimed that with its “sheer heady, giddy excitement” the re-
vival was “one of the most enchanting musicals to be seen on Broadway for many a year”; Howard Kissel in
Women’s Wear Daily said the “absolute triumph” was an “exhilarating” and “genuinely joyous event”; and
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor liked the “first great big, beautiful, extravagantly hilarious
treat of 1981” (but in a puh-leeze moment he suggested someone should “bestow a knighthood” on producer
Joseph Papp).
Jack Kroll in Newsweek said the revival was “one of the most joyously creative productions in all musical
theatre” and noted that if you go to the theatre just once or twice a year “this is the show” to see. But Edwin
Wilson in the Wall Street Journal didn’t care for the “camp posturing and pratfalls” Leach had provided, and
said the revival was “a far cry from an inspired, first-rate” production of the operetta.
The current revival interpolated two Gilbert and Sullivan songs, “My Eyes Are Fully Open” (Ruddigore,
1887) and “Sorry Her Lot” (H.M.S. Pinafore, 1878), and the restoration of part of the original 1879 New York
finale was arranged by Richard Traubner.
1980–1981 SEASON 61
The production was recorded on a two-LP set by Elektra Records (# VE-601), which later issued a 2-CD
edition. The delightfully stylized and colorful film version was released by Universal in 1983 with most of
the Broadway cast intact (for the film, Angela Lansbury played Ruth) and the DVD was issued by NBC Uni-
versal. A live performance taken from the Delacorte production (which includes Patricia Routledge as Ruth)
was released on DVD by Broadway Theatre Archive.
One highly recommended edition of the published script is the hardback slipcase collection The First
Night Gilbert and Sullivan released by the Heritage Press in 1958; besides the libretti of all of the team’s
fourteen operettas as they were presented on their opening-night performances, the collection includes a
special box of the facsimiles for all the first-night programs, including four of The Pirates of Penzance: the
Royal Bijou Theatre program; two different opening night programs from the Fifth Avenue Theatre (both of
which note that the performance is the “first production” of the operetta, which was “written and composed
expressly for production in the United States”); and the program from the Opera Comique opening.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Revival (The Pirates of Penzance); Best Leading Actor in a Musical
(Kevin Kline); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Linda Ronstadt); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Tony
Azito); Best Director of a Musical (Wilford Leach); Best Choreographer (Graciela Daniele)
SHAKESPEARE’S CABARET
Opening Date: January 21, 1981; Closing Date: March 8, 1981
Performances: 54
Lyrics: William Shakespeare
Music: Lance Mulcahy
Based on the writings of William Shakespeare (1564–1616).
Direction: John Driver; Producer: Arthur Shafman; Choreography: Lynne Taylor-Corbett; Scenery and Cos-
tumes: Frank J. Boros; Lighting: Marc B. Weiss; Musical Direction: Don Jones
Cast: Patti Perkins, Michael Rupert, Catherine Cox, Larry Riley, Pauletta Pearson, Alan Brasington
The revue was presented in one act.
Musical Numbers
“If Music and Sweet Poetry Agree” (from The Passionate Pilgrim) (Ensemble); “What Thou See’st When
Thou Dost Awake” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) (Ensemble); “All That Glisters” (The Merchant of
Venice) (Catherine Cox, Patti Perkins, Pauletta Pearson); “Why Should This a Desert Be?” (As You Like
It) (Michael Rupert); “Crabbed Age and Youth” (The Passionate Pilgrim) (Alan Brasington, Patti Perkins);
“Orpheus and His Lute” (Henry III) (Pauletta Pearson); “Music with Her Silver Sound” (Romeo and Ju-
liet) (Catherine Cox, Michael Rupert, Patti Perkins, Alan Brasington); “Come Live with Me and Be My
Love” (attributed to Christopher Marlowe) (Larry Riley); “Have More Than Thou Showest” (King Lear)
(Michael Rupert, Alan Brasington); “Venus and Adonis Suite” (Ensemble); “Tell Me Where Is Fancy Bred”
(The Merchant of Venice) (Ensemble); “If Music Be the Food of Love” (Twelfth Night) (Alan Brasington,
Pauletta Pearson); “Epitaph for Marina” (Pericles) (Michael Rupert, Catherine Cox); “The Phoenix and
the Turtle” (Alan Brasington, Patti Perkins, Pauletta Pearson, Catherine Cox, Michael Rupert); “Now”
(A Midsummer Night’s Dream) (Larry Riley); “The Willow Song” (Othello) (Catherine Cox); “Immortal
Gods” (Timon of Athens) (Alan Brasington); “Tomorrow Is St. Valentine’s Day” (Hamlet) (Patti Perkins);
“Fathers That Wear Rags” (King Lear) (Pauletta Pearson); “The Grave Digger’s Song” (Hamlet) (Larry
Riley); “Now” (reprise) (Larry Riley, Patti Perkins, Pauletta Pearson, Catherine Cox, Alan Brasington);
“Come Unto These Yellow Sands” (The Tempest) (Pauletta Pearson, Catherine Cox, Michael Rupert,
Alan Brasington, Patti Perkins, Larry Riley); “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” (Sonnet 18)
(Catherine Cox, Alan Brasington); “Lawn as White as Driven Snow” (The Winter’s Tale) (Ensemble);
“Rosalynde” (As You Like It) (Larry Riley, Alan Brasington); “Let Me the Canakin Clink” (Othello)
(Ensemble); “Shakespeare’s Epitaph” (Ensemble); “Fear No More the Heat of the Sun” (Cymbeline) (En-
semble); “Shakespeare’s Epitaph” (reprise) (Ensemble)
During the latter part of January, William Shakespeare visited Broadway twice. The revue Shakespeare’s
Cabaret premiered on the 21st, and on the following night a poorly received revival of Macbeth opened at
the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. For the musical, composer Lance Mulcahy set Shakespeare’s poems and plays
to music for six singers and four musicians, and the musical styles included madrigals, Charlestons, rock,
vaudeville, country-and-western, Latino, and jazz. The Off-Off-Broadway transfer included just one sequence
by another writer (“Come Live with Me and Be My Love” is attributed to Christopher Marlowe and was ref-
erenced by Shakespeare in Twelfth Night).
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News liked the “engaging affair” with its “winning” cast, bright
direction and choreography, and ”simple, stylish and beautifully lighted setting.” The score was “melodious,
unfailingly good-humored,” and “excellently arranged.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the evening
“bubbles and bursts with sprightly charm and honest sentiment” and was a “great, slightly off-beat show that
is to be warmly recommended.” Further, Mulcahy’s score was “brilliantly eclectic” and although “consis-
tently modern in spirit” it nonetheless managed “to maintain a certain link with Elizabethan music.”
But John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor felt the transplanted show was “a bit fragile” for
Broadway and should have remained downtown. He noted that the “melodic lines” ran together like “melt-
ing plastic,” but said the songs were performed “skillfully and enthusiastically” by the cast. Frank Rich in
the New York Times left the theatre humming the lyrics but not the music because the bland score lacked
“character” and a few numbers sounded “vaguely like songs from other shows.” The production didn’t have
a musical and a theatrical personality, and without a “narrative or thematic or stylistic plan” the evening’s
structure was more in keeping with nightclub clichés.
The revue had previously been produced a year earlier in two acts at the Colonnades Theatre Lab on Feb-
ruary 1, 1980, for forty performances with Alan Brasington and Patti Perkins, both of whom appeared in the
current production. Others in the 1980 cast were Maureen Brennan, Mel Johnson Jr., Roxanne Reese, Keith
R. Rice, and Peter Van Norden.
Numbers from the 1980 version that weren’t included in the current one were: “How Should I Your True
Love Know?” (Hamlet), “If I Profane” (Romeo and Juliet), “Come Away, Death” (Twelfth Night), “Will You
Buy Any Tape?” (The Winter’s Tale), “I Am Saint Jacques’ Pilgrim” (All’s Well That Ends Well), “Pyramus,
Arise” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), “Shepherd’s Song” (The Passionate Pilgrim), and “Rosalinde” (from
Hamlet, and not to be confused with “Rosalynde” below). Added to the new production were the following
numbers (see above song list for sources): “Orpheus and His Lute,” “Music with Her Silver Sound,” “Have
More Than Thou Showest,” “Now,” “Immortal Gods,” “The Grave Digger’s Song,” “Fear No More the Heat
of the Sun,” and “Rosalynde” (from As You Like It). Both productions included the extended sequence “Venus
and Adonis Suite,” and the program from the Colonnades version indicated the number was presented in six
parts (“First Meeting,” “The Chase,” “The Seduction,” “The Rejection,” “The Hunt,” and “Final Parting”).
Mulcahy later composed a sequel to Shakespeare’s Cabaret titled Sweet Will. The work was subtitled
“Shakespeare’s Cabaret Part Two” and opened Off Off Broadway at Don’t Tell Mama on February 2, 1985, for
twenty performances and was seen again about a year later at Joann’s Silver Lining Cabaret Theatre for nine
showings (varying sources give both December 26, 1985, and January 5, 1986, as the opening night). Except
perhaps for some overlapping material from the “Venus and Adonis Suite,” all the material in Sweet Will was
new and hadn’t been performed in Shakespeare’s Cabaret. In reviewing the second presentation of Sweet Will,
Stephen Holden in the New York Times said the mixture of Shakespeare and popular musical styles made an
“awkward mismatch” and the music’s “swift momentum . . . insistently” hurried the revue along and didn’t
allow the audience time to “savor” Shakespeare’s language.
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Score (Lance Mulcahy)
1980–1981 SEASON 63
THE FIVE O’CLOCK GIRL

Opening Date: January 28, 1981; Closing Date: February 8, 1981
Performances: 14
Book: Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson
Lyrics and Music: Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (for other songwriting credits, see song listing)
Direction: Sue Lawless; Producer: Rodger H. Hess (Jamey Cohan, Assistant Producer); Choreography: Dan
Siretta (Larry McMillian, Assistant Choreographer); Scenery: John Lee Beatty; Costumes: Nanzi Adzima;
Lighting: Craig Miller; Musical Direction: Lynn Crigler
Cast: Sheila Smith (Madame Irene), Ted Pugh (Hudgins), Pat Stanley (Susan Snow), Lisby Larson (Patricia
Brown), Roger Rathburn (Gerald Brooks), Barry Preston (Ronnie Webb), Dee Hoty (Cora Wainwright),
Timothy Wallace (Jasper Cobb), Teri Corcoran (Jeanie), James Homan (Pete), Richard Ruth (Rodney),
Annette Michelle (Ethel, Molly), Lora Jeanne Martens (Elsie), Jean McLaughlin (Bunnie), Debra Grimm
(Polly), Carla Farnsworth-Webb (Maisie), Jonathan Aronson (Eddie, Jules), G. Brandon Allen (Detective),
Gary Kirsch (Bobby, Policeman)
The action takes place during the 1920s in New York City and on Long Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “In the Old Neighborhood” (Sheila Smith, Ensemble); “Keep Romance Alive”
(1934 film Hips Hips Hooray) (Telephone Girls); “Thinking of You” (Lisby Larson, Roger Rathburn); “I’m
One Little Party” (Barry Preston, Female Ensemble); “Up in the Clouds” (Lisby Larson, Roger Rathburn,
Ensemble); “My Sunny Tennessee” (source unknown; song possibly from Midnight Rounders of 1921;
lyric and music by Harry Ruby, Herman Ruby, and Bert Kalmar) (Timothy Wallace, Female Ensemble);
“Any Little Thing” (Pat Stanley, Ted Pugh); “Manhattan Walk” (1928 musical Good Boy; lyric by Bert
Kalmar, music by Herbert Stothart and Harry Ruby) (Sheila Smith, Barry Preston, Dee Hoty, Timothy
Wallace, Ensemble)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “The Long Island Low-Down” (1928 musical Animal Crackers) (Sheila Smith,
Ensemble); “Who Did? You Did!” (Lisby Larson, Roger Rathburn); “Any Little Thing” (reprise) (Pat Stan-
ley); “Nevertheless (I’m in Love with You)” (independent song, 1931) (Pat Stanley, Ted Pugh); “All Alone
Monday” (1926 musical The Ramblers) (Roger Rathburn); “Dancing the Devil Away” (1927 musical
Lucky; lyric by Bert Kalmar and Otto Harbach, music by Harry Ruby) (Barry Preston, Ensemble); “Up in
the Clouds” (reprise) (Lisby Larson, Roger Rathburn); Finale (Company)
Most Broadway revivals of 1920s shows (such as No, No, Nanette, The Desert Song, Good News, and
Whoopee) were based on major hits of the era. So it was somewhat surprising that Goodspeed Opera House,
which specialized in (usually revised) revivals of yesteryear’s hits, decided to take its production of the modest
1927 musical The 5 O’Clock Girl to Broadway (the revival was titled The Five O’Clock Girl). Unfortunately,
the show received many dismissive reviews and was gone in less than two weeks.
The original production opened at the 44th Street Theatre on October 10, 1927, for 280 performances and
yielded the hit song “Thinking of You.” The lighthearted plot was one of the era’s typical New York Cinder-
ella stories in which a slavey named Pat (Lisby Larson in the revival) who works in a laundry engages in late-
afternoon telephone talks with a man she’s never met (Gerald Brooks, played by Roger Rathburn). Naturally,
this unusual relationship results in romance, and, by a happy turn of circumstances, Gerald is revealed to be
young, handsome, and wealthy, and so even Cinderella herself couldn’t have done much better than Snow
Flake Cleaner Shop employee Pat. The musical even found time to leave Beekman Place and pay a visit to
Long Island, the hallowed locale of choice for many a musical and a piece of real estate more musically desir-
able than Park Avenue (in fact, the 1946 musical Park Avenue actually took place on a Long Island estate).
The plot’s basic outline is reminiscent of the 1956 musical Bells Are Ringing, in which a woman who
works for a telephone answering service has a similar relationship (with a man who turns out to be a success-
ful playwright). The 5 O’Clock Girl also shared a connection with the 1966 musical Cabaret because both
productions partially took place in a night spot called the Kit Kat Club.
Frank Rich in the New York Times suggested the musical was now “an artifact for museums, not Broad-
way,” and while the piece was “merry but routine” it was also “a pretty slim affair.” He noted that director
Sue Lawless had “failed to find a tone” for the evening and choreographer Dan Siretta’s dances tended “to
exhaust rather than exhilarate.” The headline of Douglas Watt’s review in the New York Daily News stated
that the musical “ticks slowly,” and the critic wondered “why so much time and effort have been expended
on resuscitating” such a “stock work.” He was disappointed with the romantic leads played by Larson and
Rathburn, and felt the comic twosome Pat Stanley and Ted Pugh generated “a bit more interest” (the revival
brought back Stanley, who had memorably introduced “I Love a Cop” in the 1959 musical Fiorello!). Watt
mentioned that dancer Barry Preston brought “the show to life” with his “rare quality of never seeming
earthbound.”
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 predicted that the “misguided” production wouldn’t “make it” on Broadway,
and while Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the show had “polish,” Barry Preston’s “Dancing the
Devil Away” was “exciting to watch,” and the orchestrations had “the proper bubbly period quality,” he re-
gretted that “the novelty of old musicals has worn off” and only “the most innocent theatergoer can still find
diversion in such innocent material.”
But Clive Barnes in the New York Post found the revival an “insouciant charmer” with an “enchanting”
score and a “guileless but funny” book; John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said the evening was
“a sweet and silly memento” of the Twenties that provided “escapist diversion that celebrates the joy in
enjoyment, the art in artifice, and the guile in beguilement”; and T. E. Kalem in Time praised the “tuneful
seductiveness” of the score and noted that “Dancing the Devil Away” was a “New York prairie fire kindled
with tap shoes.”
The Broadway revival retained five of the original production’s twelve songs (“Thinking of You,” “I’m
One Little Party,” “Up in the Clouds,” “Any Little Thing,” and “Who Did? You Did!”), and omitted seven
(“We Want You,” “Happy Go Lucky,” “Following in Father’s Footsteps,” “Lonesome Romeos,” “Society Lad-
der,” “Tell the World I’m Through,” and the dance “Tea-Time Tap”). The original production included two
generically titled sequences (both called “Opening”) for the beginning of each act, and it’s possible that the
revival’s first-act opening number “In the Old Neighborhood” could have been one of these.
As noted in the above song list, the following seven numbers were interpolated into the revival: “Keep
Romance Alive,” “My Sunny Tennessee,” “Manhattan Walk,” “The Long Island Low-Down,” “Nevertheless
(I’m in Love with You),” “All Alone Monday,” and “Dancing the Devil Away.”
The Goodspeed production originally opened on June 19, 1979, and included Lisby Larson, Barry Preston,
Sheila Smith, and Timothy Wallace, all of whom appeared in the Broadway production. The Goodspeed cast
also included Richard Ryder, John Remme, Sherry Rooney, and Deborah Rush, who were succeeded by Roger
Rathburn, Ted Pugh, Pat Stanley, and Dee Hoty for Broadway. The Goodspeed production included two songs
not used in the Broadway revival: “Tell the World I’m Through” (which had been heard in the 1927 Broadway
production) and “Hot and Bothered” (originally introduced by Ginger Rogers in the 1929 musical Top Speed).
Immediately prior to the Broadway revival, the musical played in Philadelphia where “Hot and Bothered”
was still part of the score.
In 1929, MGM filmed The Five O’Clock Girl with Marion Davies and Charles King (who had introduced
the title song and “You Were Meant for Me” in the 1929 film The Broadway Melody, which was the first
film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, and who also introduced “Happy Days Are Here Again” in
the 1930 film Chasing Rainbows). According to Edwin M. Bradley in The First Hollywood Musicals, upon
completion the film was permanently shelved by the studio and never released.
The Five O’Clock Girl was the penultimate production to play at the Helen Hayes Theatre (located at 210
West 46th Street, the venue first opened its doors in 1911 as the Fulton Theatre), which was demolished in
1982. The final show to play there was Oliver Hailey’s I Won’t Dance, which closed after one performance.
In 1983, the Little Theatre was renamed the Helen Hayes, and The News was the first musical to play there
under its new name (for more information about the Little/Helen Hayes, see entry for The News).
PIAF
Theatre: Plymouth Theatre
Opening Date: February 5, 1981; Closing Date: June 28, 1981
Performances: 165
1980–1981 SEASON 65
Play: Pam Gems

Lyrics and Music: See song list below for specific credits.
Direction: Howard Davies (Helaine Head, Assistant Director); Producers: Elizabeth I. McCann, Nelle Nugent,
The Shubert Organization, and Ray Larsen in association with Warner Theatre Productions, Inc.; Scenery:
David Jenkins; Costumes: Julie Weiss; Lighting: Beverly Emmons; Musical Direction: Michael Dansicker
Cast: David Leary (Emcee and Manager aka Henri), Jane Lapotaire (Piaf), Peter Friedman (“Papa” Leplee,
American Sailor # 2), Zoe Wanamaker (Toine), Nicholas Woodeson (Emil, Jacko), Stephen Davies (Legion-
naire, Pierre), Lewis Arlt (Jacques, German Soldier # 1, Angelo), Robert Christian (Eddie, Butcher, Marcel,
Barman), Michael Ayr (Little Louis, German Soldier # 2, Lucien, Dope Pusher), Kenneth Welsh (Police
Inspector, Georges, Physiotherapist), David Purdham (Paul, American Sailor # 1, Theo), Jean Smart (Mar-
lene), Judith Ivey (Madeleine, Piaf [Wednesday matinees]), Sherry Steiner (Nurse, Madeleine [Wednesday
matinees]), Cynthia Carle (Nurse [Wednesday matinees])
The action takes place mostly in Paris during the years from the late 1920s to 1963.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t list individual musical numbers; the following information is taken from the pub-
lished script. Unless otherwise indicated, all songs were performed by Jane Lapotaire.
Act One: “La vie en rose” (French lyric by Edith Piaf, music by Louiguy, English lyric by Mack David); “Les
momes (de la cloche)” (lyric by Decaye, music by Vincent Scotto); “Un sale petite brouillard” (lyricist and
composer unknown) (heard as background music only); “La ville inconnue” (lyric by Michel Vaucaire,
music by Charles Dumont) (heard as background music only); “Mon manege a moi” (aka “Tu me fais
tourner la tete”) (lyric by Jean Constantin, music by Norbert Glanzberg); “Mon manege a moi” (reprise)
(Jane Lapotaire, David Purdham); “L’accordioniste” (lyric and music by Michel Emer, English lyric by
Adrian Mitchell); “L’accordioniste” (reprise); “King Farouk” (lyricist and composer unknown); “Hymne a
l’amour” (lyric by Edith Piaf, music by Marguerite Monnot, English lyric by Geoffrey Parsons); “Hymne a
l’amour” (reprise) (Kenneth Welsh, Stephen Davies, David Leary, Zoe Wanamaker, Jane Lapotaire); “Mon
Dieu” (lyric by Michel Vaucaire, music by Charles Dumont) (heard as background music only); “La belle
histoire d’amour” (lyric by Edith Piaf, music by Charles Dumont, English lyric by Adrian Mitchell)
Act Two: “Hymne a l’amour” (reprise); “Deep in the Heart of Texas” (lyric by June Hershey, music by Don
Swander) (Lewis Arlt); “Bravo pour le clown” (lyric and music by Henri Contet and Louiguy); “Miseri-
corde” (lyricist and composer unknown) (heard as background music only); “La belle histoire d’amour”
(heard as background music only); “Hymne a l’amour” (reprise) (heard as background music only); “La vie
en rose” (reprise); “La vie en rose” (reprise); “La vie inconnue” (reprise); “Non, je ne regrette rien” (lyric by
Michel Vaucaire, music by Charles Dumont); “A quoi ça sert l’amour” (lyricist and composer unknown)
(Jane Lapotaire, David Purdham); “Les trois cloches” (lyric by Decaye, music by Vincent Scotto; some
sources credit Jean Villard aka Gilles as the lyricist and composer; English lyric by Bert Reisfeld) (heard
as background music only); “Les trois cloches” (reprise) (Company); “Non, je ne regrette rien” (reprise)
(Note: The program indicated that the following songs were also heard in the production: “C’est a Ham-
bourg,” lyric by Edith Piaf, music by Charles Dumont, English lyric by Adrian Mitchell and Pam Gems;
“Le droit d’aimer,” lyricist and composer unknown; “La goulante du pauvre Jean,” lyric by Rene Rouzoud,
music by Marguerite Monnot, English lyric by Adrian Mitchell; “Je t’ai dans le peau,” lyricist and com-
poser unknown; and “Milord,” lyric by Georges Moustaki, music by Marguerite Monnot.)
The import Piaf by Pam Gems was first presented in Great Britain on October 5, 1978, at The Other Place
in Stratford-on-Avon; it was later produced in London at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Warehouse The-
atre, and then in December 1979 it played in repertory at the Aldwych Theatre, followed by engagements at
the Wyndham Theatre and the Piccadilly Theatre.
The play with music depicted the events in the life of French singer Edith Piaf (1915–1963), otherwise
known as the “Little Sparrow.” Many crowned Piaf as the queen of melancholy song, but others found her
arch and calculated in her stage persona of the victimized and bruised waif done wrong by the cold, cruel
world. Her recordings indicate her song interpretations were somewhat whiney and over tremulous, and even
a brief exposure to her performance style seems more than enough.
Her one Broadway appearance was Edith Piaf and Her Continental Entertainers, which opened at the
Playhouse Theatre on October 30, 1947, for forty-four performances. In his annual summary of the 1947–1948
season, George Jean Nathan reported Piaf sang all her numbers in the same manner without ever changing her
“emotional pattern,” “expression,” and “projection.” Each song began in a low key and climaxed with a “ter-
rific abdominal, chest and laryngeal explosion,” which was always accompanied by her “pointing” her index
finger at the audience or by “laterally” extending her arms (in crucifixion pose, no doubt). All this action was
“sold” with the same “woebegone look” and the same “air of heartbroken but brave defeat.”
Piaf was a series of vignettes that followed the entertainer from her early beginnings as a prostitute to the
height of fame as one of the world’s highest-paid nightclub performers. She was involved with a succession
of lovers, had numerous automobile accidents, was an alcoholic, a drug addict, and a bankrupt, and died of
cancer. Gems seemed to find Piaf a victim of events beyond her control, but the evidence suggests the singer
was bent on self-destruction. It was difficult to feel sorry for the self-indulgent and crass character, and the
constant barrage of four-letter words and the graphic depiction of Piaf’s bodily functions seemed to further
alienate the character and remove her from any kind of audience sympathy. (Was it really necessary to show
Piaf urinating?)
Most of the critics found the play episodic and overly crude, but virtually all praised Jane Lapotaire’s per-
formance as Piaf (she had created the role in Britain, and for her performance in New York she won the Tony
Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play).
Frank Rich in the New York Times found the play “frail” and noted it “often obeys the dramatic clichés
of rags-to-riches-to-rags show-biz sagas.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the “hodgepodge”
of “little scenes” quickly ran through the events of Piaf’s life in “zip”-“zip”- “zip”-“zip” fashion and then the
company sang “Les trios cloches” and the evening was “over and out.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post
indicated Gems was “hardly a great writer” but had “decently selected” a “series of vignettes” to create a
“mosaic” of Piaf’s life. Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal felt the play was written as “a series of snip-
pets,” and it was “difficult to tell exactly” what Gems “had in mind” when she wrote the play because “no
single plot line or point of view is developed.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the evening was
an almost “total bore,” and if Gems had hoped to be “earthy” in her depiction of Piaf, she succeeded only
in being “vulgar.” Jack Kroll in Newsweek suggested the play lost some of its “tension” in a large Broadway
theatre and noted “it would pack more wallop as a tight, driving one-acter without any intermission.” And
Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 found the play “badly written” and “glossed over with a thick, thick layer
of rampaging pretention.”
As for Lapotaire, Rich said she was “an electrifying show all by herself”; Watt found her “gifted” but
would have preferred seeing her portrayal of the Artful Dodger rather than the Little Sparrow; Barnes said her
performance was “remarkable,” “stupendous,” and “one to be cherished for a lifetime”; Wilson noted she
brought “an irrepressible spirit and enthusiasm” to the role; and Kroll said she “radiates that special kind of
excitement that only special performers have.” But Kissel said her “resources as an actress seem extremely
limited,” and he complained that she “constantly grins at the audience for approval” and created “less a
characterization than a collection of gestures.” And Cunningham said she gave a “thoughtless, mechanical,
thoroughly unemotional, automatic, unfelt performance that was hardly worth the trip across the Atlantic.”
At one point during the play, the character of “Marlene” (as in Dietrich, and played by Jean Smart) makes
a personal appearance. Rich noted the role was a “cameo” and Gems failed to “illuminate” Dietrich’s rela-
tionship with Piaf. Watt mentioned that Dietrich offers “career advice” to Piaf and then “quickly disappears.”
Kissel said the portrayal was “so inept” he had no idea who the character was until she said “Hawwy Twu-
man”; and Barnes said the actress in the “impossible” role “should be sued by Marlene Dietrich.” And it is
duly noted that in the script (published in softcover by Samuel French in 1983) the character was completely
eliminated and “Josephine” (as in Baker) was substituted.
Works about Piaf have amounted to a cottage industry: the Off-Off-Broadway Dear Piaf (1975); three Off-
Broadway productions, Piaf (1977), Piaf Remembered . . . (1993), and Piaf: Love Conquers All (2007); and the
2007 film La vie en rose (for which Marion Cotillard won the Academy Award for Best Actress). To paraphrase
the title of the 1962 Off-Broadway musical Fly Blackbird, one is compelled to say enough is enough and so
please Fly Sparrow.
Piaf ushered in a Gallic flavor for the remainder of the theatre season. Later in the month the revival of
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris opened, and it was soon followed by the French puppet
revue Aaah oui Genty! and the revival of Cole Porter’s Can-Can.
1980–1981 SEASON 67
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Leading Actress in a Play (Jane Lapotaire); Best Featured Actress in a
Play (Zoe Wanamaker)
JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS

Theatre: Town Hall
Opening Date: February 19, 1981; Closing Date: March 8, 1981
Performances: 21
Lyrics, Commentary, and Music: Jacques Brel (English lyrics and additional material by Eric Blau and Mort
Shuman; see below for more information regarding music credits)
Direction: Production supervised by Eric Blau (based on original direction by Moni Yakim); Producer: Lily
Turner Attractions; Musical Direction: Bertha Melnik
Cast: Joe Masiell, Betty Rhodes, Shawn Elliott, Sally Cooke
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Marathon” (“Les flamandes”) (Company); “Alone” (“Seul”) (Shawn Elliott); “Madeleine” (Com-
pany); “I Loved” (“J’aimais”) (Sally Cooke); “Mathilde” (Joe Masiell); “Bachelor’s Dance” (“La bouree du
celibataire”) (Shawn Elliott); “Timid Frieda” (“Les timides”) (Sally Cooke); “My Death” (“La mort”) (Betty
Rhodes); “Girls and Dogs” (“Les filles et les chiens”) (Joe Masiell, Shawn Elliott); “Jackie” (“La chanson
de Jacky”) (Joe Masiell); “The Statue” (“La statue”) (Shawn Elliott); “Desperate Ones” (“Les desesperes”)
(Company); “Sons of . . .” (“Fils de . . .”) (Betty Rhodes); “Amsterdam” (Joe Masiell)
Act Two: “The Bulls” (“Les toros”) (Shawn Elliott); “Old Folks” (“Les vieux”) (Betty Rhodes); “Marieke”
(Betty Rhodes); “Brussels” (“Bruxelles”) (Sally Cooke); “Fanette” (“La fanette”) (Shawn Elliott); “Funeral
Tango” (“Tango funebre”) (Joe Masiell); “The Middle Class” (“Les bourgeois”) (Joe Masiell, Shawn El-
liott); “You’re Not Alone” (“Jef”) (Betty Rhodes); “Next” (“Au suivant”) (Joe Masiell); “Carousel” (“La
valse a mille temps”) (Betty Rhodes); “If We Only Have Love” (“Quand on a que l’amour”) (Company)
Although Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is a tiresome and somewhat smug tribute
revue to the French songwriter and performer, it has unaccountably found its niche in cabaret-styled theatre
and has been revived numerous times in New York. Many of the lyrics are obvious, and the greeting-card
philosophy of “If We Only Have Love” is trite and sophomoric. The lyrics often detract from any attractive-
ness the music might have, and one suspects Brel’s songs might best be served in the original French or in
instrumental interpretations.
In his review of the current revival, John S. Wilson in the New York Times said the “vitality” of Brel’s
songs hadn’t “diminished one whit” and were “alive and well and vigorous as ever.” Joe Masiell brought a
“controlled intensity” to his songs, Shawn Elliott’s “Fanette” was the evening’s “most memorable” moment,
and while Betty Rhodes inherited the songs Elly Stone had performed in the original production, he noted she
was more “the pixie type than steel maiden.” He also mentioned that Sally Cooke’s “broad slapstick quality”
brought “lively” moments to the production.
The revue originally opened Off Broadway at the Village Gate on January 28, 1968, for 1,847 performances,
and ten weeks after its closing played on Broadway at the Royale Theatre for fifty-one showings beginning on
October 28, 1972. Besides the current offering, the production has been revived in New York nine other times,
mostly in Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway venues: in 1974 (Astor Place Theatre, 125 performances); 1977
(Queens Theatre in the Park/Playwrights Horizons, 13 performances); 1978 (a tenth-anniversary production
at Town Hall, number of performances unknown); 1978 (Park Royal Cabaret Theatre, 4 performances); 1983
(First City Theatre, 48 performances); 1985 (Equity Library Theatre, 30 performances); 1988 (Town Hall, 7
performances); 1992 (Village Gate, 131 performances); and 2006 (Zipper Theatre, 384 performances).
A 1975 film version (with original cast members Elly Stone and Mort Shuman, frequent Brel interpreter
Joe Masiell, and even JB himself) was released under the auspices of the short-lived American Film Series and
is available on DVD by Kino. Another film version of the revue was seen on Danish television in 1974 and
appears to have been taken from a live stage performance.
The script was published in hardback by E.P. Dutton in 1974, and later in paperback by The Dramatists
Play Service in 2000.
The original Off-Broadway cast album was recorded on a two-LP set by Columbia Records (# D2S-779)
that omitted three numbers (“Girls and Dogs,” “The Statue,” and “The Middle Class”). The latter was re-
corded during the cast album session and was added to the CD release by Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy
Records (# SK-89998). A 1974 production in Cleveland was recorded on a two-LP set by Playhouse Square
Records, Inc. (# PHS-CLE-2S-101) and includes “Girls and Dogs.” A Vancouver revival (circa 1985) was titled
Jacques Brel Lives . . . and the cast included Leon Bibb, who had appeared in the 1983 New York production;
the cast album was released by Jabula Records (LP # JR-38). The 2006 Off-Broadway revival was recorded by
Ghostlight Records (CD # 7915584416-2).
The film’s soundtrack album was released on a two-LP set by Atlantic Records (# SD-2-1000-0998). The
film omitted four songs (“My Death,” “Girls and Dogs,” “Fanette,” and “You’re Not Alone”) and added four:
“My Childhood” (“Mon enfance,” lyric and music by Brel), “The Taxicab” (“Le gaz,” lyric and music by Brel
and Gerard Jouannest), “Ne me quitte pas” (lyric and music by Brel), and “The Last Supper” (“Le dernier
repas,” lyric and music by Brel). The film included “The Statue” (performed by Masiell) and thus the three
songs omitted from the original release of the cast album (“Girls and Dogs,” “The Statue,” and “The Middle
Class”) are available on various recordings of the score.
In 1961, Elly Stone had appeared in the Off-Broadway revue O, Oysters!!! where she performed two songs
by Brel, “Ne me quitte pas” and “Carousels and Cotton Candy” (with a new lyric, the latter was heard as
“Carousel” in the 1968 revue). The song was also included in Lawrence Roman’s 1964 Broadway comedy P.S.
I Love You, where it was performed as “Days of the Waltz” (lyric by Will Holt).
Other contributors to the score of Jacques Brel Is Alive . . . are composers Francois Rauber, Jean Corti-
novis (aka Corti), and the above-cited Gerard Jouannest, all of whom sold their music to Brel with the un-
derstanding they’d receive no official program credit. But five years before his death, Brel requested that all
future productions of the revue acknowledge the three and their contributions. Along with Brel, the three are
credited with the following: Rauber and Jouannest for “I Loved”; “Cortinovis and Jouannest for “Madeleine,”
“The Bulls,” and “Old Folks”; and Jouannest for “Mathilde,” “Jackie,” “Desperate Ones,” “Sons of . . . ,”
“Marieke,” “Brussels,” “Funeral Tango,” and “Next.”
In his review of the original 1968 production, Dan Sullivan in the New York Times noted that Brel’s songs
were often an “unconscious parody” of French chanteurs in general. He commented that Elly Stone’s efforts
to emulate Edith Piaf reminded him of “a salesgirl measuring yard goods” (one of Piaf’s shticks was to end
her songs with arms outstretched in crucifixion fashion); that Alice Whitfield’s “blank-eyed stare of Marcel
Marceau imitating a mannequin” only managed to look “like a mannequin imitating Marcel Marceau”; and
that Shawn Elliott tried for a Folies Bergeres effect, which came across as “Times Square at midnight.” Sul-
livan decided that only Mort Shuman was comfortable with the material.
But Jacques Brel Is Alive . . . provided some amusement, thanks to Nat Shapiro’s gushing program notes
for the original Off-Broadway production: Brel is no less than the conscience of “his people”; his humanism
consists of a “fierce” integrity and a disdain of hypocrisy; and he is unflinchingly “honest about himself.” All
this effusiveness leads one to wonder why the revue wasn’t titled Saint Brel.
SOPHISTICATED LADIES
Theatre: Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
Opening Date: March 1, 1981; Closing Date: January 2, 1983
Performances: 767
Lyrics and Music: Most of the music was by Duke Ellington; see song list for specific music and lyric credits.
Direction: Michael Smuin; Producers: Roger S. Berlind, Manheim Fox, Sondra Gilman, Burton L. Litwin,
and Louise Westergaard in association with Belwin Mills Publishing Corp. and Norzar Productions, Inc.;
Choreography: Musical staging and choreography by Donald McKayle and Michael Smuin and co-chore-
1980–1981 SEASON 69
ography and tap choreography by Henry LeTang (Bruce Heath, Associate Choreographer, and Mercedes
Ellington, Assistant Choreographer); Scenery: Mercer Ellington; Costumes: Willa Kim; Lighting: Jennifer
Tipton; Musical Direction: Mercer Ellington
Cast: Hinton Battle, Gregg Burge, Gregory Hines, Judith Jamison, Mercedes Ellington, Terri Klausner, P. J.
Benjamin, Phyllis Hyman, Priscilla Baskerville; Sophisticated Ladies: Claudia Asbury, Mercedes Elling-
ton, Paula Lynn, Wynonna Smith; Sophisticated Gentlemen: Adrian Bailey, Michael Lichtefeld, Michael
Scott Gregory, T. A. Stephens
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Mercer Ellington and His Band); “I’ve Got to Be a Rug Cutter” (lyric and music by Duke
Ellington) (Hinton Battle, Gregg Burge, Michael Scott Gregory, Michael Lichtefeld); “Music Is a Woman”
(lyric by John Guare, music by Duke Ellington; based on song “Jubilee Stomp”) (Gregory Hines, Judith
Jamison); “The Mooche” (music by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills) (Gregg Burge with Claudia Asbury,
Mercedes Ellington, Paula Lynn, Wynonna Smith); “Hit Me with a Hot Note and Watch Me Bounce”
(lyric by Don George, music by Duke Ellington) (Terri Klausner); “Love You Madly” (lyric and music
by Duke Ellington) and “Perdido” (lyric and music by Juan Tizol, Ervin Drake, and Hans Lengsfelder)
(Hinton Battle, Gregg Burge, Judith Jamison); “Fat and Forty” (lyric and music by Al Hibbler and Duke
Ellington) (P. J. Benjamin); “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” (lyric by Irving Mills,
music by Duke Ellington) (Phyllis Hyman, Gregg Burge, Gregory Hines; with Adrian Bailey, Michael Scott
Gregory, Michael Lichtefeld, T. A. Stephens); “Bli-Blip” (lyric by Duke Ellington and Sid Kuller, music by
Duke Ellington) (P. J. Benjamin, Terri Klausner); “Cotton Tail” (music by Duke Ellington) (P. J. Benjamin,
Terri Klausner, Ensemble); “Take the ‘A’ Train” (lyric by Joya Sherrill, music by Billy Strayhorn) (Phyl-
lis Hyman, Gregory Hines); “(In My) Solitude” (lyric by Eddie DeLange and Irving Mills, music by Duke
Ellington) (Priscilla Baskerville, Judith Jamison); “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” (lyric by Bob Rus-
sell, music by Duke Ellington) (Gregory Hines); “I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart” (from 1938 edition of
Cotton Club Parade) (lyric by Irving Mills and John Redmond, music by Duke Ellington) (Judith Jamison);
“Caravan” (lyric by Irving Mills, music by Duke Ellington and Juan Tizol) (Gregg Burge, Mercedes El-
lington, Ensemble); “Something to Live For” (lyric and music by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn)
(Gregory Hines); “Old Man Blues” (lyric and music by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills) (Hinton Battle,
Judith Jamison); “Drop Me Off in Harlem” (lyric by Nick Kenny, music by Duke Ellington) (Hinton Battle,
P. J. Benjamin, Gregg Burge, Gregory Hines, Priscilla Baskerville, Ensemble); “Rockin’ in Rhythm” (1932
revue Earl Carroll Vanities) (music by Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, and Harry Carney) (Company)
Act Two: “Duke’s Place” (lyric by Bill Katz and R. Thiele, music by Duke Ellington) (Gregory Hines); “Di-
minuendo in Blue” (music by Duke Ellington) (Gregory Hines, Orchestra); “In a Sentimental Mood” (lyric
by Manny Kurtz and Irving Mills, music by Duke Ellington) (Phyllis Hyman); “I’m Beginning to See the
Light” (lyric and music by Duke Ellington, Don George, Johnnie Hodges, and Harry James) (Judith Jamison,
Gregory Hines); “Satin Doll” (lyric by Billy Strayhorn and Johnny Mercer, music by Duke Ellington) (P. J.
Benjamin); “Just Squeeze Me” (lyric by Lee Gaines, music by Duke Ellington) (Terri Klausner); “Dancers
in Love” (music by Duke Ellington) (Hinton Battle, Gregg Burge, Mercedes Ellington); “Echoes of Har-
lem” (music by Duke Ellington) (Hinton Battle, Gregg Burge, Ladies); “I’m Just a Lucky So-and-So” (lyric
by Mack David, music by Duke Ellington) (Gregory Hines, Gentlemen); “Hey, Baby” (lyric and music by
Duke Ellington) (P. J. Benjamin, Mercedes Ellington); “Imagine My Frustration” (lyric and music by Duke
Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, and Gerald Wilson) (Terri Klausner, Gregg Burge, Company); “Kinda Dukish”
(music by Duke Ellington) (Gregory Hines); “Ko-Ko” (music by Duke Ellington) (Gregory Hines, Adrian
Bailey, Michael Scott Gregory, Michael Lichtefeld, T. A. Stephens); “I’m Checking Out Goombye” (lyric
and music by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn) (Phyllis Hyman); “Do Nothing ’Til You Hear from
Me” (lyric by Bob Russell, music by Duke Ellington) (Gregory Hines); “I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good”
(1941 revue Jump for Joy, which closed during pre-Broadway tryout; lyric by Paul Francis Webster, music
by Duke Ellington) (Phyllis Hyman); “Mood Indigo” (lyric and music by Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, and
Albany “Barney” Bigard) (Phyllis Hyman, Terri Klausner); “Sophisticated Lady” (lyric by Mitchell Parish
and Irving Mills, music by Duke Ellington) (Gregory Hines, Judith Jamison, Company); “It Don’t Mean a
Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” (reprise) (Gregory Hines, Company)
Like Bubbling Brown Sugar (1975), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1978), and Eubie! (1979), Sophisticated Ladies was
an evening of black music, in this case a celebration of the Duke Ellington songbook. Brown Sugar included
both new and standard songs, Misbehavin’ saluted Thomas “Fats” Waller, and Eubie! was a tribute to Eubie
Blake. All four revues were hits, and Bubbling Brown Sugar was the best of all with a revue-like book that
provided a nice balance of intimate musical moments that were juxtaposed with brassy and expansive show-
stopping sequences. Similarly, Eubie! found a middle ground as another pleasant evening that allowed for a
variety of song and dance presentations. And while Ain’t Misbehavin’ was clearly the critics and audience’s
darling, it was sometimes too one-note and small-scale and cried out for occasional choral numbers, dance
sequences, and more variety in its performance style. On the other hand, despite its small cast Sophisticated
Ladies came across as slightly grandiose and could have benefited from a more intimate production.
The brothers Gregory and Maurice Hines had dazzled with their dance routines in Eubie!, and for Sophis-
ticated Ladies Gregory Hines, Gregg Burge, and Hinton Battle knocked out everyone with their showstoppers,
mostly of the tap variety. But dancer Judith Jamison seemed a bit uncomfortable in musical comedy surround-
ings and singer Phyllis Hyman was perhaps better suited to recordings and concert appearances. Jack Kroll in
Newsweek criticized the inclusion of white performers Terri Klausner and P. J. Benjamin, but the two added
to the festivities and, like Hines and Burge, brought musical comedy know-how to the revue.
Frank Rich in the New York Times praised Ellington’s “pure musical gold” and while he noted the revue
wasn’t a “perfect entertainment,” it was nonetheless lavish and it starred Gregory Hines, who might well be
“the best tap dancer of our day.” Hines was “human lightning” and he’d previously “never had a chance to
show himself to quite the advantage that he does here.” But the evening had “occasional imaginative sags,”
some repetitious material, and the lyrics (from a variety of writers) lacked wit. John Beaufort in the Christian
Science Monitor liked the twenty-piece onstage band conducted by Ellington’s son Mercer, but felt the show
was “unfocused” and “casually structured.” While Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the musical
numbers were performed with “galvanizing energy and enthusiasm,” he mentioned the evening lacked a
point of view; further, there was “no sense of pace—it is just one number after another.” By the second act,
the production’s “cleverness” had dissipated and was “replaced by tackiness and vulgarity.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the revue was “one of the most lavish musical non-musicals that
Broadway has ever seen” and was “simply a handsomely tarted-up band-show.” The “total is less than the
sum of its parts,” and while the show was a “dance marathon” it was “too predictable” and seemed like a
“seven-course dinner” in which each course consisted of “lemon meringue pie.” Kroll said the revue’s “real
pulse is dance”; otherwise, the music sounded like “‘white’ versions of the Duke” and he stated that the
white performers Klausner and Benjamin were “like two puppies frisking among the panthers.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal praised the “first-rate” performers and singled out Hines as “one
of the fastest and most easy-going tap dancers on earth.” But because the show lacked dialogue and sketches,
a “sameness” in presentation pervaded the entire evening.
During the tryout, the revue had imposed a structure upon the song segments (overall sequences had
such titles as “The Cotton Club,” “Abroad,” “Back Home,” and “Night Life”), but by New York these were
dropped. For the tryout, Donald McKayle received sole major credit for the direction and choreography, but
for New York Michael Smuin was the director of record, and both McKayle and Smuin received credit for
musical staging and choreography while Henry LeTang was cited for co-choreography and tap choreography.
During the Broadway run (and for the post-Broadway tour), “Fat and Forty” was dropped and “Everything but
You” (lyric by Dan George, and music by Duke Ellington and Harry James) was added.
During the tryout, some twenty songs were cut, including “East St. Louis Toodle-oo” (lyric and music
by Duke Ellington and Bob Miley), “Black Beauty” (music by Duke Ellington), “Warm Valley” (lyric by Bob
Russell, music by Duke Ellington), “Praise God and Dance” (music by Duke Ellington), and “The Brown Skin
Girl (Brown-Skinned Gal) with (in) the Calico Gown” (lyric by Paul Francis Webster, music by Duke Elling-
ton). The latter was from the 1941 revue Jump for Joy, which closed in Los Angeles during its pre-Broadway
tryout (one song from the revue was ultimately included in Sophisticated Ladies, “I Got It Bad and That Ain’t
Good”).
The cast album was recorded on a two-LP set by RCA Victor Records (# CBL2-4053), and later released on
CD (# 6208). A live performance of a touring production was released on DVD by Kultur Video.
1980–1981 SEASON 71
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Sophisticated Ladies); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Greg-
ory Hines); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Hinton Battle); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Phyllis
Hyman); Best Director of a Musical (Michael Smuin); Best Costume Designer (Willa Kim); Best Choreog-
raphy (Henry LeTang, Donald McKayle, and Michael Smuin)
BRING BACK BIRDIE

“A New Musical Comedy” / “A Brand New Musical Comedy”

Performances: 4
Book: Michael Stewart
Lyrics: Lee Adams
Direction and Choreography: Joe Layton; Producers: Lee Guber, Shelly Gross, Slade Brown, and Jim Milford;
Scenery: David Mitchell; Costumes: Fred Voelpel; Video Sequences: Wakefield Poole and Frank O’Dowd;
Lighting: David Hays; Musical Direction: Mark Hummel
Cast: Donna Monroe (Storyteller, Reporter # 2), Donald O’Connor (Albert Peterson), Chita Rivera (Rose Pe-
terson), Maurice Hines (Mtobe), Howard Parker (Hogan, Guard, Marshall), Evan Seplow (Albert Jr.), Robin
Morse (Jenny), Jeb Brown (Gary); Girl Friends: Barbara Dare Thomas, Vanessa Bell, Julie Cohen, and Chris-
tine Langner); Frank DeSal (Porter, Reverend Sun, Reporter # 4, Street Cleaner), Betsy Friday (Sunnie), Bill
Bateman (Tourist, Reporter # 1), Zoya Leporska (Tourist’s Wife, Effie), Rebecca Renfroe (Shopping Bag
Lady), Janet Wong (Indian Squaw), Larry Hyman (Indian Brave, Reporter # 3), Maria Karnilova (Mae Pe-
terson), Marcel Forestieri (Mayor C. B. Townsend [Conrad Birdie]); Filth Group: Evan Seplow, Jeb Brown,
Cleve Asbury, Leon Evans, and Mark Frawley; Peter Oliver Norman (House Manager); Chorus Girls: Betsy
Friday, Rebecca Renfroe, and Vanessa Bell; Lynnda Ferguson (Rose II), Michael Blevins (Cameraman);
Stage Door Johnnies: Bill Bateman, Peter Oliver Norman, Cleve Asbury, and Frank DeSal; Birdettes: Betsy
Friday, Rebecca Renfroe, and Vanessa Bell; Kevin Petitt (Walter)
The action takes place in 1981 in New York City and environs and in Bent River Junction, Arizona.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Twenty Happy Years” (Chita Rivera, Donald O’Connor); “Movin’ Out” (Robin Morse, Jeb Brown,
Kids); “Half of a Couple” (Robin Morse, Barbara Dare Thomas, Vanessa Bell, Julie Cohen, Christine Lang-
ner); “I Like What I Do” (Chita Rivera); “Bring Back Birdie” (Maurice Hines, Company); “Movin’ Out”
(reprise) (Kids); “Baby, You Can Count on Me” (Donald O’Connor); “A Man Worth Fightin’ For” (Chita
Rivera, Cowboys); “You Can Never Go Back” (Marcel Forestieri); “Filth” (Evan Seplow, Jeb Brown, Cleve
Asbury, Leon Evans, Mark Frawley); “Back in Show Biz Again” (Donald O’Connor)
Act Two: “Middle Age Blues” (Donald O’Connor); “Inner Peace” (Chita Rivera, Frank DeSal, Sunnies);
“There’s a Brand New Beat in Heaven” (Maurice Hines, The Tucson Tabernacle Choir); “Twenty Happy
Years” (reprise) (Donald O’Connor); “Well, I’m Not!” (Chita Rivera); “When Will Grown-Ups Grow Up?”
(Kids); “Middle Age Blues” (reprise) (Donald O’Connor); “Young” (Donald O’Connor); “I Love ’Em All”
(Maria Karnilova, Bill Bateman, Peter Oliver Norman, Cleve Asbury, Frank DeSal); “Bring Back Birdie”
(reprise) (Marcel Forestieri, Betsy Friday, Rebecca Renfroe, Vanessa Bell); “Twenty Happy Years” (reprise)
(Donald O’Connor, Chita Rivera); “Rosie” (Donald O’Connor, Chita Rivera) (performed after curtain calls)
The 1980–1981 season wasn’t a good one for Charles Strouse. The composer’s Charlie and Algernon had
closed after seventeen performances, and now Bring Back Birdie bombed after four showings. Sequels proved
unlucky for the composer, and so Bring Back Birdie was a failed attempt to recapture the giddy flavor of his
1960 hit Bye Bye Birdie, and during the 1989–1990 season Annie 2: Miss Hannigan’s Revenge opened to dev-
astating reviews and closed during its tryout.
Besides Strouse, book writer Michael Stewart, lyricist Lee Adams, and star Chita Rivera returned for the
sequel, which opened at the same theatre (the Martin Beck, now the Hirschfeld) some twenty-one years after
the original premiered. At the conclusion of Bye Bye Birdie, rock-and-roll star Conrad Birdie (Dick Gautier)
is drafted into the army, and his manager, Albert Peterson (Dick Van Dyke), becomes a high school English
teacher, much to the happiness of his longtime girlfriend Rose (Rivera). The revival dealt with the Grammy
Awards Show and its plan to salute former singing stars, including Birdie (now played by Marcel Forestieri).
But the nation’s one-time heartthrob seems to have completely disappeared, and so the Grammy producers
offer Albert (Donald O’Connor) $20,000 to track down the superstar of yesteryear. Albert and Rosie are now
approaching their twentieth wedding anniversary, and the supposedly princely sum of $20,000 will help fi-
nance their children’s college educations.
In order to fill out the thin evening, there were a number of extraneous sequences that included “Inner
Peace,” a passé spoof of Moonies (here called Sunnies); “Filth,” a take-off on punk-rock musicians; a gospel
number (“There’s a Brand New Beat in Heaven”); and a 1920s Charleston for Albert’s domineering mother
Mae (Maria Karnilova) who saves the Grammy show when it seems Birdie won’t appear (it turns out Mae was
a showbiz sensation in the 1920s when she was known as Delores Zepol . . . and Zepol spelled backwards is
Lopez . . . and so the Mae who once resented “Spanish” Rose admits that she too is Spanish). Maurice Hines
also appeared as Mtobe, a tap-dancing detective employed by Albert to find Birdie.
Various scenes in the musical reflected ones from the earlier show: the celebrated “Telephone Hour”
was updated with the teenagers sporting cordless phones, and the Charleston-inflected “Kids” was now the
1920s-styled song “I Love ’Em All” for Mae. The adults in the earlier show complained about “Kids,” and for
the new musical the kids asked “When Will Grown-Ups Grow Up?,” and while Rose had whooped it up with
Shriners in the earlier musical, she now did the same with cowboys. The sequel also included the original’s
finale “Rosie” (for Albert and Rose), and it was sung by O’Connor and Rivera after the curtain calls; the num-
ber wasn’t listed in the opening night program and so was a surprise for the first-night audience (but the song
had been listed during early preview programs).
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the “depressing” sequel was a “mess” and only came alive after
the curtain calls when O’Connor and Rivera performed “Rosie.” The show began in “amiable shambles” and
ended in “total chaos,” and while the evening attempted to bring back “happy youth” it sent everyone “crash-
ing into a gloomy middle age.” Further, the show flew off “in so many cryptic directions” that it seemed
“each member of the cast ha[d] been handed a different lousy script.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily
News noted that in regard to the production’s ten orchestrators, “too many cooks didn’t spoil this broth”
because “it was sour to begin with,” and Clive Barnes in the New York Post felt Stewart’s book was “about
as engaging as a wet flounder on a dry night” and the score was “more eclectic than electric.”
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the evening had a “synthetic mood” and while it wasn’t as
“dreadful” as the grapevine had suggested, it succeeded “less as musical theatre than as salvage work.” And
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 noted that if the original Birdie “cooked,” the sequel was merely “defrosted.”
Rich felt that Rivera pushed too hard with a “fierce, calculated effort to stop the show” and Siegel said she
“often moves with the too-frantic pace of someone who’s trying to save the show all alone.” But Barnes said
she was “commanding” and “magnificent,” and “at least three times she shows her ability to stop a show that
has never even started.” Barnes felt O’Connor was “more amiable than noticeable,” and while Rich praised
his “spiffy” tapping he felt the former film star was “so retiring he seems to be playing to a movie camera
rather than a Broadway house.”
David Mitchell’s set design was comprised of dozens of television sets, and according to Rich the effect
was so “overdone” that the musical looked “like a discount appliance outlet.” Barnes commented that the
rows and rows of monitors looked “like ABC network news on a bad night.”
During previews, Coleen Zenk was succeeded by Lynnda Ferguson in the role of Rose II and the songs
“Don’t Say F-A-T in Front of Conrad” and “Shape Up” were deleted.
The cast recording was released by Original Cast Records (LP # 8132; later issued on CD by Varese Sara-
bande # VSD-5440), and includes “Rosie.”
Bye Bye Birdie opened at the Martin Beck Theatre on April 14, 1960, for 607 performances; the London
premiere took place on June 15, 1961, for 268 performances at Her Majesty’s Theatre; the film version was
released by Columbia Pictures in 1963; a television adaptation was seen on ABC on December 3, 1995; and a
Broadway revival opened at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on October 15, 2009, for 117 performances.
1980–1981 SEASON 73
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Chita Rivera)
BROADWAY FOLLIES
“A Vaudeville”
Theatre: Nederlander Theatre

Performances: 1
Lyrics and Music: Walter Marks
Direction: Donald Driver; Producers: Edgar Lansbury, Joseph Beruh, and James Nederlander; Choreography:
Arthur Faria; Scenery: Peter Larkin; Costumes: Alvin Colt; Lighting: Roger Morgan; Musical Direction:
Marvin Laird
Cast: Robert Shields, Lorene Yarnell, Tessie O’Shea, Michael Davis, Milo & Roger, Scott’s Royal Boxers, Los
Malambos, Gaylord Maynard and Chief BearPaw, Jack Smooth; The Broadway Follies Chorus: Stephen
Bourneuf, Kitty Kuhn, Mark Martino, Nancy Meadows, Brad Miskell, Alice Anne Oakes, Aurelio Padron,
R. J. Peters, D’Arcy Phifer, Mark Ruhala, Karen Tett, Suzanne Walker

Act One: “Broadway Follies” (The Follies Ensemble); “Vaudeville” (Robert Shields, Lorene Yarnell); “Won-
derful U” (Scott’s Royal Boxers, The Follies Ensemble); “Picadilly” (Tessie O’Shea); “The Oasis” (Milo &
Roger); “The Pampas” (Los Malambos); “The Toyshop” (Robert Shields, Lorene Yarnell); “The Paper Bag
Rag” (Tessie O’Shea, Bud’s Paper Bag Band)
Act Two: “At Home with the Clinkers” (Robert Shields, Lorene Yarnell); “The Barnyard” (Tessie O’Shea and
Her Chicks); “Specialty” (Robert Shields); “The Saloon” (Gaylord Maynard and Chief BearPaw); “Tap My
Way to the Stars” (Lorene Yarnell, The Follies Ensemble); “The Rest of Michael Davis” (Michael Davis);
“Grand Parade” (Entire Company)
The 1980–1981 season was chockablock with one-performance-only musical flops. Onward Victoria led
the parade and was followed by Broadway Follies and The Moony Shapiro Songbook.
Broadway Follies tried to revive the tradition of old-time vaudeville, but it received devastating reviews
and its opening performance was its last. The mime team of Robert Shields and Lorene Yarnell headlined the
show, but it was juggler Michael (Allen) Davis who stole it. Others in the revue were British music-hall-styled
performer Tessie O’Shea (who had won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress for her show-stopping per-
formance in Noel Coward’s 1963 musical The Girl Who Came to Supper); Scott’s Royal Boxers, a dog act in
which the boxers played soccer with balloons instead of balls (Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the pooches were
one of “the best” animal acts he’d ever seen); the Argentine dance trio Los Malambos; magicians Milo and
Roger (and their duck Spiro); Gaylord Manor and Chief Bearpaw, a drunken cowboy with his equally drunken
horse (the latter’s specialty was walking on his knees); and Jack Smooth, a terrier who nipped about on the
stage. The songs were by Walter Marks, who had written the lyrics and music for Bajour (1964) and Golden
Rainbow (1968); the latter included the slightly bombastic ballad “I’ve Gotta Be Me,” one of the most popular
Broadway songs of its era.
Mel Gussow in the New York Times noted that Broadway Follies was full of “doldrums.” For “The
Toyshop” sequence, Shields and Yarnell appeared as “stiff-jointed, expressionless” soldiers, and the critic
suggested this was their “major talent”; and in “The Barnyard” poor (and rotund) Tessie O’Shea was reduced
to wearing a chicken suit, sitting on a nest, and pretending to lay an egg (Gussow’s comment was “No com-
ment”). O’Shea also sang “The Paper Bag Rag,” a sequence in which she encouraged the audience to crumple
a paper bag and “play” it like a banjo (each program included a paper bag emblazoned with the show’s logo,
and because the bags reminded him of the kind of bags distributed on airplanes, Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear
Daily said the producers should have had second thoughts about distributing such items to the audience).
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said that Shields and Yarnell’s toy characters robbed them of
“personality” and thus they came “very close to playing dead”; and while Siegel admitted there were some
“great” acts in the show, it was a “Broadway folly” to present them in a Broadway theatre at Broadway prices
(he also mentioned that instead of “razzle” and “dazzle” the show came across as “ticky” and “tacky” be-
cause the producers had “spared EVERY expense”).
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said Broadway Follies “looked too tired even to lie down,” and sug-
gested Shields and Yarnell’s performances as wooden and mechanical dolls led him to wonder if perhaps the
duo were actually “wooden dolls who occasionally imitate people.” Barnes also speculated about those paper
bags, and when he first noticed them he wondered if they were “more practically intended.” He was therefore
greatly “relieved to discover their musical function.”
The indisputable hit of the evening was juggler Michael Davis, who was not only a master juggler but also
an amusing and deadpan comedian. Among the items he juggled were nine balls; water; and a machete, an
axe, and a meat cleaver. And as he juggled a bowling ball, an apple, and an egg, he explained to the audience
that it was difficult to juggle such disparate items because all three were of different colors; and then he actu-
ally took a bite out of the apple during full juggle (and later allowed that he had egg on his face). Gussow said
watching Davis was as close as he’d ever been “to rolling in an aisle with laughter,” and noted that director
Donald Driver had wisely given Davis the closing spot because “nothing could top him.”
Watt found Davis “the evening’s unmistakably solid hit” and a “real find”; Barnes noted that out of the
ashes of Broadway Follies “a new phoenix star is born” (he also suggested that the producers of Sugar Babies
find a place for Davis in their revue, and they did) ; Cohen praised the juggler’s “artful lunacy”; Siegel said he
was a “show-stopper”; and Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal praised Davis’s “droll commentary” and
his “truly original wit” and exclaimed that during the one-performance run of the revue Davis took his place
as “the funniest man on Broadway.”
As for Marks’s score, Barnes said he didn’t “particularly notice” it; Cohen stated that “while occasion-
ally delivering a lively Broadway sound,” the score “too often reveals threadbare inspiration”; and Watt said
Marks had written “brisk and immediately forgettable songs.”
During previews, a British group known as The Dingbats (the program noted that in Britain they had been
known as Johnny Hutch and the ½ Wits) and The Amazing Carazini were featured; when they left the show,
their respective sequences “Rush Hour” and “No Smoking” were deleted. Singer Travis Hudson appeared in
the revue only during previews, but she remained with the production as Tessie O’Shea’s standby.
WOMAN OF THE YEAR

“A New Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Palace Theatre

Performances: 770
Book: Peter Stone
Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Music: John Kander
Based on the 1942 MGM film Woman of the Year (screenplay by Ring Lardner Jr., and Michael Kanin, and
directed by George Stevens).
Direction: Robert Moore; Producers: Lawrence Kasha, David S. Landay, James M. Nederlander, Warner
Theatre Productions, Inc., and Claire Nichtern, Carole J. Shorenstein, and Stewart F. Lane; Animation:
Michael Sporn; Choreography: Tony Charmoli; Scenery: Robin Wagner; Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge;
Lighting: Marilyn Rennagel; Musical Direction: Donald Pippin
Cast: Helon Blount (Chairperson, Cleaning Woman), Lauren Bacall (Tess Harding), Michael O’Gorman
(Floor Manager), Daren Kelly (Chip Salisbury), Roderick Cook (Gerald), Tom Avera (Phil Witaker), Harry
Guardino (Sam Craig), Rex Hays (Ellis McMaster), Lawrence Raiken (Abbott Canfield), Rex Everhart
(Maury), Grace Keagy (Helga), Eivind Harum (Alexi Petrikov), Marian Haraldson (Cleaning Woman),
Marilyn Cooper (Jan Donovan), Jamie Ross (Larry Donovan); Chorus: DeWright Baxter, Joan Bell, Helon
Blount, Sergio Cal, Donna Drake, Richard Glendon-Larson, Marian Haraldson, Michael Kubala, Paige
Massman, Gene Montoya, Michael O’Gorman, Susan Powers, Daniel Quinn, Robert Warners
1980–1981 SEASON 75

The action takes place during the present time in New York City and “somewhere in Colorado.”
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Woman of the Year” (Lauren Bacall, Women); “The Poker Game” (Harry Guardino, Cartoonists);
“See You in the Funny Papers” (Harry Guardino); “When You’re Right, You’re Right!” (Lauren Bacall,
Roderick Cook); “Shut Up, Gerald” (Lauren Bacall, Harry Guardino, Roderick Cook); “So What Else Is
New?” (Harry Guardino, Katz [Voice of Fred Ebb]); “One of the Boys” (Lauren Bacall, Cartoonists, Rex
Everhart, Men); “Table Talk” (Lauren Bacall, Harry Guardino); “The Two of Us” (Lauren Bacall, Harry
Guardino); “It Isn’t Working” (Cartoonists, Daren Kelly, Grace Keagy, Roderick Cook, New Yorkers); “I
Told You So” (Roderick Cook, Grace Keagy); “Woman of the Year” (reprise) (Lauren Bacall)
Act Two: “So What Else Is New?” (reprise) (Harry Guardino, Katz [Voice of Fred Ebb]); “I Wrote the Book”
(Lauren Bacall, Grace Keagy, Marian Haraldson); “Happy in the Morning” (Eivind Harum, Lauren Bacall,
Dancers); “Sometimes a Day Goes By” (Harry Guardino); “The Grass Is Always Greener” (Lauren Bacall,
Marilyn Cooper); “We’re Gonna Work It Out” (Lauren Bacall, Harry Guardino)
Despite its Tony Awards, a run of almost two years, and Lauren Bacall’s vaunted star power, Woman
of the Year was a financial failure. The show was a mostly by-the-numbers affair, and lyricist Fred Ebb and
composer John Kander were in one of their dry stretches. Like the team’s The Act (1977) and The Rink (1984),
the new musical offered one or two outstanding numbers but otherwise was unmemorable. Further, Peter
Stone’s book, Robert Moore’s direction, and Tony Charmoli’s choreography were generally uninspired. But
Bacall’s usual shtick of would-be arch sophistication unaccountably gave the critics a case of gushitis, and
she received rave reviews.
Bacall and her new show were just about as tiresome as Applause (1970), her previous star vehicle. Besides
the presence of Bacall, the two musicals had much in common: both had generally undistinguished books
and scores; both began with Bacall receiving an award; both utilized a flashback device; both allowed Bacall’s
character to rub elbows with the chorus during a mid-first-act dance number (“But Alive” from Applause gave
Bacall and the gypsies a disco moment, and “One of the Boys” from Woman of the Year found her character
cavorting with a group of poker-playing cartoonists); each show gave Bacall a fey confidante (her hairdresser
Duane in Applause, her secretary Gerald in Woman of the Year); and both shows included one memorable
performance (for Applause, Penny Fuller’s acidic Eve, and for Woman of the Year, Marilyn Cooper’s delight-
fully dowdy housewife).
The musical was based on the fondly remembered if overrated MGM 1942 comedy Woman of the Year
in which Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy marry despite their odd-couple backgrounds (she’s a famous
political commentator and he an equally well-known sports reporter). For the musical, Bacall’s character was
well-known television interviewer Tess Harding and Harry Guardino portrayed successful cartoonist Sam
Craig. Bacall had previously appeared in a similar opposites-will-attract story when she and Gregory Peck
starred in the 1957 film Designing Woman in which she portrayed a fashion designer and he a sports colum-
nist.
The musical enjoyed two stand-out musical sequences. “It Isn’t Working” was a gloatingly gleeful and
expansive number for Tess and Sam’s acquaintances who despite all evidence to the contrary hope the
couple’s marriage will fall apart. Here was a sweeping musical statement done up in Forties’ big-band style,
and it was the only time the first act offered a fresh and original conceit. The second act’s finest moment,
and the evening’s only show-stopper, was the dazzling duet “The Grass Is Always Greener” for Tess and Jan,
the latter the clumsy wife of Tess’s first husband Larry (Jamie Ross). Cooper stole the show as the deadpan
klutz in hair-rollers and bathrobe who trades fantasies with Tess: Tess envies Jan for knowing her neighbors,
but Jan notes that Tess is chummy with Rona Barrett, and when Tess finds it wonderful that Jan is raising a
teen-aged daughter, Jan replies it’s not so wonderful when you come across her diaphragm. Grace Keagy also
scored as Tess’s take-no-prisoners German housekeeper Helga (and when Helga visits her family, she goes to
Argentina, not Germany).
As noted, the critics fell over themselves in their praise of Bacall: “a natural musical comedy star” who
“embodies the very spirit of the carefree American musical” (Frank Rich in the New York Times); she is
“Broadway’s Woman of the Year” (Clive Barnes in the New York Post); “the show’s one undeniable asset”
(Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily); she “stars and glitters and scintillates” (John Beaufort in the Chris-
tian Science Monitor); “a tigress of a performer” (T. E. Kalem in Time); and “she sings, dances and acts with
a witty grace” (Jack Kroll in Newsweek).
Cooper received well-deserved raves: “hilariously frumpy” (Rich); “with bone-dry expression, [she]
matches Miss Bacall point for point” (Barnes); “a nasal voice and a woebegone expression” (Kissel); “bril-
liantly performed” (Beaufort); she makes “The Grass Is Always Greener” “as tart as vinegar and twice as
puckish”; and she’s “a howling joy” (Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News).
As for the musical itself, Rich noted the book was top-heavy with an “inefficient, old-fashioned struc-
ture” and said Guardino’s “blandness recalls the salad days of Sydney Chaplin”; Watt mentioned that the
book “doesn’t hang together” and the romantic ballads had “a forced, tired sound”; Kissel commented that
the musical “patronizes” the audience and seemed “less like a piece of theatre than a product, the result not
of artistic decisions but of test marketing”; and Kalem noted that after Company, Follies, A Chorus Line, and
Ballroom, Woman of the Year had “the ashen patina of Pompeii” and, with the exception of “It Isn’t Work-
ing,” “I Told You So,” and “The Grass Is Always Greener,” the score was “amiable but pallid.” But Barnes
loved the “super show” and somehow came to the conclusion that Kander and Ebb’s score was “their best
collaboration yet” and surpassed their songs for Cabaret.
During the tryout, “Nothing Personal” and “Who Would Have Dreamed” were cut; for the national tour
(advertised as an “all new production” with new direction and choreography by Joe Layton and new décor
by Tony Walton, the tour starred Bacall, Guardino, and Cooper), “We’re Gonna Work It Out” was dropped,
“Open the Window, Sam” was added, “Who Would Have Dreamed” was reinstated, and a new title song was
substituted. When Bacall left the New York production, she was succeeded by Raquel Welch and then by
Debbie Reynolds.
The cast album was recorded by Arista Records (LP # AL-8303), and was later released on CD by Bay Cit-
ies Records (# BCD-3008). The revised script was published by Samuel French in 1984.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Woman of the Year); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Lauren
Bacall); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Marilyn Cooper); Best Director of a Musical (Robert Moore);
Best Book (Peter Stone); Best Score (lyrics by Fred Ebb, music by John Kander)
AAAH OUI GENTY!

Performances: 29
Marionette Sketches: The Compagnie Philippe Genty
Production Supervisor: Christopher Dunlop; Producer: Arthur Shafman International, Ltd.
Cast: The Compagnie Philippe Genty—Mary Genty, Philippe Genty, Michel Gillaume, Jean-Louis Heckel
The puppet revue was presented in two acts.

Act One: “Signboard”; “Clown”; “Signboard”; “Pierrot”; “Drifting”
Act Two: “Metamorphoses”; “Signboard”; “The Officer”; “Signboard”; “Ostrich Ballet”
The French import puppet revue Aaah oui Genty! was an evening of marionettes, string puppets, hand
puppets, stick puppets, and black-light figures, the latter inspired by the Black Light Theatre of Prague. The
production utilized prerecorded music to enhance the various puppet sketches. The company debuted in 1967
and played throughout the world, and the current production with four puppeteers (including the group’s
founder, Philippe Genty) marked the troupe’s New York debut.
1980–1981 SEASON 77
The revue could be enjoyed by children (in fact, John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor suggested
the evening could use more material aimed at “the teddy-bear set”), but it was probably best suited for adults
because of its wry, almost existential viewpoint. One of the evening’s most acclaimed sequences was “Pier-
rot,” which depicted a string puppet who according to John Corry in the New York Times looks “mournfully”
at his puppeteer and resents being manipulated by the strings of his master. Rather than continuing to live
under such oppression, the puppet cuts his strings and accepts death over slavery. And “Clown” looked at a
puppeteer who tries to put a clown puppet into a box and suddenly finds the tables are turned when the puppet
overpowers him and reduces him to a helpless toy. Marilyn Stasio in the New York Post was on target with
her observation that the evening could be titled The Muppets Meet Alien because the show’s sensibility was
“thoroughly grownup and refreshingly weird.”
The critics also liked the finale, the quirky “Ostrich Ballet” in which a seemingly innocuous feather boa
paves the way for all kinds of excitement (Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said this number put
him in a “cheery mood,” Beaufort said it was “hilarious,” and Stasio found it “delightfully silly”). Watt also
singled out “Metamorphoses,” in which a floating blob of light morphs into a balloon, which then under-
goes “a mind-boggling series of transmogrifications.” A running joke throughout the show was a series of
sequences titled “Signboard” which Beaufort described as showing “the consequences of taking street signs
too literally or not literally enough.”
Watt praised this “superior example” of the “continental cabaret or little-theatre show,” and noted that
the Bijou was the perfect venue for the production. Corry said the work offered “amusement, charm and sur-
realism,” and if you liked puppet shows you would be “enchanted” by Aaah oui Genty! Beaufort mentioned
that the evening’s moods ranged from the “broadly comic” to the “darkly psychological,” and the sequences
were underscored by prerecorded sound effects and music (as for the latter, standard classics, pop and rock,
and electronic music were heard). Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily praised the “excellent” com-
pany, said the “Ostrich Ballet” was “a bouquet of motion,” and the overall production was “equally challeng-
ing” for both children and adults.
COPPERFIELD
“A New Musical”

Opening Date: April 13, 1981; Closing Date: April 26, 1981
Performances: 13
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn; incidental music by Donald Johnston
Based on the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (published in serial installments in 1849 and 1850,
and in book format in 1850).
Direction and Choreography: Rob Iscove; Producers: Don Gregory and Mike Merrick (A Dome Production);
Scenery: Tony Straiges; Costumes: John David Ridge; Lighting: Ken Billington; Musical Direction: Larry
Blank
Cast: Brian Matthews (David Copperfield), Richard Warren Pugh (Doctor Chilip, Baker), Mary Stout (Peg-
gotty), Katharine Buffaloe (Nurse, Julia Mills), Carmen Mathews (Aunt Betsey Trotwood), Evan Richards
(Young David), Pamela McLernon (Clara Copperfield), Michael Connolly (Mr. Murdstone), Maris Clement
(June Murdstone), Ralph Braun (Mr. Quinion), Gary Munch (Mick Walker), Brian Quinn (Mealy Potatoes),
Christian Slater (Billy Mowcher), David Horwitz (Bootmaker), Bruce Sherman (Butcher), Linda Poser
(Mrs. Micawber), George S. Irving (Mr. Micawber), Spence Ford (Victoria), Dana Moore (Vanessa), Michael
Danek (Constable), Darleigh Miller (Janet), Lenny Wolpe (Mr. Dick), Barrie Ingham (Uriah Heep), Beulah
Garrick (Mrs. Heep), Keith Perry (Mr. Wickfield), Leslie Denniston (Agnes Wickfield), Mary Elizabeth
Mastrantonio (Dora Spenlow), Michael Gorman (Ticket Taker); Ensemble: Cleve Asbury, Ralph Braun,
Katharine Buffaloe, Maris Clement, Michael Danek, Spence Ford, Michael Gorman, David Horwitz, Pa-
mela McLernon, Darleigh Miller, Dana Moore, Gary Munch, Keith Perry, Linda Poser, Richard Warren
Pugh, Brian Quinn, Lynne Savage, Bruce Sherman, Claude Tessier, Missy Whitchurch
The action takes place in England from approximately 1812 to 1824.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “I Don’t Want a Boy” (Carmen Mathews, Mary Stout, Ensemble); “Mama, Don’t Get Married”
(Evan Richards, Pamela McLernon, Mary Stout); “Copperfield” (Evan Richards, Ralph Braun, Brian
Quinn); “The Bottle Song” (Christian Slater, Gary Munch, Ensemble); “Something Will Turn Up” (George
S. Irving, Evan Richards, Creditors, Ensemble); “Anyone” (Evan Richards); “Here’s a Book” (Carmen
Mathews, Lenny Wolpe, Evan Richards); “Here’s a Book” (reprise) (Carmen Mathews, Lenny Wolpe, Brian
Matthews); “’Umble” (Barrie Ingham, Beulah Garrick); “The Circle Waltz” (Brian Matthews, Mary Mas-
trantonio, Leslie Denniston, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Up the Ladder” (Barrie Ingham, George S. Irving); “I Wish He Knew” (Leslie Denniston); “The
Lights of London” (Brian Matthews, Mary Mastrantonio, Company); “’Umble” (reprise) (Barrie Ingham);
“Something Will Turn Up” (reprise) (George S. Irving, Brian Matthews); “Villainy Is the Matter” (Brian
Matthews, Barrie Ingham, George S. Irving, Leslie Denniston, Carmen Mathews, Lenny Wolpe, Beulah
Garrick, Mary Stout, Linda Poser); “With the One I Love” (Brian Matthews); “Something Will Turn Up”
(reprise) (George S. Irving, Ensemble); “Anyone” (reprise) (Brian Matthews, Leslie Denniston)
Copperfield retained the basic plot and many of the characters from Charles Dickens’s novel David Cop-
perfield. The somewhat picaresque narrative about the life of an orphaned boy and his coming of age included
a variety of colorful characters, such as the eternally optimistic Mr. Micawber and the insidious and insin-
cerely obsequious Uriah Heep. But unlike Oliver! and Pickwick, two other musical adaptations of Dickens’s
novels, Copperfield lasted less than two weeks (Oliver! premiered in London in 1960 for a marathon run of
2,618 performances and opened on Broadway in 1963 for 774 showings, and while Pickwick opened in London
in 1963 for 694 showings, its short 1965 New York run of just fifty-five performances was profitable because
of the show’s successful pre-Broadway tour).
Although Frank Rich in the New York Times wondered if the adaptors had read the novel or even its
Classics Comics version, he was certain they’d seen many Broadway musicals because Copperfield brought
to mind such shows as Oliver!, Annie, and Gypsy. But there were clearly “creative decisions” made during
the writing of the musical, such as whether or not to use an exclamation point at the end of the show’s title
(he noted “it takes more than a few sleepless nights to resolve esthetic questions like that”). Douglas Watt
in the New York Daily News said Copperfield was “the first fully-computerized” musical because it seemed
Dickens had been “fed” into a machine and when the buttons were pressed out came the show, including
its “mechanical” performances. In fact, the cast played their roles as if they’d been doing them “for a year or
more” and were now “sick and tired.” His comment that the actors resembled “animated cartoon figures”
was prescient because years later the writers did indeed adapt the musical as an animated cartoon for televi-
sion (see below).
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the book lacked dramatic shape and the score was “bland.” But
he nonetheless felt the evening retained a certain “Dickensian charm” and was a “pleasant experience.”
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily found the score “hackneyed, simpleminded and never dramatic,” and
he questioned Copperfield’s song about the things he could have bought for his dead wife. This notion just
didn’t seem to be “the most likely thing a grieving husband would sing about” because the character was a
writer and not a “Rodeo Drive boutiquier.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said the musical
had “strong emotional appeal” and a “pleasant” if familiar score, and he singled out the evening’s “coup de
theatre” in which young David morphs from boy to man in the song “Here’s a Book” (the conceit may have
been borrowed from Gypsy and The Rothschilds, but it worked as effective theatre and storytelling because
the number spanned a ten-year period of time).
Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 found the score “merely serviceable” and the comic moments “few
and far between,” but he could still recommend the show as “fun,” and Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the
musical was “an evening of almosts. Almost good tunes, almost catchy lyrics; dance numbers that almost
take off.”
During the tryout, “Pay Us, Pay Us” and “I Want to Share Them All” were cut, and for the tryout “Any-
one” was titled “Is There Anyone?” and “The Lights of London” was titled “Turn All the Lights On in Lon-
don.”
As David Copperfield, the musical was produced as an animated film with animal characters and was
telecast on NBC on December 10, 1993, with the voices of Sheena Easton, Kelly LeBrock, Julian Lennon,
1980–1981 SEASON 79
Howie Mandel, Joseph Marcell, Andrea Martin, and Michael York. The songs “I Hate Boys,” “Something’s
Gonna Turn Up,” and “Is There Anyone?” are probably reworked or retitled versions of the stage numbers
“I Don’t Want a Boy,” “Something Will Turn Up,” and “Anyone”; and Kasha and Hirschhorn contributed
five new ones (“Welcome to My Warehouse,” “Family Christmas,” “I’ll Be Your Hero,” “Imagination,” and
“Everyone’s a Big Cheese Here”). The film was released on video cassette and DVD by Goodtimes Video.
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Score (lyrics and music by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn)
CAN-CAN
Performances: 5
Book: Abe Burrows
Lyrics and Music: Cole Porter; new dance music by Donald York
Direction: Directed by Abe Burrows and “entire production staged” by Roland Petit; Producers: James M.
Nederlander, Arthur Rubin, Jerome Minskoff, Stewart F. Lane, Carole J. Shorenstein, and Charles D. Kel-
man; Choreography: Roland Petit; Scenery: David Mitchell; Costumes: Franca Squarciapino; Lighting:
Thomas Skelton; Musical Direction: Stanley Lebowsky
Cast: Policemen—Tommy Breslin, John Remme, John Dolf, Dennis Batutis, and Kevin McCready; Joseph
Cusanelli (Bailiff, Tabac Waiter, Chief Justice), David Brooks (Judge Paul Barriere), Tom Batten (Court
President, Monarchist, Prosecutor), Ron Husmann (Judge Aristide Forestier), Pamela Sousa (Claudine,
Eve), Swen Swenson (Hilaire Jussac), Avery Schreiber (Boris Adzinidzinadze), John Remme (Waiter, Jail
Guard), Zizi Jeanmaire (La Mome Pistache), Michael Dantuono (Hercule), Mitchell Greenberg (Theo-
phile), Tommy Breslin (Etienne), James Dunne (Photographer), Deborah Barnett (Model), Darrell Barnett
(Adam); The Snake—Zizi Jeanmaire, Dennis Batutis, James Horvath, Steven LaChance, and Kevin Mc-
Cready; Donna King (Mimi), Luigi Bonino (Apache Leader), Nealey Gilbert and Dennis Batutis (Patrons);
Ensemble: Deborah Carlson, Pam Cecil, Edyie Fleming, Nealey Gilbert, Linda Haberman, Nancy Hess,
Brenda Holmes, Donna King, Manette LaChance, Meredith McIver, Gail Pennington, Rosemary Rado,
Daryl Richardson, Linda Von Germer, Darrell Barnett, Dennis Batutis, John Dolf, James Dunne, James
Horvath, Steven LaChance, Kevin McCready, Gregory Schanuel
The action takes place in Paris in 1893.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Maidens Typical of France” (Girls); “Maidens Typical of France” (reprise) (Girls, Court Personnel);
“Never Give Anything Away” (Zizi Jeanmaire, Girls); “C’est magnifique” (Zizi Jeanmaire, Ron Hus-
mann); “Quadrille Dance” (Girls, Men); “Come Along with Me” (Swen Swenson, Pamela Sousa); “Come
Along with Me” (reprise) (Avery Schreiber); “Live and Let Live” (Zizi Jeanmaire); “I Am in Love” (Ron
Husmann); “Montmartre” (Company); “Garden of Eden Ballet” (Zizi Jeanmaire, Girls, Men); “Allez-vous-
en” (Zizi Jeanmaire)
Act Two: “Never, Never Be an Artist” (Artists, Avery Schreiber, Ron Husmann); “It’s All Right with Me”
(Ron Husmann, Donna King, Girls); “Apache Dance” (Girls, Men); “I Love Paris” (Zizi Jeanmaire); “C’est
magnifique” (reprise) (Ron Husmann, Zizi Jeanmaire); “Can-Can” (Zizi Jeanmaire, Girls, Men); Finale
(Company)
When Cole Porter’s 1953 musical Can-Can closed, it was the seventh-longest-running musical in Broad-
way history. Thanks to a batch of first-rate Porter songs, a star turn by Gwen Verdon in the secondary role of
Claudine, show-stopping dances by Michael Kidd, dazzling scenery by Jo Mielziner, and colorful costumes by
Motley, the show became one of the biggest hits of the era and after Kiss Me, Kate (1948) was Porter’s second-
longest-running show. It yielded four standards, three of the Parisian music-hall variety (“I Love Paris,” “C’est
magnifique,” and “Allez-vous-en”) and one (“It’s All Right with Me”) a yearning and haunting torch-like
ballad. The score also offered a tongue-twisting title song; two infectiously melodic choral numbers (“Mont-
martre” and “Maidens Typical of France”); a saucy duet (“Come Along with Me”); a flippant but heartfelt bit
of philosophy (“Live and Let Live”); and the lovely but generally underrated ballad “I Am in Love,” which in
subject and musical style makes an interesting companion piece to Porter’s “I Love You” (Mexican Hayride,
1944), “So in Love” (Kiss Me Kate), and “I Am Loved” (Out of This World, 1950).
But time hasn’t been kind to Can-Can. Abe Burrows’s book was always watery in its depiction of music-
hall owner La Mome Pistache (Lilo in the original, Zizi Jeanmaire in the current production) and her brushes
with the law when she presents the shocking new can-can in her establishment. In truth, no one ever pre-
tended the book was anything more than serviceable, and both book and score came in for criticism in 1953:
Walter Kerr in the New York Herald-Tribune warned his readers not to expect “inspiration” because Burrows
and Porter were in a “hand-me-down mood,” and Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times found the show
“heavy-handed.” But Robert Coleman in the New York Daily Mirror said the show was “a swell evening of
fun” even if it wasn’t a “masterpiece.”
If the 1960 film adaptation had been an artistic hit, perhaps the musical’s reputation would have re-
bounded. But the lavish Twentieth Century-Fox extravaganza suffered from a meandering script and the
miscasting of Shirley MacLaine and Frank Sinatra in the leading roles, and it was left to Maurice Chevalier,
Louis Jourdan, and Juliet Prowse to contribute a piquant touch of continental gaiety to the mostly dismal
proceedings. Further, the score was eviscerated (seven songs and a few of the dance numbers were retained)
and songs from other Porter musicals were interpolated into the production.
The musical was first revived in New York for a limited engagement of six performances at the Theatre-
in-the-Park beginning on August 25, 1959, with Genevieve and David Atkinson in the leads, and it was fol-
lowed by another limited engagement when the show was given for sixteen performances by the New York
City Light Opera Company at City Center on May 16, 1962, with Genevieve and George Gaynes. The current
revival received mostly dismal notices and lasted less than a week, but a limited engagement concert produc-
tion by Encores! with Patti LuPone and Michael Nouri opened at City Center on February 12, 2004, for five
performances and was well received.
The musical premiered in London on October 14, 1954, at the Coliseum for 394 performances. The
original Broadway cast album was released by Capitol Records (LP # S/W-452) and was later issued on CD
by Broadway Angel Records (# ZDM-7-64664-2-2); the soundtrack was released by Capitol Records (LP #
W-1301); and a production by Los Angeles Harbor College was recorded on a two-LP set (by Audio Engineer-
ing Associates # AEA-1271-2/ABCD) and includes a generous amount of dance music (“Quadrille,” “Garden
of Eden Ballet,” and “Apache Dance”).
In his review of the current revival, Frank Rich in the New York Times noted the production was one of
the “most handsome” of the season: the décor evoked “a gorgeous Art Nouveau Paris,” the costumes were
“sumptuous,” and the lighting “poetic.” But the musical hadn’t been “first-rate” in 1953, and now it stood
“on even shakier legs.” Although Burrows had revised the book, it was still “windy” (but the critic was glad
that two of the score’s “negligible” songs had been dropped). These, incidentally, were “Every Man Is a Stupid
Man” and “If You Loved Me Truly,” but it’s too bad Burrows didn’t also cut the equally dreary “Never, Never
Be an Artist.” Rich commented that Jeanmaire, the “superb” finale, and the lavish décor clearly showed there
were “still some kicks” in Can-Can, but these were “roughly 40 minutes’ worth” and were “scattered like
stardust across a longish night.”
Although Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the revival “lavish,” he mentioned that the
musical hadn’t “improved with age” and “falls flat in its new embodiment”; Howard Kissel in Women’s
Wear Daily said the plot and jokes were “ramshackle” and noted his blood started to “congeal” when he real-
ized that some of the new orchestrations utilized “tacky” disco arrangements; and Dennis Cunningham on
WCBSTV2 said Can-Can “can’t-can’t, and that’s an extravagant pity.”
The critics were generally unenthusiastic about the cast, but Clive Barnes in the New York Post praised
Jeanmaire and noted hers was a “diamond glitter as bright as ever” as she “erupts, exults and challenges,”
and he was glad she was now making her “Broadway debut” because heretofore she had appeared only in bal-
lets (he had forgotten about her appearance in the 1954 book musical The Girl in Pink Tights and her 1964
1980–1981 SEASON 81
revue Zizi). He said the revival was a “knockout” because the star was “triumphant” with “indestructible
magnetism” and the choreography devised by the star’s husband Roland Petit was “superb” and “the best on
Broadway for years.”
The revival was a reunion of sorts for Jeanmaire and David Brooks, who played a judge (which was essen-
tially the Maurice Chevalier role in the film version). During the tryout of The Girl in Pink Tights, Brooks
was Jeanmaire’s leading man, but he left the production and was succeeded by David Atkinson.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Scenic Designer (David Mitchell); Best Costume Designer (Franca Squar-
ciapino); Best Choreography (Roland Petit)
THE MOONY SHAPIRO SONGBOOK


Performances: 1
Book: Monty Norman and Julian More
Lyrics: Julian More
Music: Monty Norman
Direction: Jonathan Lynn; Producers: Stuart Ostrow in association with T.A.T. Communications Company;
Choreography: George Faison; Scenery: Saul Radomsky; Costumes: Franne Lee; Lighting: Tharon Musser;
Musical Direction: Elman Anderson
Cast: Jeff Goldblum (Himself, Mr. Shapiro, Rocco the Shoeshine Boy, Talking Picture Star, Louis Da Rosa,
French Crooner, Street Trumpeter, Fat German, Member of Big Band Vocal Group, U.S.O. Entertainer,
Marvin, Israeli Dancer, Russian Singer, Lee Pyong-Do, Liverpool Pop Group Drummer), Judy Kaye
(Herself, Reverend Mother, Mrs. Shapiro, Mrs. Kleinberg, Salvation Army Girl, Talking Picture Star,
Torch Singer, Another Torch Singer, Busby Berkeley Girl, Bella, Fat German, Member of Big Band Vocal
Group, Marlene, U.S.O. Entertainer, Rusty, Israeli Dancer, Kim-Sung, Liverpool Pop Group Singer, Sheila
O’Toole), Timothy Jerome (Himself, Moony Shapiro, Mr. Woo, Cop, Fat German, U.S.O. Entertainer,
Senator “Beanpole” Pickles), Annie McGreevey (Herself, Tilly, Mary Cassidy, Mae Feldman, Astrid Kal-
mar, Talking Picture Star, Dolly Ralston, Busby Berkeley Girl, French Music Hall Singer, Fat German,
Member of Big Band Vocal Group, British Comedienne, U.S.O. Entertainer, Bonny Van Heysen, Debbie
Stellman, Jude, Israeli Dancer, Russian Singer, KGB Officer, Lin-Chi, Magda Gyor, Liverpool Pop Group
Singer), Gary Beach (Himself, Dead End Kid, Rabbi Kotchinsky, Sailor, U.S. Immigration Officer, Talk-
ing Picture Star, First Newsboy, Rudy Vallee, Bum, Dancer, Busby Berkeley Tenor, Waiter, Flower Seller,
Fat German, Gestapo Officer, Press Photographer, Member of Big Band Vocal Group, Second Newsboy,
Prisoner-of-War Guard, U.S.O. Entertainer, Academy Awards Singer, Alvin Burns, Chuck, Israeli Dancer,
Schmuel, Russian Singer, Johnny Bakuba, Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan’s Spokesman, Benedict Rickenbacker,
Leader of Liverpool Pop Group, British Trades Union Leader, Bonny’s Singing Partner); Back-Up Singers:
Philip Hoffman, Audrey Lavine, Brenda Pressley; March of Time Announcer: Philip Hoffman
The action covers the life and times of Moony Shapiro, twentieth-century songwriter.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Songbook” (from 1948 film Baltimore Ballyhoo) (Company); “East River Rhapsody” (revue Feld-
man Follies of 1926) (Gary Beach, Company); “Talking Picture Show” (1928 film Evermore) (Jeff Gold-
blum, Judy Kaye, Annie McGreevey, Gary Beach); “Meg” (1929 trunk song) (Timothy Jerome); “Mister
Destiny” (1930 hit recording) (Judy Kaye); “Your Time Is Different from Mine” (1932 hit recording) (Judy
Kaye); “Pretty Face” (film Pretty Faces of 1934) (Gary Beach, Annie McGreevey, Judy Kaye); “Je vous
aime, Milady” (1935 hit recording) (Jeff Goldblum); “Les halles” (1935 cabaret song) (Annie McGreevey);
“Olympics ’36” (1936 hit recording) (Company); “Nazi Party Pooper” (1936 trunk song) (Timothy Jerome);
“I’m Gonna Take Her Home to Momma” (1938 hit recording); War Songs, 1939–1945: “Bumpity-Bump”
(Annie McGreevey); “The Girl in the Window” (“Das Madchen Am Fenster”) (Judy Kaye); and “Victory
‘V’” (Company); Academy Award–Winning Hollywood Evergreens, 1945–1948: “April in Wisconsin” (film
A Yank at the Vatican) (Gary Beach); “It’s Only a Show” (film Let’s Do the Show Right Here) (Gary Beach);
and “Bring Back Tomorrow” (film Bring Back Tomorrow) (Gary Beach); “Songbook” (reprise) (Company)
Act Two: “Happy Hickory” (title song of 1954 Broadway musical) (Annie McGreevey); Happy Hickory Rejects
(trunk songs): “Climbin’” (Annie McGreevey) and “Don’t Play That Lovesong Any More” (Timothy Je-
rome); Vocal Gems from Happy Hickory: “Happy Hickory” (Company); “Lovely Sunday Mornin’” (Annie
McGreevey, Gary Beach); “Rusty’s Dream Ballet” (Judy Kaye, Jeff Goldblum); “The Pokenhatchit Public
Protest Committee” (Company); and “Happy Hickory” (reprise) (Company); “Happy Hickory” (from
1956 Tel Aviv and Moscow productions) (Gary Beach, Annie McGreevey, Judy Kaye, Jeff Goldblum); “I
Accuse” (1957 musical Red White and Black) (Annie McGreevey, Judy Kaye); “Messages I” (1958 trunk
song) (Jeff Goldblum); “Messages II” (1963 version for Bob Dylan) (Gary Beach); “I Found Love” (1964 hit
recording) (Annie McGreevey, Judy Kaye, Jeff Goldblum, Gary Beach); “Don’t Play That Lovesong Any
More” (reprise) (cut song from Happy Hickory) (Judy Kaye); “Golden Oldie” (1972 trunk song) (Timothy
Jerome); “Climbin’” (reprise) (cut song from Happy Hickory; 1972 hit recording) (Annie McGreevey, Gary
Beach, Jeff Goldblum, Judy Kaye, Timothy Jerome); “Nostalgia” (1977 trunk song) (Jeff Goldblum); Finale
(Company)
The Moony Shapiro Songbook was perhaps too specialized a work for the general Broadway audience.
Its delightful conceit was to satirize the genre of composer/lyricist tribute revues of the Oh Coward!, Side
by Side by Sondheim, and Ain’t Misbehavin’ variety, but perhaps this type of spoofery was best suited to a
cabaret setting or an Off-Broadway venue. The original London production (produced as Songbook) played for
just 208 performances and the New York version lasted for only one showing (and joined Onward Victoria
and Broadway Follies as the season’s shortest-running musical).
The 1980–1981 season offered three composer/lyricist tributes of its own, the short-lived Perfectly Frank
(Loesser), the hit Sophisticated Ladies (Duke Ellington), and a revival of 1968’s Off-Broadway Jacques Brel
Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. (The 1996 Off-Broadway revue When Pigs Fly also laughed at song
tributes when one sequence presented the hapless “artistic director” of a small community theatre called
the Melody Barn who produces lyricist and composer tributes along the lines of Brutally Frank, a salute to
Frank Loesser’s World War II songs, and You Don’t Know Dick, an evening which features the obscure songs
of Richard Rodgers.)
The revue-like Moony Shapiro Songbook looked at the life and career of that famous (and of course ficti-
tious) songwriter Moony Shapiro, who found acclaim when his very first song (“East River Rhapsody”) was
included in the Rodgers and Hart revue Feldham Follies of 1926. Moony didn’t want to take any chances
blowing his big break, and so he “kissed the Shapiro mezuzah and said five Hail Marys.” And sure enough his
ode to New York (and its praise of the “cacophonous clash” of trash cans and squad car sirens) became a hit.
From there, it was all gravy (with the exception of his song “Nazi Party Pooper,” which was perhaps a touch
too politically incorrect, even for 1936).
But we all remember Moony’s Oscar-winning songs, including “April in Wisconsin” from A Yank at the
Vatican in which Bing Crosby played a priest and Barry Fitzgerald the pope. And Moony’s dalliance with Mae
West: why, just one look at Moony and she knew he would be “big” (she wasn’t disappointed, and he could
write songs, too). And “Marlene Dietrich” also made her second cameo during the season (she had earlier been
a character in Piaf), here singing Moony’s “The Girl in the Window” at the Stage Door Canteen.
And there was Moony’s hit show Happy Hickory, his “one important contribution to the American Musi-
cal Theatre.” The town of Pokenhatchit has a magical wishing tree, but the evil Senator “Beanpole” Pickles
wants to chop it down in order to make room for an eight-lane highway (the published script notes that Happy
Hickory is to be performed in the styles of Finian’s Rainbow, Paint Your Wagon, and Li’l Abner, and the revue
provides “vocal gems” from the musical’s score, including “Rusty’s Dream Ballet,” and “The Pokenhatchit’s
Public Protest Committee”).
1980–1981 SEASON 83
Unfortunately, Moony’s next musical, the socially conscious Red White and Black was a failure which
didn’t even leave behind a cast album. It was based on Emile Zola’s J’accuse, here updated to depict a black
American officer wrongly accused of, and eventually court-martialed for, selling secrets to North Korea. Un-
fortunately, Harold Prince had to turn down the show because he was working on West Side Story, and in a
voice-over Prince himself stated “we were all trying to make the American musical say more,” but perhaps
Moony “was saying a bit too much.” As a result, the audience hated the show: “tuxedo-ed Bostonians booed,”
“mink-wrapped matrons fled in outrage,” and the headline in Variety proclaimed “Shapiro Pinko Chinko
Stinko.”
Later, Moony’s song “I Found Love” was recorded by a popular British Liverpool group, but his song “Up-
town” flopped because “record fans that year were all going in the opposite direction.” And unfortunately Bob
Dylan didn’t seem interested in Moony’s song “Messages.” Alas, the music stopped on September 7, 1977,
when the lights went out in New York: Moony was found dead, electrocuted by a synthesizer. But through
the “kind permission of the Shapiro estate,” the tribute ends with Moony’s last song “Nostalgia.”
Unlike the London critics, the New York reviewers were Not Amused, and the show dropped $800,000
during its one-night stand. Frank Rich in the New York Times said the evening had “the germ of a funny,
spiffy satirical revue” but the material was “toothless and unfocused” with “the scrappy, amateurish air of a
collegiate jape.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the production “vapid” and “inane”; Joel
Siegel on WABCTV7 said there “isn’t much of a show”; and Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily complained
that the book “rattles on and on, telling us more than anyone could possibly care to know” about the title
character.
While Clive Barnes in the New York Post noted the evening was “a one-joke show,” he nonetheless said it
was a “one-joke show brilliantly conveyed.” The work was “carefully devised” and “beautifully staged” with
“knockout” performers. But he felt the musical deserved a longer run and a more sophisticated audience than
it was probably going to get. Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 praised the “hilarious send-up” and said it
was “telling,” “highly entertaining,” and “most sharp-eyed (and eared).”
The musical’s premiere took place at the University of Warwick Arts Center on May 2, 1979, and opened
in London at the Globe Theatre on July 25 of that year. As Songbook, the script was published in softcover by
Samuel French in 1985. The British cast album (also as Songbook) was recorded by Pye Records (LP # NSLP-
18609) and later released on CD by DRG Records (# 13117).
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Book (Monty Norman and Julian More)
INACENT BLACK
“A Heaven-Sent Comedy”

Performances: 14
Play: A. Marcus Hemphill
Lyrics and Music: Gene McFadden, John Whitehead, and Melba Moore
Direction: Mikell Pinkney; Producers: Gloria Hope Sher, Marjorie Moon, and Jay J. Cohen in association with
Zaida Coles Edley and Spirit Will Productions, Inc. (Ashton Springer, Executive Producer); Scenery: Felix
E. Cochren; Costumes: Marty Pakledinaz; Lighting: Tim Phillips; Musical Direction: Barry Eastmond
Cast: Gregory Miller (Helwin Rydell), Barbara Montgomery (Mama Essie Rydell), Reginald Vel Johnson (Marv
Rydell), Count Stovall (Charles Rydell), Bruce Strickland (Percy Rydell), Rosanna Carter (Waitress), Melba
Moore (Inacent Black), Ronald “Smokey” Stevens (Pretty Pete), Joyce Sylvester (Carmen Casteel), Lorey
Hayes (Sally-Baby Washington), Ed Cambridge (Voice of Hamilton Rydell); Musicians: Neal Tate (Synthe-
sizer), Petro Bass (Percussion), Kelvin Jones (Drums), Ron Miller (Guitar), Wayne Brathwaite (Bass)
The action takes place during Spring 1980 in Old Westbury, Long Island, and New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Stand Together” (Melba Moore); “He’s All That I’ll (We) Ever Need” (Melba Moore)
Act Two: “Somebody Told Me (to Deliver This Message to You)” (Melba Moore)
Inacent Black was a play with three incidental songs performed by its star Melba Moore, who was backed
by five musicians. The self-described “heaven-sent comedy,” which closed after just fourteen performances,
dealt with the title character, an angel (Moore) who comes to Earth to help a rich black family who lives in
Long Island. Widowed Mama Essie Rydell (Barbara Montgomery) and her four sons (there were five in an ear-
lier version of the show) run a real estate business, and like Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! and Tevye
in Fiddler on the Roof, Mama talks to the Great Beyond whenever she has a problem (in this case, she chats
with her late husband Hamilton, whose voice was supplied by Ed Cambridge). The Rydell family (which
Frank Rich in the New York Times said resembled the characters in the television sitcom The Jeffersons) has
its usual share of problems, some personal and some professional, and it’s up to Inacent Black to straighten
out everybody and provide them with spiritual uplift.
Rich said the production was “an act of bravery that should not go unrecorded,” for here was a show “part
burlesque sketch, part gospel service and all silly.” While viewing the production, “any reasonable adult”
would fall into “a state of instant and total petrifaction,” and the “primitive” scenes were full of mugging,
yelling, knee-slapping, and “double, if not triple, takes.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the
“god-awful” play “a simpleminded tatterdemalion fable,” and Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 noted that
the title was misspelled “for reasons no one ever explains” and the show actually opened “for reasons no one
could possibly explain.” The evening was “long-winded,” “way over-written,” and the performers mugged all
the way up to “the last row of the last balcony.”
Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily reported that the play was “like a silly book that has become
detached from its score.” The “thin” plot and “transparent” jokes were from the school in which one char-
acter says “You can say that again” and a second character then promptly repeats what he just said. Clive
Barnes in the New York Post noted that the production’s few songs were “agreeable,” but otherwise the show
was of such “dazzling ineptitude” and “grotesque folly” that he could almost “admire” it. The “deplorable”
play called itself a “heaven-sent comedy” but he suggested “it should go to hell first.”
As Inacent Black and the Five Brothers, the play had originally been produced for two performances be-
ginning on May 15, 1979, at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre by Black Theatre Festival, U.S.A. It also played
Off Broadway for a long run at the Billie Holiday Theatre, where it opened in May 1979.
LENA HORNE: THE LADY AND HER MUSIC

Performances: 333
Lyrics and Music: See song listing for specific credits.
Direction: Arthur Faria; Producers: James M. Nederlander, Michael Frazier, and Fred Walker in association
with Sherman Sneed and Jack Lawrence; Scenery: David Gropman; Costumes: Stanley Simmons (Lena
Horne’s wardrobe by Giorgio Sant’Angelo); Lighting: Thomas Skelton; Musical Direction: Linda Twine
Cast: Lena Horne; Trio: Grady Tate (Drums), Steve Bargonetti (Guitar), Bob Cranshaw (Bass); The Company:
Clare Bathe, Tyra Ferrell, Vondie Curtis-Hall
Musical Numbers
Note: All songs were performed by Lena Horne, who was backed by a trio of singers and dancers; a special trio
of musicians; and a sixteen-piece orchestra.
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “From This Moment On” (dropped from 1950 musical Out of This World and
later interpolated into the 1953 film version of Kiss Me, Kate; lyric and music by Cole Porter); “I Got a
1980–1981 SEASON 85
Name” (lyric by Norman Gimbel, music by Charles Fox); “(In This World of Ordinary People) I’m Glad
There Is You” (lyric and music by Jimmy Dorsey and Paul Madeira); “I Want to Be Happy” (No, No, Na-
nette, 1925; lyric by Irving Caesar, music by Vincent Youmans); Cotton Club Sequence: “That Copper-
Colored Gal of Mine” (Twenty-seventh edition of Cotton Club Parade, 1936; lyric by Benny Davis, music
by J. Fred Coots); “Raisin’ the Rent” (Twenty-second edition of Cotton Club Parade, 1933; lyric by Ted
Koehler, music by Harold Arlen); “As Long as I Live” (Twenty-fourth edition of Cotton Club Parade,
1934; lyric by Ted Koehler, music by Harold Arlen); and “Lady with the Fan” (Twenty-third edition of
Cotton Club Parade, 1933; lyric by E. Y. Harburg, music by Harold Arlen); Dialogue Sequence: “Cotton
Club to Hollywood”; “Where or When” (Babes in Arms, 1937; lyric by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard
Rodgers); Dialogue Sequence: “Hollywood”; “Just One of Those Things” (Jubilee, 1935; lyric and music
by Cole Porter); “Stormy Weather” (Part One) (Twenty-second edition of Cotton Club Parade, 1933; lyric
by Ted Koehler, music by Harold Arlen); “Love” (1946 film Ziegfeld Follies; lyric and music by Hugh
Martin and Ralph Blane); Dialogue Sequence: Broadway; “Push de Button” (Jamaica, 1957; lyric by E. Y.
Harburg, music by Harold Arlen); “The Lady Is a Tramp” (Babes in Arms; lyric by Lorenz Hart, music by
Richard Rodgers); “Yesterday When I Was Young” (lyric by Herbert Kretzmer, music by Paul Aznavour);
“Deed I Do” (lyric by Fred Rose, music by Walter Hirsch); “Life Goes On” (lyric by Craig Doerge, music
by Paul Williams)
Act Two: “Watch What Happens” (1964 film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg; original French lyric by Jacques
Demy, English lyric by Norman Gimbel, music by Michel Legrand); “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top”
(Oklahoma!, 1943; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodgers); “Fly” (lyric and music by
Martin Charnin); “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” (Pal Joey, 1940; lyric by Lorenz Hart, music
by Richard Rodgers); “A Lady Must Live” (America’s Sweetheart, 1931; lyric by Lorenz Hart, music by
Richard Rodgers); Dialogue Sequence: “Love This Business”; “That’s What Miracles Are All About” (lyric
and music by Charlie Smalls); Dialogue Sequence: “Early Career”; “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write
Myself a Letter” (lyric by Joe Young, music by Fred Ahlert); “Stormy Weather” (Part Two); “If You Believe
(in Yourself)” (The Wiz, 1975; lyric and music by Charlie Smalls)
Lena Horne’s concert was a surprise hit that had been scheduled to play a limited engagement over the
summer months. Instead, it played for over a year and chalked up 333 performances. The evening was a retro-
spective of the legendary singer’s career, and included “As Long as I Live,” a song she introduced at the Cotton
Club when she was sixteen years old, and “Push de Button” from her long-running 1957 hit musical Jamaica.
The critics wrote valentines, and Horne received some of the best notices of the season: “In transcen-
dent voice” and “beautiful and elegant as ever” (Frank Rich in the New York Times); “One of the greatest
entertainers of our time” (Clive Barnes in the New York Post); “Lena Horne is the season’s best musical”
(Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News); “One of the most sophisticated of all the sophisticated ladies”
(John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor); “A triumph in every way” (Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street
Journal); “The most awesome performer to hit Broadway in years” (Charles Michener in Newsweek); “She is
cool and she is hot, sultry and cerebral, soft and brassy” (Gerald Clarke in Time); “The most important show
in town” (Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily); “She is at the top of her form” (Joel Siegel on WABCTV7);
and “Lena Horne is electrifying, astonishing, and may well be the finest musical performer alive” (Dennis
Cunningham on WCBSTV2).
The critics were particularly taken with “Stormy Weather,” Horne’s signature song, which had originally
been introduced by Ethel Waters in the twenty-second edition of the Cotton Club Parade in 1933, and which
Horne sang in the 1943 MGM film Stormy Weather. Since this was the song most identified with Horne,
it was assumed she would end the concert with it. Instead, she performed it early in the first act (Michener
noted she sang it “with almost shocking lack of effect—with just an echo of that sweet resignation” which
recalled her version from the MGM film). But then late in the second act she knocked out the audience with a
reprise, stating that “I had to grow into this song.” Rich said the second version was “a gospel cry that erupts
from her gut with almost primeval force.” It was as if she had never before performed the song, and the audi-
ence “witnessed an honest-to-God coup de theatre.”
Other songs heard during the run were: “Better Than Anything” (lyric and music by D. Wheat and Wil-
liam Loughborough); “But Not for Me” (Girl Crazy, 1930; lyric by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin);
“Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” (Show Boat, 1927; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein, music by Jerome Kern); and
“Love Me or Leave Me” (Whoopee, 1928; lyric by Gus Kahn, music by Walter Donaldson).
The original cast album was released on a two-LP set by Qwest Records (# 2QW-35), and was later issued
on a two-CD set by Warner Brothers Records.
Awards
Tony Award: Special Tony Award (Lena Horne)
AN APRIL SONG
The musical briefly played in summer stock during 1980, including engagements at the John Drew Theatre,
East Hampton, New York, beginning on July 9, 1980, and at the Westport Country Playhouse, Westport,
Connecticut, during the period August 25–August 30.
Book: Albert Marre
Lyrics: Sammy Cahn
Music: Mitch Leigh
Based on the 1940 play Leocadia by Jean Anouilh.
Direction: Albert Marre; Producers: Connecticut Theatre Foundation, Inc. (James B. McKenzie, Executive
Producer); Scenery: Robert D. Mitchell; Costumes: Miles White; Lighting: Rick Belzer; Musical Direction:
David Friedman
Cast: Julie Boyd (Amanda), Ian Sullivan (Theophile), Glynis Johns (The Duchess), Ronald Bishop (Lord Hec-
tor), Carl Don (Ice Cream Man), Tom Champion (Taxi Driver), Sam Tsoutsouvas (Prince Albert), Reuben
Singer (Maitre d’Hotel), Daniel Marcus (Nightclub Singer), Carl Don (Innkeeper), Adam Alexander (Foot-
man, Waiter)
The action takes place in and around a chateau in Brittany.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t include a list of musical numbers.
Mitch Leigh’s An April Song was intended for Broadway but never got beyond the straw hat circuit. The
musical was based on Jean Anouilh’s 1940 play Leocadia, which was produced on Broadway as Time Remem-
bered in 1957.
The wry fairy tale–like plot dealt with melancholy Prince Albert (Sam Tsoutsouvas), who pines for his
lost love, Leocadia Gardi, a famous young ballerina whom he knew for three whole days. Leocadia unfortu-
nately strangled herself when she tied a scarf too tightly around her neck and refused to loosen it because
the scarf’s effect was so striking. Albert’s aunt, The Duchess (Glynis Johns), discovers that a young milliner
named Amanda (Julie Boyd) bears a striking resemblance to Leocadia, and so she decides to promote a ro-
mance between her royal cousin and the young woman. Albert and Amanda do indeed fall in love, but the
Duchess ruefully notes that Leocadia has now died twice, both in life and in Albert’s memory.
An April Song died in memory, too, and is probably Leigh’s most obscure musical. He had composed the
score for the mega-hit Man of La Mancha (1965), but An April Song joined an endless series of his musicals
that either closed on the road or after brief Broadway runs: Chu Chem (1966; closed during its pre-Broadway
tryout); Cry for Us All (1970; 9 performances); Halloween (1972; closed during pre-Broadway tryout); Home
Sweet Homer (1976, one performance); Sarava (1979, 177 performances); and Ain’t Broadway Grand (1993,
25 performances).
Time Remembered opened at the Morosco Theatre on November 12, 1957, for 248 performances in an
adaptation by Patricia Moyes, but despite a run of more than six months the play wasn’t able to recoup its
investment. Like the later musical version, the play’s director was Albert Marre and the costume designer
was Miles White. The stellar cast included Helen Hayes (The Duchess), Richard Burton (Prince Albert), and
Susan Strasberg (Amanda), and Vernon Duke wrote background music and a song or two for the production,
1980–1981 SEASON 87
which, along with dialogue sequences, was recorded by Mercury Records (LP # SR-60023). The album includes
selections with Duke at the piano and by Pete Rugolo’s orchestra, and the atmospheric score includes polkas,
waltzes, tangos, and a title number sung by Tony Travis.
If the cast album’s cover of Time Remembered is any indication, scenic designer Oliver Smith created a
dreamy world of pastel fantasies, one of which was a wooded area on the Duchess’s estate replete with tower-
ing trees and a birthday cake of a motor car painted in cotton-candy colors and festooned with ivy. In later
years, the cast of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music (including Night Music and An April Song’s star
Glynis Johns) could easily have moved into this set and performed “A Weekend in the Country.” On February
7, 1961, the play was presented on NBC’s Hallmark Hall of Fame with Edith Evans, Christopher Plummer,
and Janet Munro.
GEORGIA BROWN & FRIENDS

The one-woman revue played at the Westwood Playhouse in Los Angeles, California, during the 1980–1981
theatre season; during the 1982–1983 season, the production opened on September 1, 1982, at the Curran
Theatre in San Francisco, California, and closed there on September 18.
Text: Georgia Brown
Lyrics and Music: See song list for specific credits
Direction: Stanley Dorfman (Devra Korwin, Associate Director); Producers: Hillard Elkins and Laizer Produc-
tions by special arrangement with Norman Maibaum; Scenery and Lighting: Martin Aronstein and Law-
rence Metzler; Costumes: Birgitta Gyllenhammar; Musical Direction: Stanley Myers
For the San Francisco production, the program included the following credits: Producers: James M. Neder-
lander and Laizer Productions (A Hillard Elkins Production) (Stanley Schneider, Barbara Platoff, and Mar-
celle Garfeld, Associate Producers); Scenery: Peter David Gould; Costumes: Ruth Morley; Lighting: David
F. Segal; Musical Direction: Steven Cagan
Cast: Georgia Brown
Musical Numbers
Note: All songs were performed by Georgia Brown. Both the Los Angeles and San Francisco programs listed
all numbers in alphabetical order, and the Los Angeles program indicated that “some” of them would be
performed during the revue. The list below is taken from the Los Angeles production. For San Francisco,
two songs were eliminated, “Actor” and “Eileen Aroon” from the Lament Medley.
“Actor” (1978 television musical Actor; lyric by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, music by Billy Golden-
berg); “As Long as He Needs Me” (Oliver!, London [1960] and Broadway [1963]; lyric and music by Lionel
Bart); “The Eagle and Me” (Bloomer Girl, 1944; lyric by E. Y. Harburg, music by Harold Arlen); “Getting
Married Today” (Company, 1970; lyric and music by Stephen Sondheim); “(We’re) Going to the Country”
(1962 London musical Blitz!; lyric and music by Lionel Bart); “I’m Still Here” (Follies, 1971; lyric and
music by Stephen Sondheim); “Is That All There Is?” (from late 1960s unproduced musical International
Wrestling Match; lyric and music by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller); “Jew’s Whore” (aka “Ballade von der
Judenhure Marie Sanders”/“Ballad of the Jew’s Whore Marie Sanders”; lyric by Hans Eissler, music by
Kurt Weill); “The Job Application” (dropped from Ballroom, 1978; lyric by Alan and Marilyn Bergman,
music by Billy Goldenberg); “Johnny, I Hardly Knew You” (lyric by Jeff Lewis, music based on traditional
eighteenth-century Irish melody); Lament Medley: (1) “Ali Ali,” (2) “Spanish Lament,” and (3) “Eileen
Aroon” (all “folk lament songs”); “Lost in the Stars” (Lost in the Stars, 1949; lyric by Maxwell Anderson,
music by Kurt Weill); “Mack the Knife” (The Threepenny Opera, 1928; lyric by Bertolt Brecht [English
lyric by Marc Blitzstein was probably used for this production], music by Kurt Weill); “Mad about the
Boy” (1932 London revue Words and Music; opened in New York as Set to Music in 1938; lyric and
music by Noel Coward); “Madam Song” (“I Never Do Anything Twice”) (1976 film The Seven-Per-Cent
Solution; lyric and music by Stephen Sondheim); “My Father” (lyric and music by Christopher Logue
and Tony Kinsey); “Pirate Jenny” (The Threepenny Opera, 1928; lyric by Bertolt Brecht [English lyric by
Marc Blitzstein was probably used for this production], music by Kurt Weill); “Raisins and Almonds”
(Jewish folk song adapted with lyrics by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, music by Billy Goldenberg
[probably from 1978 television musical Actor); “Sweet Georgia Brown” (lyric and music by Ben Bernie,
Maceo Pinkard, and Kenneth Casey); Victorian Medley: (1) “Chickerleree Cove,” (2) “A Little of What
You Fancy,” (3) “Khaki,” (4) “Boys in the Gallery,” and (5) “Don’t Dilly Dally on the Way”; “Waters of
March” (lyric and music by Antonio Carlos Jobim); “Who Do You Have to Fuck to Get into the Movies?”
(lyric and music by Dory Previn)
Georgia Brown’s one-woman revue was a retrospective of sorts in which she talked about her career, read
poetry, and sang numbers from musicals in which she had appeared. The evening was similar to other one-
woman shows of the era, such as Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music and Peg (Peggy Lee).
Brown performed her signature song “As Long as He Needs Me,” which she introduced in the original
1960 London production of Oliver!, sang numbers from 1940s musicals (“The Eagle and Me” and “Lost in the
Stars”), and such esoterica as “The Job Application,” which had been cut from Ballroom. And of course she
sang “Sweet Georgia Brown.” Brown had appeared as a replacement in the original Off-Broadway production
of Marc Blitzstein’s adaptation of The Threepenny Opera (which opened in 1954, reopened the following year,
and closed in 1961), and later was a replacement during the Broadway run of Side by Side by Sondheim, and
so the evening included numbers from The Threepenny Opera as well as a few songs by Sondheim.
Brown reprised her role of Nancy in the successful 1963 Broadway production of Oliver!, but she gener-
ally had bad luck on Broadway: She created the title role in Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane’s Carmelina
(1979), which closed after seventeen performances; played the title role in Julian More and Gilbert Becaud’s
Roza (1987), which lasted for twelve showings; and was Mrs. Peachum in the 1989 revival of The Threepenny
Opera (here titled 3 Penny Opera in an adaptation by Michael Feingold), which shuttered after sixty-five
performances.
Georgia Brown & Friends was first produced in Los Angeles during the 1980–1981 season, and Brown won
the Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Award for her performance (it seems that for at least part of the run the
revue was titled An Evening with Georgia Brown and Her Friends). During the 1982–1983 season, the revue
played in San Francisco for a two-week engagement.
As noted above, during the evening Brown recited poetry, which she had apparently written, and the
programs included the full texts of the poems. “Obsolescence,” “England,” “The Fifth Floor,” and “Hirsuti-
cut” were included in the Los Angeles program, and “I Believe,” “Hollywood,” “Summer Days,” “Air Raid,”
“Obsolescence,” and “England” were in the San Francisco program.
HOAGY, BIX & WOLFGANG BEETHOVEN BUNKHAUS

“A Jazz Play”
The musical opened on January 15, 1981, at the Center Theatre Group’s Mainstage at the Mark Taper Forum
and closed there on March 1, 1981, after fifty-four performances.
Play: Adrian Mitchell
Based on the 1946 memoir The Stardust Road by Hoagy Carmichael.
Direction: Steven Robman; Producer: The Mark Taper Forum (Gordon Davidson, Artistic Director) and
presented by arrangement with Arthur Cantor and H.M. Tennent, Ltd; Choreography: Miriam Nelson;
Scenery: Tony Walton; Costumes: Dona Granata; Lighting: Tharon Musser; Musical Direction: Richard
M. Sudhalter
Cast: David Frishberg (Dave the Pianist), Larry Cedar (Hoagy Carmichael), Amanda McBroom (Betty), Neva
Small (Meg), Harry Groener (Bix Beiderbecke), Philip Baker Hall (Photographer, Pete Costas), Richard
M. Sudhalter (Cornet), F. William Parker (Mr. Beiderbecke, Recording Engineer, Paul Whiteman), Bruce
French (Wolfgang Beethoven Bunkhaus)
1980–1981 SEASON 89
Musical Numbers
Note: The musical numbers listed below appeared in the program in the following order, with no identifica-
tion of singers or indication regarding which act the songs were performed in.
“In a Mist” (music by Bix Beiderbecke); “Up a Lazy River” (lyric by Sidney Arodin, music by Hoagy Carmi-
chael); “Jubilee” (lyric by Stanley Adams, music by Hoagy Carmichael); “Singin’ the Blues Till My Daddy
Comes Home” (lyric and music by Sam N. Lewis, Joe Young, Con Conrad, and J. Russell Robinson); “In-
diana University Fight Song” (music by Hoagy Carmichael); “March of the Hoodlums” (music by Hoagy
Carmichael); “Riverboat Shuffle” (lyric and music by Hoagy Carmichael, Dick Voynow, Irving Mills,
and Mitchell Parish); “The Old Music Master” (1943 film True to Life; lyric by Johnny Mercer, music
by Hoagy Carmichael); “Jazz Me Blues” (lyric by Adrian Mitchell, music by Tom Delaney); “Georgia on
My Mind” (lyric by Stuart Gorrell, music by Hoagy Carmichael); “Slumber Song” (music by William
Moenkhaus); “Washboard Blues” (lyric and music by Hoagy Carmichael, Fred B. Callahan, and Irving
Mills); “Moon Country (Is Home to Me)” (lyric by Johnny Mercer, music by Hoagy Carmichael); “I’m
Comin’ Virginia” (lyric by Donald Heywood, music by Will Marion Cook); “The Nearness of You” (may
have been introduced in the 1938 film Romance in the Dark; lyric by Ned Washington, music by Hoagy
Carmichael); “Hong Kong Blues” (1943 film To Have and Have Not ; lyric and music by Hoagy Carmi-
chael); “Skylark” (lyric by Johnny Mercer, music by Hoagy Carmichael); “How Little We Know” (lyric
by Johnny Mercer, music by Hoagy Carmichael); “Baltimore Oriole” (1945 film The Stork Club; lyric by
Paul Francis Webster, music by Hoagy Carmichael); “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening” (1951 film
Here Comes the Groom; lyric by Johnny Mercer, music by Hoagy Carmichael); “One Morning in May”
(lyric by Mitchell Parish, music by Hoagy Carmichael); “I Get Along without You Very Well” (lyric and
music by Hoagy Carmichael); “Rockin’ Chair” (lyric and music by Hoagy Carmichael); “Stardust” (lyric
by Mitchell Parish, music by Hoagy Carmichael)
The world premiere of Hoagy, Bix & Wolfgang Beethoven Bunkhaus took place in London, where it was
produced by the Wakefield Tricycle Company, and the first American production opened on October 24, 1980,
at the Indiana Repertory Theatre for twenty-seven performances. This production included “Ole Buttermilk
Sky,” which wasn’t heard in the Los Angeles version.
The work looked at Hoagy Carmichael’s college days at Indiana University in the early 1920s when he
became friends with classmates cornet player Bix Beiderbecke and composer and writer William Moenkhaus
(aka Wolfgang Beethoven Bunkhaus), both of whom died in 1931.
ONE NIGHT STAND

The musical began preview performances at the Nederlander Theatre on October 20, 1980, and permanently
closed there on October 25, 1980, after eight performances.
Book and Lyrics: Herb Gardner
Music: Jule Styne
Direction: John Dexter; Producers: Joseph Kipness, Lester Osterman, Joan Cullman, James M. Nederlander,
and Alfred Taubman; Choreography: Peter Gennaro; Scenery: Robin Wagner; Costumes: Patricia Zip-
prodt; Lighting: Andy Phillips; Musical Direction: Eric Stern
Cast: Charles Kimbrough (Charlie), Thomas Barbour (Stage Manager), Charles Levin (Sid), Paul Binotto
(Gerry), Brandon Maggart (Nat, Sol’s Voice), Jack Weston (Eddie), Steven Boockvor (Young Eddie), Cath-
erine Cox (Amanda), Michael Petro (Assistant Stage Manager); Suzies: Kerry Casserly, Cheryl Clark, Ida
Gilliams, Sonja Stuart, Terri Treas, Kathryn Ann Wright; Kate Mostel (Marge), William Morrison (Young
Charlie for all evening performances), Christopher Balcom (Young Charlie for all matinee performances),
Terri Treas (Molly), John Mineo (Leo, Barclay)
The action takes place during the present time on the stage of the Nederlander Theatre from 8:00 PM to 10:30
PM.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Everybody Loves Me” (Charles Kimbrough); “There Was a Time” (Part One) (Charles Kimbrough);
“A Little Travellin’ Music, Please” (Charles Kimbrough, Suzies); “Go Out Big” (Jack Weston); “Someday
Soon” (William Morrison or Christopher Balcom); “For You” (Jack Weston, William Morrison or Christo-
pher Balcom); “I Am Writing a Love Song” (William Morrison or Christopher Balcom)
Act Two: “Gettin’ Some” (Charles Kimbrough, Charles Levin, Paul Binotto); “Somebody Stole My Kazoo”
(Charles Kimbrough, Charles Levin, Paul Binotto); “I Am Writing a Love Song” (reprise) (Charles Kim-
brough); “We Used to Talk Once” (Kate Mostel, Jack Weston); “The ‘Now’ Dance” (The Now! Company);
“Long Way from Home” (Catherine Cox); “Too Old to Be So Young” (Charles Kimbrough); “Everybody
Loves Me” (reprise); “There Was a Time” (Part Two) (Charles Kimbrough, Catherine Cox); “Here Comes
Never” (Jack Weston)
Jule Styne’s One Night Stand didn’t give even one official Broadway performance. In lieu of a traditional
out-of-town tryout, the producers announced the show would play a series of previews at the Nederlander
Theatre during the period October 20–November 8, 1980, with an opening night of November 9. Instead, the
show played a week of previews and permanently closed on October 25 after giving just eight performances.
The musical dealt with a formerly successful lyricist and composer named Charlie (Charles Kimbrough)
who hopes to see his new musical Now! produced. It also seems that he has plans to commit suicide at some
point during the production. Other members of the cast included first-billed Jack Weston along with Cath-
erine Cox, John Mineo, Paul Binotto, Steven Boockvor, and Kate Mostel.
The New York Times reported that One Night Stand was budgeted at $1 million, and that previews were
to begin on October 6 with an opening night set for October 28. In an interview with Times writer John
Corry, coproducer Lester Osterman stated Herb Gardner’s book was “strong enough to be done as a straight
play” and that Styne had never written “a bad score in his life.” As for John Dexter, “he’s no bum, either.”
(Incidentally, fifteen years earlier Dexter had directed his only previous Broadway musical, Richard Rodgers
and Stephen Sondheim’s Do I Hear a Waltz? in 1965.)
Despite its brief run, the cast album was recorded by Original Cast Records (LP # OC-8134 and CD #
OCR-9366). The score was at best serviceable, but it contained one standout number in Charlie’s “Too Old to
Be So Young.” The recording omitted four songs (“Everybody Loves Me,” “Getting’ Some,” “We Used to Talk
Once,” and “The ‘Now’ Dance”) and added two (“Let Me Hear You Love Me” and “Don’t Kick My Dreams
Around”).
“There Was a Time” was originally written as “With Love” (lyric by Leslie Bricusse) for Styne’s unpro-
duced 1975 musical Serafina, which was based on Tennessee Williams’s 1951 drama The Rose Tattoo; “Some-
day Soon” was a revised version of “Ugly, Ugly Gal,” which had been cut from Hallelujah, Baby! (1967); and
the music of “For You” had been heard as “Kick the Door,” which had been dropped from Look to the Lilies
(1970).
One Night Stand shouldn’t be confused with Turtlenecks, aka The One-Night Stand by Bruce Jay Fried-
man and Jacques Levy, which closed during its pre-Broadway tryout (when the play began its seven-week tour
it was known as Turtlenecks but when it closed the title had been changed to The One-Night Stand).
A REEL AMERICAN HERO

The musical began previews at the Rialto Theatre on March 25, 1981, and permanently closed there on March
29 after five performances without ever officially opening.
Book: Judy GeBauer and Burt Vinocur
Lyrics: Gerald (Paul) Hillman, Stephanie Peters, and Judy GeBauer
Music: Gordon Kent, Stephanie Peters, and Roger Neil
Direction: Nancy Tribush Hillman; Producer: Gerald Paul Hillman; Choreography: George Bunt; Scenery:
Harry Silverglat Darrow; Costumes: Carol Wenz; Lighting: Giles Hogya (Harry Silverglat Darrow, Light-
ing Supervision); Musical Direction: Roger Neil
Cast: Vidya Kaur (Ruby), Peter Newman (Louie [character identified as both Louie and Louis in the program]),
Roxanna White (Chorine), Jess Richards (Dick), Hillary Bailey (Lili)
1980–1981 SEASON 91

The action takes place during the 1930s and 1940s.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “I Want to Be Somebody” (lyric by Gerald Hillman, music by Gordon Kent) (Company); “What’s
Gone Wrong” (lyric by Gerald Hillman, music by Gordon Kent) (Company); “Garter Song” (lyric by
Gerald Hillman and Stephanie Peters, music by Stephanie Peters) (Hillary Bailey); “Lili Is a Lady with a
Suitcase Up Her Sleeve” (lyric by Gerald Hillman, music by Gordon Kent) (Peter Newman, Company);
“Ratta Tat Tat” (lyric by Gerald Hillman, music by Gordon Kent) (Company); “Sugar Daddy Blues” (lyric
by Gordon Hillman and Judy GeBauer, music by Stephanie Peters) (Roxanna White); “Dance with Me”
(lyric and music by Stephanie Peters) (Roxanna White, Jess Richards); “You Mustn’t Eat People” (lyric and
music by Nancy Tribush Hillman) (Vidya Kaur); “Monster Medley” (lyric and music by Gordon Kent and
Stephanie Peters) (Company); “Snow White, My Daughter” (lyric by Gerald Hillman, music by Gordon
Kent) (Jess Richards); “Tempus Fugit” (dance) (music by Gordon Kent) (Company); “I Want to Be Some-
body” (reprise) (Company)
Act Two: “The Movie Game of Make Believe” (lyric and music by Stephanie Peters) (Vidya Kaur, Company);
“Chan Ballet” (music by Roger Neil) (Company); “The Gunfighter” (lyric by Gerald Hillman, music by
Gordon Kent) (Company); “My Sergeant Doesn’t Look Like Big John Wayne” (lyric by Gerald Hillman,
music by Gordon Kent) (Company); “Fly, Eagle, Fly” (lyric by Stephanie Peters, music by Gordon Kent)
(Company); “I’ll Be Waitin’” (lyric by Gerald Hillman and Stephanie Peters, music by Stephanie Peters)
(Roxanna White, Vidya Kaur, Hillary Bailey); “Here’s a Love Song” (lyric and music by Stephanie Peters)
(Peter Newman, Vidya Kaur, Jess Richards); “Hero Time” (lyric by Gerald Hillman, music by Gordon
Kent) (Company); Finale (lyric by Gerald Hillman, music by Gordon Kent) (Company)
The revue-like musical A Reel American Hero was a salute to the world of Hollywood musicals during
the 1930s and 1940s, and even included characters named Dick and Ruby. Instead of an out-of-town tryout,
the musical opened at the Rialto Theatre under a Middle Broadway contract; previews were scheduled for the
period March 25 through April 8, 1981, with an opening night on April 9. But after five previews the musical
collapsed and the remaining performances were canceled.
The New York Times reported that tickets for all preview performances sold for sixty cents apiece (for
adults) or thirty cents (children); of the eight thousand available tickets, some six thousand five hundred were
sold on the first day the box office opened.
A Reel American Hero had first been produced in 1980 as The World of Black & White, which had been
presented Off Off Broadway at the Chareeva Playhouse in a showcase production.
1981–1982 Season
THIS WAS BURLESQUE

“All-New 1981 Edition” / “A Musical Satire Based on Miss Corio’s Recollections”

Opening Date: June 23, 1981; Closing Date: July 17, 1981
Performances: 28
Direction: Ann Corio; Producers: Coproduction by M P I Productions, Ltd. and Jeff Satkin, Inc. (Michael P.
Iannucci, Producer; Jeff Satkin, Coproducer; and Glenn Myles, Associate Producer); Choreography: Fred
Albee; Costumes: Rex Huntington; Musical Direction: Richard De Mone
Cast: Ann Corio, Claude Mathis, Tami Roche, Dexter Maitland, Phil Ford, Jerry Kurland, Charlie Naples, Lili
Chanel, Frank Vohs, Marilyn Simon, and “Special Added Attraction” Patrick, “The All-American Male
Stripper”; The Burley Cuties: Marilyn Simon, Diane Gallagher, Bonnie Wintz, Sharon Longo, Katheleen
De Freest, Rusty Riegelman, Treva Hill, Christine Chulick, and Erin Lareau

Act One: Overture (Richard De Mone and Orchestra); “The Queen of Burlesque” (Ann Corio); “Hello, Every-
body” (The Burley Cuties); “Fun in One” (Claude Mathis, Dexter Maitland); “Persian Nights” (“Sheik”
Frank Vohs, The Burley Cuties); “Chaplin Reminiscences” (Charlie Naples, Ann Corio); “An American
Beauty” (“Shivers Regal” [performer unknown], Phil Ford, Jerry Kurland); “Exotic” (Lili Chanel); “Two
Eggs” (Charlie Naples, Frank Vohs, Dexter Maitland, Ann Corio); “Les Girls” (The Burley Cuties); “The
Music Teacher” (Claude Mathis, Dexter Maitland, Frank Vohs); “Feature Attraction” (Tami Roche); Act
One Finale (Company); “Candy Butcher” (Frank Vohs)
Act Two: “Powder My Back” (The Burley Cuties); “Lucky Pierre” (Claude Mathis, Dexter Maitland, Frank
Vohs, Ann Corio); “The All-American Male Stripper” (Patrick); “Charleston” (Tami Roche, The Burley
Cuties); “Hall of Fame” (Ann Corio); “Crazy House” (Company); “Memories” (Ann Corio); “Grand Fi-
nale” (Company)
Ann Corio’s revival of her hit Off-Broadway burlesque revue This Was Burlesque offered Broadway audi-
ences a final chance to see one of the remaining burlesque queens from the golden age of ecdysiasts; once
hailed as “The Girl with the Epic Epidermis,” Corio also appeared in the films Swamp Woman, Jungle Siren,
Sarong Girl, The Sultan’s Daughter, and Call of the Jungle.
Richard F. Shepard in the New York Times said the burlesque show brought “an almost uplifting effect
on the neighborhood” and noted that Corio did it all “by the book and, whether you like the book or not, it
is to her credit that she catches the flavor of the old burlesque with little attempt to ennoble or elevate it.”
Her tribute was “close to the real thing.”
93
This Was Burlesque first opened Off Broadway on March 1, 1962, at the Casino East Theatre for a mara-
thon run of 1,509 performances (during the run, the material underwent considerable revision with some
sequences added and others dropped); the revue transferred to Broadway at the Hudson Theatre on March
16, 1965, for 124 performances; and then was revived Off Broadway at the Hudson West Theatre on February
11, 1970, for 106 showings. The revue toured extensively, and in 1979 was presented by Home Box Office as
Here It Is, Burlesque (the production starred Corio, Morey Amsterdam, Pinky Lee, Dexter Maitland, and Tami
Roche and was released on video cassette by Vestron Video).
The cast album of the 1962 production was recorded by Roulette Records (LP # R-25185), and includes
Albert Selden’s song “Yo-Yo” (aka “Go and Get Yourself a Yo-Yo”), which had first been heard in the 1956
musical The Amazing Adele, which closed in Boston during its pre-Broadway tryout and starred Tammy
Grimes in the title role.
For the current revival, note that the cast included one Patrick, who was billed as “The All-American
Male Stripper”; comedian Phil Ford (of the team Phil Ford and Mimi Hines); and Dexter Maitland, who had
appeared in the 1968 semi-musical salute to old-time burlesque The Night They Raided Minsky’s. The film’s
lyrics were by Lee Adams and the music by Charles Strouse, and Maitland introduced “Take Ten Terrific
Girls (but Only Nine Costumes)” and Lillian Heyman introduced the torrid Charleston “You Rat, You,”
which in waltz time was later heard in the Broadway musical Annie as “Something Was Missing.”
Due to the vigilance of Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia and his Commissioner of Licenses Paul Moss, the
heyday of burlesque was long over, but it found a semi-permanent home Off Broadway in later years. Besides
the various editions of This Was Burlesque, downtown saw such epics as The Best of Burlesque (1957), Bur-
lesque on Parade (1963), International Playgirls ’64, The Wonderful World of Burlesque (two editions, both
1965), Follies Burlesque ’67, We’d Rather Switch (1969), Big Bad Burlesque! (1979), and Strip! (1987). And,
of course, various Broadway revues flirted with burlesque, such as Star and Garter (1942), Wine Women and
Song (1942), and Sugar Babies (1979).
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

Performances: 53
Book: Joseph Stein
Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick
Music: Jerry Bock
Based on various short stories by Sholem Aleichem.
Direction: “Entire production” directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins (Ruth Mitchell, Associate Di-
rector; choreography reproduced by Tom Abbott); Producers: Eugene V. Wolsk and James M. Nederlander
(Stella Saltonstall, Associate Producer); Scenery: Boris Aronson; Costumes: Patricia Zipprodt; Lighting:
Ken Billington; Musical Direction: Kevin Farrell
Cast: Herschel Bernardi (Tevye), Maria Karnilova (Golde), Lori Ada Jaroslow (Tzeitel), Donalyn Petrucci
(Hodel), Liz Larsen (Chava), Susan Sheppard (Shprintze, Grandma Tzeitel), Eydie Alyson (Bielke), Ruth
Jaroslow (Yente), Michelan Sisti (Motel), James Werner (Perchik), Paul Lipson (Lazar Wolf), Fyvush Finkel
(Mordcha), Alvin Myerovich (Rabbi), Ken LeRoy (Mendel), Tog Richards (Avram), Ralph Vucci (Nachum),
Joyce Martin and Bradford Dunaway (Fruma-Sarah), Paul E. Hart (Constable), Joel Robertson (Fyedka),
Bess Meisler (Shandel), Stephen Wright (Yussel), Bradford Dunaway (Sasha), Jay Fox (The Fiddler); Villag-
ers: Bradford Dunaway, Jimmy Ferraro, Michael Fogarty, Margo F. Gruber, Michael Lane, Mark Manley,
Elaine Manzel, Joyce Martin, Bess Meisler, Robert Parola, Thomas Scalise, Charles Spoerri, Marsha Ta-
maroff, Susan Tilson, Tim Tobin, Stephen Wright, Robert Yacko
The action takes place in the Russian village of Anatevka during 1905, on the eve of the revolutionary period.
1981–1982 SEASON 95
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Tradition” (Herschel Bernardi, Villagers); “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” (Lori Ada Jaroslow, Dona-
lyn Petrucci, Liz Larsen); “If I Were a Rich Man” (Herschel Bernardi); “Sabbath Prayer” (Herschel Ber-
nardi, Maria Karnilova, Villagers); “To Life” (Herschel Bernardi, Paul Lipson, Men); “Miracle of Miracles”
(Michelan Sisti); “The Tailor, Motel Kamzoil” (Herschel Bernardi, Maria Karnilova, Susan Sheppard, Joyce
Martin, Bradford Dunaway, Villagers); “Sunrise, Sunset” (Herschel Bernardi, Maria Karnilova, Villagers);
“Bottle Dance” (Michael Fogarty, Michael Lane, Mark Manley, Thomas Scalise); “Wedding Dance” (Vil-
lagers)
Act Two: “Now I Have Everything” (James Werner, Donalyn Petrucci); “Do You Love Me?” (Herschel Ber-
nardi, Maria Karnilova); “I Just Heard” (Ruth Jaroslow, Villagers); “Far from the Home I Love” (Donalyn
Petrucci); “Chaveleh” (Herschel Bernardi); “Anatevka” (Herschel Bernardi, Maria Karnilova, Ruth Jaro-
slow, Paul Lipson, Ken LeRoy, Fyvush Finkel, Ralph Vucci); “Epilogue” (Company)
The current revival of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s Fiddler on the Roof starred Herschel Bernardi,
who had succeeded Zero Mostel in the role of Tevye during the original Broadway production; at that time,
Bernardi recorded an album of songs from the musical (see below). The current production also included origi-
nal 1964 cast members Maria Karnilova and Paul Lipson, she in her original role of Golde and he as Lazar Wolf
(in 1964, he was Mostel’s understudy and also played Avram, and during the course of the original New York
run as well as on tour he played Tevye for an estimated two thousand performances).
The New York engagement was a limited run as part of the musical’s national tour. Richard F. Shepard in
the New York Times found Bernardi “so much at home as Tevye” that one might suspect one was listening
to writer Sholem Aleichem speaking the role in the original Yiddish. As for the cavernous New York State
Theatre, Shepard mentioned that the large stage sometimes detracted from the effectiveness of the more in-
timate scenes, but worked well with the dances (“To Life,” “Bottle Dance,” and “Wedding Dance”) because
the numbers had “more room” to “handsomely” spread themselves.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said Bernardi was “perhaps the most authentic Tevye of them
all”; John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said the actor “radiates affection and humanity”; and
Marilyn Stasio in the New York Post suggested Bernardi was “surely the most compassionate of Tevyes” and
was “musically secure” in this “stunning” revival of a “perfect musical.”
The original production of Fiddler on the Roof opened on September 22, 1964, at the Imperial Theatre
for 3,242 performances, and as of this writing it has been revived on Broadway four times. The first opened
at the Winter Garden Theatre on December 28, 1976, for 167 performances with Mostel creating his original
role of Tevye; after the current production, a revival with Chaim Topol opened at the Gershwin Theatre on
November 18, 1990, for 240 performances; and the most recent production played at the Minskoff Theatre
on February 26, 2004, for 781 showings (Alfred Molina played Tevye, and the production included “Topsy-
Turvy,” a new and minor song by Bock and Harnick). The 1964 production won nine Tony Awards, including
Best Musical, and also won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Musical.
The first London production opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre on February 16, 1967, for 2,030 perfor-
mances with Topol, who also starred in the bloated and dreary 1971 film version, which was released by
United Artists and directed by Norman Jewison.
The script was published in hardback in 1965 by Crown Publishers, and a fascinating account of the mu-
sical is The Making of a Musical: “Fiddler on the Roof” by Richard Altman and Mervyn Kaufman (Crown
Publishers, 1971). Two other books about the musical are Alisa Solomon’s Wonder of Wonders: A Cultural
History of “Fiddler on the Roof” (Henry Holt & Company, 2013) and Barbara Isenberg’s Tradition! The Highly
Improbable, Ultimately Triumphant Broadway-to-Hollywood Story of “Fiddler on the Roof,” the World’s
Most Beloved Musical (St. Martin’s Press, 2014).
The original Broadway cast album was released by RCA Victor Records (LP # LSO/LOC-1093), and RCA’s
CD (# 51430) includes “I Just Heard,” which had been recorded during the 1964 cast album session but hadn’t
been included on the LP release because of space limitations (the song was also omitted from the 1976 Broad-
way revival). There are numerous recordings of the score, many of which offer cut songs (such as “If I Were
a Woman,” “When Messiah Comes,” “Dear Sweet Sewing Machine,” and “A Little Bit of This”) as well as
music not recorded for the original cast album (such as the “Wedding Dance” and the Chava sequence).
Although there was no cast album of the current revival, in the 1960s Bernardi recorded Herschel Ber-
nardi Sings “Fiddler on the Roof,” an album of songs from the score released by Columbia Records (LP # OS-
3010 and # OL-6610) that includes the cut song “When Messiah Comes” and a title number that was dropped
in preproduction. A fifth Broadway revival opened December 20, 2015.
MY FAIR LADY
Theatre: Uris Theatre
Opening Date: August 18, 1982; Closing Date: November 29, 1982
Performances: 119
Based on the 1912 play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw and the 1938 film Pygmalion (among others, Shaw
was one of the film’s writers, and won the Academy Award for the screenplay).
Direction: Patrick Garland; Producers: Don Gregory and Mike Merrick (A Dome/Cutler-Herman Production);
Choreography: Crandall Diehl (based on the original 1956 choreography by Hanya Holm); Scenery: Oli-
ver Smith; Costumes: Cecil Beaton (John David Ridge, Co-Costume Designer); Lighting: Ken Billington;
Musical Direction: Robert Kreis
Cast: Eric Alderfer (Busker), Alan Gilbert (Busker, Chauffeur, Constable), Lisa Guignard (Busker), Harriet Me-
din (Mrs. Eynsford-Hill), Nancy Ringham (Eliza Doolittle), Nicholas Wyman (Freddy Eynsford-Hill), Jack
Gwillim (Colonel Pickering), Rex Harrison (Henry Higgins), Ben Wrigley (Selsey Man, Harry, Ambassa-
dor), Clifford Fearl (Hoxton Man, Jamie), Joseph Billone (Bystander), Ned Coulter (Another Bystander, Sec-
ond Cockney), John Caleb (First Cockney, Footman), Ned Peterson (Third Cockney, Footman, Bartender),
Jeffrey Calder (Fourth Cockney), David Cale Johnson (Bartender, Major-Domo), Milo O’Shea (Alfred P.
Doolittle), Marian Baer (Mrs. Pearce), Mary O’Brien (Mrs. Hopkins, Lady Boxington), Frank Bouley (But-
ler); Servants: Jeralyn Glass, David Miles, Ellen McLain, Judith Thiergaard; Cathleen Nesbitt (Mrs. Hig-
gins), Richard Ammon (Lord Boxington), Karen Toto (Flower Girl), Jack Sevier (Zoltan Karpathy), Svetlana
McLee Grody (Queen of Transylvania), Elizabeth Worthington (Mrs. Higgins’ Maid); Singing Ensemble:
Frank Bouley, Jeffrey Calder, John Caleb, Ned Coulter, Diana Lynne Drew, Julie Ann Fogt, Terri Gervais,
Jeralyn Glass, David Cale Johnson, Michael McGifford, Ellen McLain, David Miles, Mary O’Brien, Ned
Peterson, Judith Thiergaard; Dancing Ensemble: Eric Alderfer, Richard Ammon, Joseph Billone, Arlene
Columbo, Ron Crofoot, Raul Gallyot, Alan Gilbert, Svetlana McLee Grody, Lisa Guignard, Scott Harris,
Lynn Keeton, Gail Lohla, James Boyd Parker, Karen Paskow, Karen Toto, Elizabeth Worthington
The action takes place in London in 1912.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Street Entertainers” (Eric Alderfer, Alan Gilbert, Lisa Guignard); “Why Can’t the English?” (Rex
Harrison); “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” (Nancy Ringham, John Caleb, Ned Coulter, Ned Peterson, Jeffrey
Calder); “With a Little Bit of Luck” (Milo O’Shea, Ben Wrigley, Clifford Fearl); “I’m an Ordinary Man”
(Rex Harrison); “With a Little Bit of Luck” (reprise) (Milo O’Shea, Ensemble); “Just You Wait” (Nancy
Ringham); “The Rain in Spain” (Rex Harrison, Nancy Ringham, Jack Gwillim); “I Could Have Danced All
Night” (Nancy Ringham, Marian Baer, Maids); “Ascot Gavotte” (Ensemble); “On the Street Where You
Live” (Nicholas Wyman); “The Embassy Waltz” (Rex Harrison, Nancy Ringham, Jack Sevier, Ensemble)
Act Two: “You Did It” (Rex Harrison, Jack Gwillim, Marian Baer, Servants); “Just You Wait” (reprise) (Nancy
Ringham); “On the Street Where You Live” (reprise) (Nicholas Wyman); “Show Me” (Nancy Ringham,
Nicholas Wyman); “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” (reprise) (Nancy Ringham, John Caleb, Ned Coulter, Ned
Peterson, Jeffrey Calder); “Get Me to the Church on Time” (Milo O’Shea, Ben Wrigley, Clifford Fearl);
“A Hymn to Him” (Rex Harrison); “Without You” (Nancy Ringham, Rex Harrison); “I’ve Grown Accus-
tomed to Her Face” (Rex Harrison)
1981–1982 SEASON 97
With the current revival of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s My Fair Lady, Rex Harrison brought
his original role of Henry Higgins to the New York stage for the first time in a quarter-century. But the
buzz on opening night was about his Eliza. The production had been touring for months with Harrison and
Cheryl Kennedy, and she was listed in the opening night program. Because of illness, she was replaced by her
understudy Nancy Ringham, who played the role for the current New York run. Déjà vu repeated itself all
over again for the 1989 revival of 3 Penny Opera when the ailing Maureen McGovern missed a number of
performances and Ringham, who was her understudy, performed the role of Polly on opening night and for
many subsequent performances.
Mel Gussow in the New York Times noted that Harrison’s return to the role was triumphant, and the
critic was also glad to see the “inimitable” Cathleen Nesbitt, who had created the role of Higgins’s mother
in the original production. As for Ringham, she was “appealing” with a “strong” voice, but her performance
was somewhat (and probably naturally) “strained” and her accent wavered “from quasi-Cockney to indeter-
minate mid-Atlantic.” But the musical was “a paragon of wit, romance and musicality” and every song was a
“winner.” Don Nelsen in the New York Daily News said My Fair Lady was “among the best” musicals ever
produced, but he was disappointed with the leading performances. Harrison was “perhaps” a bit “distracted
or piqued” by the last-minute substitution of Ringham for Kennedy, and “he acted here as if the role was
just another job.” And while Ringham was “thoroughly professional,” she was “far from electrifying or even
inspiring” and her Cockney accent was “inconsistent.”
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily praised the “splendidly constructed” musical and said the cur-
rent production was “lavish” (besides Harrison and Nesbitt, the revival included Oliver Smith’s original set
designs, Cecil Beaton’s original costumes, and a re-creation of Hanya Holm’s choreography). Kissel noted
that Harrison never seemed to “exert himself” and thus never became “the fanatical lover of the English lan-
guage,” and while Ringham sang “beautifully” she was “tentative” in her early scenes. But he reported that
as the evening progressed she became “stronger.” Marilyn Stasio in the New York Post said Harrison was a
“pale shadow” of himself, and in Ringham “a legend was not born.”
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor proclaimed that My Fair Lady was “one of the great trea-
sures” of musical theatre, and he found Ringham “appealing and spirited” and said Harrison brought “a new
depth of feeling” to Higgins. But the critic noted that the production had been touring for almost a year and
thus a “certain noticeable broadness” was visible and director Patrick Garland had allowed the performances
to “get a bit out of hand.” Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 said the sets were from “tacky city,” the direc-
tion was in a “highly casual style,” Ringham wasn’t up to the demands of her role, and there was “more than
a touch of amateurism throughout” the evening. As a result, only Harrison brought “passion” to the revival.
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 detected a “waver” in Ringham’s accent, but he predicted she would “get bet-
ter” because she had “star quality.” Gerald Clarke in Time stated that while Harrison was “a splendid 73”
and was “urbane and amusing,” he was “not a possible mate for Eliza Doolittle, who could well be his grand-
daughter.” Ringham was “pretty” with “an attractive voice,” but she didn’t make a convincing Cockney and
she lacked “the fire, the almost feral drive of a good Eliza.”
The original Broadway production opened on March 15, 1956, at the Mark Hellinger Theatre for a then
record-breaking 2,717 performances in a production that starred Harrison, Julie Andrews, Stanley Holloway,
and Robert Coote. Besides the current revival, the musical has been revived in New York on four other occa-
sions. The New York City Center Light Opera Company twice revived the work at City Center, on June 28,
1964, for 47 performances with Myles Eason and Marni Nixon and on June 13, 1968, for 22 performances (Fritz
Weaver and Inga Swenson, with George Rose as Doolittle); the twentieth anniversary production opened at
the St. James Theatre on March 25, 1976, for 377 performances (Ian Richardson and Christine Andreas, with
Rose again as Doolittle); and on May 1, 1994, at the Virginia Theatre for 165 performances (Richard Cham-
berlain and Melissa Errico).
The first London production opened on April 30, 1958, at the Drury Lane for 2,281 performances with all
four leading Broadway players reprising their original roles.
For the Warner Brothers’ 1964 film version, Harrison and Holloway re-created their original stage roles
and Audrey Hepburn was Eliza (her singing voice was dubbed by Marni Nixon). The film won eight Academy
Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Harrison).
The script was published in hardback by Coward-McCann in 1956. There are numerous recordings of the
score, but the definitive one is the original 1956 cast album (Columbia Records LP # OL-5090), which has
been twice issued on CD (the most recent by Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy # SK-89997 includes inter-
views with Harrison, Andrews, and Lerner and Loewe). Beware of the London cast recording; it was the first
stereo version of the score, but the performances are far too studied and lack spontaneity. One particularly
interesting cast album is the 1959 Mexico City production Mi Bella Dama, which includes a young Placido
Domingo as one of the quartet that accompanies Eliza in “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?”
For more information about My Fair Lady, Keith Garebian’s The Making of “My Fair Lady” (published by
ECW Press in 1993) is recommended, and another solid source is Dominic McHugh’s Loverly: The Life and
Times of “My Fair Lady” (Oxford University Press, 2012).
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Revival (My Fair Lady)
THE STUDENT PRINCE

Opening Date: August 27, 1981; Closing Date: August 30, 1981
Performances: 6
Direction: Jack Hofsiss (Christian Smith, Stage Director); Producers: The New York City Opera Company
(Beverly Sills, General Director; Daniel R. Rule, Managing Director); Choreography: Donald Saddler
(dances restaged by Jessica Redel); Scenery: David Jenkins; Costumes: Patton Campbell; Lighting: Gilbert
V. Hemsley Jr.; Choral Direction: Lloyd Walser; Musical Direction: Brian Salesky
Cast: Edward Zimmerman (Lackey), Louis Perry (Lackey, Freshman, Student), Harris Davis (Lackey), Mervin
Crook (Lackey), Dominic Cossa (Doctor Engel), David Rae Smith (Count von Mark), Glenn Rowen (Secre-
tary), Barry Carl (Secretary), Henry Price or Jacque Trussel (Prince Karl Franz), Jack Harrold (Lutz), Penny
Orloff (Gretchen), Dan Sullivan (Ruder), Taras Kalba (Nicholas), James Billings (Toni), William Ledbet-
ter (Hubert), John Lankston (Detlef), Thomas Jamerson (von Asterberg), Ralph Bassett (Lucas), Elizabeth
Hynes or Leigh Munro (Kathie), Madeleine Mines (Girl), Jean Rawn (Girl), Barbara Wright (Girl), Rick
Christman (Student), Merle Schmidt (Student, Huzzar), Spencer Smith (Student), Muriel Costa-Greenspon
(Grand Duchess Anastasia), Nadia Pelle (Princess Margaret), William Eichorn (Captain Tarnitz), Rita
Metzger (Countess Leydon), Richard Nelson (Huzzar), Herbert Hunsberger (Huzzar), Robert Brubaker
(Huzzar); Friends of the Huzzars: Madeleine Mines, Jean Rawn, Barbara Wright, and Maria Donaldi; En-
semble: The New York City Opera Chorus and Dancers
The New York City Opera Company’s current revival of Sigmund Romberg’s The Student Prince was
its second of five mountings of the bittersweet operetta; the company had presented the work a year earlier
in August 1980, and would do so twice more during the decade (in 1985 and 1987) and then finally in 1993.
The operetta gave a total of forty-two performances during the 1980s (for general information about the work,
including a list of musical numbers and specific information about the first revival, see entry for the August
1980 production; also see specific entries for the 1985 and 1987 showings).
In his review of the current revival, John Rockwell in the New York Times noted Hugh Wheeler’s some-
what updated book shoehorned “feminist implications” into the plot and the “odd editing” left the abandoned
waitress Kathie (Elizabeth Hynes) alone on the stage as the curtain fell. But at its best, the work was “still
innocent kitsch” presented “honorably and affectingly.” He mentioned that Hynes and Henry Price (Prince
Karl) had been the leads in the second cast of the previous year’s revival and he felt they lacked the “romantic
allure” necessary to bring their characters “fully to life.” Peter G. Davis in the Times reviewed the second
1981–1982 SEASON 99
cast and said the leads Jacque Trussel and Leigh Munro “cut appropriately romantic story-book figures” and
“on the whole sang the familiar songs in properly ardent accents.” But “an inert mood of lethargy” hovered
over the proceedings and Davis suggested that only a few members of the company “managed to make any
meaningful contact with the naively sentimental nature of the material.”
SONG OF NORWAY
Performances: 14
Book: Milton Lazarus
Lyrics: Robert Wright and George Forrest
Music: Edvard Grieg (musical adaptation by Robert Wright and George Forrest)
Based on an unproduced play by Homer Curran.
Direction: Gerald Freedman (Jay Lesenger and Gary Dietrich, Assistant Stage Directors); Producer: The New
York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director; Daniel R. Rule, Managing Director); Choreog-
raphy: Eliot Feld; Scenery: David Jenkins; Costumes: Principals’ costumes designed by Ann Roth (Joseph
A. Citarella, Costume Coordinator); Lighting: Gilbert V. Hemsley Jr.; Choral Direction: Lloyd Walser;
Musical Direction: Scott Bergeson
Cast: David Eisler (Rikard Nordraak), Mark M. Kelly (Einar), Jamie Cohen (Gunnar), Patricia Ludd (Sigrid),
Patrick Cea (Eric), Traci Owens (Grima), Catherine Ulissey (Christa), Sheryl Woods (Nina Hagerup), Ste-
phen Dickson (Edvard Grieg), Jeff Satinoff (Freddy), Muriel Costa-Greenspon (Mother Grieg), Dan Sullivan
(Father Grieg), Ralph Bassett (Father Nordraak), David Rae Smith (Count Peppi Le Loup), Susanne Marsee
(Louisa Giovanni); Villagers: Jennifer Grissette, Cheryl Jones, Megan Murphy, Traci Owens, Mary Ran-
dolph, Catherine Ulissey, Patrick Cea, Jamie Cohen, Timothy Cronin, Thomas Lemanski, David Lukcso,
Remus Marcu, and Gregory Mitchell; Madeleine Mines (Elvera), Rita Metzger (Miss Norden), Barbara
Wright (Miss Anders), Madeleine Soyka (Hedwig), Lee Bellaver (Greta), Diana Skinner (Marghareta), James
Billings (Henrik Ibsen), Jacqueline O’Dell (Adelina/Anitra), Michael Rubino (Tito), Joaquin Romaguera
(Pisoni), Michael Martorano (Marcello), William Poplaski (Major Domo); Children: Anne-Marie Blaber
and Eliot Van Buskirk, Emily Van Buskirk; Waltzing Couples: Gloria Brisbin, Judith Garfinkel, Cheryl
Jones, Megan Murphy, Mary Randolph, Catherine Ulissey, Patrick Cea, Jamie Cohen, Richard Fein, Re-
mus Marcu, Gregory Mitchell, Jeff Satinoff; Richard Fein (Spirit of Grieg); Maidens of Norway: Gloria
Brisbin, Patricia Brown, Judith Garfinkel, Mindy Gars, Jennifer Grissette, Cheryl Jones, Megan Murphy,
Jacqueline O’Dell, Traci Owens, Mary Randolph, Joan Tsao, and Catherine Ulisssey; Singing Ensemble:
The New York City Opera Company Chorus; Dancers: The Eliot Feld Ballet Dancers
The action takes place during the 1860s in Copenhagen; Bergen, Norway; and Rome.
Musical Numbers
Note: Following the individual song titles are the original musical sources from which they are adapted.
Act One: “Prelude” (Orchestra); “The Legend” (adapted from Greig’s Piano Concerto in A Minor) (David
Eisler); “Hill of Dreams” (Piano Concerto in A Minor) (Sheryl Woods, Stephen Dickson, David Eisler);
“Spring Dance” (Dancing Villagers); “Halling” (Dancing Villagers); “Freddy and His Fiddle” (“Norwegian
Dance” and “Halling” in D major) (Mark M. Kelly, Patricia Ludd, Jeff Satinoff, Singing and Dancing Vil-
lagers); “Now” (Waltz Op. 12, No. 2 and Violin Sonata No. 2 in G-Major) (Susanne Marsee, Villagers);
“Strange Music” (Nocturne and “Wedding Day in Troldhaugen”) (Stephen Dickson, Sheryl Woods); “Mid-
summer’s Eve” (“’Twas on a Lively Eve in June” and Scherzo) (David Eisler, Susanne Marsee); “March of
the Trolgers” (“Mountaineer’s Song,” “Halling” in C minor, and “March of the Dwarves”) (Sheryl Woods,
Susanne Marsee, Stephen Dickson, Singing and Dancing Villagers); “Hymn of Betrothal” (“To Spring”)
(Muriel Costa-Greenspon, David Eisler, Villagers); Finale: “Strange Music” and “Midsummer’s Eve” (Su-
sanne Marsee, Stephen Dickson, Sheryl Woods, David Eisler, Villagers)
Act Two: “Opening” (Papillon) (Orchestra; David Rae Smith, Stephen Dickson, Guests); “Bon Vivant” (“Wa-
ter Lily” and “The Brook” of the Haugtussa Cycle) (David Rae Smith, Stephen Dickson, Guests); “Three
Loves” (“Albumblatt” and “Poeme erotique”) (Susanne Marsee, Stephen Dickson); “Finaletto” (“Water
Lily” and “Springtide”) (Susanne Marsee, David Eisler, Stephen Dickson, Sheryl Woods, Company); “Waltz
Eternal” (“Albumblatt”) (Singing and Dancing Villagers); “Peer Gynt Ballet” (Peer Gynt Ballet) (The Eliot
Feld Ballet Dancers): (1) “Solveig’s Song” (Susanne Marsee); (2) “Anitra’s Dance” (Jacqueline O’Dell); and
(3) “In the Hall of the Mountain King” (Jacqueline O’Dell, Pirates); “I Love You” (Ich liebe dich) (Sheryl
Woods); “At Christmastime” (“Woodland Wanderings”) (Dan Sullivan, Muriel Costa-Greenspon, Sheryl
Woods, Neighbors); “Reminiscence”: “Freddy and His Fiddle,” “Midsummer’s Eve,” and “Strange Music”
(reprises) (Stephen Dickson, Sheryl Woods); Finale: “The Song of Norway” (Piano Concerto in A Minor)
(The Eliot Feld Ballet Dancers, Company)
The New York City Opera Company’s revival of Song of Norway was a rare opportunity to see the forgot-
ten hit, which was one of the biggest successes of the 1940s. When the original production closed, it was the
third-longest-running book musical in Broadway history (after Oklahoma! and—talk about another forgotten
hit—Follow the Girls). The operetta was one of those Great Composer biographical musicals so beloved by
Broadway and Hollywood, and it purported to tell the story of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg; his wife,
Nina; and his best friend, Rikard Nordraak, whose specialty is writing poetry about their native land. Soon
the invented character of the tempestuous opera star Louisa Giovanni enters the picture, and she cajoles
Grieg into going with her to Rome, where he will undoubtedly be inspired to compose in the great European
tradition rather than music that reflects the folk music and legends of Norway. But when in Rome, Grieg
eventually realizes he’s untrue to his musical self, and the death of Rikard leads him to the realization that
he must return to his Norwegian roots.
The book was top-heavy with dialogue, and some of the lines were groan-inducing: Father Grieg wants his
son to go into the family fish business, not the world of music (“Only a few people want music, but everybody
eats fish”), and when Grieg faces a personal crisis, he solemnly announces, “I will never write again.” And in
the great tradition of Great Composer Musical namedropping, Henrik Ibsen makes a cameo appearance (and
when onlookers admire Edvard and Nina’s Christmas tree, someone notes that one of the presents under the
tree is from the “Russian composer Tschiakowsky”).
The operetta first opened at the Imperial Theatre on August 21, 1944, for 860 performances, received
surprisingly good reviews, and enjoyed a hit song in “Strange Music.” In reviewing the original production,
Wilella Waldorf in the New York Post noted that the book didn’t quite have a point of view, and she regret-
ted the use of formulaic operetta staging conventions, such as the singing chorus waving and fluttering
their hands in the air after finishing a song and later standing and watching “as in a trance” when the lights
dimmed and spotlighted a singer.
There have been at least six recordings of the score, including the original cast album released by Decca
Records (LP # DL-79019; later issued on Decca Broadway CD # B0002471-02); for the recording, Kitty Carlisle
substituted for Irra Petina (as the diva), reportedly because the album’s producer didn’t care for the “foreign”
sound of Petina’s voice, and the 1959 Jones Beach production recorded by Columbia Records (LP # CS-8135)
included John Reardon, Brenda Lewis, William Olvis, and, from the original Broadway production, Helena
Bliss and Sig Arno. The most complete recording of the score was issued by That’s Entertainment Records
(CD # CDTER2-1173) on a two-CD set by a studio cast. The script was published in softcover by Chappell &
Co. (London) in an undated edition.
The London production opened at the Palace Theatre on March 7, 1946, for 527 performances. The 1970
film version was released by ABC Pictures Corporation with Toralv Maurstad, Florence Henderson, Christina
Schollin, Frank Porretta, Oscar Homolka, Robert Morley, Edward G. Robinson, and Harry Secombe. The di-
rection was by Andrew L. Stone and the choreography by Lee (Becker) Theodore. In his Movie Guide, Leonard
Maltin gives the movie a “BOMB” rating and notes that the “dud” is “beautiful to look at” but otherwise a
“poor” biography with “weak” interpretations of Grieg’s music. The soundtrack was released by ABC Records
(LP # ABCS-OC-14).
In reviewing City Opera’s revival, Donal Henahan in the New York Times reported that when the operetta
opened on Broadway in 1944, Norway “for some reason did not immediately declare war on America.” He
mentioned that the lyrics were “deliciously sappy” and noted that Milton Lazarus’s “superbly inane” book
hadn’t been tampered with (but director Gerald Freedman stated he had “tightened” it). The singers gave their
1981–1982 SEASON 101
“honest best,” the principal performers had their “idiom down well,” and despite “some of the dullest music
in the show to work with,” Eliot Feld’s dancers performed “ably or better.” And he couldn’t resist quoting
“one of the night’s most sobering lines” when Father Grieg spoke about music and fish.
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Opening Date: September 19, 1981; Closing Date: October 10, 1981
Direction: Gerald Freedman; Producer: The New York City Opera (Beverly Sills, General Director); Choreog-
raphy: Thomas Andrew (Andrew’s original choreography reconstructed by Jessica Redel); Scenery: Lloyd
Evans; Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge; Lighting: Hans Sondheimer; Choral Direction: Mitchell Krieger;
Musical Direction: David Effron
Cast: Jerry Hadley (Alfred), Leigh Munro (Adele), Patricia Wells (Rosalinda von Eisenstein), Joseph Evans (Ga-
briel von Eisenstein), Norman Large (Doctor Blind), Dominic Cossa (Doctor Falke), Spiro Malas (Frank),
Puli Toro (Sally), Gary Dietrich (Ivan), James Billings (Prince Orlofsky), Jack Harrold (Frosch); Solo Danc-
ers: Esperanza Galan, Taras Kalba; Singing Ensemble: The New York City Opera Chorus; Dancing En-
semble: The New York City Opera Dancers
The current production of Johann Strauss’s operetta Die Fledermaus (The Bat) was the New York City
Opera Company’s third of five revivals presented during the decade (for more information about the operetta,
see entry for the February 1980 production; also see entries for the September 1980, 1986, and 1987 revivals).
The work was also heard in German by the Vienna Volksoper in 1984 (see entry).
In reviewing the current revival, Edward Rothstein in the New York Times praised the “thoroughly
charming entertainment” but noted that David Effron sometimes wielded a “bland baton” and Ruth and
Thomas Martin’s adaptation came across like a television “variety special” and missed the “darker comedic
regions” inherent in the original libretto. However, Jerry Hadley’s voice was “as energetically stable as his
flirtatious narcissism,” and Spiro Malas “stirred affection with his character’s noble insufficiencies.”
AN EVENING WITH DAVE ALLEN

Theatre: Booth Theatre
Performances: 28
Material: Dave Allen
Producers: Chartwell Communications, Inc., in association with Theatre Now; Lighting: John Gleason
Cast: Dave Allen
The evening of comic monologues was presented in two acts.
Stand-up Irish-born and British-based comedian Dave Allen brought his solo show of comic monologues
to New York after previous engagements in Great Britain and Australia. The popular television performer was
here making his Broadway debut in a limited engagement of five weeks which was cut short to just over three.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News suggested the two-act evening was far too long and that the
comedian would have been seen to better advantage in a shorter presentation in a small venue such as a night-
club. Watt noted that the material sent up such subjects as religion and “that most shopworn of targets,” the
television commercial. The comic also emphasized scatological humor including “rude comments on the hu-
man anatomy and various bodily functions.” Some of his expressions (such as “uptight” and “fuzz”) were out
of date, and overall Allen seemed like “small beer.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily also noted that
Allen was a “little dated” with such terms as “Let it all hang out.” Otherwise, he was often “quite funny” if
“a bit tepid,” and because Allen’s humor didn’t seem “as pointed as TV humor at its best,” the critic asked
“why leave home for something so mundane?”
Frank Rich in the New York Times liked Allen’s “appealing” and “ingratiating” personality, but felt
his material was only “rarely” worthy of his “crisp delivery.” Ultimately, “tedium” set in, and the critic
suspected that a thirty-minute routine had been “needlessly stretched” into a full-length two-act Broadway
evening. Allen was undoubtedly “fun” in “short takes” on television or in a nightclub, but on Broadway he
was “decidedly miscast.”
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor noted that Allen’s material was “liberally supplied” with
“locker-room humor” and thus was “not an entertainment for all tastes.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post
found Allen “absolutely hilarious” and a “killer comedian,” and along with one or two other critics he quoted
one of the best lines in the show: “Ireland is the only country in the world where procrastination takes on a
sense of urgency.”
MARLOWE
“A New Rock Musical”

Performances: 48
Book: Leo Rost
Lyrics: Leo Rost and Jimmy Horowitz
Music: Jimmy Horowitz
Direction: Don Price; Producers: Tony Conforti presents A John Annunziato Production coproduced by Rob-
ert R. Blume in association with Billy Gaff and Howard P. Effron (Raymond Serra, Associate Producer);
Fight Choreography: Peter Moore; Scenery: Cary Chalmers; Costumes: Natalie Walker; Lighting: Mitch
Acker and Rick Belzer; Choral Direction: Billy Cunningham; Musical Direction: Kenny Landrum
Cast: Margaret Warncke (Queen Elizabeth I), Debra Greenfield (Audrey Walsingham), Steve Hall (Captain
Townsend), Raymond Serra (Archbishop Parker), John Henry Kurtz (Richard Burbage), Lennie Del Duca
Jr. (William Shakespeare), Lisa Mordente (Emelia Bossano), Patrick Jude (Christopher Marlowe), Robert
Rosen (Ingram Frizer); Chorus: Kenneth D. Ard, Marlene Danielle, Robert Hoshour, Renee Dulaney,
Timothy Tobin, Teri Gibson, Diane Pennington, Caryn Richmond
The action takes place in “England, 1593 AD.”
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Prologue” (Chroniclers); “Rocking the Boat” (Raymond Serra, Margaret Warncke, Steve Hall,
Chorus); “Because I’m a Woman” (Lisa Mordente, Lennie Del Duca Jr., John Henry Kurtz); “Live for the
Moment” (Patrick Jude, Company); “Emelia” (Lennie Del Duca Jr., Patrick Jude); “I’m Coming ’Round to
Your Point of View” (Patrick Jude, Lisa Mordente); “The End Justifies the Means” (Robert Rosen, Debra
Greenfield); “Higher Than High” (Patrick Jude, Lisa Mordente, John Henry Kurtz, Lennie Del Duca Jr.,
Chorus); “Rocking the Boat” (reprise) (Chorus)
Act Two: “Act II Prologue” (Chroniclers); “Christopher” (Lisa Mordente, Chorus); “So Do I” (“Ode to Vir-
ginity”) (John Henry Kurtz, Chorus); “Two Lovers” (Lisa Mordente); “The Funeral Dirge” (John Henry
Kurtz, Lisa Mordente, Lennie Del Duca Jr., Robert Rosen, Steve Hall, Margaret Warncke); “Live for the
Moment” (reprise) (Patrick Jude, Lisa Mordente); “Emelia” (reprise) (Patrick Jude, Lisa Mordente); “Can’t
Leave Now” (Patrick Jude); “Christopher” (reprise) (Lisa Mordente, Lennie Del Duca Jr., Company); “The
Madrigal Blues” (Patrick Jude, Company)
The program notes for Marlowe helpfully explained that the musical about Christopher Marlowe and
William Shakespeare took place in “1593 AD” and that the plot was “essentially true and accurate except for
1981–1982 SEASON 103
minor adjustments in time for dramatic purpose.” But perhaps the most astounding aspect of the musical was
its omission of an exclamation point after the title. Almost as astounding was the show’s use of the tagline
“A New Rock Musical” in an era when new rock musicals were passé. Despite terrible reviews, the musical
somehow managed to hang on for six weeks.
The plot dealt with Christopher “Kit” Marlowe (Patrick Jude) and “Willy” Shakespeare (Lennie Del Duca
Jr.), both of whom love Emelia (Lisa Mordente), described by John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor
as a “liberated Elizabethan feminist.” Marlowe and Shakespeare hang around with their pal Richard Burbage
(John Henry Kurtz) in Olde London and occasionally smoke pot, kindly supplied to them by Sir Walter Ra-
leigh, who in turn got his stash from his friend Pocahontas (Sir Walter and Pocahontas had the good sense not
to appear in the musical, and the latter was no doubt still reeling from the 1963 London debacle Pocahontas
which ran for just twelve performances).
The critics had a field day damning virtually every aspect of the production. According to Frank Rich in
the New York Times, the evening’s “insanity” began when Queen Elizabeth I (who likes to be called “QE1”
and was played by Margaret Warncke) reminds a lover to put on his codpiece, and Douglas Watt in the New
York Daily News said she came across like a Ninth Avenue landlady demanding back rent from a tenant.
And from there, everything went downhill. Shakespeare states he “should have stuck with sonnets” and tells
Emelia, who has left him for Marlowe, that for her he “sweated” his sonnets. When Marlowe is murdered, he
comes back from the afterlife on a stage knee-deep in dry-ice smoke, and, dressed in a silver-colored jumpsuit,
sings “The Madrigal Blues” in which he notes that he has “paid his dues.” (Rich noted that with his “open
shirt, glittery vest and leopard boots” Jude could have been “the toast of any small-town shopping-center
disco.”)
Some critics said Marlowe brought to mind such disasters as Kelly (1965), Rachel Lily Rosenbloom and
don’t you ever forget it! (1973), Rockabye Hamlet (1976), and Got tu Go Disco (1979), but Rich was quick to
note that even though Marlowe “left no folio undefaced” it wasn’t quite in the class of its betters because it
was a small-scale show that lacked “the Titanic-like splendor and expenditure of Broadway’s all-time fabu-
lous wrecks.” But at least the “wholly ridiculous” musical had “the courage to meet vulgarity far more than
halfway.” Watt reported that late in the second act the vapors from the dry-ice machine drifted into the au-
ditorium and some in the audience had to leave their seats. He suggested that the machine should have been
turned on much earlier so that the theatre might have “been cleared out immediately to the benefit of one
and all.” He also mentioned that the dialogue was “exceedingly stupid” and the musical staging “downright
silly.”
Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily found the book “a lumbering unfunny talkfest”; Leida Snow on
WABCTV7 said the décor was “cheap” with “cardboard” sets and “some of the ugliest costumes” she’d ever
seen, and she advised Lisa Mordente to sue because her costumes made her look “like a pumpkin with legs”;
Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 called the musical an “unmitigated disaster” and said Marlowe himself
was a combination “part Vegas Lounge act” and “part Errol Flynn on speed”; Clive Barnes in the New York
Post suggested the score wasn’t “totally lost” but had “little direction, small force, and no real pulse”; and
Beaufort said the “mindless” and “misguided” musical was “the kind of show that gives gaudy rubbish a bad
name.”
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Lisa Mordente)
OH, BROTHER!

Opening Date: November 10, 1981; Closing Date: November 11, 1981
Performances: 3
Book and Lyrics: Donald Driver
Music: Michael Valenti
Based on The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare (written between 1589 and 1594) and suggested by
Menaechmi by Plautus (the program noted that the musical’s book and lyrics were subject to “litigation
pending” by “W. Shakespeare and Plautus”).
Direction and Choreography: Donald Driver (Ahmed Hussien, Assistant Choreographer); Producers: Zev
Bufman and The Kennedy Center with The Fisher Theatre Foundation, Joan Cullman, and Sidney Shlen-
ker; Scenery: Michael J. Hotopp and Paul De Pass; Costumes: Ann Emonts; Lighting: Richard Nelson;
Musical Direction: Marvin Laird
Cast: Larry Marshall (Revolutionary Leader), Mark Martino (Revolutionary), Thomas LoMonaco (Revolu-
tionary, Ayatollah), Sal Provenza (Bugler), Alyson Reed (Revolutionary Woman, Fatatatatatima), Pamela
Khoury (Revolutionary Woman), Kathy (Kathleen) Mahony-Bennett (Revolutionary Woman), Geraldine
Hanning (Revolutionary Woman), Suzanne Walker (Revolutionary Woman), Karen Teti (Revolutionary
Woman), Steve Bourneuf (Revolutionary), Richard B. Shull (Lew), Steve Sterner and Eric Scheps (Camel),
Harry Groener (Western Mousada), Alan Weeks (Western Habim), Joe Morton (Eastern Habim), David-
James Carroll (Eastern Mousada), Judy Kaye (Saroyana), Mary (Elizabeth) Mastrantonio (Musica), Steve
Sterner (Revolutionary), Eric Scheps (Revolutionary), Bruce Adler (Balthazar), Geraldine Hanning (Lillian)
The action takes place during the present (1981) time in the Persian Gulf.
Musical Numbers
“We Love an Old Story” (Larry Marshall Revolutionaries); “I to the World” (Harry Groener and Alan Weeks,
David-James Carroll and Joe Morton); “How Do You Want Me?” (Judy Kaye); “That’s Him” (Mary
Mastrantonio, Revolutionaries); “Everybody Calls Me by My Name” (Harry Groener, Revolutionaries);
“O.P.E.C. Maiden” (Harry Groener, Revolutionaries); “A Man” (David-James Carroll); “How Do You
Want Me?” (reprise) (Judy Kaye); “Tell Sweet Saroyana” (David-James Carroll, Harry Groener, Arabs);
“What Do I Tell People This Time?” (Judy Kaye); “O.P.E.C. Maiden” (reprise) (Elizabeth Mastrantonio,
Women); “A Loud and Funny Song” (Judy Kaye, Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Alyson Reed); “The Chase”
(Company); “I to the World” (reprise) (Harry Groener and Alan Weeks, David-James Carroll and Joe Mor-
ton); “Oh, Brother” (Company)
Based on Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors (and with a nod to Plautus), Oh, Brother! was perhaps the
decade’s one singular guilty pleasure. Audiences seemed to love the show, but the critics demolished it and
the production was gone after just three performances. The unpretentious, knockabout farce offered a light
and entertaining score by Michael Valenti, and while the evening had the aura of a college variety show writ-
ten all over it, the musical was nonetheless consistently funny in its sophomoric way and even included a
camel (portrayed by Steve Sterner and Eric Scheps) who sported a headdress, sun glasses, and sneakers. This
type of humor was obvious but endearing, the performances were sly and knowing (Judy Kaye was in full cut-
up mode), and Valenti’s score included the haunting “I To the World”; a light shuffle title song; the breezy
and exuberant “Everybody Calls Me by My Name”; the confused malarkey of the expansive “Tell Sweet Sa-
royana” (which includes solos, a quartette, and the low-down blues of “What Do I Tell People This Time?”
sung in counterpoint by Kaye, and all this accompanied by Alan Weeks’s exclamation of “One more time!”
as he goes into what the script notes is “an idiotic soft shoe dance”); and the tongue-in-cheek ode (with puns
and false rhymes) to the “O.P.E.C. Maiden,” with its outrageous lyric and ingratiating melody.
The critics were generally kind to Valenti’s score and to the cast, but felt the locale and subject matter
(which included hijackings, kidnappings, and revolutionaries) were not the stuff of musical comedy, espe-
cially one set in such a volatile region as the Middle East (the cast album proclaimed that “Musical Comedy
Breaks Out in the Middle East!”).
Loosely based on Shakespeare, the farce dealt with two sets of twins, two white and two black, who were
separated at birth from one another and their parents: the white Western Mousada (Harry Groener) and the
black Western Habim (Alan Weeks) arrive in the Persian Gulf on the off-chance of finding their counterparts,
the white Eastern Mousada (David-James Carroll) and the black Eastern Habim (Joe Morton), and even the hap-
less American Lew (Richard B. Shull) pops up in his search for his long-lost wife, Lillian (Geraldine Hanning),
and their birth (Groener and Carroll) and adopted (Weeks and Morton) sons. Added problems arise due to the
1981–1982 SEASON 105
estrangement of the Eastern Mousada and his wife Saroyana (Judy Kaye), his mistress Fatatatatatima (Alyson
Reed), and the Western Mousada’s infatuation for Saroyana’s sister Musica (Mary Mastrantonio). Because ev-
eryone thinks both the Eastern and Western Mousada are the same person (and that the Eastern and Western
Habim are the same as well), a multitude of complications arise before the requisite happy ending (but when
Lew finally finds his Lillian and tells her, “I’m Lew!” she replies, “Lew who?”).
Frank Rich in the New York Times suggested there was “nothing startling” about Valenti’s score, but it
contained “solid” and “pretty” show tunes; Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily found Valenti’s music and
Donald Driver’s lyrics “serviceable” and “sometimes quite bright,” and he noted that “soaring love ballads
are shot down amusingly” with lyrics of the “bangle-laden, OPEC maiden” variety and the sudden appear-
ances of chorus members who took over the high notes for some of the songs; and Douglas Watt in the New
York Daily News said that while “not strikingly original,” the score was nonetheless “cheerful,” “pleasantly
melodic,” and “varied.” But Clive Barnes in the New York Post stated that except for the “rousing” opening
song “We Love an Old Story,” the score was “slimly competent and dimly unmemorable”; and Dennis Cun-
ningham on WCBSTV2 said there were no songs “to speak of” and the evening “looks and sounds like what
it might have looked and sounded like if Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz had ever decided to write a musical.”
Rich said there was “not much” that was “funny” about the Middle East “unless you want to be com-
pletely tasteless,” and suggested the one truly tasteless scene in the show was when the Ayatollah was
brought on “for burlesque gags.” Rich asked why Driver bothered to set the musical in an area of the world
“where there’s no room, right now, for humor.” But Judy Kaye was a “big belter with a sure comic sense” and
Harry Groener was “charming” and “lighter-than-air” in a performance that brought to mind his Will Parker
in the 1979 Broadway revival of Oklahoma! Cohen said the musical was two hours of “nonstop zaniness,”
and if the goings-on weren’t always in “high gear,” the show nonetheless always kept moving, and he noted
that Kaye could “belt out a song with the best of them” and Groener was “engaging and fleet-footed.”
During the tryout, the musical was presented in two acts, and the following songs were cut: “Revolu-
tion,” “It Wasn’t Always Like This,” “My (Whole) World’s Coming (Comin’) Unwrapped,” and “It’s a Man’s
World.”
The cast album was recorded by Original Cast Records (LP # OC8342; later issued on CD # 915) and
includes the deleted songs “Revolution,” “My (Whole) World’s Coming (Comin’) Unwrapped,” and the felici-
tous trio for Saroyana, Musica, and Fatatatatatima, “It’s a Man’s World.” In 1982, the script was published
in paperback by Samuel French.
Of course, the definitive musical version of The Comedy of Errors is Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s
The Boys from Syracuse, which had opened in 1938 at the Alvin (now Neil Simon) Theatre, which is directly
across the street from the ANTA (then Guild, now Virginia) Theatre, where Oh, Brother! premiered.
CAMELOT
Theatre: Winter Garden Theatre
Opening Date: November 15, 1981; Closing Date: January 2, 1982
Performances: 48
Based on the 1958 novel The Once and Future King by T. H. White.
Direction: Frank Dunlop; Producers: Mike Merrick and Don Gregory (A Dome-Cutler/Herman Production);
Scenery and Costumes: Desmond Heeley; Lighting: Thomas Skelton; Musical Direction: Terry James
Cast: Richard Harris (King Arthur), Andy McAvin (Sir Sagramore), James Valentine (Merlyn), Meg Bussert
(Guenevere), William Parry (Sir Dinidan), Jeanne Caryl (Nimue), Richard Muenz (Lancelot du Lac), Rich-
ard Backus (Mordred), Robert Molnar (Dop), Vincenzo Prestia (Friar), Sally Williams (Lady Anne), Patrice
Pickering (Lady Sybil), William James (Sir Lionel), Barrie Ingham (King Pellinore), Daisy (Horrid), Steve
Osborn (Sir Lionel’s Squire), Randy Morgan (Sir Sagramore’s Squire), Richard Maxon (Sir Dinidan’s Squire);
Knights of the Investiture: Bruce Sherman, Jack Starkey, Ken Henley, and Ronald Bennett Stratton; Thor
Fields (Tom); Knights, Lords and Ladies of the Court: Elaine Barnes, Marie Berry, Bjarne Buchtrup, Jeanne
Caryl, Melanie Clements, John Deyle, Debra Dickinson, Kathy Flynn-McGrath, Ken Henley, William
James, Norb Joerder, Kelby Kirk, Dale Kristien, Lorraine Lazarus, Lauren Lipson, Craig Mason, Richard
Maxon, Andy McAvin, Robert Molnar, Randy Morgan, Ann Neville, Steve Osborn, Patrice Pickering,
Joel Sager, Mariellen Sereduke, D. Paul Shannon, Bruce Sherman, Jack Starkey, Ronald Bennett Stratton,
Nicki Wood
The action takes place in Camelot “a long time ago.”
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Guenevere” (Ensemble); “I Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight?” (Richard Harris); “The Sim-
ple Joys of Maidenhood” (Meg Bussert); “Camelot” (Richard Harris, Meg Bussert); “Follow Me” (Jeanne
Caryl); “Camelot” (reprise) (Richard Harris, Meg Bussert); “C’est moi” (Richard Muenz); “The Lusty
Month of May” (Meg Bussert, Ensemble); “How to Handle a Woman” (Richard Harris); “The Jousts”
(Richard Harris, Meg Bussert, Ensemble); “Before I Gaze at You Again” (Meg Bussert)
Act Two: “If Ever I Would Leave You” (Richard Muenz); “The Seven Deadly Virtues” (Richard Backus); “What
Do the Simple Folk Do?” (Meg Bussert, Richard Harris); “Fie on Goodness!” (Richard Backus, Knights); “I
Loved You Once in Silence” (Meg Bussert); “Guenevere” (reprise) (Ensemble); “Camelot” (reprise) (Rich-
ard Harris)
The current revival of Camelot was in effect a return engagement of the touring production that had
played in New York seventeen months earlier with Richard Burton, who had of course created the role of
King Arthur in the original 1960 production of the Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical. In 1980,
Burton signed to appear in the nationwide tour, which included a seven-week stop in New York. As the tour
proceeded, Burton’s health forced him to bow out of the revival, and he was succeeded by Richard Harris, who
had portrayed Arthur in the 1967 film version of the musical. The tour continued, and in late 1981 played at
the Winter Garden for a limited engagement.
For the Burton tour, Christine Ebersole had played Guenevere, and she continued in the role after Harris
joined the production. She was succeeded by Meg Bussert, who had impressed the critics with her singing in the
1980 revival of Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon, and Bussert played the role during the current New York engage-
ment. Later in the tour, Bussert was followed by Debra Dickinson. For both the Burton and Harris tours, Richard
Muenz was Lancelot, and for all the Burton and part of the Harris engagements Paxton Whitehead (Pellinore),
Robert Fox (Mordred), and James Valentine (Merlyn) reprised their roles. But for later tour stops and for the New
York engagement, Barrie Ingham and Richard Backus respectively played Pellinore and Merlyn.
The critics were again cool to the musical and considered it an also-ran. Frank Rich in the New York
Times suggested “the glories of Camelot now live best on the original cast album,” and while Harris wasn’t
“bad” he was nonetheless “dour.” He was “full of grand, arrogant gestures, royal pauses and vocal extrava-
gances of the old school.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily felt Harris brought “more energy and spirit
to the role” than Burton, but his singing was “less secure” and “his overall presence less charming.” Dennis
Cunningham on WCBSTV2 said at the beginning of the evening Harris was breezy and “delightful” but by
the second act he was “in the lowest of low gears” and “uncommonly solemn.”
But Clive Barnes in the New York Post hailed Harris’s “thoroughly impressive Broadway debut,” and said
his performance made “a return to Camelot a theatregoer’s imperative.” Otherwise, the “curious” musical
had a first act that seemed “almost as long as Wagner’s Das Rheingold” and a conclusion that was “stub-
bornly ground-born.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the musical as “ponderous” as ever
and brought to mind “a splendid coronation ceremony with the grand-stand collapsing at the finish.”
For more information about the musical, including a televised film version of the current production, see
entry for the 1980 revival.
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG

Theatre: Alvin Theatre

Performances: 16
1981–1982 SEASON 107
Book: George Furth

Lyrics and Music: Stephen Sondheim
Based on the 1934 play Merrily We Roll Along by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.
Direction: Harold Prince; Producers: Lord Grade, Martin Starger, Robert Fryer, and Harold Prince (Ruth
Mitchell and Howard Haines, Associate Producers); Choreography: Larry Fuller; Scenery: Eugene Lee;
Costumes: Judith Dolan; Lighting: David Hersey; Musical Direction: Paul Gemignani
Cast: Jim Walton (Franklin Shepard), Ann Morrison (Mary Flynn), Lonny Price (Charley Kringas), Terry Finn
(Gussie), Jason Alexander (Joe), Sally Klein (Beth), Geoffrey Horne (Franklin Shepard, at age forty-three),
David Cady (Jerome), Donna Marie Elio (Terry), Maryrose Wood (Ms. Gordon), Marc Moritz (Alex, Talk
Show Host), Tonya Pinkins (Gwen Wilson), David Loud (Ted), David Shine (Les), Paul Hyams (Mr. Spen-
cer), Mary Johansen (Mrs. Spencer), Daisy Prince (Meg), Forest D. Ray (Ru), Tom Shea (Bartender), Abby
Pogrebin (Evelyn), Giancarlo Esposito (Valedictorian), James Bonkovsky (George, Headwaiter), Marianna
Allen (Girl Who Auditions), Steven Jacob (Photographer), Clark Sayre (Soundman), Gary Stevens (Waiter)
The action begins in 1980, goes back in time, and ends in 1955, and takes place in Illinois, California, and
New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Merrily We Roll Along” (Company); “Rich and Happy” (Jim Walton, Guests); “Merrily We Roll
Along” (reprise) (Company); “Like It Was” (Ann Morrison); “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” (Lonny Price); “Mer-
rily We Roll Along” (reprise) (Company); “Old Friends” (Jim Walton, Lonny Price, Ann Morrison); “Mer-
rily We Roll Along” (reprise) (Company); “Not a Day Goes By” (Jim Walton); “Now You Know” (Ann
Morrison, Company)
Act Two: “It’s a Hit!” (Jim Walton, Ann Morrison, Lonny Price, Jason Alexander); “Merrily We Roll Along”
(reprise) (Company); “Good Thing Going” (Lonny Price, Jim Walton); “Merrily We Roll Along” (reprise)
(Company); “Bobby and Jackie and Jack” (Lonny Price, Sally Klein, Jim Walton, David Loud); “Not a Day
Goes By” (reprise) (Jim Walton, Ann Morrison); “Opening Doors” (Jim Walton, Lonny Price, Ann Mor-
rison, Jason Alexander, Sally Klein); “Our Time” (Jim Walton, Lonny Price, Ann Morrison, Company);
“The Hills of Tomorrow” (Company)
After Anyone Can Whistle (1964), Merrily We Roll Along was Stephen Sondheim’s second-shortest-run-
ning Broadway musical. It suffered from some disastrous initial concepts (including casting choices and visual
design), which later productions have mostly rectified, but the brassy score is one of Sondheim’s finest. It’s
an impressive array of catchy, old-fashioned Broadway songs brimming with lush and poignant ballads (“Not
a Day Goes By,” “Good Thing Going”); upbeat songs (“Old Friends,” multiple variations of the title number,
and a swinging “Now You Know,” which wedded old-time Broadway razz-ma-tazz with a typically cynical
Sondheim lyric); a clever and expansive sequence called “Opening Doors,” which compressed months of ac-
tion into minutes; and comedy songs (including the brilliantly comic but edgy and uneasy “Franklin Shepard,
Inc.”). And the icing on the cake is one of the greatest Broadway overtures.
The score also included “Bobby and Jackie and Jack,” an Irish jig that was performed as part of a revue-
within-the-musical, a fictitious 1960 revue titled Frankly Frank. The song spoofed the Kennedys as well as
fads (the twist) and events (Khrushchev’s temper tantrum during his visit to the United States as well as the
founding of the city of Brasilia) of the early 1960s, and indicated that Jacqueline Kennedy will have the White
House painted cream and turn it into a “cultural lighthouse” where just pronouncing the name of opera singer
Galina Vishneyskaya is “refreshing enough.” There was an actual 1960 Off-Broadway revue that spoofed the
Kennedys a few weeks before the presidential election. Greenwich Village, U.S.A. opened at One Sheridan
Square on September 28, 1960, and the number “Sunday Brunch” informed the audience that if Kennedy is
elected, Jacqueline will paint the White House black because it’s such a chic color.
Loosely based on George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s 1934 play of the same name, the musical told its
story in reverse order. At the beginning of the musical (which is really the end of the story), we are in 1980
when we meet the estranged and basically unhappy three major characters Frank (Jim Walton), Charley
(Lonny Price), and Mary (Ann Morrison), and as the play progresses we travel back in time, gradually reaching
the “beginning” of the story in the mid-1950s when the threesome were happy and their lives seemed full of
hope, ideals, and promise.
Frank and Charley are a Broadway songwriting team, and Mary their friend. Although he didn’t provide
convincing evidence to support his thesis, George Furth’s book depicted Frank as somewhat selfish and
distasteful. Charley wants to write musicals in what might be termed the Sondheim tradition, while Frank
seems more interested in doing a Jerry Herman. And what’s so wrong with that? (To appropriate a phrase
heard in the musical in a different context, “I don’t make that a crime.”) Perhaps Frank isn’t selling out but
only finding his muse, and that muse is popular, feel-good theatre. But Charley believes Frank has cavalierly
tossed aside his talent and his youthful ideals, and on a national television talk show Charley embarrasses
Frank by ridiculing his professional choices. Naturally, Frank is furious, and who wouldn’t be? It’s Charley
who comes across as a closed-minded klutz who doesn’t want his friends to grow, and Frank seems well rid
of him.
Further, Mary carries a torch for Frank, and the script hints that somehow Frank is wrong for not recipro-
cating her affection (here there seems to be a foreshadowing of Fosca and Giorgio’s relationship in Sondheim’s
1994 musical Passion). But there’s no evidence that Frank ever encouraged Mary, and it isn’t Frank’s fault that
she obsesses over their platonic relationship and eventually becomes an alcoholic. All in all, Frank seems to
be the only character with a head on his shoulders and who knows what he wants. Charley and Mary come
across as tiresome and one-dimensional, and only Frank shows subtlety and complexity. As one watched the
production, it also seemed that pivotal and informative scenes were played offstage, and that Furth never
bothered to dramatize and explain his characters and their relationships.
Harold Prince’s casting choices didn’t help. The performers were far too young for many of their scenes,
and when portraying adults they sometimes seemed hopelessly amateurish; but as the show retrogressed in
time and the characters became younger, the players were clearly more comfortable in their roles. (Later re-
vivals solved this issue by finding a middle ground in which the performers seem to be around thirty years of
age and can comfortably navigate the range of ages, from the early forties to the late teens.)
Further, Prince didn’t have a unifying motif and visual concept for the musical. Eugene Lee’s unattract-
ive set (Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said it looked like it cost twenty-eight dollars and Frank
Rich in the New York Times suggested it was the leftover set of Runaways) appeared to be a combination of
a high school’s locker room and gymnasium with a smorgasbord of bleachers and lockers and scaffolding, and
whatever this signified was a secret not shared with the audience. Moreover, Judith Dolan’s dreary costumes
utilized T-shirts emblazoned with the function of each character (Best Friend, Best Pal, Talk Show Host, Sec-
retary); but shirts get wrinkled, and so it was often impossible to read the wording, and beyond the first few
rows of the stage even the words on the unwrinkled shirts were almost impossible to make out.
But Sondheim’s score was one of his most brilliant, and his gorgeous and ingratiating melodies and clever
lyrics were an oasis in a desert of tedium. The scintillating cast album gives no evidence of the less-than-
happy book, choreography, sets, costumes, and performances.
Rich said Merrily was a “shambles” that nonetheless contained “crushing and beautiful” songs that
“soar and linger and hurt.” But Watt found the musical a “dud” with a “pallid” score, and Howard Kissel in
Women’s Wear Daily said the score was Sondheim’s “thinnest” and the overall material was superficial. John
Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor praised the “lovely” and “excellent” songs, and singled out seven.
T. E. Kalem in Time said much of the score sounded like “an aside from Sondheim” (but he singled out “Not
a Day Goes By” and “Good Thing Going”) and noted that Larry Fuller’s choreography was of the “hop, skip
and jump variety, rather like a discarded thought from Agnes de Mille’s brain.”
Jack Kroll in Newsweek found Furth’s book “cluttered,” the sets “uncomely,” and Fuller’s contributions
“inglorious,” with an “amazingly clumsy climactic first-act dance,” but “through everything Sondheim’s
music is the one shining element.” Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 said the evening was “shocking,”
as it “clunks, lurches, and on several occasions faints dead away.” The creators went “wildly wrong” with
their “wrongheaded idea,” and casting the musical with very young performers was a “bad idea.” Further,
the set was “hideous” and the costumes were “tacky.” Hobe in Variety suspected the musical was in much
better shape on opening night than in previews, when there were reportedly “mass walkouts.” The show had
a “reasonable, if inconsistent interest, with several moderately entertaining” songs with “pop possibilities”
(and he singled out “Not a Day Goes By,” “Old Friends,” and “Good Thing Going,” the latter of which had
been recorded by Frank Sinatra).
1981–1982 SEASON 109
Clive Barnes in the New York Post ignored the negative dish on the show and said that by opening night
the musical had “unquestionably triumphed.” While the show had not resolved the matter of the young cast
members who must age (or more specifically de-age) throughout the performance, he nonetheless said Furth’s
book was “eloquently and aptly contrived,” the choreography was “unobtrusively brilliant,” and Prince’s
direction kept “the show whirling like confetti in the wind.” As for Sondheim, his music was “rhythmic and
acerbic,” his lyrics “dry and wry,” and the overall impression was a “surging Sondheim sound that is New
York set to music.”
The musical opted for a series of Broadway previews rather than a traditional out-of-town tryout, so Mer-
rily’s troubles were widely disseminated during its agonizing fifty-two previews. The original opening night
of November 1 was postponed to November 9 and then to November 16; choreographer Ron Field was re-
placed by Larry Fuller; and leading man James Weissenbach, who created the role of Frank during early New
York previews, was replaced by Jim Walton, who heretofore had played a minor role in the show. The songs
“Darling!,” “The Blob,” “Thank You for Coming,” and “Honey” were dropped, and late in previews Geoffrey
Horne joined the cast as the older Frank. But the rewriting and restaging as well as the cast and song changes
didn’t help. With mostly negative reviews, the musical closed after two weeks at an estimated $1.5 million
loss.
The original cast album was recorded by RCA Victor Records (LP # CBL1-4197), and the first CD release
(# RCD1-5840) included “It’s a Hit!,” which had been recorded during the cast album session but was omitted
from the LP release because of space limitations. The second CD release (# 82876-68637-2) includes bonus
tracks of Sondheim singing “It’s a Hit!” and Bernadette Peters’s rendition of “Not a Day Goes By.” The col-
lection Lost in Boston III (Varese Sarabande CD # VSD-5563) includes the deleted song “Honey.”
The script (which includes “Rich and Happy”) was to have been released in hardback by Dodd, Mead &
Company, but was canceled (six soft-bound and uncorrected advance proof copies are known to exist). The
lyrics for the used, cut, and unused songs are included in Sondheim’s 2010 collection Finishing the Hat: Col-
lected Lyrics (1954–1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes
(published by Alfred A. Knopf).
For subsequent revivals, Sondheim rewrote “Rich and Happy” as “That Frank,” Frank himself was given
a new song (the introspective “Growing Up”), and some productions have reinstated “The Blob.” (The various
reprises of the title song have become known as “First Transition,” “Second Transition,” etc.)
The musical was revived on May 26, 1994, in New York by the York Theatre Company for a limited
engagement of fifty-four performances at Saint Peter’s Church. The production (and its cast recording, which
was issued by Varese Sarabande CD # VSD-5548) includes “That Frank,” “The Blob,” and “Growing Up.” A
second revival was produced in concert format by Encores! at City Center on February 8, 2012, for five per-
formances; the production and its cast recording (issued by PS Classics # PS-1208 on a two-CD set) includes
“That Frank,” “The Blob,” “Growing Up,” and “Musical Husbands” (aka “Gussie’s Opening Number”), the
last a jazzed-up version of “Good Thing Going.”
A British production at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre opened on April 10, 1992; the cast recording was
released by That’s Entertainment Records (CD # CDTER-1225) and includes “That Frank,” “The Blob,” and
“Growing Up” (the company later issued an expanded two-CD recording # CDTER2-1245).
A 2012 London production at the Menier Chocolate Factory Theatre was taped live and shown in a lim-
ited theatrical release in 2013. As of this writing, the film version hasn’t been issued on home video.
With the failure of Merrily We Roll Along, the Alvin Theatre hit a luckless streak. For the remainder of
the season its musicals were doomed to failure: Little Johnny Jones (one performance), The Little Prince and
the Aviator (closed in previews), and Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? (five performances).
Even the following season began ominously with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (five performances).
In later years Into the Light (13 performances), Senator Joe (closed in previews), and Cyrano—the Musical
(1993; 137 performances) played there. It wasn’t until 1996 when the revival of The King and I opened and
played for 807 performances that the theatre finally enjoyed a hit musical after some sixteen years of drought.
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Score (lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim)
THE FIRST
“A New Musical”

Performances: 17
Book: Joel Siegel “with Martin Charnin”
Lyrics: Martin Charnin
Music: Bob Brush
Direction: Martin Charnin; Producers: Zev Bufman and Neil Bogart, and Michael Harvey and Peter A. Bobley
(Roger Luby, Associate Producer); Choreography: Alan Johnson; Scenery: David Chapman; Costumes:
Carrie Robbins; Lighting: Marc B. Weiss; Musical Direction: Mark Hummel
Cast: Bill Buell (Patsy, Dodger Coach, Brian Waterhouse), Trey Wilson (Leo Durocher), Ray Gill (Clyde Suke-
forth), Sam Stoneburner (Powers), Thomas Griffith (Thurman, Dodger Rookie, Pittsburgh Pirate), David
Huddleston (Branch Rickey), Jack Hallett (Cannon, Dodger Coach, Sheriff, Huey, Philadelphia Reporter),
Stephen Crain (Holmes, Eddie Stanky, Pittsburgh Pirate), Paul Forrest (Sorrentino, Umpire, Trainer, Phila-
delphia Reporter), D. Peter Samuel (Bartender, Hatrack Harris), Bob Morrisey (Soldier, Pee Wee Reese),
Kim Criswell (Girl, Dodger Wife, Hilda Chester), David Alan Grier (Jackie Robinson), Steven Bland (Third
Baseman, Equipment Manager), Luther Fontaine (Junkyard Jones), Michael Edward-Stevens (Catcher,
Bucky), Rodney Saulsberry (Jo-Jo), Clent Bowers (Cool Minnie), Paul Cook Tartt (Softball), Lonette McKee
(Rachel Isum); Passengers: Margaret Lamee, Sam Stoneburner, Rodney Saulsberry, Janet Hubert, Thomas
Griffith, Kim Criswell, Steven Bland, Bob Morrisey, Stephen Crain, Boncellia Lewis; Rodney Saulsberry
(Cuban Reporter), Steven Bland (Cuban Reporter), Steven Boockvor (Swanee Rivers), Court Miller (Casey
Higgins); Fans: Boncellia Lewis, Steven Bland, Michael Edward-Stevens, Janet Hubert, Rodney Saulsberry;
Janet Hubert (Opal), Boncellia Lewis (Ruby), Margaret Lamee (Dodger Wife), and the voice of Red Barber
The action takes place between August 1945 and September 1947 in New York; Chicago; Brooklyn; Havana;
Jacksonville, Florida; Philadelphia; and St. Louis.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Jack Roosevelt Robinson” (David Huddleston, Trey Wilson, Ray Gill); “Dancin’ Off Third” (David
Alan Grier, Luther Fontaine, The Monarchs); “The National Pastime” (Clent Bowers, David Alan Grier,
Luther Fontaine, The Monarchs); “Will We Ever Know Each Other?” (David Alan Grier, Lonette McKee);
“The First” (David Alan Grier); “Bloat” (Trey Wilson, Reporters, The Dodgers); “The First” (reprise)
(David Alan Grier); “It Ain’t Gonna Work!” (Court Miller, The Dodgers); “The Brooklyn Dodger Strike”
(David Huddleston, Trey Wilson); “Jack Roosevelt Robinson” (reprise) (David Huddleston); “The First”
(reprise) (Lonette McKee)
Act Two: “You Do-Do-Do-It Good!” (Clent Bowers, David Alan Grier, Luther Fontaine, The Monarchs, Bon-
cellia Lewis, Janet Hubert); “Is This Year Next Year?” (Sam Stoneburner, Reporters, David Huddleston,
Ray Gill, The Dodgers); “There Are Days and There Are Days” (Lonette McKee); “It’s a Beginning” (Da-
vid Huddleston, David Alan Grier); “The Opera Ain’t Over” (Kim Criswell, Fans, David Alan Grier, The
Dodgers, Lonette McKee, David Huddleston)
After the surprise success of Damn Yankees (1955), it seemed that the theatrical curse of shows that
dealt with the subject of baseball had ended. But the very next year the comedy The Hot Corner closed after
5 performances; the Harold Prince–directed baseball revue Diamonds survived for just 122 Off-Broadway
performances in 1984; and The First floundered after 17 showings. Further, the 1985 Off-Broadway musical
Bingo! (about black baseball players) seems to have disappeared after its limited two-week engagement, and
during the same year the musical The Dream Team (which dealt with two brothers who play in the Negro
Leagues and how one of them is selected for the majors) was seen briefly at Goodspeed Opera House’s Norma
Terris Theatre. And the nonmusicals The Babe (1984; Babe Ruth), Cobb (2000; Ty Cobb), and Nobody Don’t
Like Yogi (2003; Yogi Berra) all played for less than 100 performances apiece. But Richard Greenberg’s Take
1981–1982 SEASON 111
Me Out won a theatrical pennant when it opened during the 2002–2003 season, played for 355 showings, and
won both the Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play.
The First dealt with Jackie Robinson (1919–1972), who in 1947 broke racial barriers when he became the
first black to play in major league baseball. The inherent drama of the story, coupled with the general world
of baseball as well as the era of the mid-1940s when popular music trended from big band to more intimate
jazz-inflected song stylings, would seem to have had the makings of a terrific musical with larger-than-life
characters, a compelling plot, and colorful atmosphere. Robinson’s story had the potential of taking advantage
of the era’s popular musical styles to embellish the saga of both his professional and personal lives.
Unfortunately, the well-meaning musical was strictly by-the-numbers in its predictable and somewhat
tiresome approach to the inherent drama swirling about in the training camps, ballparks, and locker rooms,
as everyone from ballplayers to sportswriters to the fans realized that baseball history was in the making
when Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Further, Bob Brush’s music was somewhat generic, and
only once did the score hit a home run when the composer expanded the boundaries of the heretofore dreary
procession of songs with a late second-act explosion in which fans, players, and other principals let loose with
the expansive, mock-operatic “The Opera Ain’t Over.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the book, lyrics, music, and direction were “dull,” the story itself
hadn’t been “shaped into theatre,” and the score was “devoid of melody or style.” As a result, The First was
“one long seventh-inning stretch.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News stated the show “never got to
first base” and seemed to “dawdle forever” in the telling of its story. The book was “sketchily serviceable,”
the score lent “fresh meaning to the term commonplace,” and perhaps the musical’s history was suspect:
Watt reported that for Robinson’s Brooklyn debut he’s greeted by catcalls, boos, and a watermelon hurled at
his feet; but Watt said a friend who was actually at the historic ballgame told him Robinson was hailed with
“warm applause.”
Watt praised David Huddlston’s “wonderfully assured, humorous performance” as Branch Rickey, and
said David Alan Grier in the title role was “winning.” But Clive Barnes in the New York Post suggested Grier
didn’t make much of an impression and didn’t seem “like the bat that launched a thousand hits.” Howard
Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said Grier acted “winningly,” but as written his role didn’t provide challeng-
ing material or bite to his character, and as Robinson’s wife, Rachel, Lonette McKee had “great presence” and
sang “with style” but needed “deeper” material.
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal found Martin Charnin’s lyrics “embarrassingly banal,” but
praised Brush’s “interesting, melodic score.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said the new
musical was “winning and imaginative” with “tautly written” scenes and songs that were able to meet “the
demands and enhance the pleasures of this socially conscious musical.”
Like many musicals of the era, The First didn’t have an out-of-town tryout and instead opted for a series
of Broadway previews. During the preview period, the songs “Bums” and “Southern Hospitality” were cut
and the roles of Eunice and Noonan, played by Patricia Drylie and George D. Wallace, were eliminated; but
Wallace remained with the show as David Huddleston’s standby. Darren McGavin had originally been signed
to play Branch Rickey, but left the musical during rehearsals and was succeeded by Huddleston.
The script was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1983. “There Are Days and There Are Days”
and “Will We Ever Know Each Other” are included in the first collection of the series Unsung Musicals (Va-
rese Sarabande CD # VSD-5462).
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Featured Actor in a Musical (David Alan Grier); Best Director of a Musical
(Martin Charnin); Best Book (Joel Siegel and Martin Charnin)
DREAMGIRLS
Theatre: Imperial Theatre
Opening Date: December 20, 1981; Closing Date: August 4, 1985
Performances: 1,522
Book and Lyrics: Tom Eyen

Music: Henry Krieger
Direction and Choreography: Michael Bennett (Michael Peters, Co-Choreographer); Producers: Michael Ben-
nett, Bob Avian, Geffen Records, and The Shubert Organization; Scenery: Robin Wagner; Costumes:
Theoni V. Aldredge; Lighting: Tharon Musser; Musical Direction: Yolanda Segovia
Cast: The Stepp Sisters: Deborah Burrell, Vanessa Bell, Tenita Jordan, and Brenda Pressley; Cheryl Alexander
(Charlene), Linda Lloyd (Joanne), Vondie Curtis-Hall (Marty), Ben Harney (Curtis Taylor Jr.), Sheryl Lee
Ralph (Deena Jones), Larry Stewart (The M.C., Mr. Morgan), Joe Lynn (Tiny Joe Dixon, Jerry), Loretta
Devine (Lorrell Robinson), Obba Babatunde (C. C. White), Jennifer Holliday (Effie Melody White); Little
Albert and The Tru-Tones: Wellington Perkins, Charles Bernard, Jamie Patterson, Charles Randolph-
Wright, and Weyman Thompson; Cleavant Derricks (James aka Jimmy Thunder Early), Sheila Ellis
(Edna Burke); The James Early Band: Charles Bernard, Jamie Patterson, Wellington Perkins, Scott Plank,
Charles Randolph-Wright, and Weyman Thompson; Tony Franklin (Wayne); Dave and The Sweethearts:
Paul Binotto, Candy Darling, and Stephanie Eley; David Thome (Frank), Deborah Burrell (Michelle Mor-
ris), The Five Tuxedos: Charles Bernard, Jamie Patterson, Charles Randolph-Wright, Larry Stewart, and
Weyman Thompson; Les Style: Cheryl Alexander, Tenita Jordan, Linda Lloyd, and Brenda Pressley; Film
Executives: Paul Binotto, Scott Plank, and Weyman Thompson; Announcers, Fans, Reporters, Stagehands,
Party Guests, and Photographers: Cheryl Alexander, Phylicia Ayers-Allen, Vanessa Bell, Charles Bernard,
Paul Binotto, Candy Darling, Ronald Dunham, Stephanie Eley, Sheila Ellis, Tenita Jordan, Linda Lloyd,
Joe Lynn, Frank Mastrocola, Jamie Patterson, Wellington Perkins, Scott Plank, Brenda Pressley, David
Thome, Charles Randolph-Wright, Larry Stewart, Weyman Thompson
The action takes place in the early 1960s (in New York City, on the road, in limbo, St. Louis, Miami, Cleve-
land, San Francisco, and Las Vegas) and in the early 1970s (in Las Vegas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Chicago,
and New York City).
Musical Numbers
Note: The Dreamettes and The Dreams were portrayed and sung by Jennifer Holliday, Loretta Devine, and
Sheryl Lee Ralph until the last number in the first act (“Love Love You Baby”) when The Dreams were
portrayed by Sheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine, and Deborah Burrell; beginning with the reprise version
of “One Night Only” late in the second act, the group is known as Deena Jones and The Dreams and the
group members are portrayed by Sheryl Lee Ralph with Loretta Devine and Deborah Burrell.
Act One: “I’m Looking for Something” (The Stepp Sisters: Deborah Burrell, Vanessa Bell, Tenita Jordan, and
Brenda Pressley); “Goin’ Downtown” (Little Albert and The Tru-Tones: Wellington Perkins, Charles
Bernard, Jamie Patterson, Charles Randolph-Wright, and Weyman Thompson); “Takin’ the Long Way
Home” (Joe Lynn); “Move” (“You’re Steppin’ on My Heart”) (The Dreamettes: Jennifer Holiday, Loretta
Devine, and Sheryl Lee Ralph); “Fake Your Way to the Top” (Cleavant Derricks; The James Early Band:
Charles Bernard, Jamie Patterson, Wellington Perkins, Scott Plank, Charles Randolph-Wright, and Wey-
man Thompson); “Cadillac Car” (Ben Harney, Cleavant Derricks, Obba Babatunde, Vondie Curtis-Hall,
Company); “Cadillac Car” (reprise) (Company); “Cadillac Car” (second reprise) (Company); “Cadillac
Car” (third reprise) (Dave and The Sweethearts: Paul Binotto, Candy Darling, and Stephanie Eley); “Step-
pin’ to the Bad Side” (Ben Harney, Obba Babatunde, Cleavant Derricks, Tony Franklin; The Dreamettes:
Jennifer Holiday, Loretta Devine, and Sheryl Lee Ralph; Company); “Party, Party” (Company); “I Want
You Baby” (Cleavant Derricks; The Dreamettes: Jennifer Holiday, Loretta Devine, and Sheryl Lee Ralph);
“Family” (Obba Babatunde, Ben Harney, Cleavant Derricks, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine); “Dream-
girls” (The Dreams: Jennifer Holiday, Loretta Devine, and Sheryl Lee Ralph); “Press Conference” (Com-
pany); “Only the Beginning” (Ben Harney, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Jennifer Holliday); “Heavy” (The Dreams:
Jennifer Holiday, Loretta Devine, and Sheryl Lee Ralph); “Heavy” (reprise) (The Dreams: Jennifer Holiday,
Loretta Devine, and Sheryl Lee Ralph; Ben Harney); “It’s All Over” (Ben Harney, Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl
Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine, Obba Babatunde, Deborah Burrell, Cleavant Derricks); “And I Am Telling
You I’m Not Going” (Jennifer Holliday); “Love Love You Baby” (The Dreams: Sheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta
Devine, and Deborah Burrell)
1981–1982 SEASON 113
Act Two: “Dreams’ Medley” (Deena Jones and The Dreams: Sheryl Lee Ralph with Loretta Devine and Debo-
rah Burrell); “I Am Changing” (Jennifer Holliday); “One More Picture, Please” (Company); “When I First
Saw You” (Ben Harney, Sheryl Lee Ralph); “Got to Be Good Times” (The Five Tuxedos: Charles Bernard,
Jamie Patterson, Charles Randolph-Wright, Larry Stewart, and Weyman Thompson); “Ain’t No Party”
(Loretta Devine, Cleavant Derricks); “I Meant You No Harm” (Cleavant Derricks); “Quintette” (Sheryl
Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine, Obba Babatunde, Deborah Burrell, Cleavant Derricks); “The Rap” (Cleavant
Derricks, Obba Babatunde, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Ben Harney, David Thome, Loretta Devine, Company); “I
Miss You Old Friend” (Jennifer Holliday, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Obba Babatunde; Les Style: Cheryl Alexan-
der, Tenita Jordan, Linda Lloyd, and Brenda Pressley); “One Night Only” (Jennifer Holliday); “One Night
Only” (reprise) (Deena Jones and The Dreams: Sheryl Lee Ralph with Loretta Devine and Deborah Burrell;
Company); “I’m Somebody” (Deena Jones and The Dreams: Sheryl Lee Ralph with Loretta Devine and
Deborah Burrell); “Faith in Myself” (Jennifer Holliday); “Hard to Say Goodbye, My Love” (Deena Jones
and The Dreams: Sheryl Lee Ralph with Loretta Devine and Deborah Burrell) (Note: Although not listed
in the program, the finale was a reprise of “Dreamgirls,” and was sung by Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee
Ralph, Loretta Devine, and Deborah Burrell.)
Despite its enormous success (at 1,522 performances it was the season’s longest-running musical), Mi-
chael Bennett’s Dreamgirls was a disappointing show that never realized its potential and was further lost in
a fog of pretentious staging and décor.
The story dealt with the girl group the Dreams, a trio of black singers clearly patterned after the Supremes,
and the backstage intrigue in which the trio’s lead singer, the overweight Effie Melody White (Jennifer Hol-
liday), is ruthlessly dropped by the group’s manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Ben Harney), a former car salesman who
is the group’s manager and Effie’s lover. When he decides the up-and-coming trio needs to change its current
image for a more commercial and glamorous one if it’s to cross over and become popular with white record
buyers and concert goers, Effie is replaced in the trio (and in Taylor’s bed) by the sleek and stylish Deena Jones
(Sheryl Lee Ralph). Taylor also shoves aside the established black male singer James Thunder Early (a charac-
ter clearly inspired by singer James Brown and portrayed by Cleavant Derricks), when he decides Early is on
the verge of becoming a has-been with his brand of old-hat soul music. As for the trio itself, its original name
and its subsequent changes said it all, as it cleverly showed the evolving styles of music and the backstage
back stabbings: The Dreamettes, The Dreams, and then Deena Jones and The Dreams.
The inherent drama in these stories could have made an exciting and incisive musical with something
interesting to say about showbiz intrigues and the vagaries of the popular music world. But Tom Eyen’s book
shunted aside the story’s more cynical aspects and never truly addressed the potentially searing dramatic pos-
sibilities of the material. Further, the virtually sung-through score (with lyrics by Eyen and music by Henry
Krieger) was unimpressive, and while many made a case for Effie’s “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,”
it was an overwrought and bombastic show-off piece that brought to mind the equally dreary and pretentious
“Fifty Percent” from Bennett’s previous Broadway musical Ballroom (1978).
Despite the weaknesses of the book, lyrics, and score, one expected Bennett to magically transform the
unexplored potential of the material into theatrical fireworks with his directorial and choreographic genius.
Unfortunately, the musical all but ignored dance, and Bennett was far more interested in the dreary décor of
eternally shifting pylons that dominated the stage. In fact, Bennett “choreographed” the pylons ad infinitum,
and his staging ideas seemed more obsessed with creating pools of space by various configurations of the py-
lons and by shifting pools of light rather than the story itself. The pylons wouldn’t have been so insufferable
had they been organic to the plot. As it was, one felt they would have been more appropriate for a musical
about Stonehenge.
The musical received raves along with many qualified reviews. Clive Barnes in the New York Post said
Krieger’s score was “chiefly a white man’s watered-down version of Motown” and that Bennett’s choreog-
raphy had “an odd air of parody that is almost patronizing” (he suggested that such black choreographers as
Alvin Ailey, Billy Wilson, or George Faison “would almost certainly have done a better, even fairer, job”). In
all, the evening “seemed an idea muddled, a dream gone adrift.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily felt
the story followed “standard patterns,” its humor dissipated, and the best he could say about the music was
that it was “continuous.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the new musical was “as flashy
as a shop girl’s dream and just as empty,” and it resembled “a series of rehearsal periods for some slick TV
commercial.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 complained that there was only one “real” dance number in the entire
musical, the evening lacked “emotional impact,” and the story never made “people of its characters.”
Jack Kroll in Newsweek said Dreamgirls wasn’t “perfect” and he didn’t care for the unrealistic “reconcili-
ation” between Effie and The Dreams, particularly since the actual cast-aside Supreme, Florence Ballard, met
“penury and defeat” and died at the age of thirty-two. But nonetheless he said the work was “an entertain-
ment unlike any other, a permanent contribution to our musical theatre.” T. E. Kalem in Time noted that
Bennett was “surprisingly skimpy” on dances but otherwise conjured up “scenes of potent magic that prove
as evanescent as dreams,” and Frank Rich in the New York Times said Bennett had “fashioned a show that
strikes with the speed of lightning” and all the evening’s elements kept “coming together and falling apart to
create explosive variations on a theme.”
As for Jennifer Holliday, Rich said her “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” was one of the “power-
ful theatrical coups” in the history of Broadway; Barnes said her voice combined “velvet” and “sandpaper”;
and Kroll somehow decided that “Maria Callas herself would have admired” Holliday’s “devastating fusion
of singing and acting.” Watt said Holliday’s acting ability was “negligible,” but her gospel-styled singing was
“effective” if “overused,” particularly in her “nagging” torch song. And Kissel found her a “magical” artist
and said he could “almost” forgive the “morons” in the audience who leapt to their feet in cheers before Hol-
liday had time to finish her big number.
During the tryout, the song “I Found You” (for Deborah Burrell and Tony Franklin) was cut, and the title
of the musical was Dream Girls (two words). For the national tour, the second-act opening (“Dreams’ Med-
ley”) was replaced by “Step on Over.”
The original cast album was released by Geffen Records (LP # GHSP-2007), and the CD was issued by
Universal/Decca Broadway with three bonus tracks (“Driving Down the Strip,” “It’s All Over,” and the finale
reprise of the title song). A 2001 New York concert was recorded by Nonesuch Records (CD # 7559-79656-2)
on a two-CD set.
The film version was released in 2006 by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. Directed by Bill Condon,
the cast included Jennifer Hudson (who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the role of
Effie), Beyonce Knowles (Deena), Eddie Murphy (Early), Jamie Foxx (Taylor), and, in a cameo appearance,
Broadway cast member Loretta Devine. The soundtrack was released on a two-CD set by Sony/BMG (# 88697-
02012-2), and the DVD was issued by Warner Brothers. Most of the Broadway score was retained for the film,
and the following songs were added: “Love You I Do” and “Perfect World” (lyrics by Siedah Garrett and music
by Henry Krieger); “Patience” and “What Love Can Do” (lyrics by Willie Reale and music by Henry Krieger);
“Listen” (lyric by Scott Cutler, Beyonce Knowles, and Anne Preven and music by Henry Krieger); and “Big”
and “Lorrell Loves Jimmy” (lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger). The film also interpolated “Step
on Over,” which had been added for the national tour.
The musical was revived on Broadway on June 28, 1987, at the Ambassador Theatre for 177 performances
(see entry), and on November 22, 2009, at the Apollo Theatre for 44 showings.
A curious footnote to Dreamgirls is that in three versions of the musical the leading role of Effie has been
played by actresses whose first name is a variation of “Jennifer.” In early 1981, Jenifer Lewis created the role
in a workshop production when the show was titled Big Dreams (Lewis discussed this experience in her one-
woman autobiographical musical The Diva Is Dismissed, which opened at the Susan Stein Shiva Theatre at
the Public Theatre on October 30, 1994). And of course the Jennifers Holliday and Hudson played the roles in
the respective Broadway and film versions.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Dreamgirls); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Ben Harney);
Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Jennifer Holliday); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Sheryl Lee
Ralph); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Obba Babatunde); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Cleavant
Derricks); Best Director of a Musical (Michael Bennett); Best Book (Tom Eyen); Best Score (lyrics by Tom
Eyen, music by Henry Krieger); Best Scenic Designer (Robin Wagner); Best Costume Designer (Theoni V.
Aldredge); Best Lighting Designer (Tharon Musser); Best Choreographer (Michael Bennett)
1981–1982 SEASON 115
WALTZ OF THE STORK

“Melvin Van Peebles’ New Comedy with Music”
Theatre: Century Theatre

Opening Date: January 5, 1982; Closing Date: May 23, 1982
Performances: 160
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Melvin Van Peebles (additional lyrics and music by Ted Hayes and by Mark Barkan);
Producer: Melvin Van Peebles; Scenery: Kurt Lundell; Costumes: Bernard Johnson; Lighting: Shirley Pren-
dergast; Musical Direction: Bob Carten
Cast: Melvin Van Peebles (Edward Aloysius Younger), Bob Carten (Stillman), C. J. Critt (Phantoms, Memo-
ries, Back-Up Vocals), Mario Van Peebles (Phantoms, Memories, Back-Up Vocals)
The action takes place “now and before” in “Wherever” and in midtown Manhattan.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t identify the names of the performers for the musical numbers.
Act One: “There”; “And I Love You”; “The Apple Stretching” (Introduction Version); “Tender Understand-
ing” (lyric and music by Ted Hayes); “The Apple Stretching” (Instrumental Version); “Mother’s Prayer”;
“My Love Belongs to You”; “Weddings and Funerals” (lyric and music by Mark Barkan)
Act Two: “My Love Belongs to You” (reprise); “One-Hundred and Fifteen”; “Play It as It Lays”; “The Apple
Stretching” (reprise); “Shoulders to Lean On”
Melvin Van Peebles was the producer, star, book writer, lyricist, and composer of Waltz of the Stork
(two songs were written by other lyricists and composers; see song list for further information). The loosely-
structured evening was comprised of a series of reminiscences by Edward Aloysius Younger (Melvin Van
Peebles), some real and others fantasy. Despite mostly dismissive reviews, the small-scale musical with four
performers and prerecorded music managed to run out the season for an almost five-month run. The score
offered one catchy song (“Weddings and Funerals”) which was written and composed by Mark Barkan. Mario
Van Peebles, the star’s son, played a variety of roles, as did C. J. Critt.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said that as a composer Van Peebles’s talent was “negligible”
and his narrative was a “sketchy” and “ill-composed piece of work.” But there were “rare moments” when
he made “amusing observations” with his “skillful delivery.” Frank Rich in the New York Times stated the
evening was “a bewildering, almost unwatchable exercise in self-indulgence” which wasn’t “ready to play a
living room, let alone a Broadway theatre”; Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily suggested the envi-
ronment of “coffee house poetry readings” would have better served Van Peebles’s writings; Clive Barnes in
the New York Post said the “strange entertainment” was like attending a “boring party” with “monotonous
music,” and he noted that the “wordy rigamarole” was “much ado about nothing”; and John Beaufort in the
Christian Science Monitor found the evening “generally lackluster” but “amiable in tone, generally ingrati-
ating, and sometimes amusing,” and he suggested the material would have been more effective had it been
half as long.
Waltz of the Stork had first been performed Off Broadway at the INTAR Theatre in June 1981. Van
Peebles later revised the musical and the now self-styled “Comedy Musical” opened Off Off Broadway on
July 12, 1984, at the Harry Dejur Henry Street Settlement Playhouse as Waltz of the Stork Boogie and played
for twenty performances. Legendary dancer Harold Nicholas performed the role originally created by Van
Peebles, and the cast also included the Brewery Puppets. All the songs from the original production were re-
tained, and two new ones were added (both by Van Peebles), “So Many Bars” and “Jungle Party (No Escape).”
Waltz of the Stork opened at the Century Theatre, which was originally the home of the nightclub Billy
Rose’s Diamond Horseshoe. After the venue’s glory days as the famous nitery and before it was named the
Century, the theatre was known as the Mayfair.
LITTLE ME
“A Musical Comedy”
Theatre: Eugene O’Neill Theatre

Performances: 36
Book: Neil Simon
Lyrics: Carolyn Leigh
Music: Cy Coleman
Based on the 1961 novel Little Me by Patrick Dennis.
Direction: Robert Drivas; Producers: Warner Theatre Productions, Inc., Wayne Rogers, Ron Dante, Steven
Leber, David Krebs, J. McLaughlin, Marc Piven, and Emanuel Azenberg; Choreography: Peter Gennaro;
Scenery and Costumes: Tony Walton; Lighting: Beverly Emmons; Musical Direction: Donald York
Cast: Gibby Brand (Announcer, Attorney, Bandleader, Preacher, German Soldier, General, Yulnick), Jessica
James (Belle—Today), Henry Sutton (Charlie Drake, Greensleeves, Town Spokesman, Assistant Director,
Croupier), Mary Gordon Murray (Belle, Baby Belle), Mary Small (Momma), Mary C. Holton (Ramona),
Gail Pennington (Cerine, Boom-Boom Girl), Brian Quinn (Bruce, Sailor I), Victor Garber (Noble Eggleston,
Val du Val, Fred Poitrine, Noble Junior), James Coco (Flo Eggleston, Amos Pinchley, Mr. Worst, Otto
Schnitzler, Prince Cherney), Maris Clement (Mrs. Kepplewhite), James Brennan (Pinchley Junior), Sean
Murphy (Nurse), Don Correia (Frankie Polo), Bebe Neuwirth (Boom-Boom Girl), Bob Freschi (Henchman,
Captain), Stephen Berger (Court Clerk, Henchman, Sergeant, Doctor), Mark McGrath (Bert, Sailor II),
Andrea Green (Red Cross Nurse), David Cahn (Stewart), Kevin Brooks Winkler (Pharaoh I); Townspeople,
Skylight Patrons, Nurses, Soldiers, Passengers, International Set, and Peasants: Stephen Berger, Michael
Blevins, David Cahn, Maria Clement, Bob Freschi, Andrea Green, Mary C. Holton, Mark McGrath, Gary
Mendelson, Sean Murphy, Bebe Neuwirth, Gail Pennington, Susan Powers, Brian Quinn, Kevin Brooks
Winkler
The action takes place in the present in New Jersey, and during the past in such places as East Hampton, Long
Island, Chicago, France, the North Atlantic, and Hollywood.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Don’t Ask a Lady” (Jessica James);”The Other Side of the Tracks” (Mary Gordon Murray); “The
Rich Kids’ Rag” (aka “The Birthday Party”) (Company); “I Love You” (Victor Garber, Mary Gordon Mur-
ray, Company); “The Other Side of the Tracks” (reprise) (Mary Gordon Murray); “Deep Down Inside”
(James Coco, Mary Gordon Murray, Company); “Boom-Boom” (Victor Garber); “I’ve Got Your Number”
(Don Correia); “Real Live Girl” (Victor Garber); “Real Live Girl” (reprise) (Doughboys)
Act Two: “I Love You” (reprise) (Victor Garber, Mary Gordon Murray); “I Wanna Be Yours” (Mary Gordon
Murray, James Coco); “Little Me” (Jessica James, Mary Gordon Murray, Mary Small); “Goodbye” (aka
“Farewell” and “The Prince’s Farewell”) (James Coco, Gibby Brand, Stephen Berger, Company); “Here’s
to Us” (Jessica James, Company)
In the beginning there was Patrick Dennis’s delicious 1961 novel Little Me: The Intimate Memoirs of
That Great Star of Stage, Screen and Television Belle Poitrine as Told to Patrick Dennis, a merry send-up
of tell-all, as-told-to autobiographies by tinsel-town actresses (the book is dedicated to such luminaries as
Arlene, Bette, Brigitte, Ingrid, Marilyn, Olivia, Sophie, Tallulah, Yvonne, Zsa Zsa, “and those whose life sto-
ries will follow”). The fictitious Belle (born Bessie Schlumpfert) is a talent-free actress (who starred in such
cinematic epics as Papaya Paradise, Tarzan’s Other Wife, Sawdust Circe, Viva Tequila!, and The Broadway
Barcarole of 1930) who stops at nothing as she claws her way up the ladder of mediocrity in her search for
“wealth, culture and social position.”
The book includes dozens of hilarious photographs taken by Cris Alexander that depict Belle’s life and
times. Alexander had appeared in the original Broadway productions of On the Town, Wonderful Town, and
Auntie Mame, and about one hundred Broadway performers of the era took part in the photos (the book’s
1981–1982 SEASON 117
acknowledgment page thanks the actors and dancers who appeared at photos sessions “between matinee and
evening performances and even sacrificed that time most sacred to the members of Equity—Sunday morn-
ing”). Those who took part in the photos were Jeri Archer (who had appeared in the 1945 Broadway musical
Billion Dollar Baby) as Belle, and others in her life are portrayed by Alice Pearce and Kaye Ballard (and there’s
even a “guest appearance” by Rosalind Russell). The book begins with Belle’s childhood days in turn-of-the-
century Venezuela, Illinois (Twin Jugs, Illinois, for the current revival), where, as a sign of respect, her mother
was the only woman in town called “madam.” The saga concludes many decades later in present-day 1960,
when the “frankly forty” Belle finds God in Southampton.
After years of ups and downs in the world of show business, Belle recalls the triumphant opening of her
1931 musical comedy film version of “Nat” Hawthorne’s immortal classic novel The Scarlet Letter, now up-
dated to life on a modern-day college campus called Allstate where coed Hester proudly wears the red-letter
“A” on the sweater of her cheerleader outfit. The four-hour epic begins at eight o’clock on New Year’s Eve in
a movie palace on Times Square, and when the film is over it is greeted with dead silence (Belle explains that
the audience was so touched they were unable to applaud). But when Belle leaves the theatre at midnight and
steps out onto the sidewalk, all hell breaks loose as the “wildly cheering populace of New York” erupts in
applause, shouts, whistles, horns, and confetti. Belle knows she has finally “arrived.”
But something happened to Belle on the road to Broadway where Little Me opened in 1962. The musical
became a star vehicle for Sid Caesar, who played the roles of seven men in Belle’s life. With the focus shifted
to Caesar’s characters, Belle was relegated to a supporting role in her own story (Virginia Martin played Belle
and her daughter “ Baby,” and Nancy Andrews was the older Belle). Certainly the conceit of Caesar’s multiple
roles provided continuity and a certain unifying element to the picaresque story, but unfortunately the musi-
cal concentrated too much on Caesar and less on spoofing old-time Hollywood and Belle’s ruthless ambition.
For the current revival, two actors (Victor Garber and James Coco) divvied up Caesar’s seven roles (Garber
was Noble Eggleston, Val du Val, Fred Poitrine, and Noble Eggleston Jr., and Coco played Pinchley, Schnit-
zler, and Cherney as well as two new roles written for the revival, Mr. Worst and the drag role of Flo Egg-
leston). Further, the scenes of Belle’s days in vaudeville were cut, including the songs “Be a Performer!” and
“Dimples” (these were virtually a two-song shorthand for the plot of the later 1975 musical Chicago), and
Belle’s Hollywood years were skimmed over (and her song “Poor Little Hollywood Star” was dropped). With
Belle now shunted aside with even less to do than in the original production, and with the misconceived no-
tion of dividing Caesar’s roles between two actors, the revival was weak tea and disappeared after thirty-six
performances.
The production also included Bebe Neuwirth in the role of the Boom Boom Girl and as a member of the
ensemble. Including Little Me, most of Neuwirth’s Broadway appearances were in musicals associated with
Bob Fosse: she was a replacement in Dancin’ (1978); appeared as Nickie in the 1986 revival of Sweet Charity,
where she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical; was Lola in the 1994 revival of Damn
Yankees; was Velma in the 1996 revival of Chicago (she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a
Musical, and during the marathon run also appeared as Roxie Hart and Matron Mama Morton); and was a
replacement in the retrospective revue Fosse (1999).
The revival included book revisions as well as the omission of four songs (“The Truth,” “Be a Performer!,”
“Dimples,” and “Poor Little Hollywood Star”) and the addition of two others (the well-received “Don’t Ask
a Lady” and “I Wanna Be Yours”). During New York previews, the revival included “Be a Performer!,” which
was dropped prior to opening night. Bob Fosse had choreographed the original production, and while Peter
Gennaro created the dances for the revival, Fosse’s original choreography was used for “Deep Down Inside.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times praised the “outstanding” score, but otherwise found the current
production “a spotty, sloppy substitute for the zestier and grander” original version; further, Garber and Coco
weren’t “suitable” successors to Caesar and weren’t as funny. Jack Kroll in Newsweek said the score was
“Broadway gold,” and noted that the “seductive” Don Correia “slithers and snakes like the serpent in Eden”
for “I’ve Got Your Number.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily also hailed Correia, who created “fire-
works” with his impressive dance, but criticized Tony Walton’s décor and costumes, both of which seemed
to have been “created on an extremely tight budget.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News felt the book was too much of a “loosely strung and some-
what jumbled travelogue,” but the score was “delightful and vivacious” and the “talented” Correia provided
a “sensual” and “show-stopping” dance for “I’ve Got Your Number”; Clive Barnes in the New York Post said
the revival was “one of the best shows in town” and he liked the “summer breeziness” of Coleman’s music
and the “apt dexterity” of Leigh’s “cheek-in-tongue” lyrics; John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor
praised the “solid” performances and noted that Correia’s turn was a “dazzling solo”; and Edwin Wilson in
the Wall Street Journal liked the “wit and sophistication” of the score and how Correia “sensuously closes
in” on Belle for “I’ve Got Your Number.”
The original production opened on November 17, 1962, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre for 257 perfor-
mances. Despite mostly rave reviews and ten Tony Award nominations (including a Best Choreographer
award to Bob Fosse), the musical closed at a loss and ironically ran one week less than the poorly received
Mr. President.
Cy Coleman’s tuneful score and Carolyn Leigh’s daffy lyrics provided one of the best scores of the era,
and included the sensuous male strip-tease “I’ve Got Your Number” for one of Belle’s suitors; the tongue-in-
cheek ballad “I Love You” in which richer-than-thou Junior Eggleston tells Belle he loves her as much as he’s
able, considering she’s “riffraff” and he’s “well-to-do”; the hijinks of “The Prince’s Farewell” in which the
dying Prince Cherney comfortingly assures his subjects that one day they’ll all meet again (and they solemnly
respond, “We hope it isn’t soon”); the sly spoof “Boom-Boom,” a look at Maurice Chevalier-styled music-hall
antics; the alternately wistful and driving “The Other Side of the Tracks,” Belle’s “wanting” song; the witty
“The Truth,” for the older Belle to hawk her autobiography; the triumphant toast “Here’s to Us,” for the older
Belle; the touching and plaintive air “Poor Little Hollywood Star” in which Belle, like all show-business stars
before her, realizes that It’s Lonely at the Top; the “I-Am-My-Own-Best-Friend” tradition of the title song
for the two Belles; and the sweetly ingratiating ballad “Real Live Girl” for the doughboys on the front (a few
critics thought it was a kinder and gentler “There’s Nothing Like a Dame”).
The 1962 original cast album was released by RCA Victor Records (LP # LOC/LSO-1078; later issued on
CD # 09026-61482-2), and the script was published in hardback by Random House in 1979 in The Collected
Plays of Neil Simon Vol. II.
The original London production opened at the Cambridge Theatre on November 18, 1964, with Bruce
Forsyth and Eileen Gourlay (like Virginia Martin, who created the role of Hedy La Rue in the 1961 Broadway
production of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, Gourlay played Hedy in the London edition
of How To). For London, Swen Swenson reprised his show-stopping “I’ve Got Your Number.” The London
cast album was released by Pye Records (LP # NPL-18107 and # NSPL-83023), and later reissued by World
Records (LP # T-789 and # ST-789) and PRT Records (LP # FBLP-8077); the CD was issued by DRG Records
(# 13111). In many respects the London cast recording is superior to the Broadway album (and it includes “The
Rich Kids’ Rag,” which was omitted from the Broadway recording).
A late 1960s proposed film version never got off the ground. A two-full-page advertisement in the Novem-
ber 13, 1968, issue of Variety announced that “You’ll love mad-cap, man-made, much-married, money-mad,
mini-minded, maxi-mated, mink-mantled and mainly musical Little Me!” The projected Avco Embassy film
was to be produced by Joseph E. Levine, directed by Joe Layton, and written by Larry Gelbart, with filming
set to begin in October 1969 as an “in Color … Major Road Show Attraction.” At one point, Carol Channing
and Goldie Hawn were mentioned for the two Belles.
After the current revival, the musical was presented on November 12, 1998, at the Criterion Center Stage
Right Theater in a Roundabout Theatre Company production for 101 performances. Martin Short and Faith
Prince headlined, and he won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. With the exception of
“The Truth,” all the songs from the original 1962 production were retained; “I Love You” was heard in the
first act, and a revised version (“I Love Sinking You”) was sung in the second. The two new songs for the 1982
revival were omitted. The cast album was recorded by Varese Sarabande Records (CD # VSD-6011).
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Victor Garber); Best Leading Actress in a Musical
(Mary Gordon Murray); Best Choreographer (Peter Gennaro)
1981–1982 SEASON 119
THE CURSE OF AN ACHING HEART

“An Evening’s Comedy”
Theatre: Little Theatre

Performances: 32
Play and Lyrics: William Alfred
Music: Claibe Richardson
Direction: Gerald Gutierrez; Producers: Margot Harley, John Houseman, Everett King, David Weil, and Sid-
ney Shlenker (David Jiranek and Frederick C. Venturelli); Scenery: John Lee Beatty; Costumes: Nancy
Potts; Lighting: Dennis Parichy
Cast: Faye Dunaway (Frances Walsh aka Frances Ann Duffy, Fran Duffy, and Frances Anna Duffy Walsh),
Audrie Neenan (Gertrude “Lulu” Fitter aka Lulu Fitter and Gertrude “Lulu” Fitter Malardino), Bernie
McInerney (John Joseph “Jo Jo” Finn), Jon Polito (Pasquale “Packy” Malardino), Dale Helward (Man with
Newspaper), Kurt Knudson (Herman Crump), Terrance O’Quinn (Martin “Lugs” Walsh), Francine Beers
(Minnie Crump), Colin Stinton (J. Stanislaus McGahey), Paul McCrane (Aloysius “Wishy” Burke), Beverly
May (Gertrude Graham Finn), Raphael Sbarge (Martin Thomas Walsh)
The play with songs was presented in one act.
The action takes place in Brooklyn in the order of the following time periods: 1942, 1923, 1925, 1927, 1935,
and 1942.
Musical Numbers
“Love to Your Heart’s Desire” (Faye Dunaway, Audrie Neenan); “Make It New” (Faye Dunaway); “Spring,
Spring, Spring” (Jon Polito); “Thorsping” (Audrie Neenan, Faye Dunaway); “I Got Eyes for a Girl on the
Car” (Jon Polito); “Ain’t Love Grand” (Audrie Neenan, Jon Polito); Note: The program indicates that the
song “Give Us a Kiss” was performed by Alan Mirchin, who was otherwise not listed in the credits (Ken
Bloom in American Song states that the number was dropped in previews and that “I’m in Love with the
Girl on the Car” and “Spring, Spring, Spring” were cut prior to the New York opening).
William Alfred’s blank-verse play Hogan’s Goat was a successful drama that opened Off Broadway on
November 11, 1965, for 607 performances. Set in the Brooklyn of 1890, the tragic story focused on the politi-
cal and personal turmoil in an Irish-American neighborhood, including the doomed Kathleen, who was played
by Faye Dunaway in her first major role. Albert Marre and Alfred wrote the book of the musical adaptation
that opened on Broadway in 1970 as Cry for Us All. Despite a run of nine performances, it offered a strikingly
melodic score by Mitch Leigh (with lyrics by Phyllis Robinson and Alfred).
Alfred’s play with music The Curse of an Aching Heart was also set in Brooklyn and looked at the world
of Irish New Yorkers, with its focus on Frances Walsh (played by Dunaway in her first New York stage ap-
pearance in seventeen years), who during the course of the evening is identified as the granddaughter of a
minor character in Hogan’s Goat. Alfred wrote the lyrics for the incidental songs, Claibe Richardson was the
composer, and the actors performed the numbers to prerecorded music.
The short one-act, ninety-minute play began and ended in 1942, with flashbacks to 1923, 1925, 1927, and
1935. Frances Walsh always searches for happiness, but never quite finds it. As an orphan, she’s adopted by an
uncle who harbors incestuous feelings for her, when she grows up she never seems to find romance, and when
she finally marries it turns out her husband is a hopeless alcoholic. But no matter: Frances believes there is a
purpose to existence and that one must embrace whatever life offers.
The critics complained that too much of the action took place offstage between scenes and thus was never
dramatized and only talked about. Frank Rich in the New York Times noted that Alfred’s “narrative context”
went “missing” and the plot lurched “in and out of coherence,” and John Beaufort in the Christian Science
Monitor said some characters “simply evaporate or disappear for long years and plot stretches.” Clive Barnes
in the New York Post suggested Alfred’s “insight” was “commonplace enough for a fortune cookie”; Howard
Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily found the play “contrived” with a “coy or clichéd” plot and performances that
were “pure caricature”; Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the work “terribly contrived”; and
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal said the script was “underwritten.”
The critics also noted that Alfred seemed obsessed with both period slang (“the cat’s pajamas,” “that’s
one slick bozo,” “You ain’t just whistlin’ ‘Dixie’”, and “there’s this bimbo there givin’ me the glad-eye”) and
references (Clara Bow, Texas Guinan, Ish Kabibble, and cherry smashes), and Watt said he felt he “was trapped
in a glossary instead of a play.”
As for Dunaway’s performance, the consensus was she did her best with slim material. Dennis Cunning-
ham on WCBSTV2 said that “in the midst of this rubble” she was nonetheless “a luminous and fascinating
presence”; Kissel noted she was too mature to pass for a fourteen-year-old girl and she was “too striking look-
ing to be credible as a woman fearing spinsterhood”; and Wilson commented that Dunaway’s wardrobe was
hardly what a Depression-era secretary could afford (in fact, she looked “so smashing” in her outfits that it
was “difficult to accept that she would have had a problem finding a husband”).
Watt mentioned that the play was an “almost-musical” and suggested the “sketchy” material might have
served as the book for a full-fledged one. He liked Richardson’s “considerable and tuneful” score, but noted
the lyrics were “unfortunately inept.” Rich commented that the “pastiche period songs” provided nostalgia;
Kissel found the score “warm” and “haunting”; and T. E. Kalem in Time said the “nickelodeon-like” music
“tickles the ear.”
Scenic designer John Lee Beatty walked away with the evening’s honors. The critics praised his skeletal-
like revolving décor that depicted interiors and exteriors of the Brooklyn tenements as well as a life-size
streetcar that moved across the stage on tracks and even turned. Kissel said Beatty’s creations were “stun-
ning” and the critic praised the “exquisite” streetcar, which was “almost worth the price of admission.”
(Later in the decade, Keith Anderson’s trolley for Meet Me in St. Louis was another scene-stealer.)
The script was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1983.
JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

Theatre: Royale Theatre
Opening Date: January 27, 1982; Closing Date: September 4, 1983
Performances: 670
Lyrics: Tim Rice
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Based on the biblical story of Joseph as told in the Book of Genesis.
Direction and Choreography: Tony Tanner; Producers: Zev Bufman and Susan R. Rose, and Melvyn J. Estrin,
Sidney Shlenker and Gail Berman by arrangement with The Robert Stigwood Organization Ltd. and David
Land (Thomas Pennini, Jean Luskin, and Jerome Edson); Scenery: Karl Eigsti; Costumes: Judith Dolan;
Lighting: Barry Arnold; Musical Direction: David Friedman
Cast: Laurie Beechman (Narrator); Women’s Chorus: Lorraine Barrett, Karen Bogan, Katharine Buffaloe, Lau-
ren Goler, Randon Lo, Joni Masella, Kathleen Rowe McAllen, and Renee Warren; Gordon Stanley (Jacob),
Robert Hyman (Reuben), Kenneth Bryan (Simeon, Butler), Steve McNaughton (Levi), Charlie Serrano
(Napthali), Peter Kapetan (Issachar), David Asher (Asher), James Rich (Dan), Doug Voet (Zebulon), Barry
Tarallo (Gad, Baker), Philip Carrubba (Benjamin), Stephen Hope (Judah), Bill Hutton (Joseph), Tom Carder
(Ishmaelite, Pharaoh), David Ardao (Ishmaelite, Potiphar), Randon Lo (Mrs. Potiphar)
The action takes place in Canaan, Egypt, and Goshen during Biblical times.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Jacob and Sons” and “Joseph’s Coat” (Laurie Beechman, Brothers, Gordon Stanley, Bill Hutton,
Women); “Joseph’s Dreams” (Laurie Beechman, Bill Hutton, Brothers); “Poor, Poor Joseph” (Laurie Beech-
man, Brothers, Women); “One More Angel in Heaven” (Steve McNaughton, Brothers); “Potiphar” (Laurie
Beechman, Women, Randon Lo, David Ardao, Bill Hutton); “Close Every Door” (Bill Hutton, Women);
“Stone the Crows” (Laurie Beechman, Tom Carder, Bill Hutton, Women, Men); “Pharaoh’s Story” (Laurie
Beechman, Women)
1981–1982 SEASON 121
Act Two: “Poor, Poor Pharaoh” and “Song of the King” (Laurie Beechman, Tom Carder, Women, Men); “Pha-
raoh’s Dream Explained” (Bill Hutton, Women, Men); “Stone the Crows” (reprise) (Laurie Beechman,
Tom Carder, Bill Hutton, Women, Men); “Those Canaan Days” (Robert Hyman, Women, Men); “The
Brothers Came to Egypt” and “Grovel, Grovel” (Laurie Beechman, Brothers, Bill Hutton, Women); “Who’s
the Thief?” (Bill Hutton, Brothers, Women); “Benjamin Calypso” (Charlie Serrano, Brothers); “Joseph All
the Time” (Laurie Beechman, Bill Hutton, Brothers, Women); “Jacob in Egypt” (Bill Hutton, Brothers,
Women); “Any Dream Will Do” (Bill Hutton, Company); “May I Return to the Beginning” (Company)
The current 1982 production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat had originated Off
Broadway, where it had opened at the Entermedia Theatre on November 18, 1981, for 77 performances. The
musical had been previously produced in the New York City area at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Opera
House on December 12, 1976, for 23 performances (David-James Carroll was Joseph, Cleavon Little was the
Narrator, and Virginia Martin was Mrs. Potiphar), and returned there on December 13, 1977, for 24 more
showings (Carroll was again Joseph, and Alan Weeks was the Narrator). Following the 1982 Broadway produc-
tion, the musical was revived at the Minskoff Theatre on November 10, 1993, for 231 performances.
The musical told the familiar biblical story of Joseph (Bill Hutton), who incurs the wrath of his eleven
brothers when they become jealous of their father’s favoritism toward him, including the father’s gift of a
multicolored coat. They sell Joseph into slavery, but ultimately he returns home, forgives his brothers, and
lives with his family in peace. In reviewing the Broadway production, Frank Rich in the New York Times
noted that the musical might “not suffice as a full evening’s entertainment for adults unaccompanied by
children,” but it was the “ideal” show for a family matinee.
The Off-Broadway production received generally favorable reviews, and the critics didn’t seem bothered
by the musical’s dumbed-down shtick of “relating” a biblical story to modern audiences with anachronistic
touches such as an Elvis Presley-inspired Pharaoh, songs in the styles of rock, calypso, and country-western,
and props that included scooters and credit cards. Don Nelsen in the New York Daily News praised the “exu-
berant revel”; Gerald Clarke in Time said the work would “amuse and entertain”; and Dennis Cunningham
on WCBSTV2 considered Joseph “the merriest musical in town.”
But Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily reminded his readers that the musical was “essentially
children’s theatre” and it made for “terrible adults’ theatre”; and Clive Barnes in the New York Post thought
the production looked “cheap,” said Bill Hutton lacked “the voice, stage presence, or even innocence” for the
title role, and warned that while “some people might find” the musical “likable,” he didn’t think he “could
actually like anyone who found it lovable.”
The musical had originally premiered as a thirty-minute work at St. Paul’s Junior School in London,
where it opened on March 1, 1968, and the first American production was seen in May 1970 at the College
of the Immaculate Conception in Douglastown, Long Island. The West End production opened at the Albery
Theatre in February 1973 and played for 243 performances.
The current production was recorded by Chrysalis Records (LP # CHR-1387; issued on CD # F2-21387),
and is one of almost two-dozen recordings of the score. A London revival with Jason Donovan and Linzi Hat-
eley opened on June 12, 1991, at the London Palladium and was recorded by Polydor Records (CD # 314-511-
130-2); a production with Donny Osmond opened on June 18, 1992, at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto, Ontario,
Canada, and it too was recorded by Polydor (CD # 314-517-266-2) (this version was later reconceived for home
video and was released on DVD by Universal with Osmond and a home video cast that included Richard At-
tenborough, Joan Collins, and Maria Friedman); and a Los Angeles revival opened on February 25, 1993, with
Michael Damian and Clifford David, and it was also recorded by Polydor (CD # 314-519-352-2).
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Musical (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat); Best Featured
Actor in a Musical (Bill Hutton); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Laurie Beechman); Best Director of
a Musical (Tony Tanner); Best Book (Tim Rice); Best Score (lyrics by Tim Rice, music by Andrew Lloyd
Webber); Best Choreographer (Tony Tanner)
PUMP BOYS AND DINETTES

“A Country Music Revue”

Opening Date: February 4, 1982; Closing Date: June 19, 1983
Performances: 573
Text, Lyrics, Music, and Direction: By the cast (see cast list below; also see song list for specific song credits)
Producers: Dodger Productions, Louis Busch Hager, Marilyn Strauss, Kate Studley, Warner Theatre Produc-
tions, Inc., and Max Weitzenhoffer; Scenery: Doug Johnson and Christopher Nowak; Costumes: Patricia
McGourty; Lighting: Fred Buchholz; Musical Direction: Not Credited (possibly Jim Wann)
Cast: John Foley (Jackson), Mark Hardwick (L.M.), Debra Monk (Prudie Cupp), Cass Morgan (Rhetta Cupp),
John Schimmel (Eddie), Jim Wann (Jim)
The action takes place on “Highway 57—somewhere between Frog Level and Smyrna.”
Musical Numbers
Note: Unless otherwise credited, all lyrics and music by Jim Wann.
Act One: “Highway 57” (Company); “Taking It Slow” (lyric and music by John Foley, Mark Hardwick, John
Schimmel, and Jim Wann) (John Foley, Mark Hardwick, John Schimmel, Jim Wann); “Serve Yourself”
(Mark Hardwick); “Menu Song” (lyric and music by Cass Morgan and Debra Monk) (Cass Morgan, Debra
Monk); “The Best Man (I Never Had)” (Debra Monk); “Fisherman’s Prayer” (John Foley, Mark Hardwick,
John Schimmel, Jim Wann); “Caution: Men Cooking” (lyric and music by Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, Jim
Wann, John Foley) (John Foley, Mark Hardwick, John Schimmel, Jim Wann); “Mamaw” (Jim Wann); “Be
Good or Be Gone” (Cass Morgan); “Drinkin’ Shoes” (lyric and music by Mark Hardwick, Cass Morgan,
and Debra Monk) (Company)
Act Two: “Pump Boys” (John Foley, Mark Hardwick, John Schimmel, Jim Wann); “Mona” (John Foley);
“T.N.D.P.W.A.M.” (“The Night Dolly Parton Was Almost Mine”) (Mark Hardwick); “Tips” (lyric and
music by Debra Monk and Cass Morgan) (Debra Monk, Cass Morgan); “Sisters” (lyric and music by Cass
Morgan) (Debra Monk, Cass Morgan); “Vacation” (Company); “No Holds Barred” (lyric and music by Jim
Wann and Cass Morgan) (Company); “Farmer Tan” (Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan); “High-
way 57” (reprise) (Company); “Closing Time” (Company)
The revue-like country-styled musical Pump Boys and Dinettes was a variation of the old Mickey-and-
Judy “Let’s Put on a Show” movie musicals. In this case, the boys from the gas station (the pump boys) and
the girls (the dinettes) from across the street who work at the Double Cupp Diner put on an entertainment
for their customers, and even throw in a raffle for good measure.
Stephen Holden in the New York Times praised the “delightful” revue, which “musically and theatri-
cally” was “a small triumph of ensemble playing.” He singled out such songs as “Sisters” (performed by Cass
Morgan “with throaty directness”), “Mamaw” (Jim Wann’s ode to his grandmother, which was “sentimental
yet believably sincere”), and the show’s “comic centerpiece” titled “T.N.D.P.W.A.M.” (“The Night Dolly
Parton Was Almost Mine”). Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily noted that the show’s “proletarian charm”
was “refreshingly gentle” without “a hint of patronization,” and Gerald Clarke in Time said the musical
“tickles the funny bone” and makes you feel “like a good ole boy or a good ole girl.” He noted Parton’s photo
on the gas station wall seemed to make her “the patron saint of such enterprises” and he guessed she “would
probably approve” of the “cheery, relaxed and amiable” songs.
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the “magical” and “truly enchanting” musical was “totally ter-
rific,” and Jack Kroll in Newsweek found Pump Boys “the easiest, chummiest, happiest show in town” and
liked the ”country cantata of ingratiating patter and appealing country-rock songs.”
The musical had originally opened Off Off Broadway at the Westside Arts Theatre on July 10, 1981, for
twenty performances; it then transferred to the Colonnades Theatre under an Off-Broadway contract where
it played for 112 showings. Two songs from the Off-Off-Broadway production were dropped for Off Broadway
1981–1982 SEASON 123
(“The Blade” and “All the Good Things,” both with lyrics and music by Jim Wann), and three numbers from
the Off-Broadway production were cut for Broadway, “Takin’ My Time” (lyric and music by Spider John Ko-
erner with additional lyric by John Foley), “Who Will the Next Fool Be” (lyric and music by Charlie Rich),
and “Catfish” (lyric and music by Jim Wann and Bland Simpson). During the Broadway run, “Catfish” was
reinstated into the score when “Caution: Men Cooking” was dropped, and “Catfish” is included on the Broad-
way cast album and in the published script.
The Broadway cast recording was released by CBS Records (LP # FM-37790), and the CD was issued by
Sony Records (# 37790); a live “European cast recording” in English was released by Melody Musical Produc-
tions (CD # 199596). The script was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1983. A television adapta-
tion was shown by NBC on August 15, 1983, with the original Broadway cast and two guest stars, Ron Carey
and Tanya Tucker. The London production opened at the Piccadilly Theatre on September 20, 1984.
A program note thanked Word Baker (who had directed the original production of The Fantasticks) “for
fixing the occasional flat tire.”
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Musical (Pump Boys and Dinettes)
LITTLE JOHNNY JONES

Performances: 1
Book, Lyrics, and Music: George M. Cohan (book adapted by Alfred Uhry)
Direction: Gerald Gutierrez; Producers: James M. Nederlander, Steven Leber, David Krebs and the John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Choreography: Dan Siretta; Scenery: Robert Randolph; Cos-
tumes: David Toser; Lighting: Thomas Skelton; Musical Direction: Lynn Crigler
Cast: Jack Bittner (Starter at the Hotel Cecil, Announcer at English Derby, Captain Squirvy), Peter Van Nor-
den (Anthony Anstey), Jane Galloway (Florabelle Fly), Tom Rolfing (Timothy D. McGee), Maureen Bren-
nan (Goldie Gates), Bruce Chew (Sing-Song), Ernie Sabella (Whitney Wilson), Al Micacchion (A Bellboy),
Donny Osmond (Johnny Jones), Anna McNeely (Mrs. Kenworth), David Fredericks (A Newsboy); Ameri-
can Boys, Porters, Sailors: Richard Dodd, David Fredericks, James Homan, Gary Kirsch, Bobby Longbot-
tom, Al Micacchion, David Monzione, Keith Savage; American Girls: Coleen Ashton, Terri Corcoran,
Susie Fenner, Linda Gradl, Debra Grimm, Lori Lynott, Annette Michelle, Mayme Paul
The action takes place in 1904 in London, Southampton, New York City, and Saratoga.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “The Cecil in London (Town)” (Jack Bittner, Ensemble); “Then I’d Be Satisfied
with Life” (added for tour of 1901 musical The Governor’s Son and later added to Broadway run and tour of
1902 musical The Silver Slipper) (Peter Van Norden); “The Yankee Doodle Boy” (aka “I’m a Yankee Doo-
dle Dandy”) (Donny Osmond, Ensemble); “Oh, You Wonderful Boy” (introduced as “Oh, You Wonderful
Girl” in 1911 musical The Little Millionaire) (Maureen Brennan, Jane Galloway, American Girls); “The
Voice in My Heart” (1923 musical Little Nellie Kelly) (Anna McNeely, Ensemble); Finaletto (Company)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “Captain of a Ten-Day Boat” (Jack Bittner, Ensemble); “Goodbye, Flo” (Jane
Galloway, Sailors); “Life’s a Funny Proposition (After All)” (Donny Osmond); “Let’s You and I Just Say
Goodbye” (1923 musical The Rise of Rosie O’Reilly) (Maureen Brennan); “Give My Regards to Broadway”
(Donny Osmond, Ensemble); “Extra! Extra!” (source unknown) (Newsboys); “American Ragtime” (1908
musical The American Idea) (Jane Galloway, Tom Rolfing, Donny Osmond, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
George M. Cohan’s Little Johnny Jones was a hit in 1904. Two of its songs (“The Yankee Doodle Boy”
aka “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “Give My Regards to Broadway”) became standards, and it was filmed
twice, in 1924 and 1929 (for more information, see below). But the current revival played for just one perfor-
mance and was the season’s shortest-running musical.
The plot centered on American jockey Johnny Jones (Donny Osmond) who is in England for the derby,
loses a race, and is wrongly accused by villainous gambler Anthony Anstey (Peter Van Norden) of throwing it.
Ultimately, Johnny clears his name, is reunited with his girl Goldie Gates (Maureen Brennan), and goes on to
win the big race at Saratoga. The lighthearted plot was a happy excuse for a number of Cohan’s ingratiating
songs, and the evening was peppered with pleasant dance routines. But the critics were in a generally grumpy
mood and the show played for just one official performance on Broadway. Perhaps the Alvin was too big a
house for what was essentially an intimate musical, but conversely a smaller venue even at sell-out status
probably wouldn’t have allowed the show to realize a profit.
Frank Rich in the New York Times was “bored stiff” by the “listless” revival with its “flimsiest summer-
stock level” supporting cast, a staging that gave the production the “aura of a wax museum,” décor that was
mainly drops, and choreography that heaped on “clichés with a trowel.” The only “honest verve” in the pro-
duction was Donny Osmond, who led one to believe he was “at least spiritually” born on the Fourth of July.
Rich noted that Maureen Brennan was “suitably saucy” as the hero’s girlfriend.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the revival was “prevailingly bland,” functioned as “a
pretty mechanical toy,” and was “as stimulating as a package of sliced white bread.” But Dan Siretta’s dances
provided the evening’s “most enlivening” moments, and while they weren’t “overly original” they were
nonetheless “unfailingly spirited.” And the critic noted that Osmond had an “engaging way” with his num-
bers. Clive Barnes in the New York Post disliked Osmond’s performance (he seemed “like a failed candidate
from a Dale Carnegie course”) and said Maureen Brennan “sinks somewhat deeper than mere mediocrity.”
Some critics noted that director Gerald Gutierrez had written an open letter to the press stating that due
to prior commitments he hadn’t been involved with the musical for some months and had therefore asked
the producers to remove his name from the credits (which they declined to do).
The revival was first produced on June 25, 1980, at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Con-
necticut, with Thomas Hulce in the title role. For the musical’s pre-Broadway tour, Hulce was succeeded by
Eric Weitz, David Cassidy, and Donny Osmond. Among the songs deleted prior to the Broadway opening were
“’Op in Me ’Ansom” and “Blue Skies, Gray Skies.”
The original production premiered on Broadway at the Liberty Theatre on November 7, 1904, and was
soon followed by two return engagements for a total run of 205 performances. The musical was revived for 16
performances at the Academy of Music beginning on April 22, 1907, and included two new numbers (“Always
Leave Them Laughing When You Say Goodbye” and “Nothing New Beneath the Sun”).
Six songs from the original 1904 production were retained for the 1982 New York revival (“The Cecil in
London Town,” “The Yankee Doodle Boy,” “Captain of a Ten-Day Boat,” “Goodbye, Flo,” “Life’s a Funny
Proposition, After All,” and “Give My Regards to Broadway”); ten weren’t used (“They’re All My Friends,”
“Mam’selle Fauchette,” “Nesting in a New York Tree,” “Off to the Derby,” “Girls from the U.S.A.,” “Sailors
of St. Hurrah,” “Good Old California,” “A Girl I Know,” “March of the Frisco Chinks,” and “’Op in Me ’An-
som”; as noted, the latter was heard during the revival’s tryout); and six were interpolated (“Then I’d Be Sat-
isfied with Life,” “Oh, You Wonderful Boy,” “The Voice in My Heart,” “Let’s You and I Just Say Goodbye,”
“Extra! Extra!,” and “American Ragtime”; see list of musical numbers for sources); and one interpolation was
dropped prior to Broadway (“Blue Skies, Gray Skies,” from the 1927 musical The Merry Malones).
A silent film version directed by Arthur Rosson was released by Warner Brothers in 1924 with Johnny
Hines in the title role and Mervyn LeRoy in a supporting one; a sound version by First National Pictures was
released in 1929 with Edward (Eddie) Buzzell as Johnny Jones, and this time around LeRoy was the director
(two songs from the original production were retained, “The Yankee Doodle Boy” and “Give My Regards to
Broadway,” and various songs by other lyricists and composers were interpolated into the score).
The Goodspeed production was filmed with Eric Weitz in the title role, and was shown on cable televi-
sion; a video cassette was released by Warner Home Video, Inc. (# 34051). Parts of Little Johnny Jones were
re-created for two show business biographies of Cohan, the 1942 film Yankee Doodle Dandy and the 1968
Broadway musical George M!
1981–1982 SEASON 125
THE GRAND DUCHESS OF GEROLSTEIN

Libretto: Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy (English adaptation by Ruth and Thomas Martin)
Music: Jacques Offenbach
Direction: Jack Hofsiss; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director;
Daniel R. Rule, Managing Director); Choreography: Christopher Chadman; Scenery and Costumes: John
Conklin; Lighting: Gilbert V. Hemsley Jr.; Choral Direction: Lloyd Walser; Musical Direction: Antonio
de Almeida
Cast: Henry Price (Fritz), Leigh Munro (Wanda), Claude Corbeil (General Boom), James Billings (Baron Puck),
William Ledbetter (Nepomuc), Muriel Costa-Greenspon (The Grand Duchess), Jack Harrold (Prince Paul),
Don Yule (Notary), Jonathan Green (Baron Grog); Chorus: The New York City Opera Chorus; Dancers:
The New York City Opera Dancers
The action takes place during 1720 in the Duchy of Gerolstein.
Jacques Offenbach’s satiric operetta The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein premiered on April 12, 1867, at the
Theatre des Varietes during the Paris Exposition. The work was first produced in New York in the original
French when it opened at the Theatre Français on September 24, 1867, and played in repertory for a total of
156 performances. The first English production in New York took place on June 17, 1868, when the operetta
opened at the New York Theatre for 33 showings.
The operetta spoofed both palace intrigues and the military in its look at the headstrong title character,
who is tired of her intended Prince Paul and falls in love with Fritz, a hapless but handsome soldier. The
Duchess ensures that Fritz rises through the ranks of the military, but he pines for his girlfriend Wanda. By
evening’s end, the Duchess and Prince Paul are reunited, and Fritz leaves the military to become a school
master and rejoin Wanda.
Donal Henahan in the New York Times noted that the word gerolstein might bring to mind a tonic,
but in this case it was “more like a sleeping pill.” The revival “lacked just about everything,” with “heavy-
handed” direction by Jack Hofsiss, “listless” conducting by Antonio de Almeida, and a “gauche and graceless”
adaptation by Ruth and Thomas Martin. The strange staging allowed the audience to view the stagehands
throughout the performance, and Henahan suggested the evening threatened to morph into Pirandello Meets
the Chocolate Soldier. He also noted that in one scene soldiers engaged in a food fight that not even John
Belushi could have made humorous, and verbal and visual jokes (such as a three-piece military band with a
wheelchair-bound tuba player) were constantly repeated. But Muriel Costa-Greenspon sang the title role in
“her best Bette Midler style” and so her Duchess was “at least heartily sung and acted.”
Henahan reported that the revival restored two sequences to the score that had been dropped after the
world premiere in 1867, the second act finale and an aria for the Duchess that opened the third act.
Among the recordings of the operetta is one of a 2004 Paris revival at the Theatre de Chatelet that was re-
leased on a two-CD set by EMI/Warner Classics and includes the libretto; this production was also televised,
and a DVD was issued by Erato Disques.
City Opera revived the operetta later in the year when the work opened in October for three performances
in repertory (see entry).
IS THERE LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL?

“A New Musical”
Theatre: Ethel Barrymore Theatre

Performances: 12
Book: Jeffrey Kindley
Lyrics and Music: Craig Carnelia
Based on the 1976 book Is There Life after High School? by Ralph Keyes.
Direction: Robert Nigro; Producers: Clive Davis, François de Menil, and Harris Maslansky and Twentieth
Century-Fox Theatre Productions, Inc. (Robert Feiden, Associate Producer); Choreography: Not Credited
(perhaps by Robert Nigro); Scenery: John Lee Beatty; Costumes: Carol Oditz; Lighting: Beverly Emmons;
Musical Direction: Bruce Coughlin
Cast: Raymond Baker, Cynthia Carle, Alma Cuervo, Sandy Faison, Harry Groener, Philip Hoffman, David
Patrick Kelly, Maureen Silliman, James Widdoes
The action takes place in a high school, probably during the 1960s and early 1970s.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Kid Inside” (Company); “Things I Learned in High School” (Harry Groener); “Second Thoughts”
(Raymond Baker, Sandy Faison, David Patrick Kelly, Maureen Silliman, James Widdoes); “Nothing Really
Happened” (Alma Cuervo, Women); “Beer” (Raymond Baker, Harry Groener, David Patrick Kelly); “For
Them” (Philip Hoffman, Company); “Diary of a Homecoming Queen” (Maureen Silliman)
Act Two: “Thousands of Trumpets” (James Widdoes, Company; Drum Major: Harry Groener); “Reunion”
(Company); “High School All Over Again” (David Patrick Kelly); “Fran and Janie” (Sandy Faison, Maureen
Silliman); “I’m Glad You Didn’t Know Me” (Cynthia Carle, Philip Hoffman)
Late during the season, Broadway audiences were asked two burning questions: Is There Life after High
School? and Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? But no one really wanted the answers, and
so the two revue-like musicals about school days were gone after twelve and five respective performances.
High School was suggested by Ralph Keyes’s book about the angst of high school life in which adults look
back on those four pivotal years and realize they are still haunted by the slights and what-ifs of their forma-
tive years.
The world premiere by the Hartford Stage Company at the John W. Huntington Theatre took place on
April 10, 1981, for forty-four performances; the direction was by Melvin Bernhardt, the choreography by Nora
Peterson, and three of its cast members (Raymond Baker, David Patrick Kelly, and Maureen Silliman) were
seen in the Broadway production that opened a year later; for Hartford, Susan Bigelow was also in the cast.
Two songs (“Shove It” and “The School Song”) were heard in Hartford but cut for New York.
When the musical began previews in New York, Bernhardt was the director and Larry Fuller the choreog-
rapher. There was an opening night program for May 3, 1982, but the premiere was delayed until May 7, and
so there were two opening night programs. For the May 3 program, Robert Nigro, who succeeded Bernhardt
during New York previews, is the director of record and Fuller again the choreographer, but for the May 7
program Fuller’s name was removed from the credits and Nigro received “entire production staged by” credit.
Frank Rich in the New York Times suggested the musical was the theatrical equivalent of detention hall,
but without even a fire drill to relieve the monotony. The evening included “watered-down anecdotes” by
“interchangeable” characters stuck in a “vague limbo” and a score that placed lyricist and composer Craig
Carnelia in a “hopeless quandary” because he was given no specific people to depict. The cast were “helpless
victims” but with “any luck” their “summer vacation should be here soon.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post noted that an occasional observation was amusing (someone says
he actually believed that trigonometry would one day be useful), but otherwise the show was a “one-joke”
evening and despite “a certain amount of life” in the old high school he suggested “you will probably think
longingly of dropping out before final graduation.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor felt the
musical might have found its “modest” place Off Broadway, but it didn’t “pass the Broadway test.” Howard
Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily echoed this sentiment when he suggested the show might do well in a venue
like the Village Gate, but on Broadway “expectations about what a musical should be are too grandiose for
an intimate show to fulfill.”
Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 said the show was like attending a high school reunion and being cor-
nered for two hours by the “class dimwit. And not the nice one . . . the mean one.” Further, the score offered
songs of “grinding mediocrity,” the vignettes were of “stupefying boredom,” and the characters were “gripped
by severely arrested development.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 noted that for the most part the characters
1981–1982 SEASON 127
didn’t talk to one another and didn’t even seem to know each other, and thus it was impossible to become
“involved” in the “series of monologues.” He recalled that Carnelia had written some of the songs for the
1978 revue-like musical Working, which also used the same basic monologue technique, and he commented
that the format didn’t work then and it didn’t work now.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the musical was “never less than likable” but it needed
“an adult education course.” The book was “pallid” and the characters were difficult to keep track of, but
the songs were “dandy” and “charming.” He singled out “Thousands of Trumpets” as the score’s best song, a
salute to “high-school instruments gathering dust in countless closets.” The number’s drum-major choreog-
raphy was by Harry Groener (as the drum major) and Broadway dancer and occasional choreographer Gerald
M. Teijelo Jr.
The cast album was released by Original Cast Records (LP and CD # OC-8240).
NINE
“The Musical”
Theatre: 46th Street Theatre

Opening Date: May 9, 1982; Closing Date: February 4, 1984
Performances: 739
Book: Arthur Kopit
Lyrics and Music: Maury Yeston
Based on an (uncredited) adaptation of a work by Mario Fratti (the unacknowledged source of the musical was
the 1963 film 8½ that was directed by Federico Fellini with a screenplay by Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio
Flaiano, and Brunello Rondi).
Direction and Choreography: Tommy Tune; Producers: Michel Stuart, Harvey J. Klaris, Roger S. Berlind,
James M. Nederlander, Francine LeFrak, and Kenneth D. Greenblatt (Mark Beigelman, Associate Pro-
ducer); Scenery: Lawrence Miller; Costumes: William Ivey Long; Lighting: Marcia Madeira; Musical Di-
rection: Wally Harper
Cast: Raul Julia (Guido Contini), Cameron Johann (Young Guido), Karen Akers (Luisa), Anita Morris (Carla),
Shelly Burch (Claudia), Taina Elg (Guido’s Mother), Liliane Montevecchi (Liliane La Fleur), Laura Kenyon
(Linda Darling), Stephanie Cotsirilos (Stephanie Necrophorus), Kate Dezina (Our Lady of the Spa), Camille
Saviola (Mama Maddelena), Kathi Moss (Saraghina); The Italians: Jeanie Bowers (Maria), Kim Criswell
(Francesca), Colleen Dodson (A Venetian Gondolier), Louise Edeiken (Giulietta), Nancy McCall (Anna-
bella), Cynthia Meryl (Diana), Rita Rehn (Renata); The Germans: Lulu Downs (Gretchen von Krupf), Linda
Kerns (Heidi von Sturm), Dee Etta Rowe (Olga von Sturm), Alaina Warren Zachary (Ilsa von Hesse); Young
Guido’s Schoolmates: Evans Allen, Jadrien Steele, and Patrick Wilcox
The action takes place at a spa in Venice and in the mind of Guido Contini.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Overture Delle Donne”/“Spa Music”/“Not Since Chaplin” (Company); “Guido’s Song” (Raul Ju-
lia); “Coda di Guido” (Company); “The Germans at the Spa” (Camille Saviola, Italians, Germans); “My
Husband Makes Movies” (Karen Akers); “A Call from the Vatican” (Anita Morris); “Only with You”
(Raul Julia); “Folies Bergères” (Liliane Montevecchi, Stephanie Cotsirilos, Company); “Nine” (Taina Elg,
Company); “Ti voglio bene”/“Be Italian” (Kathi Moss, Boys, Company); “The Bells of St. Sebastian” (Raul
Julia, Boys, Company)
Act Two: “A Man Like You”/“Unusual Way”/“Duet” (Shelly Burch, Raul Julia); “The Grand Canal” (Raul
Julia, Company): “Contini Submits,” “The Grand Canal,” “Tarantella,” “Every Girl in Venice,” “Marcia
Di Ragazzi,” “Recitativo,” “Amor,” “Recitativo,” “Only You,” and “Finale”; “Simple” (Anita Morris);
“Be on Your Own” (Karen Akers); “Not Since Chaplin” (reprise) (Raul Julia); “I Can’t Make This Movie”
(Raul Julia); “Waltz di Guido” (aka “Waltz from Nine”) (Orchestra); “Getting Tall” (Cameron Johann);
“Nine”/“Long Ago”/“Nine” (Raul Julia)
Like Stephen Sondheim’s Company (1970) and its central character, Bobby, Nine focused on a man (Guido
Contini, played by Raul Julia) and his tangled relationships. Both Company and Nine were concept musicals
less interested in linear story lines than in somewhat surreal looks at Bobby and Guido, whose lives were
presented in a framework that used vignettes to depict their personal (and in Guido’s case, also professional)
lives. Bobby is surrounded by both married friends and girlfriends in a chilly Manhattan of steel, chrome,
and Plexiglas, and film director Guido’s world is a dazzling room of white-tiled walls and boxes framed by
enormous windows overlooking Venice (the published script calls the setting a “dreamspace” that “bears a
resemblance to a steambath in a sanitorium or to a spa”).
In this dreamspace is Guido, the only man in the musical. His world is populated by the women in his
life, including his mother (Taina Elg); wife, Luisa (Karen Akers); mistress, Carla (Anita Morris); would-be
muse, Claudia (Shelly Burch); and producer, Liliane Le Fleur (Liliane Montevecchi); among others. And like
Sondheim’s musical Follies (1971) in which the main characters undergo a catharsis when their unhappy lives
become part of a musical comedy arcadia called Loveland, Guido is inspired to direct a musical version of
Casanova’s life, one which mirrors his own romantic and sexual obsessions. The stage suddenly explodes into
the world of Guido’s movie (and includes ten separate musical numbers to depict the film’s plot) in which he
portrays the title character. And, also in Follies fashion, he meets his younger self (Cameron Johann), who in
the final moments of the musical advises Guido in “Getting Tall” that it’s time to finally grow up and face
life: in the here and now, Guido must be “forty” and come to the realization that he’s always loved Luisa,
while in the long-ago past Young Guido will remain forever “nine.”
Arthur Kopit’s spartan book quickly and cleverly delineated the characters and employed the dreamlike
spa setting to allow the women in Guido’s life to haunt him and hover over the proceedings (the script notes
that Guido’s “two prime realities” are Luisa and his imagination). All the characters were dressed in black and
made a striking contrast to the white world of the spa, and only in the Casanova sequence did the stage blos-
som into color. Tommy Tune’s imaginative and fluid staging infused the action with memorable moments,
including the positions of the women on the pedestal-styled boxes in the spa, which rendered them statue-
like, especially at the beginning and end of the musical; the unusual overture in which Guido “conducts”
the women as they sing in a capella fashion; Montevecchi’s one-woman embodiment of an evening at the
Folies-Bergères; and Morris’s full-body, black-lace-stocking-like outfit that allowed her to undertake almost
humanly impossible contours and positions in order to arouse Guido.
Maury Yeston’s score was one of the decade’s best, and was so beautifully composed and orchestrated that
it was less a collection of musical numbers than a seamless cantata: Luisa’s soaring “Be on Your Own” was
a lump-in-the-throat moment in which she offers Guido his freedom (and in its own way mirrored a similar
song from Follies, “Could I Leave You?”); Guido’s dissonant “I Can’t Make This Movie” was a musical ner-
vous breakdown in which he tries to confront his conflicting emotions; Guido’s entrancing ballad to Luisa
(and to Carla . . . and to Claudia) “Only with You” was one of the era’s finest (if a Hit Parade had existed in
1982, this song would have been Number One); and the Casanova sequence of ten numbers included “Guido
Submits,” a Gilbert-and-Sullivan-like brio of wordplay; “The Grand Canal,” an imposing and expansive cho-
ral sequence; and “Every Girl in Venice,” a shimmering depiction of expectation on the part of the Venetian
women who await Casanova’s attentions.
The musical received wildly divergent reviews, and a few critics didn’t appreciate the work’s truly mag-
nificent conceit, its brilliant staging, and its lush score. But it won five major Tony Awards, including Best
Musical, Best Score, and Best Direction. Frank Rich in the New York Times praised Tune’s direction and
Yeston’s score (“the season’s most novel and beautiful songs”) and said the evening offered so much “rich
icing” that “anyone who cares about the progress of the Broadway musical will have to see it.” But at the
musical’s core Guido was never truly explained or realized (a complaint many critics had about Company’s
Bobby), and overall the musical was “a complex mixture of ecstatic highs and crass lows.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post praised the “true original” with its “zestfully inventive and thought-
fully imaginative” and “dazzlingly literate” score. John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said Nine
was Broadway’s “most original” musical since A Chorus Line, adding that Tune’s “spectacular staging
abounds in sumptuous pizzazz,” the score offered “constant delight and wonder,” and the often “farcical
shambles” of the Casanova sequence led “to a denouement as poignant as it is sudden.” Jack Kroll in News-
week said the musical was “brilliant” but not “endearing or compelling,” and while Kopit’s book had “polish
and wit” it nonetheless “waffles fatally” with Guido. Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the “absolutely dazzling”
production wasn’t always “perfect” and offered “dazzle instead of depth,” but nonetheless it “dazzled” and
1981–1982 SEASON 129
was “the Broadway hit of the season.” And Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 praised the “extraordinary
musical,” which was a “startling act of imagination, independence and daring” and was “a show to treasure.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal noted that Yeston offered “numerous lovely melodies” that pro-
vided a “complexity and sophistication many notches above the usual Broadway score,” and Tune had “an
unfailing eye for movement and pictorialization” with a first act that was “as stylish and exciting as anything
on Broadway.” But the critic felt the evening never quite came to grips with its subject and didn’t answer the
questions it raised about Guido’s problems (not providing clear-cut answers was of course one of the charac-
teristics of the concept musical).
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said Nine lacked trampolines but “in other respects” came
“close to being this season’s Via Galactica” because like the earlier 1972 musical it was “pretentious and tire-
some” and also starred the “unfortunate” Raul Julia. The score pursued the “familiar” (but he singled out “Only
with You” and “A Call from the Vatican”), the set looked “like a fancy display for plumbing fixtures before
the fixtures have been installed,” and at times the décor and lighting looked like the design for windows in “a
Bloomingdale’s nod to Italy.” T. E. Kalem in Time commented that Nine was “a spectacle without a subject”
with relationships that were “cocktail-party deep” and a leading man who was a “cotton-candy Casanova.” But
Yeston’s music was “versatile and fetchingly melodic” and Tune’s staging was “masterly and inventive.” But if
Nine attracted a following, Phineas Taylor Barnum and Texas Guinan would “have the last laughs.”
During previews, the musical was presented in one act, and “The Grand Canal” sequence included “Pas
de Boys,” which was cut. The national tour starred Sergio Franchi (who had also succeeded Raul Julia dur-
ing the course of the Broadway run) and included the new song “Now’s the Moment” for Guido early in the
second act.
The cast album was recorded by Columbia Records (LP # JS-38325), and for reasons of length some of the
songs weren’t included on the LP but were heard on the audiocassette version. The first CD release (Sony/
Classical/Columbia/Legacy # S2K-86858) includes material released on the audiocassette, expanded versions
of material previously offered on the LP, and three heretofore unreleased demo recordings. Another CD re-
lease on Masterworks Broadway (# 88697-59183-2) includes the expanded material but not the demo record-
ings. The script was published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday in 1983.
The musical was presented in concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall on June 7, 1992, and was released
on a two-CD set by That’s Entertainment Records (# CDTER2-1193) with Jonathan Pryce, Liliane Monte-
vecchi, Ann Crumb (Luisa), and Elaine Paige (Claudia) (Paige performed the role on the recording due to the
indisposition of the singer who appeared in the concert). This recording was later issued on a two-CD set by
Jay Records (CDJAY-1410); and BMG/RCA Victor Records released a one-CD version of highlights from the
concert (# 09026-61433-2). The 1987 Australian production was released by Polydor Records (LP # 835-217-1),
and later on CD by That’s Entertainment Records (# CDTER-1190), and a 1999 German production at the
Theatre des Westens was issued by Gema Records (CD # LC-06377).
The musical was revived on Broadway on April 10, 2003, at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre for 285 perfor-
mances. The cast included Antonio Banderas, Mary Stuart Masterson, Jane Krakowski, Mary Beth Peil, Laura
Benanti, and Chita Rivera. The production omitted “The Germans at the Spa” and “Long Ago,” and added
“The Script” (for Guido). The revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival, and Krakowski won for Best Fea-
tured Actress in a Musical. The cast recording was released by PS Classics (CD # PS-312).
The 2009 film version was released by The Weinstein Company and Relativity Media in a production
by Weinstein Brothers/Marc Platt/Lucamar. Directed by Rob Marshall, the cast included Daniel Day-Lewis,
Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, and Sophia Loren. Seven
songs were retained from the stage production (“Overture Delle Donne,” “Guido’s Song,” “A Call from the
Vatican,” “Folies Bergères,” “Be Italian,” “My Husband Makes Movies,” and “I Can’t Make This Movie”),
and Yeston wrote three new ones for the film (“Cinema italiano,” “Guarda la luna,” and “Take It All”). The
soundtrack album was released by Geffen Records (CD # B0013801-02), and the DVD by Sony Pictures Home
Entertainment (# 34883).
Awards
Tony Award and Nominations: Best Musical (Nine); Best Actor in a Musical (Raul Julia); Best Featured Ac-
tress in a Musical (Karen Akers); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Liliane Montevecchi); Best Featured
Actress in a Musical (Anita Morris); Best Director of a Musical (Tommy Tune); Best Book (Arthur Kopit);
Best Score (lyrics and music by Maury Yeston); Best Scenic Designer (Lawrence Miller); Best Costume De-
signer (William Ivey Long); Best Lighting Designer (Marcia Madeira); Best Choreographer (Tommy Tune)
DO BLACK PATENT LEATHER SHOES REALLY REFLECT UP?

Performances: 5
Book: John R. Powers
Lyrics and Music: James Quinn and Alaric Jans
Based on the 1975 novel Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? by John R. Powers.
Direction: Mike Nussbaum; Producers: Mavin Productions, Inc., Libby Adler Mages, and Daniel A. Golman;
Choreography: Thommie Walsh (Ronna Kaye, Associate Choreographer); Scenery: James Maronex; Cos-
tumes: Nancy Potts; Lighting: Marilyn Rennagel; Musical Direction: Larry Hochman
Cast: Russ Thacker (Eddie Ryan), Amy Miller (Secretary, Sister Melanie), Maureen Moore (Becky Bakowski),
Ellen Crawford (Sister Lee), Robert Fitch (Father O’Reilly), Vicki Lewis (Virginia Lear), Don Stitt (Felix
Lindor), Peter Heuchling (Mike Depki), Karen Tamburrelli (Nancy Ralansky), Christine Gradl (Mary
Kenny), Jason Graae (Louie Schlang), Elizabeth Hansen (Sister Helen), Catherine Fries (Sister Monica
Marie)
The action takes place in the present and the past in grammar school and high school.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Get Ready, Eddie” (Company); “The Greatest Gift” (Elizabeth Hansen, Kids); “It’s the Nuns”
(Kids and Nuns); “Little Fat Girls” (Maureen Moore, Russ Thacker); “Cookie Cutters” (Ellen Crawford,
Maureen Moore); “Patron Saints” (Robert Fitch, Russ Thacker, Kids, Nuns); “How Far Is Too Far?” (Karen
Tamburrelli, Girls and Boys); Act One Finale (Company)
Act Two: “Doo-Waa, Doo-Wee” (Jason Graae, Company); “I Must Be in Love” (Russ Thacker); “Friends, The
Best of” (Maureen Moore, Russ Thacker); “Mad Bombers and Prom Queens” (Don Stitt, Vicki Lewis);
“Late Bloomer” and “Prom Montage” (Russ Thacker, Kids); “Friends, The Best of” (reprise) (Maureen
Moore, Russ Thacker); “Thank God” (Company)
The revue-like Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? was reportedly the longest-running mu-
sical to ever play Chicago, but its New York run was one of the season’s shortest, with just five performances.
The show looked back on the rituals of attending Catholic parochial schools, and focused on the adult Eddie
Ryan (Russ Thacker) who for the first act reminisces about his grade school days at St. Bastion’s elementary
and his high school years at St. Patrick Bremmer High. Like the earlier Is There Life after High School?, the
musical looked at the awkward moments of the growing-up years, but from the Catholic perspective of ruler-
wielding nuns, inquisitive priests in the Confessional, and such peculiarly arcane admonishments that girls
should avoid wearing black patent leather shoes because the offending shoes might serve as a mirror that
reflects their unmentionables (and, oh, yes, girls should assiduously avoid going to restaurants with white
tablecloths because they remind boys of . . . bed).
Frank Rich in the New York Times felt sorry for the Alvin Theatre, which had hosted a number of short-
running musicals during the season, and he suspected Patent Leather Shoes was “the sorriest of them all.”
And he noted that some of the musical’s material about “vanished teen-age innocence” was a reminder of
Is There Life after High School?, which had “crash-landed” on Broadway a few weeks earlier. Rich said the
musical had “more unappealing and untalented performers than it knows what to do with,” but he singled out
Russ Thacker, Ellen Crawford, and the “first-rate” Robert Fitch who was “wonderful” in his one number. (But
it’s worth noting that the show’s cast also included Broadway Baby favorites Vicki Lewis and Jason Graae.)
1981–1982 SEASON 131
Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily suggested the musical might appeal to those who don’t want
much “excitement” in their theatergoing, and he commented that the score was “inoffensive” and therefore
“sufficiently melodic to be played in elevators.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post noted that the Broadway
season still had three days to go, but he had the “strong suspicion” that the musical would prove to be “the
worst, the dregs, the living pits of the season,” and he concluded by saying, “Bring back Little Johnny Jones.”
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the show might have enjoyed a run at an intimate downtown theatre, but for
Broadway the musical wasn’t “nearly enough.” Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 criticized the “pitiful”
music and “abysmal” comedy of the “blissfully and consistently amateurish” evening. And Douglas Watt in
the New York Daily News disliked the “exceedingly bland” show, noted the songs lacked “profile,” and said
it was only choreographer Thommie Walsh’s “spirited” dance numbers that brought the musical “to even
temporary life.”
A few of the critics mentioned one number during which the entire cast, including the boys, lay flat on
their backs, raised their legs, and blithely waved their oversized patent leather shoes in the air (which, Sharp
said, received one of “the more thoughtless ovations in the recent history of show biz”).
The musical was first produced in Chicago at the Forum Theatre in June 1979 and ran for four and a half
years. Songs performed in this production that were cut for New York were: “Confess It!,” “There Are Some,”
“Private Parts,” and “We’re Saving Ourselves for Marriage,” but the latter two were heard during New York
previews. At some point prior to the Broadway production, the solo “Mad Bomber” was rewritten as the duet
“Mad Bombers and Prom Queens.” For some regional productions, a title song was performed at the begin-
ning of the second act.
An early Chicago program credited James Quinn for the lyrics and music of: “The Greatest Gift,” “There
Are Some,” “Doo-Waa, Doo-Wee,” and “Friends, The Best of”; and Alaric Jans was credited with the lyrics
and music of “Patron Saints” and “Mad Bomber.” Jans wrote the lyrics and Quinn the music for: “Get Ready,
Eddie,” “Confess It!,” “Little Fat Girls,” “Late Bloomer,” “How Far Is Too Far?,” “Private Parts,” “Saving
Ourselves for Marriage,” and “Thank God”; and Jans and Quinn were cited for the lyrics and Quinn the music
for: “It’s the Nuns!,” “Is This the Thing They Call Love?,” and “The Prom Montage.”
A combined Broadway and studio cast album was released by CBS Special Products (LP # DP-18852; later
issued on CD by Bay Cities Records # 3033) that included a new song (“Queen of the May”) and one number
deleted for New York (“Private Parts”). The album included three members from the Broadway cast (Russ
Thacker, Peter Heuchling, and Don Stitt) and among the studio cast singers were Max Showalter (as Father
O’Reilly).
Curiously, the 1981–1982 season was rife with Broadway and Off-Broadway shows about Catholics, in-
cluding Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, Mass Appeal, Kingdoms, Agnes of God, and Catholic
School Girls. And two seasons later came the original Off-Off-Broadway production of Nunsense.
COLETTE
“A Musical”
The musical opened at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle, Washington, on February 9, 1982, and closed there
on March 6; it then played at the Auditorium Theatre in Denver, Colorado, where it opened on March 9
and permanently closed on March 20.
Book and Lyrics: Tom Jones
Music: Harvey Schmidt
Direction: Dennis Rosa; Producers: Harry Rigby and The Kennedy Center with The Denver Center and James
M. Nederlander (Frank Montalvo, Associate Producer); Choreography: Carl Jablonski (Michon Peacock,
Assistant Choreographer); Scenery: John Conklin; Costumes: Raoul Pene du Bois; Lighting: Gilbert V.
Hemsley Jr.; Musical Direction: Larry Blank
Cast: Diana Rigg (Colette), Marta Eggerth (Sido), John Reardon (Willy), Robert Helpmann (Jacques), Martin
Vidnovic (Maurice), Ron Raines (Henri de Jouvenal), Rhoda Butler (Colette de Jouvenal), Marti Stevens
(Missy), Mary Stout (Madame Semiramis, Pauline), Jane Lanier (Nita), Michael Cone (Waiter), Arlene
Columbo (Ida), Russell Leib (Boudou, Collaborator), Ralph Braun (Master of Ceremonies, German Of-
ficer), Dana Moore (Danielle); Ensemble: Don Bernhardt, Ralph Braun, Carol Burt, Rhoda Butler, Nancy
Callman, Arlene Columbo, Michael Cone, Ron Farrar, Jane Lanier, Valerie Lemon, Dana Moore, Daryl
Murphy, Harry Lee Nordyke, Peggy Parten, David Scala, Carol Schuberg, Mary Stout, Ivan Torres, Joel
Whittaker, Zachary Wilde
The action occurs mostly in Paris, Saint-Sauveur, and Saint-Tropez, during the periods 1890–1910 (for act one)
and 1925–1954 (for act two).
Musical Numbers
Act One: “There’s Another World” (Diana Rigg, Ensemble); “Come to Life” (John Reardon, Ensemble); “Do
Not Hold On” (Marta Eggerth); “Semiramis” (Robert Helpmann, Girls, Ensemble); “Do It for Willy” (John
Reardon, Ensemble); “The Claudine Sequence”: (1) “Claudine” (Diana Rigg); (2) “Two Claudines” (Diana
Rigg, The Claudine Girls); and (3) “The Father of Claudine” (John Reardon, Diana Rigg, The Claudine
Girls, Ensemble); “Why Can’t I Walk Through That Door?” (Diana Rigg); “Music Hall” (Robert Help-
mann, Diana Rigg, Performers); “Dream of Egypt” (Diana Rigg, Robert Helpmann); “I Miss You” (Marta
Eggerth); “La vagabonde” (Diana Rigg, Marti Stevens, Women); “Music Hall Scandal” (Diana Rigg, Marti
Stevens); “Act One Ending” (Diana Rigg)
Act Two: “Act Two Opening” (Diana Rigg, Journalists); “Curiosity” (Marta Eggerth); “I Miss You” (reprise)
(Diana Rigg); “Riviera Nights” (Robert Helpmann, Martin Vidnovic, Diana Rigg, Ensemble); “Oo-La-La”
(Martin Vidnovic, Diana Rigg); “Something for the Summer” (Diana Rigg, Martin Vidnovic, Ensemble);
“Something for the Winter” (Diana Rigg, Martin Vidnovic, Ensemble); “Madame Colette” (Ensemble);
“Be My Lady” (Martin Vidnovic); “Do Not Hold On” (reprise) (Marta Eggerth); “The Room Is Filled with
You” (Diana Rigg); “Victory” (Diana Rigg, Martin Vidnovic, Ensemble); “Growing Older” (Diana Rigg);
“Joy” (Diana Rigg, Ensemble)
Lyricist Tom Jones and composer Harvey Schmidt’s musical Colette was one of four works by the team
that explored the life and times of the celebrated French author Colette (1873–1954). Their current Colette
was the most lavish of the four productions, but it closed during its pre-Broadway tryout at a loss of $1.4 mil-
lion. The New York Times reported that the musical had originally planned to return to New York after the
Denver engagement for more rehearsals and then open in the fall with bookings in San Francisco, Los Angeles,
and Washington, D.C. The newspaper also reported that director Dennis Rosa had left the production after the
Seattle run and that during the Denver engagement the production had no director (but Rosa was still cited
as the director in the Denver program).
During the course of the tryout, “Love Is Not a Sentiment Worthy of Respect” replaced “Do Not Hold
On” (but the latter’s reprise version remained in the second act), the song “Woman of the World” was added,
and “Curiosity” was dropped.
The first Colette musical by the team was actually a play with music titled Colette by Elinor Jones (Tom
Jones’s wife), which opened Off Broadway on May 6, 1970, at the Ellen Stewart Theatre for 101 performances.
The production, which starred Zoe Caldwell in a cast that included Mildred Dunnock, Keene Curtis, Barry
Bostwick, and Holland Taylor, featured three songs (“The Bouilloux Girls,” “Femme du monde,” and “Earthly
Paradise”) and background music. The recording by Mio International Records (LP # MCS-3001) includes the
three songs and dialogue sequences (the three songs were also heard in Schmidt and Jones’s 1974 Off-Off-
Broadway Portfolio Revue). The play with music returned to Off Broadway at the Ellen Stewart Theatre a few
months after the May 1970 production closed, opening on October 14, 1970, for seven performances; this time
around, the musical starred Fenella Fielding, and the cast included film comic character actor Erik Rhodes. In
1971, Fielding toured in a British production, which never played London.
On March 31, 1983, the Off-Off-Broadway Colette Collage opened at The Church of the Heavenly Rest
by the York Theatre Company for seventeen performances. The production starred Jana Robbins, and others
in the company included Timothy Jerome, Steven F. Hall, and Tim Ewing. Songs heard in the current ver-
sion that had also been performed in the 1982 pre-Broadway tryout were : “There’s Another World,” “Come
to Life,” “Do It for Willy,” “Why Can’t I Walk Through That Door?,” “The Music Hall,” “Dream of Egypt,”
“Riviera Nights,” “Oo-La-La,” “Something for the Summer,” “Madame Colette,” “Be My Lady,” “Growing
Older,” and “Joy” (sixteen musical sequences from the 1982 version weren’t retained).
1981–1982 SEASON 133
On April 24, 1991, a revised version of Colette Collage was presented by the York Theatre Company at
The Church of the Heavenly Rest for twenty-six performances; subtitled “two musicals about Colette,” the
work consisted of Willy (for the first act) and Maurice (for the second), and Betsy Joslyn was Colette. Two
songs (“The Dog and Cat Duet” and “Decorate the Human Face”) appear to have been written especially for
the current production and weren’t heard in earlier versions of the material. Most of the score had been part
of the 1982 version, and “Love Is Not a Sentiment Worthy of Respect,” which had been added during the 1982
tryout, was included in the new version.
A studio cast album of the second Colette Collage was released by Varese Sarabande (CD # VSD-5473),
and Tom Jones indicated this was the musical in its “final form.” The album includes Judy Kaye as the Older
Colette and Judy Blazer as the Younger Colette. Susan Watson’s collection of Schmidt and Jones’s songs
titled Earthly Paradise (Nassau Records CD # 96568) includes five songs from the various Colette musicals
(“Earthly Paradise,” “Joy,” “Growing Older,” “The Room Is Filled with You,” and “Decorate the Human
Face”), and Harvey Schmidt Plays Jones & Schmidt (Kritzerland Records CD # KR-20010-3) includes six songs
from the various Colette musicals (“Riviera Nights,” “Earthly Paradise,” “The Room Is Filled with You,”
“Come to Life,” “La vagabonde,” and “Growing Older”)
There have been at least two other musicals about Colette. The Off-Off-Broadway musical Music-Hall
Sidelights (which was based on Colette’s 1913 novel L’envers du Music-Hall) starred Kathy Bates as Colette
with lyrics by Jack Heifner and music by John McKinney; the musical opened at the Lion Theatre on October
19, 1978, for twenty-four performances. On November 15, 1979, the British musical Colette opened at The
Stables Theatre in Wavendon, and was seen in London the following year on September 24 at the Comedy
Theatre for forty-seven performances; the musical starred Cleo Laine, and the company included Kenneth
Nelson and John Moffatt. The book, lyrics, and music were by Laine’s husband John Dankworth, and the
sparkling score was recorded by Sepia Records (LP # RSR-1006).
Colette’s most famous work is her 1944 novella Gigi, which was filmed in 1949 and later adapted for the
stage by Anita Loos (it opened on Broadway in 1951 with Audrey Hepburn, and the 1956 London production
starred Leslie Caron). Its famous and charming 1958 musical film version by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick
Loewe (which also starred Leslie Caron) won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. This film musical
was twice adapted for Broadway, in 1973 and 2015.
Colette’s 1920 novel Chéri (and its 1926 sequel La fin de Chéri) was also adapted for the stage by Anita
Loos and opened on Broadway in 1959 with Kim Stanley and Horst Buchholz in the title role. Another adap-
tation of the novel (by Christopher Hampton) was filmed in 2009 with Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Friend.
THE LITTLE PRINCE AND THE AVIATOR

“A New Musical”
The musical began previews on December 31, 1981, at the Alvin Theatre and permanently closed there on
January 17, 1982, after giving twenty preview performances.
Book: Hugh Wheeler
Lyrics: Don Black
Music: John Barry
Based on the 1943 novel The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Direction: Jerry Adler; Producers: A. Joseph Tandet (a production of Little Prince Productions, Ltd.); Chore-
ography: Billy Wilson; Scenery: Eugene Lee; Costumes: Christa Scholtz; Lighting: Roger Morgan; Musical
Direction: David Friedman
Cast: Anthony Rapp (Little Prince), Michael York (Toni), Ellen Greene (Suzanne, The Little Rose), David
Purdham (Georges, Fennec), Chip Garnett (Snake, Cap Juby Pilot # 3), Joe Degunther (Cactus), Mark
Dovey (Pilot, Morse Code Operator, Lamplighter), Alan Gilbert (Pilot, Cap Juby Pilot # 2, King), Robert
Hoshour (Pilot, Cap Juby Pilot # 1, Conceited Man), Larry G. Bailey (Pilot, Drunkard), Kenneth D. Ard
(Pilot, The Vulture), Fred C. Mann III (Pilot), Janet Eilber (Rose), Brooks Almy (Lotus Club Girl, Nurse),
Lynn Gendron (Lotus Club Girl), Robin Kensey (Lotus Club Girl), Diana Laurenson (Lotus Club Girl), Lee
Gordon (Ahmed, Georges as a child), Jennifer Fetten (Suzanne as a child), Edward Conery (Businessman)
The action takes place during the years 1911–1928 in the Sahara Desert, Paris, and the Asteroid B6-12.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Par avion” (Michael York, David Purdham, Ellen Greene); “Power Comes, Power Goes” (Chip
Garnett); “I Pity the Poor, Poor Parisiennes” (Michael York); “Making Every Minute Count” (Michael
York, David Purdham, Mark Dovey, Alan Gilbert, Robert Hoshour, Larry G. Bailey, Kenneth D. Ard,
Fred C. Mann III); “Made for Each Other” (Michael York, Janet Eilber); “Wind, Sand and Stars” (Michael
York, David Purdham, Mark Dovey, Alan Gilbert, Robert Hoshour, Larry G. Bailey, Kenneth D. Ard, Fred
C. Mann III); “First Impressions” (Anthony Rapp); “A Day Will Never Be the Same” (David Purdham,
Mark Dovey, Alan Gilbert, Robert Hoshour, Larry G. Bailey, Kenneth D. Ard, Fred C. Mann III); “I’ve Got
You to Thank for All This” (Ellen Greene); “I Don’t Regret a Thing” (Michael York); “We Couldn’t We
Mustn’t We Won’t” (Michael York, Jennifer Fetten, Lee Gordon)
Act Two: “Watch Out for the Baobabs” (Anthony Rapp); “I Like My Misfortunes to Be Taken Seriously” (Mi-
chael York); “The Volcano Song” (Anthony Rapp); “More Than Just a Pretty Flower” (Janet Eilber); “First
Impressions” (reprise) (Anthony Rapp); “The Volcano Song” (reprise) (Anthony Rapp); “Playground of
the Planets” (Anthony Rapp); “It Was You” (David Purdham); “Grain of Sand” (Anthony Rapp); “I Don’t
Regret a Thing” (reprise) (Michael York); “Sunset” (Anthony Rapp); “Little Prince” and “Stars Will Be
Laughing” (Michael York, Anthony Rapp)
Even before it began preview performances, The Little Prince and the Aviator had major troubles. The
show didn’t go out of town, and instead opted for a series of New York previews, but one week before the first
preview performance director Robert Kalfin was succeeded by Jerry Adler and choreographer Dania Krupska
was replaced by Billy Wilson.
The musical began the first of twenty previews on December 31, 1981, and permanently closed on Janu-
ary 17, 1982, without risking an official opening night, which had been scheduled for January 20. According
to Carol Lawson in the New York Times, the $1.25 million show did “poor” business in previews and “was
reportedly having trouble meeting expenses.” As a result, producer A. Joseph Tandet posted a closing notice
and then later closed the show. But when he received “an influx of money,” he announced the musical would
resume previews on the evening of January 20 (but he wasn’t sure if that day’s matinee would go on). He
also stated the official opening night would take place on January 24. But the musical never resumed perfor-
mances, and so the January 17 showing was its last.
The Don Black and John Barry version was the second of at least five lyric adaptations of Antoine de
Saint-Exupéry’s novel about a pilot lost in the Sahara who comes upon a little boy who is the prince of a far
away asteroid. The Broadway production starred Michael York as the aviator and Anthony Rapp (who later
appeared as Mark Cohen in the original production of Rent) as the Little Prince.
In 1974, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s charming film version was underrated and overlooked.
The scenic design employed natural landscapes that had a certain surreal quality about them as well as pur-
posely stylized décor in the manner of fairy tales. Their score was richly melodic and included such gems
as the gorgeous ballad “I Never Met a Rose” (which made a sly reference to the team’s “The Heather on the
Hill” from Brigadoon), “Closer and Closer,” and the haunting title song. Bob Fosse’s delicious “Snake in the
Grass” provided an amusing moment when he began his soft-shoe shuffle on the desert sands and in true
vaudeville fashion picked up a handful of sand and then tossed it back on the sandy space where he performed
the number.
In 2003, an operatic version with libretto by Nicholas Wright and music by Rachel Portman premiered at
the Houston Grand Opera, and was first seen in New York on November 12, 2005, when it was produced by
the New York City Opera Company at the New York State Theatre for eight performances. There were also
two Off-Off-Broadway musical versions. The first, with book and lyrics by John Scoullar and music by Rick
Cummins, opened at the 28th Street Theatre on October 6, 1993, and then transferred as an Off-Broadway
production to the John Houseman Theatre for a total of seventy-nine performances, and the second opened at
the Harold Clurman Theatre on December 28, 1982, for five performances in an adaptation by Ada Janik. Both
the Lerner and Loewe and the Wright and Portman versions were recorded, and both were issued on DVD.
1981–1982 SEASON 135
PENNY BY PENNY: THE STORY OF EBENEZER SCROOGE

(aka A CHRISTMAS CAROL)
“A New Musical Celebration”
The musical played a ten-week tour beginning in late October 1981, including an engagement at the Me-
chanic Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland, for the period November 16–December 5. During the following
season, the musical began another brief tour, including a run at the Hartman Theatre, Stamford, Con-
necticut, where it played for the period December 18–December 26, 1982.
Book and Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick
Music: Michel Legrand; additional music by Steven Margoshes
Based on the 1843 novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Direction: Kenneth Frankel (for the second year’s tour, Charles Abbott directed); Producers: Barry and Fran
Weissler (Alecia A. Parker, Associate Producer); Choreography: Choreography by Adam Grammis and
musical staging by Dick Goss (Tina Paul, Assistant Choreographer); Scenery: Jim Tilton; Projections:
Sammis McLean and Lucie D. Grosvenor; Costumes: Clifford Capone; Lighting: Judy Rasmuson; Musical
Direction: Steven Margoshes
Cast: Scott McFerren (Caroler, Toby, Peter), Gary Beach (Fred), Richard Kiley (Scrooge), Dan Strickler
(Cratchit), John Jellison (Second Charity Man, Coachman, Second ’Change Man, Undertaker’s Man), Mi-
chael McCarty (First Charity Man, Fezziwig, Christmas Present, First ’Change Man), Gilbert Cole (Waiter,
Fiddler, Christmas Future), Jack Dabdoub (Marley, Old Joe), Jill P. Rose (Christmas Past, Mrs. Cratchit),
Elisa Fiorillo (Ned, Belinda), Carl Tramon (Young Scrooge # 1, Albert, Street Boy), Simone Francis (Fan,
Lucy), Joseph Kolinski (Young Scrooge # 2, Third ’Change Man), Mary Gaebler (Mrs. Fezziwig, Laundress),
Donna Bullock (Belle, Mrs. Fred), Martha-Elizabeth Miller (Martha), R. D. Robb (Tiny Tim), Cynthia Dar-
low (Ignorance, Charwoman); Townspeople: Jill P. Rose, Mary Gaebler, Donna Bullock, Cynthia Darlow,
Martha-Elizabeth Miller, Michael McCarty, John Jellison, Gilbert Cole, Jack Dabdoub, Joseph Kolinski,
R. D. Robb, Elisa Fiorillo, Scott McFerren, Simone Francis, Carl Tramon; Guests at Fezziwig’s: John
Jellison, Jack Dabdoub, Cynthia Darlow, Simone Francis, Scott McFerren, Elisa Fiorillo, Carl Tramon,
Martha-Elizabeth Miller, R. D. Robb; Guests at Fred’s: John Jellison, Gilbert Cole, Mary Gaebler, Cynthia
Darlow, Joseph Kolinski, Martha-Elizabeth Miller
The action takes place in London during the nineteenth century.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Spirit of Christmas” (Gary Beach, Scott McFerren); “Bah! Humbug!” (Richard Kiley); “Thank
Heaven for Christmas” (Gary Beach); “Christmas Eve” (Gary Beach, Ensemble); “Chained” (Jack Dab-
doub); “Jig” (Michael McCarty, Mary Gaebler); “Penny by Penny” (Donna Bullock, Carl Tramon); “My
Two Feet Polka” (Michael McCarty, Mary Gaebler, Gilbert Cole, Ensemble); “Close Were We” (Donna
Bullock); “Penny by Penny” (reprise) (Richard Kiley); “Bah! Humbug!” (reprise) (Richard Kiley)
Act Two: “Spirit of Christmas Waltz” (Gary Beach, Relatives); “Twenty Questions” (Gary Beach, Relatives);
“One Family) (madrigal by Steven Margoshes) (The Crachit Family); “Balancing the Books” (Mary Gae-
bler, Cynthia Darlow, John Jellison); “Let There Be Time” (Richard Kiley); “One More Chance” (Richard
Kiley); “Spirit of Christmas” (reprise) (Richard Kiley, Company)
Sheldon Harnick and Michel Legrand’s musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol
toured briefly in late 1981 and then again in late 1982, the first year with Richard Kiley as Scrooge, the second
with Woody Romoff (during its brief life, the musical underwent a title change from Penny by Penny to A
Christmas Carol, and a flyer at one point included both titles). The tours were overlooked by both Best Plays
and Theatre World, which failed to include them in their 1981–1982 and 1982–1983 annuals, and it appears
that just one song (“Penny by Penny”) from the score was recorded (for the collection Unsung Musicals III,
released by Varese Sarabande Records CD # VSD-5769).
Penny by Penny was a bland, by-the-numbers interpretation of the well-known story and had little to rec-
ommend it. The perfunctory adaptation lacked memorable songs as well as a point of view. At least Comin’
Uptown (1979) aimed for a hip, urban approach that took place in Harlem and depicted Scrooge as a grouchy
slumlord, and although Alan Menken’s A Christmas Carol (which played at Madison Square Garden’s Para-
mount Theatre for a few Christmas seasons beginning in 1994) was straightforward it nonetheless made a
memorable visual statement with a brace of special effects and a lavish depiction of Victorian London. But
Harnick and Legrand’s version had nothing much to offer, and was a disappointingly modest and unimagina-
tive retelling of Dickens’s story.
In his review of the 1982 tour, Alvin Klein in the New York Times said the show was “still a musical in
the making.” It didn’t “soar,” the music was “generally routine,” and Abbott’s direction was “conventional.”
Harnick’s lyrics were “by turns playful and tender,” but his book required more humor and lightening as
well as tightening. Further, the musical began “with too much narration,” a device which was dropped as the
evening progressed but was then later “inappropriately” reinstated.
Penny by Penny was Sheldon Harnick’s second of three “Christmas” musicals: She Loves Me (1963) was
of course set during the holiday season and featured “Twelve Days to Christmas” and “Christmas Eve” (the
latter was dropped during the show’s tryout but is included in the collection A Broadway Christmas, released
by Varese Sarabande Records CD # VSD-5517), and then a few seasons after Penny by Penny Harnick collabo-
rated with Joe Raposo on A Wonderful Life (based on Frank Capra’s 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life), which
occasionally popped up in regional theatre for a few seasons but never enjoyed a Broadway production (one of
its songs, “Christmas Gifts,” is also included in A Broadway Christmas).
SAY HELLO TO HARVEY!

The musical opened on September 14, 1981, at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, Canada, and perma-
nently closed there on October 17, 1981.
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Leslie Bricusse
Based on the 1944 play Harvey by Mary Chase.
Direction: Mel Shapiro; Producers: Edwin Mirvish, David Mirvish, and Michael McAloney in association with
Stage and Screen Music, Inc. (Joyce Sloane, Associate Producer); Choreography: Donald Saddler; Scenery
and Lighting: Neil Peter Jampolis; Costumes: Olga Dimitrov; Musical Direction: Milton Rosenstock
Cast: Sheila McCarthy (Myrtle Mae Simmons), Patricia Routledge (Veta Louise Simmons), Judy Sabo (Mrs.
Egremont), Donald O’Connor (Elwood P. Dowd), Maxine Miller (Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet), Patricia Arnell
(Nurse Kelly), Michael McFadden (Wilson), John Gardiner (Doctor Lyman Sanderson), Joe Silver (Doctor
William Chumley), Angela Fusco (Mrs. Chumley), Sidney Miller (Judge Gaffney), Guy Sanvido (E. J. Lof-
gren), Mary Leigh Stahl (Mrs. Tewksbury), Janet McCall (Mrs. Arbuthnot), Tommy Breslin (Newspaper
Boy), Jack Davison (Charlie); Others: Jim Betts, Bernard Cauchy, Keith Curran, Cynthia Dale, Rodney
Freeze, William Gilinsky, Karen Giombetti, Terri Hawkes, Larry Herbert, Jacob Mark Hopkin, Sherry
Lambert, Claudia Shell
The action takes place in Smalltown, U.S.A.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Smalltown, U.S.A.” (Townspeople); “The Wednesday Forum” (Patricia Routledge, Sheila McCar-
thy, Judy Sabo, Mary Leigh Stahl, Janet McCall, Angela Fusco); “We Like the Very Same Things” (Donald
O’Connor); “That Brother of Mine” (Patricia Routledge, Sheila McCarthy); “Smalltown, U.S.A.” (reprise)
(Townspeople); “Dr. Chumley” (The Chumley Staff); “I’d Rather Look at You” (Donald O’Connor,
Patricia Arnell); “Do Your Own Thing” (Donald O’Connor, Patricia Arnell, The Chumley Staff); “Dr.
Chumley” (reprise) (The Chumley Staff); “Smalltown, U.S.A.” (reprise) (Townspeople); “Sue” (Patricia
Routledge, Myrtle Mae Simmons, Sidney Miller); “Bring It to the Bar” (Donald O’Connor); “Elwood P.
Dowd” (Donald O’Connor, Jack Davison, Patrons); “Say Hello to Harvey” (Donald O’Connor)
Act Two: “Smalltown, U.S.A.” (reprise) (Townspeople); “A Lousy Life” (Patricia Routledge); “Be Glad” (Patri-
cia Arnell); “The Perfect Person” (Sheila McCarthy, Michael McFadden); “Say Hello to Harvey” (reprise)
(Donald O’Connor, Patricia Routledge); “One Last Fling” (Joe Silver); “I’d Rather Look at You” (reprise)
(Donald O’Connor); “Say Hello to Harvey” (reprise) (Donald O’Connor); Finale (Company)
1981–1982 SEASON 137
Say Hello to Harvey! was Leslie Bricusse’s musical version of Mary Chase’s hit comedy Harvey. Origi-
nally titled The Pooka, Harvey opened on November 1, 1944, at the 48th Street Theatre for a marathon run
of 1,775 performances with former vaudevillian Frank Fay as Elwood P. Dowd, a genial if terminally tipsy
fellow whose best friend is an invisible six-foot rabbit named Harvey, and Josephine Hull as his eternally
befuddled sister Veta (for the musical version, Donald O’Connor was Elwood, and Patricia Routledge played
Veta). The comedy won the Pulitzer Prize and became an international hit; as of this writing, it is the sixth
longest-running play in Broadway history.
A 1950 film version starred James Stewart, and Hull, who reprised her stage role and won the Academy
Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1998, the play was adapted for television, and there have been two
Broadway revivals, in 1970 (with Stewart and Helen Hayes) and in 2012.
Unfortunately, the musical didn’t match the success of the play and permanently closed at the end of
its Toronto tryout. Variety said the “simple-minded and overfluffed” show was a “doubtful bet” for Broad-
way. The adaptation was “painfully out of date and off kilter” with “cheap instant sentiment” and “inane”
characterizations. Further, Bricusse’s “dumb” and “wimpy” songs redundantly mirrored the dialogue or were
wedded to “gratuitous” subplots, and Donald Saddler’s choreography was “fatuous.” And in an early example
of political correctness, the review chided the musical for “the glorification of a drunk” and stated that this
naive approach to drinking whether “intentional or not isn’t acceptable in 1981.”
1982–1983 Season
BLUES IN THE NIGHT

Opening Date: June 2, 1982; Closing Date: July 18, 1982
Performances: 53
Lyrics and Music: See song list for specific credits.
Direction: Sheldon Epps; Producers: Mitchell Maxwell, Alan J. Schuster, Fred H. Krones, and M2 Entertain-
ment, Inc. (Joshua Silver, Associate Producer); Scenery: John Falabella; Costumes: David Murin; Lighting:
Ken Billington; Musical Direction: Charles Coleman.
Cast: Leslie Uggams (Woman #1), Debbie Shapiro (Woman #2), Jean Du Shon (Woman #3), Charles Coleman
(Saloon Singer)
The action takes place in Chicago during 1938.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Blue Blue” (lyric and music by Bessie Smith) (Company); “Four Walls (and One Dirty Window)
Blues” (lyric and music by Willard Robison) (Charles Coleman); “I’ve Got a Date with a Dream” (lyric by
Mack Gordon, music by Harry Revel) (Leslie Uggams, Debbie Shapiro); “These Foolish Things (Remind
Me of You)” (from 1936 London musical Spread It Around; lyric by Eric Maschwitz aka Holt Marvel,
music by Harry Link and Jack Strachey) (Leslie Uggams); “New Orleans Hop Scop Blues” (lyric and mu-
sic by George W. Thomas) (Jean Du Shon); “It Makes My Love Come Down” (lyric and music by Bessie
Smith) (Leslie Uggams, Debbie Shapiro, Jean Du Shon); “Copenhagen” (lyric by Walter Melrose, music
by Charlie Davis) (Debbie Shapiro); “Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues” (lyric and music by Ida Cox)
(Charles Coleman); “Lover Man” (lyric and music by Jimmy Davis, Roger “Ram” Ramirez, and Jimmy
Sherman) (Leslie Uggams); “Take Me for a Buggy Ride” (lyric and music by Leola and Wesley Wilson) (Jean
Du Shon); “Willow Weep for Me” (lyric and music by Ann Ronell) (Debbie Shapiro); “Kitchen Man” (lyric
by Andy Razaf, music by Alex Bellenda) (Jean Du Shon); “Low” (lyric and music by Vernon Duke, Milton
Drake, and Ben Oakland) (Leslie Uggams); “Take It Right Back” (lyric and music by H. Grey) (Leslie Ug-
gams, Debbie Shapiro, Jean Du Shon)
Act Two: “Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues” (reprise) (The Band); “Blues in the Night” (1941 film Blues in
the Night; lyric by Johnny Mercer, music by Harold Arlen) (Leslie Uggams, Debbie Shapiro); “Dirty No-
Gooder Blues” (lyric and music by Bessie Smith) (Jean Du Shon); “When a Woman Loves a Man” (lyric by
Johnny Mercer, music by Bernard Hanighen and Gordon Jenkins) (Charles Coleman); “Am I Blue” (1929
film On with the Show; lyric by Grant Clarke, music by Harry Akst) (Leslie Uggams, Debbie Shapiro, Jean
Du Shon); “Rough and Ready Man” (lyric and music by Alberta Hunter) (Leslie Uggams); “Reckless Blues”
(lyric and music by Bessie Smith) (Debbie Shapiro); “Wasted Life Blues” (lyric and music by Bessie Smith)
139
(Jean Du Shon); “Baby Doll” (lyric and music by Bessie Smith) (Charles Coleman); “Nobody Knows You
When You’re Down and Out” (lyric and music by Jimmy Cox) (Leslie Uggams, Debbie Shapiro, Jean Du
Shon); “I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues” (Earl Carroll Vanities [tenth edition, 1932]; lyric by Ted Koehler,
music by Harold Arlen) (Leslie Uggams, Debbie Shapiro, Jean Du Shon); “Blue Blue” (reprise) and “Blues
in the Night” (reprise) (Leslie Uggams, Debbie Shapiro, Jean Du Shon)
The revue-like musical Blues in the Night was in essence a collection of blues-oriented songs performed
by three women (identified only as Woman #1, #2, and #3 and respectively sung by Leslie Uggams, Debbie
Shapiro, and Jean Du Shon) in a setting that depicted three seedy hotel rooms in the Chicago of 1938. There
was no dialogue, and while the women never acknowledged one another’s presence, occasionally two of them,
and sometimes all three, joined together to sing a number. They were accompanied by a six-piece orchestra
whose leader (called the Saloon Singer, and played by Charles Coleman) sang two numbers during each act.
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said “my mama done told me there’d be nights like this” and the headline of
Douglas Watt’s review in the New York Daily News proclaimed “We gotta right to sing the blues.” Siegel
said the revue was “bad magic” with “awkward” direction, “self-defeating” musical arrangements, and a
conception that never delineated the three women, and Watt found the production “terribly mannered and
surprisingly pallid.” Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily said the show had no “real context,” and it would
have been helpful had the revue offered “a sense of progression or emotional build” as the evening progressed.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the “bland” evening was monotonous and “no one connected
with this revue has thought overly much about the meaning of the material” or how it might function as
theatre. John Beauford in the Christian Science Monitor also found the show monotonous and said the work’s
conception was “isolatingly impersonal” with its “belittling anonymity” of the three characters and its “lack
of imagination” in the staging.
But Clive Barnes in the New York Post said Blues in the Night was the “sleeper” of the year and the “first
hit” of the new Broadway season. The singers were “sumptuous” because Uggams brought “Aztec heat” to
her songs, Shapiro could “syncopate syncopation,” and Du Shon was “naughtily lubricious, indelicately randy
and totally delightful.” As a result, the evening was an “entertainment to warm body and soul together.”
During previews, Ruth Brown sang the role of Woman #3 and was succeeded by Jean Du Shon.
Blues in the Night had first been presented in a workshop production by and at The Production Company
in December 1978, and on March 9, 1979 was given at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, for
sixteen showings (with David Brunetti, Jean Du Shon, Suzanne M. Henry, and Mary Louise). The work was
later seen Off Broadway at Playhouse 46 on March 26, 1980, for fifty-one performances, and the three women
were sung by Suzanne M. Henry, Rise Collins, and Gwen Shepherd. A 1983 national tour starred Della Reese,
Neva Small, and Cynthia White.
After the current 1982 production, an Off-Broadway revival opened at the Minetta Lane Theatre on Sep-
tember 14, 1988, for forty-five performances (for this version, the three woman were called Lady from the
Road, Woman of the World, and Girl with a Date, and were respectively played by Carol Woods, Brenda Press-
ley, and Leilani Jones); this version was based on a 1987 London production (which had starred Woods and
Maria Friedman) and the songs differed slightly from the earlier New York showings: “Taking a Chance on
Love” (1940 musical Cabin in the Sky; lyric by John La Touche and Ted Fetter, music by Vernon Duke) and
“I’m Just a Lucky So-and-So” (lyric by Mack David, music by Duke Ellington) were added, and such numbers
as “Low” and “Copenhagen” were deleted.
The cast album of the London production was released by First Night Records (LP # SCENE-9).
All the productions of the revue were directed by Sheldon Epps, and the 1980, 1982, and 1988 versions
averaged runs of about six weeks apiece.
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Musical (Blues in the Night)
1982–1983 SEASON 141
CLEAVAGE
“A New Musical” / “A New Musical . . . Close to Where the Heart Is”
Theatre: Playhouse Theatre

Performances: 1
Book: Buddy and David Sheffield
Lyrics and Music: Buddy Sheffield
Direction: Rita Baker; Producer: Up Front Productions; Choreography: Alton Geno; Scenery: Morris Taylor;
Costumes: James M. Miller (Paul de Pass, Costume Supervision); Lighting: Michael Hotopp; Musical Di-
rection: Keith Thompson
Cast: Daniel David, Tom Elias, Mark Fite, Terese Gargiulo, Marsha Trigg Miller, Jay Rogers, Sharon Scruggs,
Dick Sheffield, Pattie Tierce
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Cleavage” (Ensemble); “Puberty” (Mark Fite, Ensemble); “Only Love” (Sharon Scruggs, Daniel
David); “Surprise Me” (Terese Gargiulo); “Reprise Me” (Terese Gargiulo, Mark Fite); “Boys Will Be Girls”
(Jay Rogers, Dancers); “Give Me an And” (Marsha Trigg Miller, Dancers); “Just Another Song” (Mark Fite);
“Believe in Me, or I’ll Be Leavin’ You” (Pattie Tierce, Dick Sheffield)
Act Two: “The Thrill of the Chase” (Tom Elias, Mark Fite, Daniel David); “Lead ’Em Around by the Nose”
(Marsha Trigg Miller, Pattie Tierce, Terese Gargiulo); “Sawing a Couple in Half” (Jay Rogers); “Only
Love” (reprise) (Terese Gargiulo); “Bringing Up Badger” (Daniel David, Ensemble); “Voices of the Chil-
dren” (Ensemble); “All the Lovely Ladies” (Tom Elias); “Living in Sin” (Tom Elias, Pattie Tierce, En-
semble); Finale (Ensemble)
Cleavage was the first of the season’s three musicals to close after one performance; a few days after it
shuttered it was followed by Play Me a Country Song, and at the end of the season both shows were joined
by Dance a Little Closer.
Cleavage had enjoyed pre-Broadway runs in Biloxi, Mississippi; Houston, Texas; and New Orleans, Loui-
siana, but New York wasn’t interested. The revue-like evening, which didn’t provide any character names,
looked at love from the perspectives of the young and old, and the New York Times reported the evening was
“about marriage and other relationships.” The musical appeared to have its tongue firmly in cheek, and one
number (“Boys Will Be Girls”) seems to have been performed in drag.
The cast album was recorded in Shreveport, Louisiana, and was released by BI Records and was coyly
numbered # 36-24-36.
PLAY ME A COUNTRY SONG

“A New Musical”
Theatre: Virginia Theatre

Performances: 1
Book: Jay Broad
Lyrics and Music: John R. Briggs and Harry Manfredini
Direction: Jerry Adler; Producers: Frederick R. Selch (Cheryl Raab, Associate Producer); Choreography: Margo
Sappington; Scenery: David Chapman; Costumes: Carol Oditz; Lighting: Marc B. Weiss; Musical Direc-
tion: Phil Hall
Cast: Reed Jones (Norm), Mary Gordon Murray (Ellen), Stephen Crain (Tony), Jay Huguely (Fred), Ronn Car-
roll (Howard), Louisa Flaningam (Lizzie), Karen Mason (Frances), Mary Jo Catlett (Penny), Kenneth Ames
(Buster), Candace Tovar (Meg), Rene Clemente (Jerome), Rick Thomas (Hank)
The action takes place at a truck stop located in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Sail Away” (Mary Gordon Murray); “Rodeo Dreams” (Reed Jones); “Why Does a Woman Leave
Her Man?” (Jay Huguely); “Eighteen-Wheelin’ Baby” (Candace Tovar, Louisa Flaningam, Mary Jo Catlett,
Mary Gordon Murray); “Waitin’ Tables” (Louisa Flaningam, Company); “Playing for Position” (Rene
Clemente, Kenneth Ames); “Just Thought I’d Call” (Rick Thomas); “Sing-A-Long” (Karen Mason, Ronn
Carroll, Company); “Sail Away” (reprise) and “If You Don’t Mind” (Mary Gordon Murray, Stephen Crain);
“Play Me a Country Song” (Company)
Act Two: “Coffee, Beer and Whiskey” (Jay Huguely); “Only a Fool” (Candace Tovar, Rick Thomas); “You
Can’t Get Ahead” (Mary Jo Catlett); “You Have to Get It Out to Get Away” (Mary Gordon Murray); “ Big
City” (Kenneth Ames); “My Sweet Woman” (Jay Huguely, Men); “All of My Dreams” (Louisa Flaningam,
Women); “Rodeo Rider” (Stephen Crain)
The new season was definitely getting off to a bad start with two one-performance musicals, first Cleav-
age and now Play Me a Country Song. And by season’s end they were joined by another one-nighter, Dance
a Little Closer. At least Play Me a Country Song had one minor claim to fame: it was the first show to play
at the newly renamed Virginia Theatre, which had been previously known as the ANTA (and had originally
opened its doors in 1925 as the Guild). And cast member Reed Jones had something to celebrate: Although he
began the season in one of its shortest-running musicals, a few months later he was in the season’s biggest
and longest-running hit when he created the role of Skimbleshanks in Cats.
Play Me a Country Song took place at a truck-stop hangout called Woodie’s, and because the Broadway
era was ripe with country-and-western musicals as well as plays and musicals with café settings, the few
audience members who showed up for Play Me a Country Song could be forgiven for thinking they’d walked
into a retrospective of such recent shows as Pump Boys and Dinettes, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,
Wally’s Café, and Come Back to the Five & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, with perhaps a touch of A
Texas Trilogy’s Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander thrown in. Frank Rich in the New York Times and
Clive Barnes in the New York Post recalled some of these earlier barroom and country-and-western shows,
and Barnes even cited a much earlier one, William Saroyan’s drama The Time of Your Life, but noted the cur-
rent musical lacked Saroyan’s “social awareness or feel for time, place and people.”
Woodie’s is owned by Fred, who announces his bar will permanently close because a new interstate high-
way some fourteen miles away has bypassed the saloon and taken away his business. And so the regulars
show up for the last night, and the almost revue-like evening gave them a chance to reminisce about the old
days and to chat and sing about their lives because as Fred philosophizes, everyone has “little dramas, no big-
ger than you can hold in your hand.” Barnes noted that unfortunately the regulars at Woodie’s get “fortune-
cookie advice” about their lives in the “thematically simplistic” musical.
Rich felt the present-day Woodie’s was “so dead it might convert even a confirmed alcoholic to Perrier,”
and he suggested that the regulars will now have to hang out at a Howard Johnson’s or, “one hopes, in the
privacy of their homes” because their “maudlin down-home anecdotes,” “fortune-cookie-length scenes,” and
“banal” songs led him to wonder how such a show could have been produced and how talented performers
could have been persuaded to appear in it.
Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily found the score mostly “simplistic” and “banal,” and suggested the
entire evening was a “doleful blend” of Pump Boys and Dinettes and Grand Hotel, and Douglas Watt in the
New York Daily News concluded his review by noting that throughout his notice he had referred to the musi-
cal in the past tense and thus decided this was “no accident” but instead “wishful thinking.”
The evening ended with the production number “Rodeo Rider,” which Watt noted had “nothing to do”
with the proceedings but was “well-designed” and “well-executed” as it allowed the male principals to por-
tray rodeo riders and their lives of roping calves and riding horses and bulls. Barnes said that choreographer
Margo Sappington’s “exciting” dance brought to mind the “horseplay” of Eugene Loring’s ballet Billy the Kid
and Agnes de Mille’s ballet Rodeo, but Rich said de Mille “need not worry about” the “extended” and “ir-
relevant” dance, and Cohen also stated that de Mille had “no reason to worry.”
During previews, the songs “We’re Off and Running,” “Ladies’ Lament,” and “Jerome’s Song” were cut.
1982–1983 SEASON 143
SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS

“The Broadway Musical”

Opening Date: July 8, 1982; Closing Date: July 11, 1982
Performances: 5
Book: Lawrence Kasha and David Landay
Lyrics: Johnny Mercer
Music: Gene de Paul
New Lyrics and Music: Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn
Based on the 1954 MGM film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (direction by Stanley Donen and screenplay by
Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley) and the 1937 short story “The Sobbin’ Women”
by Stephen Vincent Benet.
Direction: Lawrence Kasha; Producers: Kaslan Productions, Inc. (Martin Gould and Bernard Hodes, Associate
Producers); Choreography: Jerry Jackson; Scenery: Robert Randolph; Costumes: Robert Fletcher; Lighting:
Thomas Skelton; Musical Direction: Richard Parrinello
Cast: David-James Carroll (Adam), D. Scot Davidge (Benjamin), Jeffrey Reynolds (Ephraim), Lara Teeter (Ca-
leb), Jeff Calhoun (Daniel), Michael Ragan (Frank), Craig Peralta (Gideon), Fred Curt (Mr. Bixby), Jeanne
Bates (Mrs. Bixby), Jack Ritschel (Preacher), James Horvath (Lumberman, Luke), Russell Giesenschlag
(Lumberman, Jeb), Don Steffy (Lumberman, Carl), Gary Moss (Lumberman, Matt), Clark Sterling (Lum-
berman, Joel), Kevin McCready (Lumberman, Zeke), Conley Schnaterbeck (Indian), Debby Boone (Milly),
Sha Newman (Ruth), Laurel van der Linde (Martha), Linda Hoxit (Sarah), Jan Mussetter (Liza), Nancy Fox
(Alice), Manette LaChance (Dorcas), Marylou Hume (Dorcas’ Sister), Marykatherine Somers (Mrs. Per-
kins), David Pavlosky (Newsboy); Townspeople: Jeanne Bates, Cheryl Crandall, Fred Curt, Gino Gaudio,
Russell Giesenschlag, James Horvath, Marylou Hume, Kevin McCready, Gary Moss, David Pavlosky,
Jack Ritchel, Conley Schnaterbeck, Sam Singhaus, Marykatherine Somers, Don Steffy, Clark Sterling,
Stephanie Stromer
The action takes place in the Pacific Northwest during the 1850s.
Musical Numbers
Note: * = Denotes new songs with lyrics and music by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn.
Act One: “Bless Your (Yore) Beautiful Hide” (David-James Carroll); “Wonderful, Wonderful Day” (Debby
Boone, Sha Newman, Laurel van der Linde, Linda Hoxit, Jan Mussetter, Nancy Fox, Manette LaChance);
“One Man” (*) (Debby Boone); “Goin’ Courting (Courtin’) (Co’tin’)” (Debby Boone, D. Scot Davidge, Jef-
frey Reynolds, Lara Teeter, Jeff Calhoun, Michael Ragan, Craig Peralta); “Social Dance” (Debby Boone,
David-James Carroll, Sha Newman, Laurel van der Linde, Linda Hoxit, Jan Mussetter, Nancy Fox, Ma-
nette LaChance, David James-Carroll, D. Scot Davidge, Jeffrey Reynolds, Lara Teeter, Jeff Calhoun, Mi-
chael Ragan, Craig Peralta, Suitors, Townspeople); “Love Never Goes Away” (*) (David-James Carroll,
Debby Boone, Craig Peralta); “Sobbin’ Women” (David-James Carroll, D. Scot Davidge, Jeffrey Reynolds,
Lara Teeter, Jeff Calhoun, Michael Ragan, Craig Peralta)
Act Two: “The Townsfolk’s Lament” (*) (Suitors, Townsfolk); “A Woman Ought to Know Her Place” (*) (Da-
vid-James Carroll); “We Gotta Make It Through the Winter” (*) (D. Scot Davidge, Jeffrey Reynolds, Lara
Teeter, Jeff Calhoun, Michael Ragan, Craig Peralta); “You Gotta Make It Through the Winter” (*) (reprise)
(Debby Boone, Sha Newman, Laurel van der Linde, Linda Hoxit, Jan Mussetter, Nancy Fox, Manette La-
Chance); “Spring Dance” (*) (Sha Newman, Laurel van der Linde, Linda Hoxit, Jan Mussetter, Nancy Fox,
Manette LaChance, D. Scot Davidge, Jeffrey Reynolds, Lara Teeter, Jeff Calhoun, Michael Ragan, Craig
Peralta); “A Woman Ought to Know Her Place” (*) (reprise) (David-James Carroll, Craig Peralta); “Glad
That You Were Born” (*) (Debby Boone, Sha Newman, Laurel van der Linde, Linda Hoxit, Jan Mussetter,
Nancy Fox, Manette LaChance, D. Scot Davidge, Jeffrey Reynolds, Lara Teeter, Jeff Calhoun, Michael
Ragan, Craig Peralta); “Wedding Dance” (Debby Boone, David-James Carroll, Sha Newman, Laurel van
der Linde, Linda Hoxit, Jan Mussetter, Nancy Fox, Manette LaChance, D. Scot Davidge, Jeffrey Reynolds,
Lara Teeter, Jeff Calhoun, Michael Ragan, Craig Peralta, Townspeople)
The 1954 MGM musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was one of the happiest film musicals ever
produced. Its lighthearted story was supplemented by tuneful songs by Johnny Mercer and Gene de Paul, and
Michael Kidd devised a series of memorably virile dances, including an exciting barn-raising number (but for
the dance that accompanied “June Bride” he created a homage to Agnes de Mille); in 1956, Mercer, de Paul,
and Kidd re-teamed for another “country” musical, the joyous and satirical Li’l Abner.
The film of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was headed by Howard Keel (Adam) and Jane Powell (Milly),
Adam’s brothers were played by Jacques D’Amboise, Marc Platt, Tommy Rall, Matt Mattox, Russ Tamblyn,
and Jeff Richards, and among the brides were Julie Newmeyer (later Newmar) and Virginia Gibson (who had
earlier appeared on Broadway as Virginia Gorski and under her current name appeared as Ethel Merman’s
daughter in the 1956 musical Happy Hunting and with Merman introduced the hit song “Mutual Admiration
Society”).
Adam and Milly marry after one of the shortest courtships in musical-comedy history, and when Milly
arrives at Adam’s homestead she’s shocked to discover he has six unmarried brothers and is expected to cook
and clean for the entire clan. The brothers decide it’s time to get wives of their own, and inspired by their
misinterpretation of the story of the Sabine women they travel to town and kidnap six young women whom
they’ve occasionally flirted with. When an avalanche cuts off all access between the town and the homestead,
Milly shoos the brothers off to the barn, and, although pregnant, she takes care of the girls who live with her
in the house. Adam (who doesn’t know Milly is pregnant) leaves in a huff and spends the winter in a mountain
cabin, but by spring all is well. The brothers and the young women marry, and Milly and Adam are reconciled.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the “thread-bare touring package” included songs by the “perpe-
trators” of Copperfield, and gags about long johns, and the evening’s “big knee-slapper” was a reference to an
outhouse. Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said almost everything in the production was “humdrum,”
and while the musical might be “fine” for summer stock, it wasn’t worthy of Broadway. Dennis Cunningham
on WCBSTV2 said there was “no excuse for shabby, shabby productions” like Seven Brides for Seven Broth-
ers.
But Clive Barnes in the New York Post liked the “exuberantly enjoyable family show” and he praised
Debby Boone as “squeaky-fresh but refreshingly sexy—a sort of American Julie Andrews” who “has all the
makings of a major Broadway star”; Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the choreography
“unoriginal” but “lively” and suggested the entire evening was “smooth, not necessarily bad for you, and
passes by almost unnoticeably.” And Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the musical was “14 kinds of fun” with
its “dynamite dancing” and “all-American innocence and exuberance.”
The Broadway production dropped four of the film’s eight songs, “When You’re in Love,” “Lonesome
Polecat,” “June Bride,” and “Spring, Spring, Spring,” although “Lonesome Polecat” was heard during the mu-
sical’s lengthy pre-Broadway national tour. The four songs retained for the stage production were “Bless Yore
Beautiful Hide,” “Wonderful, Wonderful Day,” ‘“Goin’ Courtin’,” and “Sobbin’ Women,” and the remaining
numbers were new ones written by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn. During the tryout, three new songs by
Kasha and Hirschhorn were dropped, “Get a Wife,” “I Married Seven Brothers,” and “It’s Up to Us.”
Kasha and Hirschhorn’s version of the musical was produced in summer stock in the late 1970s with Keel
and Powell reprising their original film roles, and the team’s songs for this version that weren’t heard in the
Broadway production were “Women’s Work,” “I’m Jumpin’ In,” “When They Grow Up,” and “If It Was a
Different Man.” Other regional productions of the musical included sequences titled “The Transformation,”
“The Dance,” “The Kidnapping,” “The Rescue,” and “The Wedding”; the film songs “When You’re in Love,”
“Lonesome Polecat,” “June Bride,” and “Spring, Spring, Spring” were used; and the new number “I’m Gettin’
Out” was heard.
The DVD of the 1954 film was released by Warner Home Video, Inc. (# 65926), and the expanded
soundtrack issued by Rhino Records (# R2-71966) includes dance music, background scoring, and demo re-
cordings (including “Queen of the May,” which wasn’t used in the film). A studio cast album of the film score
was released by Pickwick Records (CD # PWKS-4209) with Bonnie Langford and Edmund Hockridge, and the
Italian cast album Sette spose per sette fratelli was issued by EMI Records (# 7243-4-98531-2-6) and includes
numbers from the film as well as three songs by Kasha and Hirschhorn that were heard in the Broadway pro-
duction (“One Man,” “The Townsfolk’s Lament,” and “We Gotta Make It Through the Winter”).
1982–1983 SEASON 145
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was one of many failed attempts to successfully translate a classic MGM
musical for the stage. Seven Brides lasted for just 5 performances; both attempts to create a viable stage ad-
aptation of Gigi ran aground (a 1973 version played for only 103 performances and a 2015 version collapsed
after 86 showings); Singin’ in the Rain managed a run of 367 showings but lost money; and Meet Me in St
Louis lasted 253 performances and 1997’s High Society, 144. Stage adaptations of Easter Parade and The Band
Wagon never quite got off the ground, and occasional summer stock tours of The Pirate were never developed
for Broadway. But the 2015 adaptation of An American in Paris seems to have broken the MGM jinx and won
three Tony awards, including Best Choreography. (Occasional productions of The Wizard of Oz have played
in New York, but these were limited engagements and not open-ended runs.)
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Score (lyrics by Johnny Mercer and music by Gene de Paul, and lyrics and
music by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn)
MANHATTAN RHYTHM
Theatre: Savoy Theatre
Performances: 27
Direction and Choreography: Jon Devlin; Producer: Barbara Moore, Executive Producer; Costumes: David To-
ser (Fantasy Creatures created by Richard Tautkus); Lighting: David Adams; Musical Direction: Richard
Dimino
Cast: Jon Devlin; His Company—Female Dancers: Virginia Clark East, Lynn Gendron, Ann Marie Giam-
battista, Kim Kuhlman, Diana Laurenson, Linda Paul, Lisa Rudy, Lauren Salerno; Male Dancers: Louis
Albert, Richard Loreto, Ralph Rodriguez, Steven Van Dyke; Singers: Armour Gomez, Teri Hiatt, Karen
Quackenbush, Bonnie Sue Taylor; Musicians: Babafemi (Percussion), Hank B. (Drums), Andrew Brown
(Trombone), Tyrone Cox (Drums), Richard Dimino (Conductor, Piano, Keyboards), Garrison Dow (Bass),
Robert Mediou (Guitar), Vernon Jeffrey Smith (Saxophone), Larry Smith (Saxophone)
The dance revue was presented in two acts.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Opening (Company); Jazz—“Love for Sale” (1930 musical The New Yorkers; lyric and music by Cole
Porter) (Jon Devlin, Lisa Rudy, Ann Marie Giambattista, Diane Laurenson, Kim Kuhlman, Virginia Clark
East, Steven Van Dyke, Richard Loreto, Louis Albert; Vocal: Teri Hiatt); “Manhattan Rhythm Blues” (Jon
Devlin, Lyn Gendron); “All Blues” (Virginia Clark East, Diana Laurenson, Lauren Salerno, Linda Paul,
Kim Kuhlman; Dance Solo: Ann Marie Giambattista); “Take Five” (Steven Van Dyke, Richard Loreto,
Louis Albert); “Walkin’ Sally” (Diana Laurenson, Linda Paul, Ann Marie Giambattista); Big Bands 40’s—
“One O’Clock Jump” (music by Count Basie) and “In the Mood” (among others, song attributed to Joe
Garland) (Jon Devlin, Teri Hiatt; Back-Up Vocals: Bonnie Sue Taylor, Armour Gomez, Karen Quacken-
bush); “57 Street” (Louis Albert, Kim Kuhlman, Steven Van Dyke, Diana Laurenson, Ralph Rodriguez,
Ann Marie Giambattista, Linda Paul, Lyn Gendron); Broadway (additional choreography by Mary Delia
Quigley)—“Crossover” (Virginia Clark East); Medley (unidentified songs) (Karen Quackenbush, Ann
Marie Giambattista, Lauren Salerno, Bonnie Sue Taylor, Armour Gomez, Richard Loreto, Ralph Rodri-
guez, Steven Van Dyke); “You Can Dance” (additional choreography by Harry Bell) (Teri Hiatt, Steven
Van Dyke, Ralph Rodriguez); Disco Space Fantasy—“Star Trek Medley” and “Star Wars Cantina” (Lyn
Gendron, Richard Loreto, Lauren Salerno, Louis Albert, Diana Laurenson, Ann Marie Giambattista, Lisa
Rudy, Steven Van Dyke, Ralph Rodriguez)
Act Two: Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley (mostly unidentified songs) (additional choreography for “Rock ’n’ Roll ’n’
Rock” by Jay Norman) (Company); Latin—“Mambo,” “Cha-Cha,” and “Mambo” (Ann Marie Giambattista,
Diana Laurenson, Virginia Clark East, Lauren Salerno, Jon Devlin, Lyn Gendron); “Merengue” (Ann Marie
Giambattista, Lyn Gendron, Virginia Clark East, Lauren Salerno); “Spanish Cape” (Jon Devlin); “Tango”
(Jon Devlin, Diana Laurenson); “Samba” (Company; Duo: Jon Devlin and Ann Marie Giambattista); Coun-
try/Western—“Hey, Good Lookin’” (Bonnie Sue Taylor); “Lady” (Armour Gomez); “9 to 5” (Karen Quack-
enbush); “Never-Ending Love” (Company); Top Hits—“Guilty” (Teri Hiatt, Armour Gomez); “Physical”
(Bonnie Sue Taylor, Steven Van Dyke, Ralph Rodriguez); “Out Here on My Own” (Teri Hiatt); “Fame”
(Diana Laurenson, Ann Marie Giambattista, Lyn Gendron, Virginia Clark East); “Celebration” (Company)
(Note: The program also indicated that an unlisted number titled “Dancers’ Finale” had additional cho-
reography by Jay Norman.)
Jon Devlin’s dance revue Manhattan Rhythm was no doubt inspired by Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ (1978), and
while it lacked the glitz and invention of Fosse’s brilliant dance conceptions the evening was a mildly pleas-
ant one that brought to mind television spectaculars of old.
The production was virtually ignored by the critics, but Richard Shepard in the New York Times reported
the show was the first to play at the recently revamped and renamed Hudson Theatre, now called the Savoy.
The orchestra section had been leveled and now offered groupings of tables and chairs where customers could
order drinks and watch the show in cabaret fashion (except for glass holders attached to the seats, the balco-
nies remained untouched, and a huge bar had been installed in the main corridor near the box office).
THE MERRY WIDOW

Opening Date: September 7, 1982; Closing Date: November 13, 1982
Book and Lyrics: Victor Leon and Leo Stein (English adaptation by Adrian Ross)
Music: Franz Lehar
Based on the 1861 play L’attache d’ambassade by Henri Meilhac.
Direction: Bill Gile; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director; John S.
White, Managing Director); Choreography: Donald Saddler; Scenery: Helen Pond and Herbert Senn; Cos-
tumes: Suzanne Mess; Lighting: Gilbert V. Hemsley Jr.; Musical Direction: Scott Bergeson
Cast: Jack Harrold (Baron Popoff), Susanne Marsee (Natalie), William Eichorn (M. de St. Brioche), Thomas
Jamerson (Marquis de Cascada), Bonnie Kirk (Sylviane), Janis Eckhart (Olga), Douglas Perry (General
Novikovich), Joseph Evans (Vicomte Camille de Jolidon), William Ledbetter (Counsellor Khadja), James
Billings (Nisch), Elizabeth Hynes (Sonia), Alan Titus (Count Danilo), Robert Brubaker (Head Waiter),
Susan Elizabeth Scott (Zozo), Rebeka Pradera (Lolo), Esperanza Galan (Dodo), Candace Itow (Jou-Jou),
Victoria Rinaldi (Frou-Frou), Kate Langan (Clo-Clo), Tamara Mark (Margot); Members of Marsovian and
Parisian Society, Servants, and Waiters: The New York City Opera Chorus and Dancers
The action takes place in and around Paris during the early 1900s.
Franz Lehar’s operetta Die lustige witwe premiered in Vienna at the Theatre an der Wien on December
30, 1905, with Mizzi Gunther and Louis Treumann in the leading roles of Sonia and Count Danilo. The story
centered on the impoverished kingdom of Marsovia and the attempts of its politicians to ensure that the
fortune of its wealthiest citizen, the widow Sonia, will remain in the country. To that end, Danilo is sent to
Paris to woo Sonia into marriage and thus keep her money in Marsovia. Of course, the two fall in love to the
accompaniment of Lehar’s gorgeous score and their romantic happy ending is also a financially happy one for
the coffers of the kingdom.
In reviewing the current revival by the New York City Opera Company, Donal Henahan in the New York
Times noted that during the summer the New York State Theatre had undergone acoustical restoration that
resulted in “significant improvements.” As a result, the heretofore acoustically troublesome venue allowed
the singers and orchestra to project “with greater clarity and definition.” For “Vilja,” Elizabeth Hynes’s So-
nia was “vocally unimpeachable” but perhaps a touch too “desperately dramatic”; otherwise, her voice had
“power and a velvety gloss.” Alan Titus’s Count Danilo was “charmingly gauche.”
1982–1983 SEASON 147
During the run, other performers alternated in the leading roles, and John Rockwell in the Times noted
that as Sonia Karen Huffstodt sang with “some brightness” but lacked the necessary “charisma” and “vocal
opulence,” and Louis Otey’s Danilo was “dashing” with a “forthrightly enough” voice but occasionally dis-
played “an odd, swallowed, tight quality” at the top of his vocal register. Overall, Rockwell felt the produc-
tion provided a “casual treatment” of the score and he noted the revival included one interpolation (“One
Love in a Lifetime” from Lehar’s 1934 operetta Giuditta, original lyric by Paul Knepler and Fritz Lohner-Beda
with a new English lyric by the revival’s conductor Scott Bergeson).
The operetta has enjoyed some twenty-one productions in New York; the first, which starred Ethel Jack-
son and Donald Brian, opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on October 27, 1907, and played for 416 per-
formances. City Opera’s current production was the company’s first of five revivals of the operetta during the
decade (see entries for the 1983, 1985, 1988, and 1989 presentations). Also, see entry for the Vienna Volksoper
revival which played a limited engagement in 1984.
There have been various film versions, the most memorable one directed by Ernst Lubitsch for MGM in
1934 with Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier (most of the lyrics were by Lorenz Hart, and additional
music was by Richard Rodgers and Herbert Stothart).
There are many recordings of the score, including the cast album of the 1964 Music Theatre of Lincoln
Center production which starred Patrice Munsel and Bob Wright (RCA Victor Records LP # LOC/LSO-1094;
the CD was released by Sony Masterworks Broadway # 88697-88567-2). A two-CD set (with libretto) per-
formed in German was released by Deutsche Grammophon (# 439-911-2) by the Wiener Philharmoniker and
the Monteverdi Choir (orchestra conducted by John Eliot Gardiner, and with Cheryl Studer and Boje Skovhus
in the leading roles).
YOUR ARMS TOO SHORT TO BOX WITH GOD

Performances: 70
Text: Vinnette Carroll
Lyrics and Music: Alex Bradford; additional lyrics and music by Micki Grant; dance music by H. B. Barnum
Based on the Book of Matthew.
Direction: Vinnette Carroll; Producers: Barry and Fran Weissler (Jerry R. Moore, Associate Producer) (co-
produced by Anita MacShane and The Urban Arts Theatre); Choreography: Talley Beatty (choreography
restaged by Ralf Paul Haze); Scenery and Costumes: William Schroder; Lighting: Richard Winkler; Musi-
cal Direction: Michael Powell
Cast: Patti LaBelle, Al Green, Julius Richard Brown, Nora Cole, Jamil K. Garland, Elijah Gill, L. Michael
Gray, Ralf Paul Haze, Cynthia Henry, The Bobby Hill, Rufus E. Jackson, Elmore James, Linda James,
Tommi Johnson, Janice Nunn Nelson, Dwayne Phelps, Quincella (Swyningan), KiKi Shepard, Leslie Hard-
esty Sisson, Marilynn Winbush
The concert-styled evening was presented in two acts.
Musical Numbers
Note: * = Lyric and music by Micki Grant; ** = Lyric and music by Alex Bradford; *** = Music by H. B. Bar-
num.
Act One: “Beatitudes” (*) (Company); “We’re Gonna Have a Good Time” (*) (Patti LaBelle, Company); “Me
and Jesus” (*) (Al Green, Company); “There’s a Stranger in Town” (**) (Al Green); “Just a Little Bit of
Jesus Goes a Long Way” (**) (Janice Nunn Nelson, Company); “We Are the Priests and Elders” (*) (Julius
Richard Brown, The Bobby Hill, L. Michael Gray, Elmore James); “Something Is Wrong in Jerusalem”
(*) (Nora Cole, Quincella); “It Was Alone” (**) and “I Know I Have to Leave Here” (**) (Elijah Gill, Al
Green, Company); “Be Careful Whom You Kiss” (**) (Elijah Gill, Ralf Paul Haze, Nora Cole, Quincella);
“Trial” (*) (Company); “It’s Too Late” (*) (Company); “Judas Dance” (***) (Ralf Paul Haze); “Your Arms
Too Short to Box with God” (**) (Patti LaBelle, Company); “Give Us Barabbas” (Company); “See How
They Done My Lord” (**) (Nora Cole, Company); “Come On Down” (**) (L. Michael Gray, Jamil K. Gar-
land, Linda James); “Veil of the Temple” (unidentified lyricist and composer) (Patti LaBelle, Company);
“Can’t No Grave Hold My Body Down” (**) (Al Green, Quincella, Elijah Gill, Company); “Beatitudes”
(*) (reprise) (Patti LaBelle, Company)
Act Two: “Didn’t I Tell You” (**) (Al Green, Company); “When the Power Comes” (**) (Al Green, Company);
“Everybody Has His Own Way” (**) (Julius Richard Brown, The Bobby Hill, Tommi Johnson); “Down by
the Riverside” (traditional) (L. Michael Gray, Company); “I Love You So Much, Jesus” (**) (Patti LaBelle);
“Couldn’t Keep It to Myself” (**) (Al Green, Company); “On That Day” (**) (Al Green, Company); “As
Long as I Live” (**) (Patti LaBelle, Al Green); “The Band” (**) (Company)
The current revival of the revue-like gospel musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God had last been
seen in New York some two years earlier. For information about that production and the musical in general
(including its original New York run in 1976), see entry for the June 1980 revival. The new production, which
starred Patti LaBelle and Al Green, was somewhat revised and had a slightly different song listing than the
1980 version.
Robert Palmer in the New York Times noted that the slightly reworked production needed to address
the differences between the styles of pop singer Patti LaBelle (whose singing performance was that of “glitzy
showboating,” “mannerisms,” and “sheer overkill”) and the remainder of the cast, including Al Green, all of
whom were traditional gospel vocalists. But the show was nonetheless “worth the price of admission.” Clive
Barnes in the New York Post cautioned that this was not a traditional production of the musical because La-
Belle and Green in their “somewhat competitive ways” always seemed to be looking for a musical “knockout
punch.” As a result, the revue’s “present frenzy” offered “as much fury as sound” and the “sound itself prob-
ably breaks the Broadway decibel count.”
Don Nelsen in the New York Daily News felt the revival was “much more flashily show biz than its pre-
decessors” and said LaBelle “took over the show as if the rest of the cast were a bunch of rug weavers” when
Arms should instead be “an ensemble effort.” James Spina in Women’s Wear Daily said the revue was “noth-
ing more than jejune soul polished with typical Broadway movements and now packaged with big-name bait.”
For future revivals, he suggested Aretha Franklin and Fats Domino for a “Weight Watchers engagement,” and
Lauren Bacall and John Denver for “a daring racial crossover version.”
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Al Green)
A DOLL’S LIFE
“A New Musical”
Theatre: Mark Hellinger Theatre

Performances: 5
Book and Lyrics: Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Music: Larry Grossman
The musical was a sequel to Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play A Doll House (often incorrectly translated as A Doll’s
House).
Direction: Harold Prince; Producers: James M. Nederlander, Sidney L. Shlenker, Warner Theatre Productions,
Joseph Harris, Mary Lea Johnson, Martin Richards, and Robert Fryer; Choreography: Larry Fuller; Scenery:
Timothy O’Brien and Tazeena Firth; Costumes: Florence Klotz; Lighting: Ken Billington; Musical Direc-
tion: Paul Gemignani
Cast: Betsy Joslyn (Nora), George Hearn (Actor, Torvald, Johan), Peter Gallagher (Otto), Edmund Lyndeck
(Eric), Barbara Lang (Astrid), Penny Orloff (Audition Singer, Selma, Jacqueline), Norman A. Large (Conduc-
tor, Gustafson, Escamillo, Audition Singer, Loki, Mr. Zetterling), David Vosburgh (Stage Hand, Doctor
Berg, Audition Singer, Ambassador), Michael Vita (Stage Manager, Hamsun, Petersen, Warden, Nilson),
1982–1983 SEASON 149
Diane Armistead (Dowager), Gordon Bovinet (Musician, Mr. Kloster), Willi Burke (Camilla Forrester),
Patti Cohenour (Assistant Stage Manager, Helga), John Corsaut (Prison Guard), David Cale Johnson (Prison
Guard), Carol Lurie (Helmer’s Maid, Waitress), Larry Small (Musician, Waiter), Paul Straney (Waiter, Au-
dition Singer, Muller), Olga Talyn (Maid, The Widow), Jim Wagg (Ivar), Kimberly Stern (Emmy), David
Seaman (Bob), Lisa Peters (Woman in White), Teri Gill (Woman in Red), Patricia Parker (Woman in Black),
David Evans (Man in Black)
The action takes place in New York City in 1982 and in Norway during the period 1879–1883.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Prologue” (Betsy Joslyn, Company); “A Woman Alone” (Betsy Joslyn, Peter Gallagher, Norman A.
Large, Company); “Letter to the Children” (Betsy Joslyn); “New Year’s Eve” (Edmund Lyndeck, George
Hearn, David Vosburgh, Norman A. Large); “Stay with Me, Nora” (Peter Gallagher, Betsy Joslyn); “The
Opera Audition”: (1) “Arrival” (Barbara Lang, Company); (2) “Loki and Baldur” (Peter Gallagher, Singers);
(3) “You Interest Me” (George Hearn); and (4) “Departure” (Barbara Lang, Company); “Letter from Klem-
nacht” (Barbara Lang); “Learn to Be Lonely” (Betsy Joslyn); “Rats and Mice and Fish” (Women); “Jailer,
Jailer” and “Letter to the Children” (reprise) (Betsy Joslyn, Women); “Excerpts from Loki and Baldur”
(Company); “Rare Wines” (Edmund Lyndeck, Betsy Joslyn)
Act Two: “No More Mornings” (Betsy Joslyn); “There She Is” (George Hearn, Edmund Lyndeck, Peter Gal-
lagher); “Power” (Betsy Joslyn); “Letter to the Children” (reprise) (Betsy Joslyn); “At Last” (George Hearn);
“The Grand Café” (Company); Finale (Company)
A Doll’s Life was inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play A Doll House (which is usually and incorrectly
translated as A Doll’s House) about wife and mother Nora (played by Betsy Joslyn in the musical) who in her
search for independence slams the door on her hapless and perhaps ineffectual but hardly villainous husband
Torvald (George Hearn) and her three children. Betty Comden and Adolph Green’s book purports to tell us
what happens to Nora when she slams the door and reinvents herself as newly liberated woman. But as soon
as the curtain rose, the musical was in monumental trouble. A Doll’s Life crashed after five performances and
with a reported $4 million loss was one of the biggest flops in Broadway history; its closing even made the
front page of the New York Times.
The musical begins in the present time at a rehearsal for the final scene of A Doll House where the
actress portraying Nora is somehow magically transported to the Norway of 1879 where (as Nora) she cal-
lously jettisons her husband and children. She finds work in a restaurant and then in a cannery, and along
the way meets young composer Otto (Peter Gallagher) who has written an opera called Loki and Baldur and
whom she mistakenly believes is the kind of enlightened man she’s seeking. (Much stage time was spent
on the Otto subplot, including sequences from his opera, all of which had little to do with the musical at
hand.) Meanwhile, Nora decides that education is the only path to independence, but her time at the cannery
inspires her to become an activist for women’s rights and she’s jailed three times for organizing pickets and
demonstrations. She also meets enlightened lawyer Johan (also played by Hearn) and rich businessman Eric
(Edmund Lyndeck) who bankrolls a successful perfume business for her. Ultimately, Nora decides to return
to her family and in song tells Torvald that they must “meet as equals.”
The dreary plot with its more-sensitive-than-thou approach to women’s liberation played like a musical
version of a daytime television talk show about equal rights. Comden and Green always excelled in light-
hearted scripts and tongue-in-cheek spoofery, and here were completely out of their element with the didactic
and sour story. The pretentious plot and dialogue were laughable, the liberated Nora and her “sensitive” men
came across like parodies, and as one sat petrified with boredom in the Mark Hellinger Theatre one mused
that perhaps the stage proceedings might have worked rather well if Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman had
kidded them in the manner of their skits on Burnett’s television show.
It was impossible to sympathize with Nora’s plight: if she does indeed have issues with Torvald and with
the era’s attitudes toward women’s rights, is this the fault of the three young children whom she abandoned?
And if the roles had been reversed, would Comden, Green, and the musical’s creators have been quick to
sympathize with a man who abandons his wife and children in order to find himself?
Further, the musical seemed to argue that the best way for a woman to be truly liberated is to emulate a
male in every respect. This is certainly not Ibsen’s message, was surely not what the musical’s creators meant
to convey, and modern-day feminists would definitely be appalled to discover that the intent of liberation is
to be just like a man. But the spineless book and the by-the-numbers lyrics never took on a life of their own
and had nothing thoughtful and incisive to say about the situation and the characters.
As for the weak opening, the musical might have been more effective had it begun with a straightforward
staging of the final scene of Ibsen’s play, perhaps on a plain stage with the performers dressed in nondescript
black-and-white rehearsal clothes. And when Nora slams the door, the work could have exploded into color
and music as we follow her into a new world of discovery and independence. But as written the musical car-
ried too much baggage, and even suggested the story was really about the actress who plays Nora in the open-
ing sequence of the production and how she tries to find her liberated self by imagining what the fictional
Nora might have gone through.
Harold Prince’s direction was disappointing, and he recycled trademarks from his earlier shows: the be-
loved catwalks of Evita ([London, 1978]; 1979) and Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979)
made a reappearance; a dancing couple swirled about the stage and were somewhat reminiscent of Vincent
and Vanessa in Follies (1971) and Che and Evita in Evita; and while the décor of Fiddler on the Roof (1964),
Cabaret (1966), and the Loveland sequence of Follies were in the respective styles of Marc Chagall, Georges
Grosz, and Jean-Honore Fragonard, A Doll’s Life adopted the look of the paintings of Edvard Munch (Frank
Rich in the New York Times suggested if the script had visited Nora’s parfumerie we no doubt would have
been transported into the territory of another Prince musical, 1963’s She Loves Me).
Except for George Hearn, who brought more to his role than was actually written, the performances were
half-hearted, and Betsy Joslyn was stuck with a cold and unfeeling character. Peter Gallagher and Edmund
Lyndeck did what they could with their impossibly written roles, but they and all the performers were un-
done by the ludicrous book, a book so pretentious that it brought to mind the kind of pompous musical that
Comden and Green had spoofed in their classic 1953 MGM movie musical The Band Wagon. The proceedings
came to life only in Larry Grossman’s ambitious score, particularly in such expansive and sweeping sequences
as “The Grand Café.” But his music was saddled with the grim book and lyrics and one wished an instrumen-
tal version of the score had been recorded.
Rich noted that the young theatre season was “unlikely to produce a more perplexing curiosity” because
the creators of A Doll’s Life had “inflated a spectacularly unpromising premise” into a show that “collapses
in its prologue and then skids into a toboggan from which there is no return.” But at least Grossman emerged
from the “blunder” with “minor distinction,” and among all the creative personnel he at least seemed “to know
where he’s going.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the “ponderous” musical opened at the
Mark Hellinger “without a prayer,” for here Nora arrives in the world of “heavily miked operetta” and a “limpy
blend” of Bitter Sweet (1929) and Sweeney Todd that morphed into Onward Victoria. Clive Barnes in the New
York Post suggested that “aspiration and perspiration” weren’t enough and therefore the work “remains the
dream of a musical unfulfilled.” The show lacked “involvement,” the book and lyrics missed the gravitas of Ib-
sen, the score seemed “written to order,” and Barnes wondered if the ambiguous ending would lead to Nora III.
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said there were no characters to care about, the first act was “endless,” and the
evening was presented in a “joyless” and “lifeless” manner. And Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 found A
Doll’s Life a “ponderous, overbearing bore” that was “leaden, lumbering, and thoroughly ill-advised.”
The original cast album was released by Original Cast Records (LP # OC-8241), and was later issued by
CBS Special Products (LP # P-18846); the CD was released by Bay Cities Records # BCD-3031. The script was
published in paperback by Samuel French in 1983.
The musical was revived Off Off Broadway by the York Theatre Company for a limited engagement at
Saint Peter’s Church, where it opened on December 21, 1994, for thirty-four performances. Although the pro-
duction was far more intimate than the bloated Broadway version, the material was still dull and the small-
scale interpretation was just as unsatisfactory as its predecessor. The revival dropped “The Grand Café,” and
added one new song (“Can’t You Hear I’m Making Love to You”).
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Leading Actor in a Musical (George Hearn); Best Book (Betty Comden and
Adolph Green); Best Score (lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, music by Larry Grossman)
1982–1983 SEASON 151
CATS
Theatre: Winter Garden Theatre
Opening Date: October 7, 1982; Closing Date: September 10, 2000
Performances: 7,485
Lyrics: T. S. Eliot; additional lyrics by Trevor Nunn and Richard Stilgoe
Based on T. S. Eliot’s 1939 book of poetry Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (and other writings by Eliot).
Direction: Trevor Nunn (Gillian Lynne, Associate Director); Producers: Cameron Mackintosh, The Really
Useful Company Limited, David Geffen, and The Shubert Organization (R. Tyler Gatchell Jr., and Peter
Neufeld, Executive Producers); Choreography: Gillian Lynne; Scenery and Costumes: John Napier; Light-
ing: David Hersey; Musical Direction: Stanley Lebowsky
Cast: Hector Jaime Mercado (Alonzo), Stephen Hanan (Asparagus, Growltiger), Donna King (Bombalurina),
Steven Gelfer (Carbucketty), Rene Ceballos (Cassandra), Rene Clemente (Coricopat, Mungojerrie), Wendy
Edmead (Demeter), Christine Langner (Etcetera, Rumpleteazer), Betty Buckley (Grizabella), Bonnie Sim-
mons (Jellylorum, Griddlebone), Anna McNeely (Jennyanydots), Timothy Scott (Mistoffolees), Harry
Groener (Munkustrap), Ken Page (Old Deuteronomy), Kenneth Ard (Plato, Macavity), Herman W. Sebek
(Pouncival), Terrence V. Mann (Rum Tum Tugger), Reed Jones (Skimbleshanks), Janet L. Hubert (Tan-
tomile), Robert Hoshour (Tumblebrutus), Cynthia Onrubia (Victoria); The Cat Chorus: Walter Charles,
Susan Powers, Carol Richards, Joel Robertson
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Prologue: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats” (Company); “The Naming of Cats” (Company); “The In-
vitation to the Jellicle Ball” (Cynthia Onrubia, Timothy Scott); “The Old Gumbie Cat” (Anna McNeeley,
Rene Ceballos, Donna King, Bonnie Simmons); “The Rum Tum Tugger” (Terrence V. Mann); “Grizabella,
the Glamour Cat” (Betty Buckley, Wendy Edmead, Donna King); “Bustopher Jones” (Stephen Hanan,
Anna McNeeley, Bonnie Simmons, Donna King); “Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer” (Timothy Scott, Rene
Clemente, Christine Langner); “Old Deuteronomy” (Harry Groener, Terrence V. Mann, Ken Page); “The
Awfull Battle of the Pekes and Pollicles” and “The Marching Songs of the Pollicle Dogs” (Harry Groener,
Kenneth Ard, Company); “The Jellicle Ball” (Company); “Memory” (Betty Buckley)
Act Two: “The Moments of Happiness” (Ken Page); “Gus: The Theatre Cat” (Bonnie Simmons, Stephen
Hanan); “Growltiger’s Last Stand” (Stephen Hanan, Bonnie Simmons, Harry Groener, Reed Jones, Ter-
rence V. Mann, Timothy Scott, Steven Gelfer); “Skimbleshanks” (Reed Jones); “Macavity” (Wendy Ed-
mead, Donna King, Hector Jaime Mercado, Kenneth Ard, Harry Groener); “Mr. Mistoffolees” (Timothy
Scott, Terrence V. Mann); “Memory” (reprise) (Betty Buckley); “The Journey to the Heaviside Layer”
(Company); “The Ad-Dressing of Cats” (Ken Page)
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit London musical Cats was a hit all over again when it opened in New York and
ran for eighteen years. The revue-like musical was based on T. S. Eliot’s 1939 volume of light verse Old Pos-
sum’s Book of Practical Cats, but what was whimsical on the printed page became overblown and pretentious
in its musical adaptation. A short one-act version might have been mildly pleasant, but a full-length evening
of the coy and seemingly endless goings-on among musical-comedy cats quickly became tedious. As a result,
Eliot’s amusing words and Lloyd Webber’s music were more satisfying on the cast album than on the stage.
The thin plot dealt with a so-called Jellicle Ball, where the cats cavort and one (Grizabella, an old tabby
from a cat house who used to be a prostitute) is chosen to ascend to the Heaviside Layer where she’ll be re-
born into new life. The overly grandiose décor depicted a garbage dump where the cats hang out amid huge
bottles, cartons, and other junk scaled to the proportions and perspectives of cats. And Grizabella’s ascent
to the heavens took place on a science-fiction flying saucer–like contraption that literally propelled her high
above the stage and up through an opening in the ceiling.
Cats was a musical for the tourists, a Disneyfied feel-good epic that ushered in the so-called British inva-
sion of Broadway (Lloyd Webber’s Evita had opened in New York three years earlier, but Cats institutional-
ized British imports on Broadway as a trend that lasted for well over a decade). Cats was also the first in a
series of musicals aimed at both tourists and the family trade, and to this day Broadway relentlessly offers
children’s musicals, shows aimed at preteens and teenagers, constant revivals of tested family-fare musicals,
and a continuing onslaught of jukebox musicals that regurgitate familiar songs from composer catalogs.
Prior to the New York premiere of Cats, one hoped it would live up to its advance reputation as the ulti-
mate in dance musicals. But choreographer Gillian Lynne’s conceptions were mostly of the tried-and-true va-
riety, and they never catapulted the show into the stratosphere. It’s conceivable that a series of electric dance
routines created by a Jerome Robbins or a Bob Fosse might have transformed the evening into a memorable
one, but Lynne’s creations were at best mildly pleasant.
The critics were generally impressed with the gargantuan production values and the nimble performers
but were somewhat disappointed with the weak story line and choreography. But the show’s momentum was
unstoppable. The public snatched up tickets, there were touring productions everywhere, “Memory” became
one of the few show songs during the era to achieve old-fashioned Hit Parade popularity, and Cats became a
musical that everyone seemed to know about, including those who don’t follow Broadway and musical the-
atre. At the end of the season, the show won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said that for “purely theatrical magic” Cats “unquestionably deliv-
ers.” And while he enjoyed the production values and the “tuneful” songs, he noted that the musical took a
“cat nap” during the first act because there was a “lack of spine” to the evening. The show attempted to tell
a story and to be the first British dance musical “in the Broadway tradition,” and both attempts failed. The
“quantity and exuberance” of Lynne’s choreography didn’t “add up to quality” and there were “repetitive”
movements of jazz and ballet “clichés.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the production was a “triumph” for director Trevor Nunn and
designer John Napier, but not for Lynne, Lloyd Webber, and Eliot himself. The staging was “sheer genius” and
the scenery was “decorative virtuosity,” but there was a “creative paucity” to the choreography, the music
was “breathtakingly unoriginal,” and Eliot’s view of cats was “cutesified.” Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street
Journal noted that the spaceship-like contraption for Grizabella was “dazzling” and left you “breathless,” but
then you started to wonder what it really had to do with Eliot’s “low-key” lyrics and Lloyd Webber’s “simple”
melodies. He also noted that many numbers never quit while they were ahead and thus they continued with
anticlimactic codas and became “increasingly repetitious.” Ultimately, there was a “wide, sometimes un-
bridgeable gap” between Eliot’s “simple” and “charming” words and the gargantuan production values.
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily praised the “superbly unified ensemble” that filled the stage with
“excitement” even when there were “long stretches” that lacked “real ideas,” and he noted that Lynne’s
dances were “conventional show business routines.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor sug-
gested the special effects sometimes became “almost too much,” but he liked the score and found the chore-
ography “dazzling.” And while Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News felt the “showy” production was
“an overblown piece of theatre” and offered “nothing strikingly original” in its choreography, he mentioned
that Lynne and Nunn did “their level best to keep things on the move” during the evening’s “lengthy arid
stretches.”
T. E. Kalem in Time said the show was “a spectacle on a grand and staggering scale” that “sweeps you off
your feet but not into its arms” because “the spectacle was the substance.” As for Lynne, she was a “fluent”
choreographer but an “uninventive” one who relied on jazz, ballet, and acrobatics, all of which “in reitera-
tion” became “anticlimactic.” Jack Kroll with Constance Guthrie in Newsweek said Cats was the “most ex-
travagant” musical import Broadway had ever seen, but despite its “theatrical magic” and “beautiful tunes,”
its “pretentiousness sloshes over the stage.”
The musical opened in London at the New London Theatre on May 11, 1981, and ran for a marathon
8,949 performances. Judi Dench created the role of Grizabella and was the first to sing “Memory,” but during
previews she injured her leg and had to leave the musical. She was replaced by Elaine Paige.
The New York production played for 7,485 showings and as of this writing is the fourth-longest-running
musical in Broadway history (and is scheduled to be revived in New York during 2016). Geffen Records re-
leased both the London (CD # 2017) and Broadway (CD # 2031) cast albums, and in 1998 the musical was
filmed for home video release with a cast that included Elaine Paige, Ken Page, and John Mills (the DVD was
issued by Universal Studios).
The program noted that “Prologue: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats” included additional material written by
Trevor Nunn and Richard Stilgoe, and the lyric of “Memory” was by Trevor Nunn and was based on poems by
1982–1983 SEASON 153
T. S. Eliot (“Memory” includes lines from and is suggested by Eliot’s “Rhapsody on a Windy Night” and other
poems of his “Prufrock” period). Further, some of the lyrics for “The Marching Song of the Pollicle Dogs” and
“Grizabella, the Glamour Cat” were discovered among unpublished works by Eliot. The program notes also
indicated the musical’s prologue was based on ideas from Eliot’s unpublished poem “Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle
Cats,” and Growltiger’s aria was taken from an Italian translation of Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.
Awards
Tony Nominations and Awards: Best Musical (Cats); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Harry Groener); Best
Featured Actor in a Musical (Stephen Hanan); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Betty Buckley); Best
Director of a Musical (Trevor Nunn); Best Book of a Musical (T. S. Eliot); Best Score (lyrics by T. S. Eliot
and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber); Best Scenic Designer (John Napier); Best Costume Designer (John
Napier); Best Lighting Designer (David Hersey); Best Choreographer (Gillian Lynne)
CANDIDE
Book: Hugh Wheeler
Lyrics: Richard Wilbur (additional lyrics by Leonard Bernstein, John Latouche, and Stephen Sondheim; for
specific lyric credits, see song list below)
Based on the 1759 novel Candide; or, Optimism by Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet).
Direction: Harold Prince; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director;
Daniel R. Rule, Managing Director); Choreography: Patricia Birch; Scenery: Clarke Dunham (set graphics
by Donald Beckman); Costumes: Judith Dolan; Lighting: Ken Billington; Choral Direction: David Leigh-
ton; Musical Direction: John Mauceri
Cast: John Lankston (Voltaire, Doctor Pangloss, Businessman, Governor, Second Gambler aka Police Chief,
Sage), David Eisler (Candide), Don Yule (Huntsman, Bulgarian Soldier, Don), Deborah Darr (Paquette),
Bonnie Kirk (Baroness, Calliope Player), Jack Harrold (Baron, Grand Inquisitor, Slave Driver, Pasha-Pre-
fect), Erie Mills (Cunegonde), Scott Reeve (Maximilian), James Billings (Maximilian’s Servant, Bulgarian
Soldier, Don Issachar, Judge, Father Bernard, First Gambler), Andy Roth (Westphalian Soldier), William
Ledbetter (Westphalian Soldier, Don, Pirate), Ralph Bassett (Heresy Agent, Don), Gary Dietrich (Inquisi-
tion Agent, Sailor), William Poplaski (Inquisition Agent, Sailor), Muriel Costa-Greenspon (Old Lady), Au-
relio Padron (Don, Governor’s Aide, Sailor), Andy Roth (Don, Sailor), Michael Rubino (Don), John Henry
Thomas (Pirate), Ivy Austin (Pink Sheep), Rhoda Butler (Pink Sheep), James Sergi (Lion); Ensemble: The
New York City Opera Chorus and Dancers
The action occurs during the eighteenth century in Westphalia, Lisbon, Cadiz, Buenos Aires, and sundry
places throughout the world.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Life Is Happiness Indeed” (lyric by Stephen Sondheim) (David Eisler, Erie
Mills, Scott Reeve, Deborah Darr); “The Best of All Possible Worlds” (lyric by Stephen Sondheim) (John
Lankston, David Eisler, Erie Mills, Scott Reeve, Deborah Darr); “Oh, Happy We” (lyric by Richard Wilbur)
(David Eisler, Erie Mills); “It Must Be So” (aka “Candide’s Meditation”) (lyric by Richard Wilbur) (David
Eisler); “Westphalian Fanfare” (Orchestra)/“Chorale” (Chorus)/“Battle” (Orchestra); “Glitter and Be Gay”
(lyric by Richard Wilbur) (Erie Mills); “Dear Boy” (lyric by Richard Wilbur) (John Lankston, Male Chorus);
“Auto-da-fe” (aka “What a Day”) (lyric by Richard Wilbur and Stephen Sondheim) (Company); “Candide’s
Lament” (aka “This World”) (lyric by Stephen Sondheim) (David Eisler); “You Were Dead, You Know”
(lyric by John Latouche) (David Eisler, Erie Mills); “I Am Easily Assimilated” (lyric by Leonard Bernstein)
(Muriel Costa-Greenspon, Aurelio Padron, Andy Roth, Michael Rubino, Don Yule, William Ledbetter,
Ralph Bassett); “Quartet Finale” (lyric by Richard Wilbur) (David Eisler, Erie Mills, Muriel Costa-Green-
spon, John Lankston, Chorus)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “Ballad of the New World” (lyricist unknown) (David Eisler, Chorus); “My
Love” (lyric by John Latouche and Richard Wilbur) (John Lankston, Scott Reeve); “The Old Lady’s Tale”
(lyricist unknown) (Muriel Costa-Greenspon); “Barcarolle (Orchestra); “Alleluia” (lyric by Richard Wil-
bur) (Scott Reeve, Erie Mills, John Lankston, Chorus); “Sheep Song” (lyric by Stephen Sondheim) (Ivy
Austin, Rhoda Butler, James Sergi, Deborah Darr, David Eisler, Chorus); “Governor’s Waltz” (Orchestra);
“Bon Voyage” (lyric by Richard Wilbur) (John Lankston, Chorus); “Quiet” (lyric by Richard Wilbur) (Mu-
riel Costa-Greenspon, Deborah Darr, David Eisler); “The Best of All Possible Worlds” (reprise) (Muriel
Costa-Greenspon, David Eisler, Deborah Darr); “Constantinople” (Orchestra); “What’s the Use”(lyric by
Richard Wilbur) (Jack Harrold, James Billings, John Lankston); “You Were Dead, You Know” (reprise)
(David Eisler, Erie Mills); “Make Our Garden Grow” (lyric by Richard Wilbur) (Company)
The program credits for the New York City Opera Company’s premiere of their “Opera House Version,
1982” wasn’t encouraging because many of the creators from the musical’s execrable 1974 Broadway revival
(which had originated at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1973) were back (book writer Hugh Wheeler,
director Harold Prince, and choreographer Patricia Birch). Their disappointing revival, which opened at the
Broadway Theatre on March 5, 1974, for 740 performances, reduced Voltaire to Laugh-In-styled antics, and at
times Bernstein’s scintillating score seemed like an afterthought designed to support the foolish goings-on in
a so-called environmental staging that reduced the venerable Broadway Theatre into a hodgepodge of playing
areas (and in case you were wondering, the coyer-than-thou sheep characters from the 1974 version returned
for the City Opera production).
The notes for the City Opera program indicated Candide’s “world premiere” occurred on December 1,
1956, at New York’s Martin Beck Theatre, but the date was off by four weeks and the place off by some 215
miles because the world premiere of Candide took place on October 29, 1956, at Boston’s Colonial Theatre.
Another program note indicated the 1974 revival had been “enormously successful,” but neglected to men-
tion that despite its almost two-year run the production closed without realizing a profit.
The plot satirized optimism with its depiction of the picaresque adventures of the innocent Candide
who roams the world looking for goodness and finds nothing but misery and despair. After wasting much of
his youth in the quest for an impossible dream, the disillusioned Candide returns to his homeland with the
knowledge that man isn’t noble and that one should aspire only to cultivate one’s garden and try to make the
best of one’s life.
Donal Henahan in the New York Times praised City Opera’s revival and said the principals “could hardly
have been better.” But “most” of the evening’s effects “were fairly standard Broadway musical stuff, gussied
up for a night at the opera.” As a result, Prince’s direction brought the performers into the audience “for no
pressing reason” and a ballroom scene included silhouettes of male dancers flinging “stuffed dummies” for
their partners. So it seems that while this was not quite the kindergarten Candide of 1974, it nonetheless oc-
casionally offered easy jokes and shtick. What Candide demands is an incisively witty and hard-edged book
that understands and doesn’t undermine Voltaire, not an overly precious feel-good hand-me-down in the style
of a television variety show. And Candide does indeed have such a book: Lillian Hellman’s acerbic adaptation
for the original production. Unfortunately, the terms of her will preclude the use of her book in any staging,
but surely there is somewhere a librettist who could create a book in the style of Voltaire, one that is the
equal of Bernstein’s brilliant score.
The 1956 production played on Broadway for seventy-three performances, and a myth surrounding the
musical is that it received poor reviews and went unappreciated. In truth, most of the critics gave the musi-
cal rapturous reviews. John Chapman in the New York Daily News hailed the “artistic triumph” and said the
work was the best light opera since the 1911 premiere of Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier; he noted that
sixty seconds after conductor Samuel Krachmalnick brought down his baton for the overture “one sensed
that here was going to be an evening of uncommon quality.” Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times found
the evening a “brilliant musical satire” that was a “triumph of stage arts molded into a symmetrical whole”
and said that nothing in Bernstein’s previous theatre music had the “joyous variety, humor and richness” of
1982–1983 SEASON 155
this “wonderful” score. He also noted that Oliver Smith’s “fabulous” décor and Irene Sharaff’s “vigorous”
costumes made Candide “the most stunning production of the season.”
Tom Donnelly in the New York World-Telegram and Sun said the score was not only Bernstein’s best,
it was also “one of the most attractive scores anyone has written for the theatre.” Here was “lush, lovely,
and electric” music, and when it wasn’t “voluptuous as velvet” it was “as frostily pretty as a diamond bell.”
While Robert Coleman in the New York Daily Mirror noted the musical had its “faults” (which he didn’t
specify) it was nonetheless “distinguished” and “towers heads and shoulders above most of the song-and-
dancers you’ll get this or any other season.” Richard Watts in the New York Post felt the libretto often lacked
“bite and pungency” but was still “brilliant” and had “so much in the way of musical excellence, visual
beauty, grace of style and boldness of design.” And John McClain in the New York Journal-American said
the “ambitious and brilliant” evening offered a bright book by Hellman, delightful music by Bernstein, and
scenery that was “imaginative and exciting.”
But Walter Kerr in the New York Herald-Tribune said Candide was a “really spectacular disaster.” It was
a “great ghostly wreck that sails like a Flying Dutchman across the fogbound stage of the Martin Beck,” and
the story was “thumped out with a crushing hand.” Although Kerr felt the lyrics had “no purposeful edge,”
he said Bernstein’s music emerged unscathed from “this singularly ill-conceived venture.”
In his 1962 survey American Drama since World War II, Gerald Weales wrote that Candide was “not
only the most sophisticated product of the American musical stage,” it was “probably the most imaginative
American play to reach Broadway since the war.”
City Opera’s production was recorded on a two-LP set by New World Records (LP # NW-340/341) and
was later issued on a two-CD set (# NM-340/341/342). There are numerous recordings of the score, but the
definitive one is the 1956 original cast album released by Columbia Records (LP # OL-5180 and # OS-2350;
issued on CD by Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy Records # SK-86859). The script of the 1956 production was
published in hardback by Random House in 1957. The 1974 revival was recorded on a two-LP set by Colum-
bia Records (LP # S2X-32923, and the CD was issued by Sony/Masterworks Broadway # 82876-88391-2), and
the script for this version was published in hardback by Schirmer Books/Macmillan Performing Arts Series
in 1976. A 1997 Broadway revival opened at the Gershwin Theatre on April 29 for 103 performances and was
recorded by RCA Victor Records (CD # 09026-68835-2).
A “final revised version, 1989” was conducted by Bernstein and released by Deutsche Grammophone
(two-LP set # 429-734-1; two-CD set # 429-734-2); a concert version that directly preceded this recording was
released by the company on DVD (# B0006905-09). Another concert version, which was performed at Lincoln
Center’s Avery Fisher Hall on May 5, 2005, was shown on public television’s Great Performances and was
later released on DVD by Image Entertainment (# ID2762EMDVD).
Other major productions of the musical include a concert version that toured in 1958 with original cast
members Robert Rounseville (Candide) and Irra Petina (The Old Lady) as well as Mary Costa (Cunegonde)
and Martyn Green (Pangloss); the adaptation was by Michael Stewart, and Krachmalnick again conducted. In
1967, another production briefly toured in an adaptation by Sheldon Patinkin, and on November 10, 1968, a
one-performance concert with William Lewis and Madeleine Kahn was presented at Philharmonic Hall in an
adaptation that used a combination of Hellman, Stewart, and Patinkin’s versions. In 1971, a lavish revival
with Frank Porretta and Costa toured for four months but closed prior to Broadway; the adaptation was by
Patinkin and the décor by Oliver Smith, who had designed the original production.
The musical was first produced in London at the Saville Theatre on April 30, 1959, for sixty performances,
and the cast included Denis Quilley (Candide), Costa (Cunegonde), Laurence Naismith (Pangloss), Edith
Coates (The Old Lady), Ron Moody (The Governor), and Victor Spinetti (The Marquis). The book was credited
to Hellman (“assisted” by Michael Stewart).
City Opera revived Candide four more times during the decade (see entries for the 1983, 1984, 1986, and
1989 productions) as well as in 2005 and 2008.
THE GRAND DUCHESS OF GEROLSTEIN

Libretto: Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy (English adaptation by Ruth and Thomas Martin)
Music: Jacques Offenbach
Direction: Jack Hofsiss; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director;
Daniel R. Rule, Managing Director); Choreography: Christopher Chadman; Scenery and Costumes: John
Conklin; Lighting: Gilbert V. Hemsley Jr.; Choral Master: David Leighton; Musical Direction: Scott
Bergeson
Cast: Carroll Freeman (Fritz), Claudette Peterson (Wanda), Spiro Malas (General Boom), James Billings (Baron
Puck), William Ledbetter (Nepomuc), Susanne Marsee (The Grand Duchess), Ron Raines (Prince Paul),
Nico Castel (Baron Grog); The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers
The action takes place during 1720 in the Duchy of Gerolstein.
The New York City Opera Company’s production of Jacques Offenbach’s 1867 operetta The Grand Duch-
ess of Gerolstein had met with criticism when the company first revived it six months earlier (see entry). For
the current visit, Tim Page in the New York Times noted the spring revival had been one of the company’s
“less successful” productions, and the “ultimate blame” for the “hokey and contrived” work was Offenbach’s
fault because a little of his “fragile, flowery” music went a long way. The combination of the “silly” libretto
and the “rarified sameness” of the score caused the eyelids to “droop.” But the cast did well, and Susanne
Marsee in the title role was “appealingly sweet-voiced” and with “equal felicity” captured both the lyrical
and dramatic aspects of her character.
ROCK ’N ROLL! THE FIRST 5,000 YEARS

Performances: 9
Text: Bob Gill and Robert Rabinowitz
Lyrics and Music: See list of musical numbers for lyricist and composer credits.
Direction and Choreography: Joe Layton (Jerry Grimes, Co-Choreographer); Multi-Media Image Direction:
Bob Gill and Robert Rabinowitz; Producers: Jules Fisher and Annie Fargue in association with Dick Clark,
Inc., and Fred Disipio (Charles Koppelman and Martin Bandier, Associate Producers); Scenery: Mark
Ravitz; Costumes: Franne Lee; Lighting: Jules Fisher; Musical Direction: Andrew Dorfman
Cast: Rob Barnes, Joyce Leigh Bowden, Ka-Ron Brown, Sandy Dillon, Rich Hebert, Lon Hoyt, William Gregg
Hunter, Bill Jones, Jenifer Lewis, Dave MacDonald, Wenndy Leigh MacKenzie, Karen Mankes, Bob Miller,
Michael Pace, Raymond Patterson, Marion Ramsey, Jim Riddle, Shaun Solomon, Tom Teeley, Russell
Velazquez, Barbara Walsh, Patrick Weathers, Carl E. Weaver, Lillias White
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” (1955 film Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing; lyric by Paul
Francis Webster, music by Sammy Fain) (Recording by Frank Sinatra); “Tutti Frutti” (lyric and music by
Richard Penniman, D. La Bostrie, and Joe Lubin) (Carl E. Weaver, Company); “Rock Around the Clock”
(1955 film Blackboard Jungle; lyric and music by Max Friedman and Jimmy DeKnight) (Jim Riddle, Com-
pany); “Blueberry Hill” (lyric and music by Al Lewis, Larry Stock, and Vincent Rose) (William Gregg
Hunter, Company); “Wake Up, Little Susie” (lyric and music by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant) (Russell
Velazquez, Tom Teeley, Company); “Great Balls of Fire” (lyric and music by Otis Blackwell and Jack
Hammer) (Tom Teeley, Company); “Johnny B. Goode” (lyric and music by Chuck Berry) (Carl E. Weaver,
Company); “Heartbreak Hotel” (lyric and music by Mae Boren Axton, Tommy Durden, and Elvis Presley)
(Patrick Weathers, Company); “Hound Dog” (lyric and music by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller) (Patrick
Weathers, Company); “Love Me Tender” (lyric and music by Vera Matson and Elvis Presley) (Patrick
Weathers, Company); “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” (lyric and music by Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy)
1982–1983 SEASON 157
(Carl E. Weaver, Company); “Sh-Boom” (“Life Could Be a Dream”) (lyric and music by James Edwards,
Carl Feaster, James Keyes, and Floyd F. McRae) (Dave MacDonald, Company); “Will You Still Love Me
Tomorrow?” (lyric and music by Jerry Goffin and Carole King) (Marion Ramsey, Company); “Da Doo
Ron Ron” (lyric and music by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector) (Wenndy Leigh MacKenzie,
Company); “The Twist” (lyric and music by Hank Ballard) (Raymond Patterson, Company); “Land of
a Thousand Dances” (lyric and music by Chris Kenner and Antoine Domino) (William Gregg Hunter,
Company); “I’ll Be There” (lyric and music by Hal Davis, Berry Gordy, Bob West, and Willie Hutch) (Rob
Barnes, Company); “You Keep Me Hanging On” (lyric and music by Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and
Bryant Holland) (Jenifer Lewis, Lillias White, Marion Ramsey, Company); “Proud Mary” (lyric and music
by John C. Fogerty) (Marion Ramsey, Company); “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964 film A Hard Day’s Night;
lyric and music by John Lennon and Paul McCartney) (Jim Riddle, Russell Velazquez, Tom Teeley, Bob
Miller, Company); “I Got You Babe” (lyric and music by Sonny Bono) (Karen Mankes, Michael Pace,
Company); “Good Vibrations” (lyric and music by Brian Wilson and Mike Love) (Rich Hebert, Jim Riddle,
Company); “Here Comes the Sun” (lyric and music by George Harrison) (Tom Teeley, Company); “The
Sunshine of Your Love” (lyric and music by Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton, and Peter Brown) (Tom Teeley,
Russell Velazquez, Company); “Blowin’ in the Wind” (lyric and music by Bob Dylan) (Patrick Weathers,
Company); “Like a Rolling Stone” (lyric and music by Bob Dylan) (Patrick Weathers, Company); “Whiter
Shade of Pale” (lyric and music by Keith Reid and Gary Brooker) (Dave MacDonald, Company); “Mrs.
Robinson” (1967 film The Graduate; lyric and music by Paul Simon) (Russell Velazquez, Tom Teeley,
Company); “White Rabbit” (lyric and music by Grace Slick) (Barbara Walsh, Karen Mankes, Wenndy
Leigh MacKenzie, Company); “Respect” (lyric and music by Otis Redding) (Lillas White, Company); “The
Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” (lyric and music by J. Robbie Robertson) (Patrick Weathers, Com-
pany); “People Got to Be Free” (lyric and music by Edward Brigate and Felix Cavaliere) (Russell Velazquez,
Company); “Cry Baby” (lyric and music by Burt Russell and Norman Meade) (Sandy Dillon, Company);
“Forever Young” (lyric and music by Bob Dylan) (Barbara Walsh, Company); “Everybody’s Talking” (1969
film Midnight Cowboy; lyric and music by Fred Neil) (Michael Pace, Company); “Joy to the World” (lyric
and music by Hoyt Axton) (Russell Velazquez, Company); “Both Sides Now” (lyric and music by Joni
Mitchell) (Wenndy Leigh MacKenzie, Company); “Higher and Higher” (lyric and music by Renard Miner,
Gary Jackson, and Carl Smith) (Raymond Patterson, Company)
Act Two: “Tubular Bells” (music by Mike Oldfield) (Orchestra); “I Feel the Earth Move” (lyric and music
by Carole King) (Joyce Leigh Bowden, Company); “Satisfaction” (lyric and music by Mick Jagger and
Keith Richard) (Dave MacDonald, Company); “When Will I Be Loved?” (lyric and music by Phil Everly)
(Joyce Leigh Bowden, Company); “My Generation” (lyric and music by Peter Townshend) (Jim Riddle,
Company); “You’ve Got a Friend” (lyric and music by Carole King) (Michael Pace, Company); “Nothing
from Nothing” (lyric and music by Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher) (William Gregg Hunter, Company);
“Say It Loud, I’m Black and Proud” (lyric and music by Jerry Brown) (Rob Barnes, Company); “Summer in
the City” (lyric and music by John Sebastian, Steve Boone, and Mark Sebastian) (Jim Riddle, Company);
“Whole Lotta Love” (lyric and music by John Baldwin, John Bonham, and James Patrick Page) (Russell
Velazquez, Jim Riddle, Company); “Star-Spangled Banner” (Orchestra); “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (from
Company ‘B’)” (1941 film Buck Privates; lyric and music by Don Raye and Hughie Prince) (Joyce Leigh
Bowden, Company); “I Feel Like I’m Gonna Die Rag” (lyric and music by Joe McDonald) (Dave McDon-
ald, Company); “American Pie” (lyric and music by Don McLean) (Rich Hebert, Company); “Imagine”
(lyric and music by John Lennon) (Tom Teeley, Company); “School’s Out” (lyric and music by Alice
Cooper and Michael Bruce) (Dave McDonald, Company); “Rock and Roll All Night” (lyric and music
by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons) (Jim Riddle, Company); “Benny and the Jets” (lyric and music by
Bernie Taupin and Elton John) (Lon Hoty, Company); “Space Oddity” (lyric and music by David Bowie)
(Michael Pace, Russell Velazquez, Company); “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” (lyric and music by Lou
Reed) (Patrick Weathers, Company); “Everybody Is a Star” (lyric and music by Sylvester Stewart) (Carl E.
Weaver, Lillias White, Raymond Patterson, William Gregg Hunter, Company); “Stayin’ Alive” (1977 film
Saturday Night Fever; lyric and music by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, and Maurice Gibb) (Lon Hoyt, Michael
Pace, Rich Hebert, Company); “Love to Love You Baby” (lyric and music by Pete Bellote, Giorgio Morder,
and Donna Summer) (Jenifer Lewis, Company); “I Will Survive” (lyric and music by Dino Fekaris and
Frederick J. Perren) (Lillias White, Company); “On the Run” (lyric and music by Roger Waters) (Orches-
tra); “Jocko Homo” (lyric and music by Mark Mothersbaugh) (Lon Hoyt, Company); “Message in a Bottle”
(lyric and music by Sting Summer) (Lon Hoyt, Company); “Our Lips Are Sealed” (lyric and music by Jane
Weidlin and Terry Hall) (Karen Mankes, Company); “Concrete Shoes” (lyric and music by Rod Swenson)
(Sandy Dillon, Company); “Rock and Roll Music” (lyric and music by Chuck Berry) (Company)
The critics were somewhat kind to the rock and roll retrospective Rock ’n Roll! The First 5,000 Years, but
audiences didn’t care and didn’t come and the revue was gone after nine performances. Bob Gill and Robert
Rabinowitz, who “conceived” the show and directed the multimedia images that accompanied the songs, had
provided similar duties with the 1977 revue Beatlemania, which played for 1,006 performances. Both shows
took a type of music (Beatles’ music for the first and rock and roll for the second) and as the songs were per-
formed, background projections and films on a number of screens provided cultural and political context to
the times during which the songs had been popular.
Robert Palmer in the New York Times said the special effects of projections and film images were the
evening’s “real stars,” but he noted the revue did a “surprisingly good job of summarizing rock’s contribu-
tions” to the nation’s musical, cultural, and political life. Clive Barnes in the New York Post felt the bookless
concert-like evening with its social commentary was a “potent” one that suggested there could be “theatrical
fireworks” in the future if this type of multi-media theatre was further developed.
But David Sterritt in the Christian Science Monitor felt the show never went beneath the surface and
so he left the theatre “feeling a little empty.” It was the kind of evening in which you hummed along while
looking at your watch,” and while the work was a “high-tech triumph,” it was not the “definitive summary”
it aspired to be. Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily said the “lavish” production was “disappointing”
because of its “cheap emotional manipulation” and he noted the “puffed-up opening night audience seemed
to have been too pulverized to greet the show with traditional first-night enthusiasm.” Patricia O’Haire in
the New York Daily News said director and choreographer Joe Layton kept “everything and everyone mov-
ing faster than the speed of sound or light,” but nothing could “disguise the fact that what is being presented
onstage is more fluff than substance” and “more to the point, it has no point at all.”
The cast album was to have been recorded by CBS Records, but was canceled due to the revue’s brief run.
HERMAN VAN VEEN: ALL OF HIM

“A Musical Show”
Theatre: Ambassador Theatre

Performances: 6
Text: Herman van Veen (Patricia Braun, English Translator)
Lyrics: English adaptation and lyrics by Christopher Adler
Music: See list of musical numbers for specific credits
Direction: Michel Lafaille; Producers: Joost Taverne, Michael Frazier, and Ron Van Eeden in association with
Harlekyn U.S.A. Company (Patricia Braun, Associate Producer); Scenery: Gerard Jongerius and Ed de Boer;
Costumes: Ellen van der Horst; Lighting: Rob Munnik; Musical Direction: Erik van der Wurff
Cast: Herman van Veen; Erik van der Wurff (Conductor, Keyboards), Nard Reijnders (Saxophone), Cees van
der Laarse (Bass, Electric Bass Guitar)
The one-man show was presented in two acts.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t indicate division of acts, and listed the following songs and sequences in alphabeti-
cal order. All numbers were performed by Herman van Veen, who was accompanied by three musicians.
“A Girl” (music by Herman van Veen and Erik van der Wurff); “A Loose Woman” (original lyric by Willem
Wilmink, English lyric by Christopher Adler, music by Herman van Veen); “Cranes” (original lyric by
Willem Wilmink, English lyric by Christopher Adler, music traditional with adaptation by Herman van
Veen); “Do You Remember” (original lyric by Hans Lodeizen, English lyric by Christopher Adler, music
by Herman van Veen); “Hello” (music by Herman van Veen and Erik van der Wurff); “Heroes” (original
1982–1983 SEASON 159
lyric by Rob Chrispijn, English lyric by Christopher Adler, music by Chris Pilgram); “Hole-in-One” (mu-
sic by Erik van der Wurff and Herman van Veen); “I Don’t Want Any Help” (original lyric by Herman Van
Veen, English lyric by Christopher Adler, music by Erik van der Wurff and Herman van Veen); “I Won’t
Let That Happen to Him” (music by Georges Delerue); “Jacob Is Dead” (music by Herman van Veen);
“Kitchen Sink” (original lyric by Herman van Veen, English lyric by Christopher Adler, music by Erik
van der Wurff and Herman van Veen); “Ode to Suicide” (original lyric by Guus Vieugel, English lyric by
Christopher Adler, music by Joop Stokkermans); “Parade of Clowns” (original lyric by Rob Chrispijn, Eng-
lish lyric by Christopher Adler, music by Erik van der Wurff and Herman van Veen); “Sarabande” (music
by J. B. Senaille, Herman van Veen, and Erik van der Wurff); “Station” (music by Erik van der Wurff and
Herman van Veen); “Tell Me Who I Was” (original French lyric by Gebe, Dutch lyric by Willem Wil-
mink, English lyric adapted from the Dutch by Christopher Adler, music by Phillipe-Gerard); “The Back
of Life” (original lyric by Willem Wilmink, English lyric by Christopher Adler, music by Herman van
Veen); “The Fence” (music by Erik van der Wurff); “The Interview” (music by Erik van der Wurff and Her-
man van Veen); “The Rules of the Asylum” (lyric by Rob Chrispijn, music by Herman van Veen); “Time
Has Passed Her By” (music and lyric by Jean Ferrat, English lyric by Christopher Adler); “What a Day”
(music by Erik van der Wurff)
Herman van Veen: All of Him was perhaps a bit more than critics and audiences wanted. The program
noted van Veen was a “thirty-seven-year-old singer, violinist, mime, composer, poet, children’s book author,
playwright, essayist, clown and entertainer” who was “one of Europe’s most renowned musical theatre per-
formers.” But it seems that the two-act, one-man concert (in which van Veen was backed by three musicians)
was far too long and far too self-indulgent. As a result, the concert was given for just six performances and
the second week of its two-week limited engagement was canceled.
Various reviews compared van Veen’s style to that of Danny Kaye, Charles Aznavour, Bill Irwin, Jacques
Brel, Yves Montand, Marcel Marceau, Rip Taylor, Victor Borge, Maurice Chevalier, Harry Chapin, Peter Sell-
ers, and Jacques Tati, but not always in a good way. Frank Rich in the New York Times suggested that as a
singer van Veen sounded like Aznavour’s understudy, and as a mime he was “about four levels below” Irwin.
The evening of song, mime, dance, jokes, and fiddle playing was perhaps “too much of a poor thing,” and
the “dour, maudlin tone” of van Veen’s “incessant preaching” became “grating” and the critic was “terribly
grateful” that the U.S. Constitution didn’t allow van Veen to seek public office.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News couldn’t resist stating that the evening offered “way too
much” of the performer, and he noted van Veen’s versatility seemed “like a curse.” Although van Veen sang
“pleasantly enough,” his songs were too often “couched in those petty profundities so dear to European caba-
ret singers.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 noted the program indicated van Veen was one of Europe’s most popu-
lar performers, and if so Europe needed “a Marshall Plan for show business.” The evening had “no business
on Broadway” and Siegel suggested it brought to mind “Gerte’s Folk City, 1962. Early 1962.”
Although Clive Barnes in the New York Post said “less of van Veen would be more,” the critic nonethe-
less felt that when the performer was “good” he was “tremendous” and had the director given the show a
“firmer hand” the evening would have been “stronger.” Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily said van Veen
made a “potent” American debut and possessed a “melodiously resonant baritone” and a “graceful, relaxed
persona.”
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Opening Date: December 23, 1982; Closing Date: January 16, 1983
Performances: 21
Play: Eva Le Gallienne and Florida Friebus
Music: Richard Addinsell (music adapted and supervised by Jonathan Tunick)
Based on the novels Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1872) by Lewis
B. Carroll (Carroll was a pseudonym for Charles Lutwidge Dodgson).
Direction: Eva Le Gallienne (John Strasberg, Co-Director); Producers: Sabra Jones and Anthony D. Marshall
(An Eva Le Gallienne Production; produced in association with WNET/Thirteen); Movement: Bambi
Linn; Scenery: John Lee Beatty (after the drawings of John Tenniel); Costumes: Patricia Zipprodt; Lighting:
Jennifer Tipton; Musical Direction: Les Scott.
Cast: Nancy Killmer (Singer, Eight of Hearts), Kate Burton (Alice), Mary Stuart Masterson (Small White Rab-
bit, Four of Hearts), John Remme (Mouse, Two of Hearts, Tweedledee), John Miglietta (Lory, Seven of
Hearts), Nicholas Martin (Duck, Dormouse, Train Guard), James Valentine (Dodo, Mock Turtle), Rebecca
Armen (Eaglet, Two of Hearts), Curt Dawson (White Rabbit, White Knight), John Heffernan (Caterpillar,
Ten of Hearts, Sheep), Geddeth Smith (Fish Footman, Voice of the Cheshire Cat, Ace of Hearts, Man in
White Paper), Claude-Albert Saucier (Frog Footman, Five of Hearts, Goat), Edward Zang (Duchess), Rich-
ard Sterne (Cook, Nine of Hearts), Josh Clark (March Hare, Front of Horse), MacIntyre Dixon (Mad Hat-
ter), Geoff Garland (Two of Spades), Robert Ott Boyle (Five of Spades, Tweedledum), Steve Massa (Seven
of Spades, Voice of Leg of Mutton), Skip Harris (Three of Clubs), Cliff Rakerd (Seven of Clubs, Back of
Horse), Marti Morris (Six of Hearts), John Seidman (Knave of Hearts), Brian Reddy (Queen of Hearts),
Richard Woods (King of Hearts, Voice of Humpty Dumpty), Edward Hibbert (Gryphon, Old Frog), Mary
Louise Wilson (Red Queen), Eva Le Gallienne (White Queen); Note: Joan White played the White Queen
for Tuesday evening and Wednesday matinee performances, and Alice’s kitten Kitty was played by feline
performer Portia, who was just a month or so shy of her first birthday and was here making her Broadway
debut.
The action takes place during the late Victorian era in England and Wonderland.
Scenes
Act One: “Alice at Home”; “The Looking-Glass House”; “Pool of Tears”; “Caucus Race”; “Caterpillar”;
“Duchess”; “Cheshire Cat”; “Mad Tea Party”; “Queen’s Croquet Ground”; “By the Sea”; “The Trial”
Act Two: “Red Chess Queen”; “Railway Carriage”; “Tweedledum and Tweedledee”; “White Chess Queen”;
“The Sheep Shop”; “Humpty Dumpty”; “White Knight”; “Alice with the Two Queens”; “Alice’s Door”;
“The Banquet”; “Alice at Home Again”
Eva Le Gallienne and Florida Friebus’s adaptation of Lewis B. Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
and Through the Looking Glass was first produced on Broadway at the Civic Repertory on December 12, 1932,
for 127 performances; Le Gallienne played the role of the White Chess Queen, and others in the cast were
Josephine Hutchinson (Alice), Joseph Schildkraut (Queen of Hearts), Burgess Meredith (Tweedledee), Florida
Freibus (Cheshire Cat), and Howard da Silva in a minor role. The adaptation dramatized the most famous
characters and incidents in Carroll’s stories, including the Mad Tea Party, Alice’s Trial, the White Rabbit, the
Cheshire Cat, Humpty Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and of course the White Queen’s existential
promise of jam yesterday and jam tomorrow but never jam today.
The work wasn’t a full-fledged musical, but Richard Addinsell’s score included incidental and dance mu-
sic as well as the occasional song. The production utilized marionettes, and the scenery and costumes were in
the style of John Tenniel’s drawings for the original stories. In general, the adaptation came across as Alice’s
Greatest Hits because the narrative lacked linear progression and was instead of a series of surreal vignettes
that depicted Alice’s curious adventures.
The 1932 production had a disappointing run of 127 performances, and its 1947 revival, which opened on
April 5 at the International Theatre with Le Gallienne again playing the White Chess Queen, was presented
for just 100 showings (others in the cast were Bambi Linn in the title role and Julie Harris as the White Rab-
bit). But Le Gallienne wasn’t discouraged, and she revived the production yet again. It lost a small fortune
and played for less than three weeks (the 1932 version had cost $23,000 to mount and the current revival was
reportedly capitalized at $2 million). Le Gallienne again appeared as the White Chess Queen, Alice was played
by Kate Burton (Richard Burton’s daughter), and Bambi Linn, the 1947 Alice, returned to create the staging
for what the program termed “movement” and which no doubt included dance and other stylized movements
by the performers.
The critics were generally cool to the revival. Frank Rich in the New York Times said the evening was
“lifeless nearly from beginning to end” and because the work was a series of vignettes it needed the kind
of “theatrical energy” that was sorely lacking in the current mounting. Further, the actors “rarely” moved
1982–1983 SEASON 161
and instead just seemed to “model” their costumes. But he found the décor an “exquisite collection” of sets
and costumes, and suggested they be preserved in a museum. Clive Barnes in the New York Post praised the
“amazing” sets but felt Carroll’s work didn’t lend itself to the stage and so the critic noted he’d rather have
stayed at home and read Carroll while sitting by a warm fire and eating buttered crumpets.
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily found the evening a “genteel diversion” along the lines of a Brit-
ish Christmas pantomime but complained that the adaptation “ambled” along with only a few performers
who were able to create “any sense of tension or cogency out of the material”; Jack Kroll in Newsweek said
the adaptation was “unexciting” and came across as “a theatrical Macy’s parade” that lacked “choreographic
energy” and had “disappointing” special effects; John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor felt the “epi-
sodic” evening never quite “hits its stride” and the performers were “more literal than fanciful”; Dennis Cun-
ningham on WCBSTV2 complained that while the evening was “a stunning visual feast” it wasn’t a “play,”
lacked “tension and conflict,” and was little more than a “costume parade”; and Joel Siegel on WABCTV7
said the audience around him was “the most unresponsive” he’d ever seen, for here was a “humorless” show
that lacked “imagination” and reeked of “vanity” and “amateurism.”
But Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the “gorgeous” production almost made “Cats look
impoverished”; and if it wasn’t practical for the production to return to the commercial Broadway theatre
every holiday season then the show “should be institutionalized at Lincoln Center.”
Rich noted that Addinsell’s “slight but pretty” score was “attractively” adapted by Jonathan Tunick;
Watt found the score “old-fashioned, though pleasantly so”; Barnes said the “painless” music seemed to be
the result of a collaboration in which Noel Coward and Ivor Novello composed in the mode of Gilbert and
Sullivan; and Kissel found the music tame and said he preferred the “lively” score written for the 1951 Walt
Disney adaptation.
There have been numerous musical adaptations of Carroll’s Alice stories, including a number of Off- and
Off-Off-Broadway versions such as Alice with Kisses (1964; closed in previews); Alice in Wonderland (Bil
Baird’s 1975 marionette version); For the Snark Was a Boojum, You See (1977), The Passion of Alice (1977),
Alice in Concert (a 1980 adaptation by Elizabeth Swados); and Alice (a 1995 version by Robert Wilson with
music cowritten by Tom Waits). An excitingly choreographed and imaginatively designed Broadway-bound
Alice premiered in Philadelphia in 1978 and closed almost as soon as it opened, and the following year But
Never Jam Today lasted for just one week on Broadway. An “adult” musical version (as Alice in Wonderland)
opened Off Off Broadway in 2007; set in a trailer park in Weehawken, New Jersey, the musical’s flyer pro-
claimed that Alice finds herself in an “erotic Wonderland.” The most recent musical adaptation opened on
Broadway in 2011 as Wonderland (lyrics by Jack Murphy and music by Frank Wildhorn).
Incidentally, co-adaptor Florida Freibus is probably best remembered as the mother of Dobie Gillis in the
popular CBS television series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959–1963).
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Costumes (Patricia Zipprodt)
MERLIN
Opening Date: February 13, 1983; Closing Date: August 7, 1983
Performances: 199
Book: Richard Levinson and Richard Link
Lyrics: Don Black
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Direction: Ivan Reitman; Producers: Ivan Reitman, Columbia Pictures Stage Productions, Inc., Marvin A.
Krauss, and James M. Nederlander (Produced by Ivan Reitman and Marvin A. Krauss; Joe Medjuck, As-
sociate Producer); Choreography: Christopher Chadman and Billy Wilson; Magic Consultant: Charles
Reynolds; Scenery: Robin Wagner; Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge; Lighting: Tharon Musser; Musical
Direction: David Spear
Cast: George Lee Andrews (Old Merlin, Old Soldier); Creatures of the Glade: Robin Cleaver, Ramon Galindo,
Todd Lester, Claudia Shell, and Robert Tanna; Christian Slater (Young Merlin, Arthur), Edmund Lyndeck
(The Wizard), Doug Henning (Merlin), Rebecca Wright (Philomena), Chita Rivera (The Queen), Gregory
Mitchell (The Queen’s Companion), Nathan Lane (Prince Fergus), Debby Henning (Merlin’s Vision, Wa-
ter), Michelle Nicastro (Ariadne), Alan Brasington (Acolyte, Manservant), Peggy Parten (Earth), Robyn Lee
(Air), Spence Ford (Fire); Ladies of the Court: Pat Gorman, Leslie Hicks, Robyn Lee, Peggy Parten, and
Iris Revson; Ladies of the Ensemble: Robin Cleaver, Spence Ford, Pat Gorman, Andrea Handler, Debby
Henning, Leslie Hicks, Sandy Laufer, Robyn Lee, Peggy Parten, Iris Revson, Claudia Shell; Men of the
Ensemble: David Asher, Ramon Galindo, Todd Lester, Joe Locarro, Fred C. Mann III, Gregory Mitchell,
Andrew Hill Newman, Eric Roach, Robert Tanna, Robert Warners
The action takes place “in the time of Sorcery.”
Musical Numbers
Act One: “It’s about Magic” (George Lee Andrews, Christian Slater, Doug Henning, Rebecca Wright, En-
semble); “I Can Make It Happen” (Chita Rivera); “Beyond My Wildest Dreams” (Michelle Nicastro);
“Something More”(Doug Henning, Michelle Nicastro); “The Elements” (Doug Henning, Edmund Lyn-
deck, Ensemble); “Fergus’ Dilemma” (Nathan Lane, Ladies of the Court); “Nobody Will Remember Him”
(Chita Rivera, Edmund Lyndeck)
Act Two: “Put a Little Magic in Your Life” (George Lee Andrews, Doug Henning, Rebecca Wright, Ensemble);
“He Knows the Way” (Edmund Lyndeck); “I Can Make It Happen” (reprise) (Chita Rivera); “He Who
Knows the Way” (reprise) (Edmund Lyndeck); “We Haven’t Fought a Battle in Years” (Nathan Lane, Sol-
diers); “Satan Rules” (Chita Rivera); “Nobody Will Remember Him” (reprise) (Chita Rivera); “He Who
Knows the Way” (reprise) (Doug Henning, Edmund Lyndeck, Christian Slater)
Doug Henning was no triple threat: he couldn’t sing, dance, or act. But he reached the stratosphere as
a fourth threat: he was a magician par excellence and was the sole reason to see Merlin. His feats knew no
bounds: he turned a panther into a woman; he sawed two women in half and when he reassembled them he
mixed up their halves; when a small bubble floated across the stage, it suddenly expanded to reveal Henning
within it; and later Henning flew above the stage, and, to show there were no strings attached, he turned a
somersault in mid-air and proceeded to fly under an arch and around a pillar. In the most jaw-dropping se-
quence of all, he mounted a white steed on one side of the stage, they rose high in the air and floated to the
other side of the stage, and then in a blink of the eye were back where they started from.
Otherwise, the plot was negligible and dealt with an evil queen (Chita Rivera) who is determined to over-
come Arthur (Christian Slater) and ensure that her son Fergus (Nathan Lane) ascends the throne of England.
The performers did all they could with their cardboard roles by infusing them with campy interpretations.
Rivera’s acidly villainous queen made Cinderella’s stepmother seem like Pollyanna, and Lane provided an
often amusing and limp-ankled Fergus. Further, the décor and costumes were right out of a lavish children’s
storybook, and the queen’s evil companion, a gigantic green robot with eyes that sizzled like fire, made Gort
from The Day the Earth Stood Still look like a pussycat. Otherwise, the choreography was forgettable, and
except for one or two songs Elmer Bernstein and Don Black’s score was mostly ordinary (they put their best
foot forward in the insinuating opening number “It’s about Magic,” which could serve as a companion piece
to Pippin’s “Magic to Do”).
The critics estimated the musical’s cost at $4–$6 million, and with an official run of less than six months
the show never returned its investment. Because of the huge physical production, the musical opted for a
series of preview performances rather than an out-of-town tryout. Prior to the opening night of February 13,
the musical had played two months of preview performances at regular prices. The previews began on De-
cember 10, and the original opening night was scheduled for December 26; it was postponed, and then two
more opening nights were set for January, and these too were canceled. A fourth opening night (of February
13) was announced, but there was no certainty the musical would officially open then. So Frank Rich of the
New York Times and Douglas Watt of the New York Daily News bought tickets for the show and reviewed
1982–1983 SEASON 163
a late-January performance. Most of the other critics waited for the February 13 opening, which went on as
scheduled, and Watt even returned and reviewed the show again after the official opening.
The two-month preview period did good business, but otherwise was tumultuous. The original director
Frank Dunlop was replaced by Ivan Reitman, who was one of the show’s producers, and Christopher Chad-
man’s choreography was supplemented by Billy Wilson, and both received choreography credit. At least four
songs were cut during previews: “It’s about Power,” “Anything for a Quiet Life,” “Something about Palaces,”
and “These Are Not the Merriest of Days.”
Rich found Henning “beyond compare as an illusionist,” but the “sprawling” musical had “the consis-
tency of glue.” Although the show was “slickly produced,” book writers Richard Levinson and William Link
had to “struggle with a major esthetic problem” because Henning couldn’t act and thus the plot had to em-
phasize secondary characters. Further, the choreography was “mediocre” and the score had “no character”
except for its “jolly” opening number.
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal reviewed the musical in previews, and said Henning was a “mas-
ter illusionist” and a “nonpareil.” But he felt no amount of previews could help the musical overcome its
inherent weaknesses. As for the lengthy preview period, Wilson asked, “If a show can have two full months
of previews, why not three, four or five?” And little could he have anticipated Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,
which began New York previews in November 2010 and didn’t officially open until June 2011 after playing a
total of 182 pre-opening performances.
Stefan Kanfer in Time also turned in an early review for the show, and said Merlin the magician was now
called upon “to change a dog into a hit.” Although Henning “adroitly” performed his “astonishing” tricks,
there was just a “tiny wisp of plot,” “dial-tone melodies,” and “laundry-list lyrics.”
In reviewing the musical after it officially opened, Clive Barnes in the New York Post said Henning’s
“lack of charisma would make a pineapple seem like a stage personality” and he didn’t find Henning’s “essen-
tially amateurish posturing charming.” But despite his major reservations about the star and his dislike of the
“ponderous” book and “unmemorably banal” score, he was sometimes thrilled “with childlike innocence”
by the show’s “sheer magic.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said Henning was “so wooden” with a
lack of stage presence that he made Linda Ronstadt seem “like Eleanora Duse,” and while there were “some
incredible exceptions,” much of Henning’s legerdemain was “conventional.” Moreover, the book and score
seemed like “afterthoughts” and “poor” Chita Rivera had “never had a dumber part.” But John Beaufort in
the Christian Science Monitor liked Henning’s “amiable” persona, and only wished the illusionist could have
made the plot and “musical-comedy baggage disappear.”
In Watt’s early review, he said Henning was a “master magician,” but Merlin had a leaden book and
score and the show looked “ready-made for Jones Beach, if anyplace.” After the opening, Watt re-reviewed
the “Merlin II” musical and reported that “little” had changed. But he noted there was now a “somewhat
livelier” second-act opening number (“Put a Little Magic in Your Life”) which had replaced a “painfully de-
scriptive” song (“These Are Not the Merriest of Days”). Otherwise, Merlin was still “the same overdressed
and stultifying showcase,” which at least allowed the “engaging” Henning to execute his “seemingly endless
variety of tricks.”
There was no cast recording, but original cast member Michelle Nicastro recorded her song “Beyond My
Wildest Dreams” for the collection Unsung Musicals II (Varese Sarabande CD # VSD-5564).
Doug Henning had previously appeared on Broadway in Stephen Schwartz’s The Magic Show, which
opened at the Cort Theatre on May 28, 1974, and played for 1,920 performances; after Merlin, he returned to
Broadway one more time in Doug Henning and His World of Magic.
Book writers Levinson and Link were the creators of the popular television series Columbo, which began
life as the play Prescription: Murder. The mystery closed during its pre-Broadway tryout in 1962 (Thomas
Mitchell was the first actor to play the role of Columbo), was made into a TV movie in 1968, and from there
was developed into a long-running television series.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Musical (Merlin); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Chita Rivera); Best Di-
rector of a Musical (Ivan Reitman); Best Book (Richard Levinson and William Link); Best Score (lyrics by
Don Black, music by Elmer Bernstein)
ON YOUR TOES
Opening Date: March 6, 1983; Closing Date: May 20, 1984
Performances: 505
Book: Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, and George Abbott
Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
Music: Richard Rodgers
Direction: George Abbott; Producers: Alfred de Liagre Jr., Roger L. Stevens, John Mauceri, Donald R. Seawell,
and Andre Pastoria (Charlene Harrington, Coordinating Producer) (An ANTA and Kennedy Center Pro-
duction); Choreography: New choreography by Donald Saddler (ballet choreography by George Balanchine
and reconstructed by Peter Martins); Scenery and Costumes: Zack Brown; Lighting: John McLain; Musical
Direction: John Mauceri
Cast: Eugene J. Anthony (Phil Dolan II), Betty Ann Grove (Lil Dolan, Woman Reporter), Philip Arthur Ross
(Phil Dolan III aka Junior), Dirk Lumbard (Stage Manager), Mary C. Robare (Lola), Lara Teeter (Phil Dolan
II aka Junior as an adult), Michaela K. Hughes (Miss Pinkerton), Peter Slutsker (Sidney Cohn), Christine
Andreas (Frankie Frayne), Jerry Mitchell (Joe McCall), Natalia Makarova (Vera Baronova), Tamara Mark
(Anushka), Dina Merrill (Peggy Porterfield), George S. Irving (Sergei Alexandrovitch), George de la Pena
(Konstantine Morrosine), Eugene J. Anthony (Oscar), Chris Peterson (Dimitri), Don Steffy (Ivan), George
Kmeck (Louie); Ensemble: Melody A. Dye, Michaela K. Hughes, Tamara Mark, Dana Moore, Mary C.
Robare, Marcia Lynn Watkins, Leslie Woodies, Sandra Zigars, Dean Badolato, Alexander Filipov, Wade
Laboissonniere, Dirk Lumbard, Robert Meadows, Jerry Mitchell, Chris Peterson, Don Steffy, Kirby Tep-
per, David Gold, George Kmeck
The action takes place in 1920 in Kokomo, Indiana, and then later in New York City during 1935.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Two-a-Day for Keith” (Eugene J. Anthony, Betty Ann Grove, Philip Arthur Ross); “Questions and
Answers” (aka “The Three B’s”) (Lara Teeter, Students); “It’s Got to Be Love” (Christine Andreas, Lara
Teeter, Students); “Too Good for the Average Man” (George S. Irving, Dina Merrill); “The Seduction”
(Natalia Makarova, Lara Teeter); “There’s a Small Hotel” (Christine Andreas, Lara Teeter); “La Princesse
Zenobia” Ballet (Princess Zenobia: Natalia Makarova; Beggar: George de la Pena; Kringa Khan: George
Kmeck; Ali Shar: Eugene J. Anthony; Ahmud Ben B’Du: David Gold; Hank Jay Smith: Michael Vita; Danc-
ers)
Act Two: “The Heart Is Quicker Than the Eye” (Dina Merrill, Lara Teeter); “Glad to Be Unhappy” (Christine
Andreas); “Quiet Night” (Michael Vita, Students); “On Your Toes” (Christine Andreas, Students; Ballet
Leaders: Alexander Filipov, Starr Danias; Tap Leaders: Dirk Lumbard, Dana Moore; Cop: Michael Vita;
Messenger Boy: Dean Badolato); “Quiet Night” (reprise) (George S. Irving); “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue”
Ballet (Hoofer: Lara Teeter; Strip Tease Girl: Natalia Makarova; Big Boss: Michael Vita; Cop: Jerry Mitch-
ell; Dancers)
The revival of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s 1936 musical On Your Toes ushered in a series of
musical revivals during the waning weeks of the theatre season. Porgy and Bess and Show Boat joined On
Your Toes and gave audiences the rare chance to sample reasonably faithful stagings of important American
musicals.
The plot of On Your Toes dealt with Junior Dolan (Lara Teeter) who instead of following in the family tra-
dition of vaudeville hoofing becomes a music teacher. He’s in love with Frankie Fryane (Christine Andreas),
and the two befriend Sidney Cohn (Peter Slutsker), who hopes his jazz ballet “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue”
will become part of a Russian ballet company’s repertoire. When the company begins rehearsals of the ballet,
it becomes clear their classically trained leading male dancer can’t master the jazz-styled steps required of the
role, and so Junior’s former vaudeville training saves the day when he steps in to replace the Russian dancer.
Junior also discovers that the company’s leading ballerina Vera Baronova (Barnova in some productions, and
1982–1983 SEASON 165
performed and danced in the revival by Natalia Makarova in a non-singing role) is interested in him as more
than just a dancing partner.
During the ballet’s first performance, its underworld flavor becomes all too real when gangsters mistake
Junior for someone who reneged on a gambling debt and thus try to shoot him during the performance. Junior
uses his wits and taps faster and faster in order to avoid their bullets, and all ends well when the gangsters
are arrested, the ballet is a success, and Junior and Frankie are reunited (for some reason, second-act gangster
and/or blackmail business was a brief trend in musicals of the era and also figured into the plots of Pal Joey
[1940] and Kiss Me, Kate [1948]).
The original Broadway production opened on April 11, 1936, at the Imperial Theatre for a healthy run of
315 performances. Ray Bolger was Junior and Tamara Geva was Vera, and “There’s a Small Hotel” became
the show’s hit song. George Balanchine choreographed, and his electric “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” quickly
took its place as one of Broadway’s most legendary dance numbers; George Abbott collaborated on the book
with Rodgers and Hart and he helped with the direction (Worthington Miner was the director of credit); and
Hans Spialek was the orchestrator. In his review of the original production, Brooks Atkinson in the New York
Times praised the “sophisticated” and “mocking” book, Rodgers’s “jaunty” music, and Hart’s “crisp, impish
and gaily ingenious lyrics.”
The musical premiered in London at the Palace Theatre on February 5, 1937, for 123 performances with
Jack Whiting and Vera Zorina (Balanchine’s wife). A disappointing film version released by Warner Brothers in
1939 starred Eddie Albert and Zorina. It eliminated all the songs, but retained the ballets “La Princesse Zeno-
bia” and “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” (the songs “There’s a Small Hotel,” “Quiet Night,” and the title num-
ber were relegated to background music). (Incidentally, Warner Brothers’ 1942 film The Hard Way dealt with
a performer who finds success in a new Broadway musical, and during a scene in her dressing room we hear
the theatre orchestra play the show’s overture, which turns out to be a medley of songs from On Your Toes.)
The musical was revived in New York on October 11, 1954, at the 46th Street (now Richard Rodgers)
Theatre; Abbott directed, Balanchine choreographed, and Bobby Van and Zorina were the leads. Elaine Stritch
was Peggy Porterfield, and in order to bolster her role, Rodgers and Hart’s “You Took Advantage of Me” from
1928’s Present Arms was interpolated into the score. The revival received middling reviews, and Atkinson
now found the show “labored, mechanical and verbose” and heretically suggested that “not everything” in
the score should have been retained.
Shortly after the 1954 revival opened, the musical’s first two scenes (which depicted Junior’s early life in
vaudeville) were eliminated along with the roles of Junior’s family members. With the elimination of these
scenes and characters, the number “Two-a-Day for Keith” was cut from the production. But the last-minute
doctoring didn’t help, and the show was gone within two months.
The 1954 production was recorded by Decca Records (LP # DL-9015) and released on CD by Broadway
Gold/MCA Classics (# MCAD-11575); the cast album includes the eventually deleted “Two-a-Day for Keith.”
A delightful interpretation of the score is Columbia Records’ sparkling 1952 studio cast album with Jack Cas-
sidy and Portia Nelson (LP # ML-4645; issued on CD by MasterworksBroadway # 88697-88804-2; and also
released by Stage Door Records # 9002, where it’s paired with a studio cast recording of Rodgers and Hart’s
Pal Joey).
After the failure of the 1954 revival, it seemed On Your Toes would have to be content with its reputation
from the legendary 1936 production, its brilliant songs, and, of course, “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” (which
was memorably featured in the 1948 MGM Rodgers and Hart tribute Words and Music, where it was danced
by Gene Kelly and Vera-Ellen. The music for the ballet was also heard as background scoring for a 1957 film,
which appropriated the ballet’s title and dealt with the underworld of New York City).
However, the current revival surprised everyone and outlasted the original production by almost 200
performances for a total run of 505 showings. Abbott directed, Spialek supervised his original orchestrations,
Peter Martins reconstructed Balanchine’s original choreography for the spoof “La Princesse Zenobia” ballet
and for “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue,” and Donald Saddler created new choreography, including for the title
song a delightful challenge number for the ballet dancers and the hoofers. A new dance sequence (“The Seduc-
tion”) was added for Makarova and Teeter.
The musical received the Tony Award for Best Revival and Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Makarova),
and was recorded by Polydor/JAY Records (which includes the complete ballet “La Princesse Zenobia”; the
CD was issued by That’s Entertainment Records # 1063). The musical was later revived by Encores! at City
Center where it opened on May 8, 2013, for five performances.
Former chorus dancer Lara Teeter played the leading role of Junior and came in for criticism by some
reviewers, who found him somewhat lacking. During the era it became something of a cliché that whenever
male chorus dancers stepped up to leading roles, they faced a certain amount of brickbats (besides Teeter,
Christopher Chadman in the title role of the 1976 revival of Pal Joey and Don Correia in Singin’ in the Rain
met with criticism from some quarters).
Frank Rich in the New York Times said it was a “mystery” why so many had “devoted so much lov-
ing care and expense” to resuscitate a musical of mostly “footnote caliber.” The book was “mirthless” and
“lengthy,” the score was “middling” and “brief,” and Teeter lacked a “discernible personality.” But Makarova
brought “freshness and fun” to the production and seemed to be the only cast member who found the show
an “invigorating novelty” instead of a “rigorous academic exercise.” But Marilyn Stasio in the New York Post
said the revival was a “spectacular restoration job” and Teeter displayed “frank good humor” and offered a
“splendid display” of his dancing skills in “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.” She too praised Makarova, who
played a “deliciously saucy flirt” and ignited “the dance fires of the ballet.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the revival was “sparkling” and the cast “excellent,” and
he praised Rodgers’s “lovely” and “spirited” music and Hart’s “bright, peppery and charming” lyrics; John
Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor stated that the production made “the approach of spring something
to celebrate” and he singled out Saddler’s dance for the title song, an “exuberant encounter” that was a “tip-
top free-for-all of tap and toe work”; Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal liked the “sparkling” score and
said the dancing was “the best that has come to Broadway since 42nd Street”; Jack Kroll in Newsweek said
the revival was a “must-see” and that Makarova was “pure caviar and vodka”; Howard Kissel in Women’s
Wear Daily liked Rodgers’s “great” score and said Teeter was an “impressive” actor, singer, and dancer; and
Gerald Clarke in Time was glad to hear “some of the loveliest songs that ever bounced off a second balcony,”
praised the evening of “guaranteed enjoyment,” said Makarova was a “gifted comedian,” but noted that Tee-
ter lacked personality despite being a good enough singer and dancer.
During the tryout of the 1983 revival, Regina O’Malley was succeeded by Christine Andreas.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Revival (On Your Toes); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Natalia
Makarova); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Lara Teeter); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Christine
Andreas); Best Choreographer (Donald Saddler)
AZNAVOUR
Performances: 14
Lyrics and Music: Unless otherwise noted in song list below, all lyrics and music are by Charles Aznavour
Producers: Ron Delsener and Levon Sayan; Costumes: Wardrobe for Aznavour by Ted Lapidus; Lighting: Mau-
rice Giraud; Musical Direction: Aldo Frank
Cast: Charles Aznavour; Background Vocals: Diana Green, Ednah Holt, and Carole Steele.
Musical Numbers
Note: All songs were performed by Charles Aznavour and a female backup trio. The program didn’t designate
division of acts, and noted that Aznavour would sing a selection of the following songs, with “additional
songs” to “be added or subtracted.”
“Le temps” (music by J. Davis); “In Your Room” (English lyric by Buddy Kaye); “I Didn’t See the Time Go By”
(English lyric by Herbert Kretzmer); “Etre” (music by Georges Garaventz); “Happy Anniversary” (English
lyric by Herbert Kretzmer); “In Times to Be” (lyric by Jacques Plante, English lyric by Herbert Kretzmer);
1982–1983 SEASON 167
“L’amour, bon Dieu, l’amour”; “I Act as If” (lyric by Jacques Plante, English lyric by Charles Aznavour
and Dee Shipman); “To Be a Soldier” (English lyric by Herbert Kretzmer); “Nous n’avons pas d’enfant”
(music by Georges Garaventz); “I’ll Be There” (English lyric by Herbert Kretzmer, music by Georges Ga-
raventz); “Les comediens” (lyric by Jacques Plante); “She” (lyric by Herbert Kretzmer); “Take Me Along”
(English lyric by Dee Shipman); “The Happy Days” (English lyric by R. Craig); “Mon ami, mon Judas”;
“And I in My Chair” (English lyric by D. Newburgue); “Isabelle”; “You’ve Let Yourself Go” (English lyric
by Marcel Stellman); “Mon emouvant amour”; “Ave Maria” (English lyric by Herbert Kretzmer); “What
Makes a Man” (English lyric by R. Craig); “La boheme” (lyric by Jacques Plante); “(Dance in) The Old-
Fashioned Way” (English lyric by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, music by Georges Garaventz); “Yesterday
When I Was Young” (English lyric by Herbert Kretzmer); “You’ve Got to Learn” (English lyric by Marcel
Stellman); “La mama” (lyric by Robert Gall); “Mourir d’aimer”; “De t’avoir aimee”; “Qui”; “Que c’est
triste Venise” (music by F. Dorin); “Non, je n’ai rien oublie” (music by Georges Garaventz); “Ils sont
tombes” (English lyric by Herbert Kretzmer); “The First Dance” (English lyric by Herbert Kretzmer)
Mel Gussow in the New York Times reported that French singer, lyricist, and composer Charles Aznavour
still sang “with undiminished passion and artistry” songs flecked with “a line of sadness” that evoked “a
more innocent and romantic time.” Gussow praised the “cleanly designed” show and the “fine” eighteen-
piece orchestra, and the critic noted that as he watched Aznavour’s performance he “was reminded not only
of Piaf but of Lena Horne, the last previous singer to stand on a Broadway stage and completely justify a star’s
magnitude.”
Aznavour had first appeared in New York in concert at Carnegie Hall in 1963. He then played on Broad-
way in his one-man show The World of Charles Aznavour, which opened at the Ambassador Theatre on
October 14, 1965, for twenty-nine performances. His other New York appearances were: Charles Aznavour
(Music Box Theatre on February 4, 1970, for twenty-three performances); Charles Aznavour on Broadway
(Minskoff Theatre on October 15, 1974, for sixteen performances); and after the current engagement he was
seen in Aznavour on Broadway (Marquis Theatre on October 20, 1998, for twenty-four performances).
PORGY AND BESS

Theatre: Radio City Music Hall
Performances: 45
Libretto: DuBose Heyward
Lyrics: DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin
Music: George Gershwin
Based on the 1927 play Porgy by Dorothy and DuBose Heyward (which in turn had been adapted from DuBose
Heyward’s 1925 novel Porgy).
Direction: Jack O’Brien; Producers: Radio City Music Hall (Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) and Sherwin
M. Goldman Productions (Virginia Hymes, Associate Producer); Choreography: George Faison; Scen-
ery: Douglas W. Schmidt; Costumes: Nancy Potts; Lighting: Gilbert V. Hemsley Jr.; Musical Direction:
C. William Harwood
Cast: (Note: For some roles, the performers alternated at different performances; when known, the * symbol
denotes which singers performed on opening night; when it isn’t clear who performed on opening night,
the list of musical numbers provides the name of the alternate whose last name appears first in the al-
phabet.) Edward Strauss (Jasbo Brown); Priscilla Baskerville or Luvenia Garner (Clara); Timothy Allen
(Mingo); Alexander Smalls or James Tyeska (Jake); Larry Marshall (Sportin’ Life), Tyrone Jolivet (Robbins);
Shirley Baines, Regina McConnell, Wilma A. Shakesnider, or Veronica Tyler (Serena); Donald Walker
Kase (Jim), Mervin Bertel Wallace (Peter), Y. Yvonne Matthews (Lily); Loretta Holkmann (*) or Gwendo-
lyn Shepherd (Maria); Akili Prince (Scipio); Robert Mosley Jr., Michael V. Smartt (*), Jonathan Sprague, or
James Tyeska (Porgy); Gregg Baker (*) or George Robert Merritt (Crown); Priscilla Baskerville, Henrietta
Elizabeth Davis, Naomi Moody (*), or Daisy Newman (Bess); Larry Storch (Detective), William Moize
(Policeman), Joseph S. Eubanks (Undertaker), Lou Ann Pickett (Annie), Raymond H. Bazemore (Frazier),
Denice Woods (Strawberry Woman), Thomas J. Young (Crab Man), Everett McCorvey (Nelson), Richert
Easley (Coroner); Ensemble: Loretta Abbott, Timothy Allen, Earl L. Baker, Emerson Battles, Raymond
H. Bazemore, Shirley Black-Brown, Roslyn Burrough, Vertrelle Cameron, Seraiah Carol, Duane Clenton
Carter, Dabriah Chapman, Louise Coleman, Janice D. Dixon, Cisco Xavier Drayton, Alberta M. Driver,
Joseph S. Eubanks, Karen E. Eubanks, Lori Eubanks, Beno Foster, Jerry Godfrey, Earl Grandison, Milton
B. Grayson Jr., Elvira Green, Lawrence Hamilton, Gurcell Henry, Lisa D. Holkmann, Janice T. Hutson,
David-Michael Johnson, Leavata Johnson, Tyrone Jolivet, Dorothy L. Jones, Donald Walter Kase, Roberta
Alexandra Laws, Eugene Little, Ann Marie Mackey, Barbara Mahajan, Amelia Marshall, Richard Mason,
Y. Yvonne Matthews, Everett McCorvey, John McDaniels, William Moize, Byron Onque, H. William
Penn, Marenda Perry, Lou Ann Pickett, Herbert Lee Rawlings Jr., Roumel Reaux, David Robertson, Lat-
tilia Ronrico, Renee L. Rose, Myles Gregory Savage, Sheryl Sheli, Kiki Shepard, Chuck Thorpes, Mervin
Bertel Wallace, Pamela Warrick-Smith, Cornelius White, Rodney Wing, Denice Woods, Thomas J. Young;
and Diallobe Dorsey, Angela Holcomb, Robert Kryser, Jason Little, Noelle Richards, Kevin L. Stroman,
Charee Adia Thorpes, and Tarik Winston
The action takes place in Catfish Row, Charleston, South Carolina, and on nearby Kittiwah Island in the
early 1930s (the program for the original 1935 Broadway production indicated the time was in “the recent
past”).
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Brown Blues” (Piano); “Summertime” (lyric by DuBose Heyward) (Priscilla Baskerville); “A Woman
Is a Sometime Thing” (lyric by DuBose Heyward) (Alexander Smalls, Men); “Here Come de Honey Man”
(lyric probably by DuBose Heyward) (Mervin Bertel Wallace); “They Pass By Singing” (lyric by DuBose
Heyward) (Michael V. Smartt); “Oh Little Stars” (lyric probably by DuBose Heyward) (Michael V. Smartt);
“Gone, Gone, Gone” (lyric by DuBose Heyward) (Ensemble); “Overflow” (lyric by DuBose Heyward) (En-
semble); “My Man’s Gone Now” (lyric by DuBose Heyward) (Shirley Baines); “Leavin’ for the Promise’
Lan’” (lyric probably by DuBose Heyward) (Naomi Moody, Ensemble); “It Takes a Long Pull to Get There”
(lyric by DuBose Heyward) (Alexander Smalls, Men); “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’” (lyric by Ira Gershwin and
DuBose Heyward) (Michael V. Smartt, Ensemble); “Struttin’ Style” (lyric probably by DuBose Heyward)
(Loretta Holkmann); “Buzzard Song” (lyric probably by DuBose Heyward) (Michael V. Smartt, Ensemble);
“Bess, You Is My Woman Now” (lyric by DuBose Heyward and Ira Gershwin) (Michael V. Smartt, Naomi
Moody); “Oh, I Can’t Sit Down!” (lyric by Ira Gershwin) (Ensemble); “I Ain’t Got No Shame” (lyric by Du-
Bose Heyward) (Ensemble); “It Ain’t Necessarily So” (lyric by Ira Gershwin) (Larry Marshall, Ensemble);
“What You Want wid Bess?” (lyric by DuBose Heyward) (Naomi Moody, Gregg Baker)
Act Two: “Oh, Doctor Jesus” (lyric by DuBose Heyward) (Shirley Baines, Loretta Holkmann, Mervin Bertel
Wallace, Y. Yvonne Matthews, Michael V. Smartt); “I Loves You, Porgy” (lyric by Ira Gershwin and Du-
Bose Heyward) (Michael V. Smartt, Naomi Moody); “Oh, He’venly Father” (lyric by Ira Gershwin and
DuBose Heyward) (Ensemble); “Oh, Dere’s Somebody Knockin’ at de Do’” (lyric probably by DuBose
Heyward) (Ensemble); “A Red-Headed Woman” (lyric by Ira Gershwin) (Gregg Baker, Ensemble); “Clara,
Clara” (lyric by DuBose Heyward) (Ensemble); “There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon for New York” (lyric
by Ira Gershwin) (Larry Marshall, Naomi Moody); “Good Mornin’, Sistuh!” (lyric probably by DuBose
Heyward) (Ensemble); “Oh, Bess, Where’s My Bess?” (lyric by Ira Gershwin) (Michael V. Smartt, Shirley
Baines, Loretta Holkmann); “Oh, Lawd, I’m on My Way” (lyric by DuBose Heyward) (Michael V. Smartt,
Ensemble)
George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess had its world premiere in Boston at the Colonial Theatre on
September 30, 1935, and opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on October 10 for 124 performances.
The work takes place in the environs of Charleston’s Catfish Row and nearby Kittiwah Island, and its
folk-like story has taken on a mythic quality with its tale of the crippled Porgy who against all odds and
reason loves the selfish and sluttish Bess. When the demonic Sportin’ Life seduces her with drugs and the
promise of the “high life” in New York, she abandons Porgy without a qualm. With only a cart pulled by a
goat, Porgy sets off from Charleston to New York to find her, and despite the soaring hopefulness of “Oh,
Lawd, I’m on My Way,” one suspects Porgy is off on a futile quest that will only lead him to more unhappi-
ness and frustration.
1982–1983 SEASON 169
The critics were happy for the opportunity to see another production of the opera, but many felt Radio
City Music Hall wasn’t the best venue for the work. The theatre was far too large, amplification was needed
to project the voices into the almost six-thousand-seat auditorium, and sometimes it was difficult to tell who
was singing because the stage was so far away. On the plus side, there was a huge company with rotating
principals, a fifty-six piece orchestra, and a gargantuan stage that depicted a Catfish Row that might be larger
than the actual one in Charleston.
T. E. Kalem in Time said the opera was “the greatest work of the American lyric theatre,” the revival
was “a spectacle to be savored,” and he was glad for the “rare” chance to hear Gershwin’s “uncut, fully oper-
atic score,” and Clive Barnes in the New York Post noted the “full grandeur” of Gershwin’s music was now
“completed” because of the “devoted restoration” of the original orchestrations, which were “fully realized
for the first time.”
But Michael Walsh in Newsweek suggested that Gershwin’s great songs weren’t enough to create a
“convincing” opera and he noted the composer’s “grasp of large-scale orchestration was weak.” And Dennis
Cunningham on WCBSTV2 said that watching the opera in the huge Music Hall resulted in a “remote experi-
ence” and he sometimes had to “recall” the lyrics rather than actually hear them. The evening should have
been shortened by thirty minutes, and as a musical recital it would have been “impressive”; otherwise, the
production was “fairly untheatrical theatre.”
As of this writing, the work has been revived in New York sixteen times and has enjoyed a total of 1,376
performances, a New York record for an American opera. The first revival opened in 1942 and dropped the
recitative; it more than doubled the run of the original with 286 performances, and for a time held the record
as the longest-running Broadway revival of a musical. During the next two years the opera returned three
times, for a total of 88 showings, and the 1953 revival ran for 350 performances and holds the record as the
opera’s longest Broadway run (this mounting restored earlier cuts and added about twenty minutes of music
which reportedly had never been heard in any previous production).
The opera was then produced at City Center four times, in 1961, 1962, 1964, and 1965; the first three
revivals were sponsored by the New York City Center Light Opera Company and the latter by the New York
City Opera Company. The opera was then revived by the Houston Grand Opera at the Uris Theatre where
it opened on September 25, 1976, for 122 performances and won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Mu-
sical. After the current production, the opera was revived by the Metropolitan Opera Company during the
1984–1985, 1989–1990, and 1990–1991 seasons for a total of 54 showings. In 2000 and 2002, the opera was
presented by the New York City Opera Company, and in 2011 was revived on Broadway (and like the 1976
production won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical).
The lavish 1959 film version directed by Otto Preminger was released by Columbia Pictures and was
personally produced by Samuel Goldwyn (who owned the film rights until 1974, when the rights reverted to
the Gershwin estate); the film has all but disappeared during the past few decades, reportedly because of the
Gershwin estate’s displeasure with the film (it has never been shown on cable television or released on any
home video format). In January 1999, Bill Reed in Variety reported that Gershwin estate executor Michael
Strunsky stated the time was perhaps right for a “restoration and reissue of the film,” but it would have “to
be done right. We’re taking our time.” However, some seventeen years later the film has still not been rere-
leased, shown on cable television, or issued on DVD. But a March 20, 2002, performance by the New York
City Opera Company was shown live on public television.
Since 1958, the libretto has been published in paperback editions by the Chappell Music Company and is
also included in the hardback collection Ten Great Musicals of the American Theatre, edited by Stanley Rich-
ards and published by Chilton Book Company in 1973. There are numerous recordings of the score, including
one with many members of the original 1935 and 1942 casts, including Todd Duncan and Anne Brown, both
of whom created the original title roles (Decca LP # DL-7-9024), and one of the most complete recordings is
EMI’s 1985 three-CD set (# CDS-7-49568-2). Joseph Horowitz’s On My Way: The Untold Story of Rouben
Mamoulian, George Gershwin, and “Porgy and Bess” was published in 2013 by W.W. Norton.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Michael V. Smartt); Best Choreographer (George
Faison)
TEANECK TANZI: THE VENUS FLYTRAP

“A Comedy with Love and Wrestling”

Opening Date: April 20, 1983 (matinee performance); Closing Date: April 20, 1983 (evening performance)
Performances: 2
Play: Claire Luckham
Music: Chris Monk
Direction: Chris Bond; Producers: Charlene and James Nederlander, Richard Vos (Executive Producer), Stew-
art F. Lane, and Kenneth Mark-Productions (presented by arrangement with Freedman Panter, Ltd., and
Namara, Ltd.); Scenery (“Scenic Environment”) and Costumes: Lawrence Miller; Lighting: Arden Finger-
hut
Cast: Andy Kaufman (The Ref), Zora Rasmussen (Tanzi’s Mom), Clarence Felder (Tanzi’s Dad), Dana Vance
(Platinum Sue), Scott Renderer or Thomas G. Waites (Dean Rebel), Caitlin Clarke or Deborah Harry
(Teaneck Tanzi)
The action takes place during the present time.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t list musical numbers, but “No Regrets” aka “Non, je ne regrette rien” and “Stand
by Your Man” were cited on the final page of the program’s credits.
As Trafford Tanzi (and other variant titles [including Tuebrook Tanzi], since the character’s first name
appropriated the name of the city or nearby city where the play was being performed), Claire Luckham’s play
with music Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap premiered in Great Britain at the Edinburgh Festival in 1981;
from there it was performed at the Lyric Studio in Hammersmith, and then in London, first at the Half Moon
Theatre and then at the Mermaid. But its New York life was much shorter. After a series of previews, the
play was scheduled to open officially on April 14, 1983, but the opening was delayed by one week until April
20 with matinee and evening performances given on that day, each with alternate leads (Caitlin Clarke and
Thomas G. Waites, and Deborah Harry and Scott Renderer). After the two opening performances, the show
abruptly closed and couldn’t even boast the season’s shortest-running champ. That honor was shared by
Cleavage, Play Me a Country Song, and Dance a Little Closer, all of which closed after just a single official
showing.
As far as the critics were concerned, Flytrap was claptrap. The shrill feminist diatribe described all men as
“monsters” and “swine” (which according to Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily sounded “like feminism
in 1971”) and dealt with the title character, who can’t seem to get along with anyone, including her parents,
her friends, her psychiatrist, and her husband. All her unhappiness seems rooted in sexism, and so she and her
husband battle it out in a wrestling match where of course she wins. Maybe it was all intended to be satiric,
but if so the satire was so blunted no one noticed.
And while the Palace Theatre underwent a certain amount of renovation to display a boxing ring for the
2014 debacle Rocky, so did the Nederlander undergo a transformation from theatre to wrestling arena. Den-
nis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 said the venue no longer resembled a playhouse, but that was okay because
Teaneck Tanzi didn’t resemble a play.
Audience members were seated around the arena, and the production was presented in ten “rounds” or
scenes. To add to the ambience, The Ref (Andy Kaufman) bullied the audience as the Usher from Hell. With a
cigarette in his mouth, he accosted ticketholders, even seated ones, and insisted on scrutinizing their tickets.
He shouted orders to audience members and threatened to eject them from the theatre, and since many didn’t
recognize the actor from his television appearances they resented the harassment and thus screamed back at
him, much to the amusement of those nearby who recognized the performer and knew he wasn’t one of the
Nederlander’s ushers. In fact, Frank Rich in the New York Times reported that one critic almost “slugged”
Kaufman, and this was surely the evening’s “high point” because otherwise the show was a “theatrical gim-
mick whose execution produces a pounding sensation in every part of one’s head except the brain.”
1982–1983 SEASON 171
Rich noted that audience plants encouraged cheering and heckling, and the evening showed “a particular
fondness for sight gags involving the male crotch.” And the choice of one of two sets of leading perform-
ers was like selecting either coffee or tea for one’s last supper. In order to see both sets of actors, he had to
sit through the show twice (“a feat that certainly earns me a mention in Ripley’s”) and decided Clarke and
Waites were the “better duo” but Harry and Renderer made “a worthwhile contribution by slurring some of
their lines.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said Teaneck Tanzi “would come high on my personal list of mon-
sters” and once he discovered there were two sets of leading players he “realized with horror” that he was
“committed” to sit through “the thing” (“the play—whatever”) twice. The “sad venture” was an “overblown
camp joke,” and although the “simplistic, monochromatic, sophomoric and boring” show attempted to make
a statement about women’s liberation, he decided that “even Mickey Spillane” was “more pertinent” to the
subject.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the “calamity” was “simple-minded,” and while the per-
formers bounced off the canvas, the ropes, the padded corner posts, and even the ring itself, they “unhappily”
never bounced out of the theatre. Kissel found the “plot and dialogue pathetically obvious.” Cunningham
said the “tiresome trifle” was “something akin to the abomination of desolation . . . grueling, excruciating,
chaotic and woefully amateurish.” He stated that the dialogue was “merely spoken graffiti,” and the acting
came “from the Looney Tunes School of Dramatic Arts.”
As for Kaufman, Rich found him “fitfully amusing,” while Barnes said he was “perfectly repulsive” and
managed to make “a poor role insupportable.” Kissel wryly noted that Kaufman handled the role “as if he
were born to play it,” and Cunningham found the performer “thoroughly unendearing.”
Rich noted that the music seemed to have been “composed on a washboard,” and Watt commented that
there were “horrendous sounds of an electric organ chattering out pop tunes” and sometimes the performers
broke out into “terrible” song, including an “atrocious parody” of “Non, je ne regrette rien” (French lyric by
Michel Vaucaire, music by Charles Dumont) (he noted that other songs included “Stand by Your Man” [lyric
and music by Tammy Wynette and Billy Sherrill] and a Wagnerian passage). But Kissel liked the “energetic
musical accompaniment.”
As Trafford Tanzi, the script was published in various editions including one in paperback by Quarter
Books in 1983 and another in paperback by Samuel French in 1985.
Playwright Claire Luckham was married to the show’s director Chris (Christopher) Bond, whose play
about Sweeney Todd was the direct basis for the Stephen Sondheim musical.
SHOW BOAT
Theatre: Uris Theatre
Opening Date: April 24, 1983; Closing Date: June 26, 1983
Performances: 73
Book and Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
Music: Jerome Kern
Based on the 1926 novel Show Boat by Edna Ferber.
Direction: Michael Kahn; Producers: James M. Nederlander, The John F. Kennedy Center, and Denver Center
present a Houston Grand Opera Production (Robert A. Buckley and Douglas Urbanski, Executive Produc-
ers); Choreography: Dorothy Danner; Scenery: Herbert Senn and Helen Pond; Costumes: Molly Maginnes;
Lighting: Thomas Skelton; Musical Direction: Jack Everly
Cast: Richard Dix (Windy), Wayne Turnage (Steve), Glenn Martin (Pete), Karla Burns (Queenie), Avril Gentles
(Parthy Ann Hawkes), Donald O’Connor (Cap’n Andy), Paige O’Hara (Ellie), Paul Keith (Frank), Randy
Hansen (Mahoney, Barker, Jake), Lonette McKee (Julie), Ron Raines (Gaylord Ravenal), Jacob Mark Hop-
kin (Vallon, Jim), Sheryl Woods (Magnolia), Bruce Hubbard (Joe), Lewis White (Backwoodsman, Barker),
James Gedge (Jeb, Barker), Lynda Karen (La Belle Fatima), Larry Hansen (Old Sport, Young Man with a
Guitar), Mary Rocco (Landlady, Old Lady on the Levee), P. L. Brown (Charlie), Linda Milani (Mother Su-
perior), Tracy Paul (Young Kim), Gloria Parker (Lottie), Dale Kristien (Dolly), Karen Culliver (Older Kim),
Hal Douglas (Radio Announcer’s Voice); Female Chorus: Vanessa Ayers, Joanna Beck, Karen Culliver,
Olivia Detante, Kim Fairchild, Cheryl Freeman, Lynda Karen, Dale Kristien, Linda Milani, Gloria Parker,
Veronica Rhodes, Mary Rocco, Molly Wassermann, Carrie Wilder; Male Chorus: P. L. Brown, Michael-
Pierre Dean, Merwin Foard, Joe Garcia, James Gedge, Michael Gray, Larry Hansen, Randy Hansen, Jacob
Mark Hopkin, Glenn Martin, Randy Morgan, Dennis Perren, Leonard Piggee, Alton Spencer, Robert Vin-
cent, Lewis White, Wardell Woodard
The action takes place from the 1880s to 1927, principally in Mississippi and Chicago.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Cotton Blossom” (Stevedores, Townspeople); “Show Boat Parade and Bally-
hoo” (Donald O’Connor, The Show Boat Troupe, Townspeople); “Only Make Believe” (Ron Raines, Sheryl
Woods); “Ol’ Man River” (Bruce Hubbard, Stevedores); “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” (Lonette McKee,
Karla Burns, Sheryl Woods, Bruce Hubbard, Ensemble); “Life Upon the Wicked Stage” (Paige O’Hara,
Ensemble); “I Might Fall Back on You” (Paul Keith, Paige O’Hara); “Queenie’s Ballyhoo” (aka “C’mon,
Folk”) (Karla Burns, Donald O’Connor, Ensemble); “You Are Love” (Sheryl Woods, Ron Raines); Finale
(Ensemble)
Act Two: “At the Fair” (Sightseers, Barkers); “Why Do I Love You?” (Sheryl Woods, Ron Raines, Donald
O’Connor, Avril Gentles, Ensemble); “Bill” (lyric by P. G. Wodehouse and Oscar Hammerstein II) (Lonette
McKee); “Service and Scene Music, St. Agatha’s Convent” (Orchestra); “Only Make Believe” (reprise)
(Ron Raines); “Goodbye, My Lady Love” (Cake Walk) (lyric and music by Joseph E. Howard) (Paul Keith,
Paige O’Hara); Magnolia’s Debut in Trocadero Music Hall: “After the Ball” (lyric and music by Charles K.
Harris; first interpolated into the post-Broadway tour of the 1891 musical A Trip to Chinatown) (Sheryl
Woods, Ensemble); “Ol’ Man River” (reprise) (Bruce Hubbard); “You Are Love” (reprise) (Ron Raines);
“Hey, Feller” (Karla Burns, Ensemble); Finale (Ensemble)
The revival of Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern’s groundbreaking musical Show Boat received
mixed reviews and closed after two months at what was the end of a long national tour. The story dealt with
racism, miscegenation, alcoholism, and unhappy marital relationships, and for its time was shocking because
never before had a musical looked so unflinchingly at such adult themes. The musical also offered a bitter-
sweet survey of the passing of time in its look at forty years in the generally unhappy lives of its characters,
some of whom fade away without neatly orchestrated explanations of their fates.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News was glad to see the “lavishly mounted” musical with its
“evergreen” score, and he noted that except for “In Dahomey” the evening included most of the music heard
in the original Broadway production. The revival included the seldom performed “Hey, Feller,” but omitted
Gaylord’s establishing song, the sweeping “Till Good Luck Comes My Way,” and his introspective “Where’s
the Mate for Me?” (aka “Who Cares If My Boat Goes Upstream?”). Watt mentioned that the current revival
seemed to be the first to cast a black actress in the role of the mulatto Julie, and said that while Lonette
McKee performed an impressive “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” her “Bill” was sung “accurately” but without
expression. (Watt forgot that Cleo Laine was Julie in the 1971 London production.)
Frank Rich in the New York Times found the production’s décor “flimsy and crudely lighted” and Mi-
chael Kahn’s direction seemed “chiseled in stone.” Instead of staging the production with an “inventive”
approach that might have utilized the “cinematic flow” inherent in the script, he seemed to push Show Boat
in the direction of operetta, the very form from which Kern and Hammerstein “were trying to escape.” But
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said Kahn’s direction gave the musical an “operatic feel” and a “classic
manner,” and the production itself was “lavish.”
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily stated there had been no attempt to give the classic songs “any
dramatic or musical imagination” and thus they were “treated like antiques that people are too reverent even
to dust.” Further, some of the performers suffered “from the cutes” and thus there were often “musical com-
edy types” on the stage instead of “human beings.” But Sheryl Woods had a “creamy soprano,” Ron Raines
was a “rich, agile tenor,” Lonette McKee offered a “dusky alto,” Bruce Hubbard had an “eloquent bass,” and
Karla Burns gave a “spirited delivery” of “Hey, Feller.”
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said the combination of story and song allowed Show
Boat to “still claim its own sturdy integrity,” but he noted that too many months of touring revealed “comic
1982–1983 SEASON 173
overplaying” in some of the performances. Jack Kroll in Newsweek decided that “damn good” was too strong
to describe the revival, and “pretty good” was “too weak,” and so perhaps “pretty damn good” was the best
description, and he decided the work had been revived with “a kind of taste and dignity that doesn’t allow a
real incandescence of emotion to leap forth from its lavish texture.” And Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2
said the production clearly wanted to be “splendid,” but was unfortunately not the “splendid one” the show
deserved, and he noted some of the sets were “pretty awful,” the direction “thoughtless,” and most of the
performances “a bit more or a bit less than passable.”
The original Broadway production opened on December 27, 1927, at the Ziegfeld Theatre where it played
for 572 performances; a 1932 revival played for 180 showings; a slightly revised Broadway revival in 1946 ran
for 418 performances; and the New York City Center Light Opera Company (NYCCLOC) presented the work
in 1948 (16 performances) and 1961 (14 performances). The musical was also seen three times in 1954 for a
total of 20 performances, two by the NYCCLOC and one by the New York City Opera Company. The Music
Theatre of Lincoln Center presented the work in 1966 for 64 performances, and after the current Broadway
revival the work opened at the Gershwin Theatre in 1994 for 949 performances. The latter marked the musi-
cal’s longest Broadway run and is perhaps the most definitive Show Boat seen since the original production.
It included the portentous and brooding “Mis’ry’s Comin’ Aroun’,” which foreshadows much of the unhap-
piness and tragedy to follow. Heretofore, “Mis’ry’s Comin’ Aroun’” had been performed just one time, at the
musical’s first tryout performance at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, November 15,
1927; by the next day’s matinee, the song was gone (along with such numbers as “Cheer Up,” “My Girl,”
“Coal Black Lady,” “Bully Song,” “Hello, My Baby,” and “It’s Gettin’ Hotter in the North”).
Two books about the musical have been published by Oxford University Press: Miles Kreuger’s Show
Boat: The Story of a Classic American Musical (1977) and Todd Decker’s Show Boat: Performing Race in an
American Musical (2012). The definitive recording of the score is a three-CD set released by EMI Records
(# CDS-7-49108-2) in 1988; conducted by John McGlinn, the cast includes Frederica Von Stade, Jerry Hadley,
and Teresa Stratas. The album includes a number of songs deleted during the production’s 1927 tryout; songs
written for various revivals of the musical as well as for the 1936 film version; and songs written for, but
never used in, the production. In 1934, the libretto of Show Boat was published in paperback by Chappell &
Co. (Great Britain) and reflects the script of the 1928 London production (including the lyric of “Dance Away
the Night,” which had been especially written for the London version). The lyrics of Show Boat are included
in the collection The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II, which was published by Alfred A. Knopf in
2008.
The musical was filmed three times. A part-silent and part-talkie adaptation was released in 1929, and the
lavish but unrealistic 1951 version compressed the action into about ten years and completely lost the epic
sweep of the story. But the 1936 adaptation released by Universal is classic; it includes the respective original
Broadway and London cast performances of Helen Morgan and Paul Robeson, and as Magnolia, Irene Dunne
reprised her role from the show’s national tour. Hammerstein and Kern wrote three new songs for this version
(“I Have the Room about Her,” “Ah Still Suits Me,” and “Gallivantin’ Aroun’”).
During the run of Show Boat, the Uris Theatre was renamed the Gershwin Theatre.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Lonette McKee); Best Featured Actress in a
Musical (Karla Burns); Best Director of a Musical (Michael Kahn)
MY ONE AND ONLY

“The New Gershwin Musical”

Opening Date: May 1, 1983; Closing Date: March 5, 1985
Performances: 767
Book: Peter Stone and Timothy S. Mayer
Lyrics: Ira Gershwin
Music: George Gershwin

Direction and Choreography: Thommie Walsh and Tommy Tune (Phillip Osterman, Associate Director;
Baayork Lee, Associate Choreographer); Producers: Paramount Theatre Productions, Francine Lefrak, and
Kenneth-Mark Productions, Lewis Allen, and presented in association with Jujamcyn Theatres, Inc., (A
King Street Production produced by Bernard Carragher, Obie Bailey, and Bernard Bailey), and Jonathan
Farkas, Associate Producer; Scenery: Adrianne Lobel; Costumes: Rita Ryack; Lighting; Otts Munderloh;
Musical Direction: Jack Lee
Cast: The New Rhythm Boys: David Jackson, Ken Leigh Rogers, and Ronald Dennis; Tommy Tune (Captain
Billy Buck Chandler), Denny Dillon (Mickey), Bruce McGill (Prince Nicolai Erraclyovitch Tchatcha-
vadze), Nana Visitor (Flounder), Susan Hartley (Sturgeon), Stephanie Eley (Minnow), Jill Cook (Prawn, Re-
porter), Niki Harris (Kipper), Karen Tamburrelli (Anchovie), Twiggy (Edith Herbert), Roscoe Lee Browne
(Rt. Rev. J. D. Montgomery), Charles “Honi” Coles (Mr. Magix); The Ritz Quartette: Casper Roos, Paul
David Richards, Carl Nicholas, and Will Blankenship; Paul David Richards (Policeman, Stage Doorman),
Ken Leigh Rogers (Mrs. O’Malley), Adrian Bailey (Conductor); The Dancing Gentlemen of the Ensemble:
Adrian Bailey, Bar Dell Conner, Ronald Dennis, David Jackson, Alde Lewis Jr., Bernard Manners, and Ken
Leigh Rogers; Bruce McGill (Achmed)
The action takes place in 1927 in New York City and Morocco.
Musical Numbers
Note: * = Denotes song from the 1927 Broadway production of Funny Face.
Act One: “I Can’t Be Bothered Now” (1937 film A Damsel in Distress) (The New Rhythm Boys, Tommy
Tune, Twiggy, Bruce McGill, Denny Dillon, Ensemble); “Blah, Blah, Blah” (1931 film Delicious) (Tommy
Tune); “Boy Wanted” (A Dangerous Maid, 1921; musical closed during pre-Broadway tryout; lyric by Ar-
thur Francis [Ira Gershwin]; a revised lyric by Gershwin and Desmond Carter was used in the 1924 Lon-
don musical Primrose) (Twiggy, Jill Cook); “Soon” (Strike Up the Band, 1927 and 1930 versions) (Tommy
Tune); “High Hat” (*) and “Sweet and Low-Down” (Tip-Toes, 1925) (Charles “Honi” Coles, Tommy
Tune, The New Rhythm Boys, Ensemble); “Blah, Blah, Blah” (reprise) (Twiggy); “Just Another Rhumba”
(written for but not used in 1938 film The Goldwyn Follies) (Roscoe Lee Brown, Ensemble); “He Loves
and She Loves” (*) (Tommy Tune, Twiggy); “He Love and She Loves” (reprise) (The Ritz Quartette); “I
Can’t Be Bothered Now” (reprise) (The New Rhythm Boys); “’S Wonderful” (*) (Tommy Tune, Twiggy);
“’S Wonderful” (reprise) (The Ritz Quartette); “Strike Up the Band” (Strike Up the Band, 1927 and 1930
versions) (Tommy Tune)
Act Two: “In the Swim” (*)/“What Are We Here For?” (Treasure Girl, 1928)/“Nice Work If You Can Get
It” (1937 film A Damsel in Distress) (Nana Visitor, Susan Hartley, Stephanie Eley, Jill Cook, Niki Har-
ris, Karen Tamburrelli, Bruce McGill); “My One and Only” (*) (Charles “Honi” Coles, Tommy Tune);
“Funny Face” (*) (Denny Dillon, Bruce McGill); “My One and Only” (reprise) (Tommy Tune); “Kickin’
the Clouds Away” (Tell Me More, 1925; lyric by B. G. “Buddy” DeSylva and Ira Gershwin) (Roscoe Lee
Browne, Ensemble); “How Long Has This Been Going On?” (dropped from tryout of Funny Face and with
a slightly revised lyric was used in the 1928 musical Rosalie) (Twiggy, Tommy Tune); “Strike Up the
Band” (reprise) (Company)
My One and Only had originally been intended as a revised version of George and Ira Gershwin’s hit
1927 musical Funny Face, but once rehearsals and then the first Boston previews began it was clear the musi-
cal was unfocused and had major book problems. Timothy S. Mayer was the writer of credit, but soon Peter
Stone joined the production team to rewrite the book (for New York, both Stone and Mayer shared official
book credit). And just days before the first Boston performance, director Peter Sellars was fired, and Thom-
mie Walsh and Tommy Tune, who had co-choreographed the production, took on directorial duties as well.
Further, musical director Craig Smith was let go and replaced by Jack Lee, and during the course of the tryout
at least five musical numbers were cut: “Once” (Tell Me More, 1925; lyric by Ira Gershwin and music by
William Daly; George Gershwin later wrote new music for the lyric and the song was included in the score
of the original 1927 production of Funny Face);“The Cuban Overture” (the instrumental number premiered
1982–1983 SEASON 175
as “Rumba” [not “Rhumba”] in 1932, and its title was later changed to “The Cuban Overture”); “Drifting
Along with the Tide” (George White’s Scandals [third edition, 1921]; lyric by Arthur Jackson); “Little Jazz
Bird” (Lady, Be Good!, 1924; lyric by Ira Gershwin); and “Swimming” (lyric by Ira Gershwin, and which may
have been an early title for “In the Swim” [see song list above]).
It seems everyone in the New York theatre world was rumored to be involved in the salvage job of rescu-
ing My One and Only from an early demise, and in the February 28, 1983, issue of New York Kevin Kelly’s
article “Falling on Its Funny Face” dissected the confused and chaotic backstage and onstage problems as the
show followed “a classically disastrous route on its way to Broadway.” Further, Sellars “with patronizing arro-
gance had shot off his brilliant mouth about Broadway, wounding Tune in the generalized massacre.” The two
were polar opposites in their theatrical styles, and as My One and Only headed toward its first public preview,
the musical became “The Pajama Game squared off against Brecht.” Kelly reported that Boston previews had
been pushed back, the Boston opening night had been postponed twice, and once the opening occurred it was
an “extraordinarily glum” and “confused mess.” There was one memorable matinee when incense used on
the stage was mistaken for smoke and thus caused dozens of audience members to rush out of the theatre in
mid-performance, and Kelly noted that during the Boston run “only the Gershwin score seems to live. The
songs send out whatever joy there is to be had.”
The musical had set its Broadway opening date for April 17, but didn’t premiere until May 1. And to ev-
eryone’s surprise, the show received generally good reviews, ran two years, enjoyed a national tour, and won
three Tony Awards, including Best Choreography.
The plot revolved around Captain Billy Buck Chandler (Tommy Tune), an aviator from Texas who makes
his entrance dangling in midair from a parachute. His ambition is to be the first pilot to fly solo across the
Atlantic, and when he meets Edith Herbert (Twiggy), who’s quick to note she’s the first “really pretty”
swimmer to have crossed the English Channel, it’s love at first sight. Also figuring into the lighthearted plot
are Billy’s foul-mouthed lady mechanic Mickey (Denny Dillon), Edith’s villainous Russian manager Nicolai
(Bruce McGill), speakeasy owner and church reverend J. D. Montgomery (Roscoe Lee Browne), and Billy’s
friend and advisor Mr. Magix (Charles “Honi” Coles).
Frank Rich in the New York Times acknowledged the musical’s “troubled gestation period” and suggested
that while My One and Only might not be “brilliant” it was nonetheless a “slick” show that brimmed “with
high-hat confidence.” The evening wasn’t always “fresh and buoyant” but it was “the only new or old mu-
sical of the season that sends us home on air.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor praised the
“sweet and funny” and “lilting entertainment,” and said “’S Wonderful” was an “enchanting shallow-water
number that stops the show” as Tune and Twiggy splashed about on the shores of what they presume is a
deserted island (which is actually known as Staten).
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the musical “staggered” somewhat and may have “been manufac-
tured rather than created,” but it was still “very witty and agreeably savvy and sassy” and “rewardingly out-
rageous.” He also noted that Twiggy was a “revelation” who was “delicious,” “sexy,” and “a genuine star.”
Jack Kroll in Newsweek praised the “winning and easeful originality” of the show and he too found Twiggy
a “revelation” with an “adorable stage presence.”
But Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the “hodgepodge” had “been so ineptly put together
that most of the professionalism on hand is wasted.” Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal said the “cut
and paste operation” lacked coherency and vision, but the evening held together thanks to Tune and Twiggy,
the “top-flight” choreography, and the Gershwin songs. And T. E. Kalem in Time noted that “’S Wonder-
ful” reconfirmed “Tune’s inalienably inventive choreography” (but he was cool to the “cardboard comedy
romance” and said the musical “inhales adrenaline and exhales formaldehyde”).
The deleted “Little Jazz Bird” was included as a bonus on the cast recording, which was released by At-
lantic Records (both LP and CD # 80110). During the Broadway run, “Just Another Rhumba” was dropped.
A belated London production opened on February 25, 2002, at the Piccadilly Theatre with Tim Flavin and
Janie Dee, and was choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood.
Titled Smarty during part of its pre-Broadway tryout, Funny Face starred Fred and Adele Astaire and
opened in New York on November 22, 1927, for 244 performances; it was the premiere attraction to play at
the new Alvin (now Neil Simon) Theatre. The Astaires appeared in the London production, which opened
at the Prince’s (now Shaftsbury) Theatre on November 8, 1928, and seven recordings from that presentation
(“He Loves and She Loves,” “’S Wonderful,” “My One and Only,” “High Hat,” “The Babbitt and the Bro-
mide,” “Tell the Doc,” and the title song) are included in the collection Funny Face (World Record Club LP #
SH-144). Funny Face was also released by The Smithsonian Collection (LP # DPM-1-0418/R-019) in an ar-
chival reconstruction that includes recordings by the Astaires and members of the Broadway and London
companies, piano interpretations by George Gershwin, and an instrumental sequence by Victor Arden and
Phil Ohman and Their Orchestra.
Although the 1957 film Funny Face starred Fred Astaire (and Audrey Hepburn) and included three songs
from the original production (“He Loves and She Loves,” “’S Wonderful,” and “Let’s Kiss and Make Up”) and
one (“How Long Has This Been Going On?”) which had been dropped during the tryout of the original produc-
tion, the film wasn’t based on the 1927 musical. The film also included one Gershwin interpolation (“Clap
Yo’ Hands” from the 1926 musical Oh, Kay!) and four new songs with lyrics by Leonard Gersh and music by
Roger Edens (“Think Pink,” “On How to Be Lovely,” “Bonjour, Paris,” and “Basal Metabolism”).
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (My One and Only); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Tommy
Tune); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Twiggy); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Charles “Honi”
Coles); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Denny Dillon); Best Director of a Musical (Thommie Walsh
and Tommy Tune); Best Book (Peter Stone and Timothy S. Meyer); Best Costume Designer (Rita Ryack);
Best Choreographer (Thommie Walsh and Tommy Tune)
THE FLYING KARAMAZOV BROTHERS

Theatre: Ritz Theatre
Performances: 40
Text and Routines: Devised by the performers
Direction: Direction by the performers; Producers: Mace Neufeld and Viacom International, Inc. (Harold
Thau and Robert Courson, Associate Producers); Scenery and Costumes: Robert Fletcher; Lighting: Marc
B. Weiss; Musical Direction: Not credited
Cast: Paul David Magid (Dmitri), Randy Nelson (Alyosha), Timothy Daniel Furst (Fyodor), Sam Williams
(Smerdyakov), Howard Jay Patterson (Ivan)
The action takes place “at the present time on the stage of a prestigious Broadway theatre.”
The Flying Karamazov Brothers didn’t fly, they weren’t Russian, and they weren’t brothers. But they were
possibly the best juggling act ever seen on the Broadway stage, and when they weren’t juggling they provided
comedy patter and a bit of incidental music (two of the brothers played “Chopsticks” on the xylophone and
a five-member band played “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic”).
Frank Rich in the New York Times reported that the team were “certainly the best jugglers anyone would
ever want to see,” as they displayed their dexterity with such objects as flaming torches, eggs, and razor-sharp
sickles (Rich noted that one brother wryly noted, “There’s only one end of a sickle one can catch—more than
once”). If all this weren’t enough, they also juggled objects supplied by the audience (including a dead fish and
a plate of Jello), they occasionally sang, and throughout the evening engaged in puns, jokes, and other comic
routines (including a spaced-out California hippie type who exclaims, “Peace! Granola!”). The brothers were
“amusing,” “sweet,” and “rambunctious” and never once were “dourly Dostoyevskyan.” But Rich suggested
the brothers needed to develop “distinct” personalities if they hoped to follow in the tradition of the Marx
Brothers.
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor found the evening one of the “happiest and most tumultu-
ous” of the season and said that one juggling routine of ten objects (which included a frying pan and an egg)
had “to be seen to be believed”. Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the show was “honest entertain-
ment, and that cannot be said for much of what has opened on Broadway this season.” Clive Barnes in the
New York Post said the show had flown in “for our ailing Broadway” and as far as he was concerned it “need
never fly out again” because the performers were “beguilingly charming” and he enjoyed the “hilarious and
1982–1983 SEASON 177
effective” spectacle of cats, uncooked liver, and cream gateau being juggled all at once. And Dennis Cunning-
ham on WCBSTV2 found the production one of “snappy, distinctly slap-happy theatre” and said the brothers
were an “acquired taste that many may want to acquire.”
But Don Nelsen in the New York Daily News felt the evening went on too long and perhaps belonged in
a cabaret or on the college circuit. Otherwise, the show was like Time and Punishment. He also noted that
among the items juggled were a roasted chicken, a ski boot, a fencing foil, a ripe pineapple, and a bag of pot.
And while Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 admitted the boys were “magnificent” jugglers, he wondered, “Just how
much juggling can you stand?” and suggested that the show “doesn’t fly.”
The team returned to Broadway in 1986 with Juggling and Cheap Theatrics, in 1994 with The Flying
Karamazov Brothers Do the Impossible!, and in 1998 with The Flying Karamazov Brothers: Sharps, Flats and
Accidentals. The team later appeared Off Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theatre for one month beginning on
February 8, 2010, in The Flying Karamazov Brothers: 4play, and the work returned there on August 9, 2010,
for a nine-month run.
Two years earlier the critics were impressed with juggler Michael Davis, who wowed everyone in the
one-performance fiasco Broadway Follies, and he was soon sought after by the producers of Sugar Babies and
joined that revue during the course of its long Broadway run.
DANCE A LITTLE CLOSER

Performances: 1
Music: Charles Strouse; dance music by Glen Kelly
Based on the 1936 play Idiot’s Delight by Robert E. Sherwood.
Direction: Alan Jay Lerner (Stone Widney, Production Supervisor); Producers: Frederick Brisson, Jerome Mins-
koff, James Nederlander, and The Kennedy Center (Paul N. Temple, Associate Producer; Dwight Frye, As-
sistant to the Producer); Choreography: Billy Wilson; Scenery: David Mitchell; Costumes: Donald Brooks;
Lighting: Thomas Skelton; Musical Director: Peter Howard
Cast: Don Chastain (Roger Butterfield), Len Cariou (Harry Aikens); The Delights: Diane Pennington (Shirley),
Cheryl Howard (Bebe), and Alyson Reed (Elaine); David Sabin (Johannes Hartog), Elizabeth Hubbard (Con-
tessa Carla Pirianno), Noel Craig (Captain Mueller), Brent Barrett (Charles Castleton), Jeff Keller (Edward
Dunlop), Philip Mollet (Bellboy, Harry), Brian Sutherland (Waiter, Harry’s Double, Harry), I. M. Hobson
(Reverend Oliver Boyle), Joyce Worsley (Hester Boyle), Joseph Kolinski (Heinrich Walter Halloway), Liz
Robertson (Cynthia Brookfield-Bailey), George Rose (Doctor Josef Winkler), Robin Stephens (Cynthia’s
Double), James Fatta (Rink Attendant, Violinist, Harry), Colleen Ashton (Ice Skater), Peter Wandel
(Harry); Hotel Guests: Colleen Ashton, Candy Cook, Mary Dale, James Fatta, Philip Mollet, Linda Poser,
Robin Stephens, Brian Sutherland, Peter Wandel
The action takes place in the Austrian Alps during “the avoidable future.”
Musical Numbers
Act One: “It Never Would Have Worked” (Len Cariou, The Delights); “Happy, Happy New Year” (Len Cariou,
The Delights, Guests); “No Man Is Worth It” (Liz Robertson); “What Are You Going to Do about It?” (Len
Cariou, Joseph Kolinski); “A Woman Who Thinks I’m Wonderful” (George Rose); “Pas de deux” (Brian
Sutherland, Robin Stephens); “There’s Never Been Anything Like Us” (Len Cariou); “Another Life” (Liz
Robertson); “Why Can’t the World Go and Leave Us Alone?” (Brent Barrett, Jeff Keller); “He Always
Comes Home to Me” (Liz Robertson, Len Cariou); “I Got a New Girl” (Len Cariou, The Delights); “Dance
a Little Closer” (Len Cariou, Liz Robertson, Guests); “There’s Always One You Can’t Forget” (Len Cariou)
Act Two: “Homesick” (Diane Pennington, Cheryl Howard, Alyson Reed); “Mad” (Len Cariou, The Delights);
“I Don’t Know” (Len Cariou, I. M. Hobson, Elizabeth Hubbard, The Delights, Brent Barrett, Jeff Keller, Liz
Robertson); “Auf Wiedersehen” (George Rose); “I Never Want to See You Again” (Len Cariou); “On Top
of the World” (Liz Robertson, Men); “I Got a New Girl” (reprise) (Len Cariou, Liz Robertson); “Dance a
Little Closer” (reprise) (Len Cariou, Liz Robertson)
During its previews, the pundits referred to Dance a Little Closer as Close a Little Faster, and the musical
quickly obliged by shuttering after its first performance. Along with Cleavage and Play Me a Country Song,
the new Alan Jay Lerner and Charles Strouse musical was the shortest-running of the season.
Based on Robert E. Sherwood’s 1936 Pulitzer-Prize-winning play Idiot’s Delight (which starred Alfred
Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, and for the 1939 MGM film version was headlined by Clark Gable and Norma
Shearer), the story took place in the luxurious Barclay-Palace Hotel in the Austrian Alps during a time in
“the avoidable future” when the world is on the brink of war. To make matters worse, it appears the war will
begin in the vicinity of the resort’s location and thus the hotel’s staff and guests are quarantined because the
Austrian border is closed. An impending confrontation between the Soviet Union and NATO forces seems
almost certain, and bombers and missiles are at the ready.
Among those staying in the hotel are the slightly seedy entertainers Harry (Len Cariou) and The Delights
(an all-girl trio played by Diane Pennington, Cheryl Howard, and Alyson Reed), who have been booked at the
resort. Harry is surprised to discover that one of the guests is British Cynthia Brookfield-Bailey (Liz Robert-
son), who resembles a woman with whom he once had an affair in America and who has haunted him ever
since. Cynthia is the mistress of White House official Doctor Josef Winkler (George Rose), but Harry is certain
she’s the American chorus girl he once bedded in Omaha.
The play and the film kept the audience wondering whether or not Cynthia is Harry’s old flame, but Frank
Rich in the New York Times was surprised to discover the musical threw away any suspense about the mat-
ter by revealing in flashback early in the first act that the two were indeed once romantically involved. And
once the revelation was made, the story was “essentially over” but nonetheless kept going on for another
act and a half. Rich said the evening “numbs the audience with almost every step” and the work was one of
those curious affairs that took on “a rampaging, self-destructive life of its own.” Further, Lerner’s direction
was “static,” the choreography was “primitive,” the décor was “high-tech” and “antiseptic” and reminded
him less of a lavish resort than a Ramada Inn in Omaha, and the costumes were a “hodgepodge” that didn’t
convey any particular period.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said Sherwood’s play wasn’t “suitable material” for a musical
and Lerner now proved it with Dance a Little Closer. Watt also noted there was extraneous business thrown
into the story in order to pad out the evening. This included two gay airline stewards (played by Brent Barrett
and Jeff Keller) who sing “Why Can’t the World Go and Leave Us Alone?,” perform an ice-skating routine for
no special reason, and get married by a somewhat unwilling vicar (I. M. Hobson). Further, Harry’s backup trio
sing “Homesick,” a would-be sardonic diatribe against the United States in which they salute Love Canal,
Three Mile Island, and the San Andreas Fault.
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the entire musical had “gone subtly but awfully wrong” and
the show seemed like an “over-rehearsed first preview of a tryout.” Moreover, the performers “wandered
around doing their best but often looking like temporary help.” As for Strouse’s score, it was “effective, often
tuneful, but uncentered.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the musical was “an enormous disap-
pointment” that had been “overcooked into a tasteless stew.” The characters came out of “Playwriting 101,”
the choreography was “embarrassing,” and the décor was a “mess.” Even one of the major plot points was
suspect: Would an expensive and lavish hotel hire a “tacky” act like Harry and The Delights for its grand
opening? And while Strouse’s music contained some of his most “beautiful” songs, “numbers of spirit and
sophistication,” the show’s context was “so muddled” the music had no impact. Dennis Cunningham on
WCBSTV2 said the “dull” show was “rampaging flapdoodle” and a “dismal and uninspired enterprise,” and
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 suggested the musical was less “nuclear disaster” than “conventional bomb.”
The critics pounced on Cariou’s singing, and Kissel wondered if Sweeney Todd had “ruined” it because
his “top sounds” suggested he was “running sandpaper over his vocal chords”; Barnes said his voice was in
“poor estate”; Rich said Cariou seemed to have “misplaced” his voice; and Watt suggested the actor was suf-
fering from laryngitis. Rich found Lerner’s wife, Liz Robertson, an “attractive” stage presence with a “likable
personality” but “as yet undeveloped performing skills,” and Kissel said her voice was “clear and strong”
but lacked richness and color. Barnes noted she was “a sort of closet Julie Andrews” who sang “pleasantly.”
During previews, Reuben Singer was succeeded by David Sabin. With a lyric by Lee Adams, the music for
the title song had been heard as “What Became of Me?” for the 1968 London production of Golden Boy, and
1982–1983 SEASON 179
“Auf Wiedersehen” was a revised version of “A Woman Alone,” with a lyric by Lee Adams, which had been
dropped from the 1966 Broadway musical It’s a Bird It’s a Plane It’s SUPERMAN.
The original cast album was released by IBR Classics Records (LP # LPIBR-9011), and the CD was issued
by That’s Entertainment Records (# CDTER-1174). “There’s Always One You Can’t Forget” is included in
four CD collections, Julie Andrews’s Broadway, Here I’ll Stay: The Words of Alan Jay Lerner (Philips Records
#446219-2), Barbara Brussell’s Lerner in Love: The Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner (LML Records, unnumbered
CD), Jason Graae’s You’re Never Fully Dressed without a Smile: Jason Graae Sings Charles Strouse (Varese
Sarabande # VSD-5711), and Bryn Terfel’s If Ever I Would Leave You (Deutsche Grammophon CD # 289-457-
628-2). The title song is included in Brussell’s and Graae’s collections as well as in the two-CD collection
Lerner, Loewe, Lane & Friends (Varese Sarabande # VSD2-5917) and the collection The Musicality of Strouse
(Jay Records # CDJAZ-9014) (for the latter, Liz Robertson sings the number). The two-CD collection Charles
Strouse, Arthur Schwartz, Stephen Schwartz (Kritzerland # KR-20010-6) includes “There’s Never Been Any-
thing Like Us.”
Despite its pleasant score, Dance a Little Closer was Strouse’s fourth failure following the opening of his
mega-hit Annie (1977); prior to the current musical, A Broadway Musical (1978) had closed after one per-
formance, Charlie and Algernon after seventeen, and Bring Back Birdie after four; following Dance a Little
Closer, Rags played for four performances, Annie 2: Miss Hannigan’s Revenge closed during its pre-Broadway
tryout during the 1989–1990 season, and Nick & Nora (1991) closed after nine showings. Further, Bojangles
(1980 and 1993) was produced in workshop but never on Broadway, and Marty (2002) and a 2009 musical ver-
sion of his 1968 film The Night They Raided Minsky’s played only in regional theatre.
1983–1984 Season
MAME
Theatre: Gershwin Theatre
Performances: 41
Book: Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Lyrics and Music: Jerry Herman
Based on the 1955 novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and the 1956 play of the same name by Jerome
Lawrence and Robert E. Lee.
Direction: John Bowab (Jerry Herman, Production Supervisor); Producers: The Mitch Leigh Company (Michael
Lynne, Executive Producer; Manny Kladitis, Associate Producer); Choreography: Onna White (choreogra-
phy re-created by Diana Baffa-Brill); Scenery: Peter Wolf (scenery based on original designs by William and
Jean Eckart); Costumes: Robert Mackintosh; Lighting: Thomas Skelton; Musical Direction: Jim Coleman
Cast: Roshi Handwerger (Patrick Dennis [age ten]), Jane Connell (Agnes Gooch), Anne Francine (Vera Charles),
Angela Lansbury (Mame Dennis), Jacob Mark Hopkin (Ralph Devine), Merwin Foard (Bishop), Donald
Torres (M. Lindsay Woolsey), Sab Shimono (Ito), Brian McAnally (Doorman), Marshall Hagins (Elevator
Boy), David Miles (Messenger), Willard Waterman (Dwight Babcock), Ken Henley (Bubbles the Clown,
Gregor), Louise Kirtland (Dance Teacher, Mrs. Upton), Suzanne Ishee (Bird Dancer), Patrick Sean Murphy
(Bird Dancer, Junior Babcock), Kenneth Kantor (Leading Man, Uncle Jeff), Richard Poole (Stage Manager),
Fran Stevens (Madame Branislowski, Mother Burnside), Scot Stewart (Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burn-
side), Carol Lurie (Cousin Fan), Barbara Lang (Sally Cato), Byron Nease (Patrick Dennis [ages nineteen
through twenty-nine]), John C. Becher (Mr. Upton), Michaela Hughes (Gloria Upson), Ellyn Arons (Pegeen
Ryan), Daniel Mahon (Peter Dennis); Mame’s Friends: Ellyn Arons, Alyson Bristol, Merwin Foard, Mar-
shall Hagins, Ken Henley, Jacob Mark Hopkin, Michaela Hughes, Suzanne Ishee, Kenneth Kantor, Harry
Kingsley, Melinda Koblick, David Loring, Carol Lurie, Brian McNally, David Miles, Patrick Sean Murphy,
Viewma Negromonte, Michele Pigliavento, Cissy Rebich, Richard Poole, Joseph Rich, Mollie Smith
The action takes place in New York City and other locales during the period 1928 to 1946.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “St. Bridget” (Jane Connell, Roshi Handwerger); “It’s Today” (Angela Lansbury, All); “Open a New
Window” (Angela Lansbury, All); “The Man in the Moon” (Anne Francine, Angela Lansbury, All); “My
Best Girl” (Roshi Handwerger, Angela Lansbury); “We Need a Little Christmas” (Angela Lansbury, Roshi
Handwerger, Jane Connell, Sab Shimono, Scot Stewart); “The Fox Hunt” (Kenneth Kantor, Byron Nease,
Carol Lurie, Fran Stevens, Cousins); “Mame” (Scot Stewart, All)
181
Act Two: “Mame” (reprise) (Byron Nease); “My Best Girl” (reprise) (Byron Nease); “Bosom Buddies” (Angela
Lansbury, Anne Francine); “Gooch’s Song” (Jane Connell); “That’s How Young I Feel” (Angela Lansbury,
All); “If He Walked into My Life” (Angela Lansbury); “It’s Today” (reprise) (Angela Lansbury, All); “My
Best Girl” (reprise) (Byron Nease); “Open a New Window” (reprise) (Angela Lansbury)
The season’s first two musicals were by Jerry Herman. The current revival of Herman’s 1966 musical
Mame was soon followed by his newest show La Cage aux Folles.
Mame was in fact the first of the season’s four major revivals, and it was soon joined by Zorba, and then
much later in the season by Oliver! and The Wiz. All four musicals had premiered in New York during the
1960s and 1970s, and in fact the original production of The Wiz had closed just four-and-a-half years earlier,
and so it seemed somewhat premature to bring back such relatively current shows. But revivalitis was an
ominous sign of things to come, for within a decade or two Broadway quickly became a repository for reviv-
als; it was depressing to note that during the 1960s there were ninety-eight book musicals with new music
and one commercial revival, but from 2000 to 2009 there were thirty-eight musicals with new music and
forty-two revivals.
In the old days, institutional revivals of recent musicals were presented for limited runs by the New York
City Center Light Opera Company and the Music Theatre of Lincoln Center, and full-scale Broadway revivals
were usually relegated to productions in the nature of No, No, Nanette (1971; originally produced in 1925) and
Irene (1973; 1919), musicals which hadn’t been seen on Broadway since their original productions some fifty
years earlier. But with the flood of revivals, adaptations of film musicals, and jukebox (or catalog) musicals
that regurgitated songs from the past into either revue formats or book musicals, a Broadway theatergoer was
sometimes hard-pressed to find a wide selection of shows that offered new music. In his review of the revival
of Oliver! Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily wondered if “some enterprising producer may have a revival
of Cats on the boards, before the original production closes.” He was nearer the mark than he may have real-
ized because musicals with marathon runs quickly returned to Broadway, and so as of this writing A Chorus
Line and 42nd Street have been revived once, Les Miserables twice, and Cats is scheduled for a 2016 return.
Mame was a huge hit on Broadway when it opened on May 24, 1966, at the Winter Garden Theatre for
a run of 1,508 performances. But it hasn’t quite enjoyed the lustrous afterlife of other hits of its era, such as
Hello, Dolly! (1964) and Man of La Mancha (1965). Those two shows had lengthy and successful national
tours, but Mame seemed like an also-ran on the road and its disastrous 1974 film version didn’t help its repu-
tation. The current production was the show’s only New York revival, and despite the presence of Angela
Lansbury in her original role the musical managed a run of only five weeks. A lavish but disappointing 2006
revival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., offered colorful décor and a large cast and orchestra, but
otherwise fell flat and didn’t risk Broadway; the production wasn’t always well cast, and it couldn’t even man-
age to get a laugh out of the show’s best line when the pregnant Gooch returns and announces with deadpan
forthrightness, “I opened a new window.”
Perhaps Mame’s briskly efficient but not overly inspired book is a bit too formulaic in its picaresque saga
of an indomitable woman who always rises to the top despite the Depression, Babbittry, waspish romantic
rivals, widowhood, and other travails. But Herman’s score was a solid, old-fashioned one from which emerged
a number of standards, including “If He Walked into My Life,” “We Need a Little Christmas,” and the infec-
tious cakewalk-styled title song. Mame’s first number “It’s Today” had been previously heard in two Off-
Broadway musicals by Herman, albeit with a different lyric. His 1958 revue Nightcap featured the song “Show
Tune in 2/4” (also known as “There Is No Tune Like a Show Tune” and “Show Tune”), and he recycled the
number for his 1960 revue Parade. The song was recorded for the latter’s cast album on Kapp Records (LP #
7005) and later issued on CD by Decca Broadway Records (# 440-064-738-2).
Frank Rich in the New York Times was glad the revival brought back original cast members Lansbury,
Jane Connell, Sab Shimono, Willard Waterman, and John C. Becher, and he noted that time had almost stood
still. But the current production didn’t quite blend into a “fresh, effortless entertainment” and sometimes the
show looked “forced and mechanical rather than spontaneous.” Rich found the book long and repetitive, said
a couple production numbers (“Open a New Window” and “The Man in the Moon”) looked “threadbare,”
and except for “maybe” two numbers Herman’s score annotated the book rather than propelled it forward.
And although Lansbury sometimes seemed “to be pushing herself to be merry” she was nonetheless “a char-
ismatic actress and a paragon of glamour.”
1983–1984 SEASON 183
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the revival was “clearly a low-budget” tour and the per-
formances sometimes showed “tenseness” with moments that once may have been spontaneous but now
seemed “rigidified.” But Lansbury was now “even more elegant and assured” and “much more energetic”
than he remembered. Clive Barnes in the New York Post noted that for the revival “some spontaneity has
been lost” and was “replaced by a certain degree of reverence.” The book was “occasionally untidy” but still
“whimsically charming,” Herman’s score was “breezy and lyrical,” and Lansbury was “sensationally intact”
with her “unstaunchable vivacity.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found Lansbury “stronger,
more assured, and more winning than ever,” and while he hadn’t been “precisely” bowled over by Mame in
1966, he felt Lansbury’s presence convinced the audience the show was better than it actually was.
The script was published in hardback by Random House in 1967, and the original cast album was released
by Columbia Records (LP # KOS-3000 and # KOL-6600); the CD was first released by Sony Classical/Colum-
bia/Legacy Records (# SK-60959) and then by Sony/Arkiv (# 61739 ), and both issues include five bonus tracks
with vocals by Jerry Herman and Alice Borden, with Herman at the piano: “St. Bridget,” “It’s Today,” “Open
a New Window,” the title song, and the cut number “Camouflage.” The 1974 Warner Brothers film version
starred Lucille Ball and Robert Preston and included a new song, “Loving You.” With Ginger Rogers in the
title role, the musical premiered in London at the Drury Lane on February 20, 1969, for 443 performances.
LA CAGE AUX FOLLES

“The Broadway Musical”
Theatre: Palace Theatre

Performances: 1,761
Book: Harvey Fierstein
Based on the 1973 play La Cage aux Folles by Jean Poiret (Note: Because of legal issues, the musical was based
solely on Poiret’s play and not on the popular 1978 film adaptation of the play).
Direction: Arthur Laurents; Producers: Allan Carr with Kenneth D. Greenblatt, Marvin A. Krauss, Stewart
F. Lane, James M. Nederlander, and Martin Richards (Barry Brown and Fritz Holt, Executive Producers;
and produced in association with Jonathan Farkas, John Pomerantz, and Martin Heinfling); Choreography:
Scott Salmon; Scenery: David Mitchell; Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge; Lighting: Jules Fisher; Musical
Direction: Donald Pippin
Cast: Gene Barry (Georges); “The Notorious” Les Cagelles: David Cahn (Chantal), Dennis Callahan (Mo-
nique), Frank DiPasquale (Dermah), John Dolf (Nicole), David Engel (Hanna), David Evans (Mercedes),
Linda Haberman (Bitelle), Eric Lamp (Lo Singh), Dan O’Grady (Odette), Deborah Phelan (Angelique), Da-
vid Scala (Phaedra), and Sam Singhaus (Clo-Clo); Brian Kelly (Francis),William Thomas Jr. (Jacob), George
Hearn (Albin), John Weiner (Jean-Michel), Leslie Stevens (Anne), Elizabeth Parrish (Jacqueline), Walter
Charles (M. Renaud); St. Tropez Townspeople: Sydney Anderson (Mme. Renaud), Betsy Craig (Paulette),
Jack Neubeck (Hercule), Jay Pierce (Etienne), Marie Santell (Babette), Jennifer Smith (Colette), Mark Wal-
drop (Tabarro), and Ken Ward (Pepe); Jay Garner (Edouard Dindon), Merle Louise (Mme. Dindon)
The action takes place during the summer in St. Tropez, France.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “We Are What We Are” (Les Cagelles); “A Little More Mascara” (George
Hearn, Friends); “With Anne on My Arm” (John Weiner); “With You on My Arm” (reprise) (Gene Barry,
George Hearn); “The Promenade” (Townspeople); “Song on the Sand” (aka “La Da Da Da”) (Gene Barry);
“La Cage aux Folles” (George Hearn, Les Cagelles); “I Am What I Am” (George Hearn)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “Song on the Sand” (reprise) (Gene Barry, George Hearn); “Masculinity” (Gene
Barry, George Hearn, Townspeople); “Look Over There” (Gene Barry); “Cocktail Counterpoint” (Gene
Barry, Jay Garner, Merle Louise, William Thomas Jr.); “The Best of Times” (George Hearn, Elizabeth Par-
rish, Patrons); “Look Over There” (reprise) (John Weiner); “Grand Finale” (Company)
La Cage aux Folles was decidedly old-fashioned and yet groundbreaking because it was the first main-
stream Broadway musical to deal with an openly gay couple, in this case Georges (Gene Barry) and Albin
(George Hearn). Set in St. Tropez, the musical centered on La Cage aux Folles, their drag nightclub. The
straight-acting Georges runs the business side of the club and acts as master of ceremonies, and Albin in the
drag persona of Zaza is the club’s main attraction. Twenty-five years earlier Georges’s first and only one-night
stand with a woman resulted in the birth of his son Jean-Michel (John Weiner), whom he and Albin have
raised since birth. When Jean-Michel returns home to announce his impending marriage to a girl whose father
is an antigay politician, the boy expects Albin to stay away from the family party when the conventional par-
ents visit. Although Albin agrees to play the role of Jean-Michel’s (heterosexual) uncle, he instead dresses in
matron drag as Jean-Michel’s mother. Soon comic chaos breaks out, but all ends well after a frantic sequence
when Anne’s parents, fearful of being spotted in a gay nightclub, are forced to don drag as part of the club’s
floorshow in order to escape detection by photographers.
The lavish musical was the season’s longest-running hit and was a comeback of sorts for Jerry Herman,
who some twenty years earlier had enjoyed two huge successes with Hello, Dolly! (1964) and Mame (1966).
The latter was in fact revived on Broadway a month before the opening of La Cage. But after those two hits
Herman suffered a string of three short-running musicals, Dear World (1969), Mack & Mabel (1974), and The
Grand Tour (1979). With La Cage, he was back at the top of his form. The show played for 1,716 performances,
won six Tony Awards (including Best Musical, and, for Herman, Best Score), and has been revived twice on
Broadway. As of this writing, La Cage is Herman’s most recent Broadway musical.
The musical was at its best in the leading performances. Gene Barry was wryly understated as the under-
standing if somewhat bemused Georges, and Hearn’s more complex role was a combination of an over-the-top
drag queen who nonetheless has a will of steel matched only by heartbreaking vulnerability. The production
itself was lavish, and the sequences with the club’s one-dozen drag performers provided a certain frisson for
many in the audience who tried to detect which two of the twelve were actually women. Harvey Fierstein’s
book and Arthur Laurents’s direction kept the story moving along at a fast clip.
Herman’s score provided a number of memorable moments. The opening “We Are What We Are” was
a vamp-like parade for the drag performers, which perfectly previewed the tone of the evening, and both
Georges and Albin had two songs apiece that were among Herman’s most impressive. Georges’s shimmer-
ing ballad “Song on the Sand” would have made the Hit Parade if such parades had still existed, and “Look
Over There,” in which Georges admonishes Jean-Michel for his dismissive attitude toward Albin, is perhaps
the finest song in Herman’s catalog. As for Albin, Hearn had two show-stoppers: “A Little More Mascara”
explained the external and internal makeup of his character and “I Am What I Am” was a defiant anthem of
his gay pride.
The evening wasn’t without its weaknesses. The role of Jacob, Georges and Albin’s flaming housekeeper,
was far too broadly stroked as were Anne’s parents. Further, the writing and direction seemed to miss some
of the inherent madness of the ending sequence when Anne’s parents are forced to don drag. And a couple of
the songs in the show . . . dragged. Jean-Michel’s “With Anne on My Arm” was a bit too generic, and Albin’s
lesson on “Masculinity” was obvious and lacked wit.
Frank Rich in the New York Times praised the “passion” of Herman’s score, said Barry was “invalu-
able,” and noted that Hearn had “the evening’s moment of triumph” with “I Am What I Am.” The show
was “highly enjoyable and welcome,” but Rich had perhaps expected a slightly heartier evening because La
Cage was “the schmaltziest, most old-fashioned major musical Broadway has seen since Annie” and was
“sometimes as shamelessly calculating as a candidate for public office.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily
News found the production “naughty but nice” and “bedizened but utterly respectable.” Hearn and Barry
were “excellent,” the former “spectacularly good” and the latter a “remarkably” good singer; Scott Salmon’s
choreography was “lively”; and Herman’s score was “jaunty” and “cheerful.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post noted that few shows opened on Broadway with the kind of advance
fanfare that almost “challenges disbelief.” He said such hoopla made you say “Show me!” and La Cage defi-
nitely “shows you.” The “terrific” show contained Herman’s “best” score, and Barry did “wonders” in the
“much more difficult and less flashy” role and gave a “touchingly honest performance” with a “delicacy that
works beautifully.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily praised the “exhilarating” show with Herman’s
“most accomplished score,” one that was most “dazzlingly conducted” by Donald Pippin. Kissel also felt it
was “remarkable” that the show never preached and submerged “any tendency to lecture or browbeat in its
consummate theatricality.”
1983–1984 SEASON 185
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor praised the musical’s “consummate showmanship”; Jack
Kroll in Newsweek said the “gigantic” hit and “spectacular” show made “Broadway history” with its ground-
breaking characters and story; and Gerald Clarke in Time predicted audiences would leave the Palace Theatre
“fairly glowing with delight.” Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal reported that the musical “arrived
with more publicity than Halley’s comet.” Although he was disappointed that Fierstein’s book made the in-
laws “cardboard cutouts” and that Jean-Michel’s conflicted emotions were never really explored, the remain-
ing aspects of the show were “pure fun, and the music, the spectacle and the extraordinary performances of
Mr. Hearn and Mr. Barry carry the day.”
But Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 felt the evening was “erratically on and off target” and “nowhere
near good enough to be called a thoroughly satisfying musical.” The dances were “long” and “uninspired,”
and the book was “incredibly flat” and “too timid and clichéd.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 liked the décor,
costumes, and “tuneful” score, and said Hearn gave “one of those rare performances that make Broadway
history.” But the musical wasn’t “great”; it was “disappointing,” and the direction was “stodgy” and the
choreography “non-existent.”
During the tryout, “Have a Nice Day” was cut and “Cocktail Counterpoint” was titled “The Cocktail
Party.” “A Little More Mascara” was a revised version of Herman’s “Beautiful” from his 1961 Off-Broadway
musical Madame Aphrodite, where it was sung by Jack Drummond and Cherry Davis (the demo album of
Madame Aphrodite includes two different recordings of “Beautiful”).
The script was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1987, and the original Broadway cast album
was released by RCA Victor (LP # HBC1-4824 and CD # 4824). The CD was later issued by Arkiv/Sony BMG
Masterworks Broadway (# RCA-59997), and includes a bonus track of Jerry Herman at the piano in which he
discusses the song “I Am What I Am.”
The musical has been twice revived on Broadway. The first opened at the Marquis Theatre on Decem-
ber 9, 2004, for 229 performances with Gary Beach (Albin) and Daniel Davis (Georges), and won the Tony
Award for Best Revival of a Musical. The second opened at the Longacre Theatre on April 18, 2010, for 433
performances with Douglas Hodge (Albin) and Kelsey Grammer (Georges) and it too won the Tony Award
for Best Revival of a Musical. The cast album of the latter was released by PS Classics (CD # PS-1094). There
are numerous foreign cast recordings, including one of a 1991 Rome production released by Nuova Carisch
(CD # CL-39) and an Australian version released by RCA Victor Records (LP # VPL-1-0520), which opened at
Her Majesty’s Theatre in Sydney on March 2, 1985, with Keith Michell (Georges) and Jon Ewing (Albin). The
original London production opened at the London Palladium on May 7, 1986, for 301 performances; George
Hearn reprised his role of Albin, and Denis Quilley was Georges.
An earlier adaptation of the material was scheduled to open on Broadway during the 1981–1982 season as
The Queen of Basin Street. The musical was capitalized at $2.5 million, Allan Carr was set to produce, the
book was by Jay Presson Allen, the lyrics and music by Maury Yeston (in what would have been his Broadway
debut), the choreography by Tommy Tune, and the direction by Mike Nichols and Tune. The show was set
to premiere at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco on December 19, 1981, for a ten-week engagement prior
to opening in New York during the spring of 1982, but soon Carr announced in Variety that Tune and Nich-
ols were no longer associated with the musical because of “artistic, creative and financial differences.” The
production soon collapsed, but, of course, Carr and other producers brought Herman’s version to Broadway
a little more than a year after Yeston’s had been set to open. Yeston still made his Broadway debut in spring
1982 with his stunning score for Nine, which was directed and choreographed by Tune; and Nichols went on
to film The Birdcage, yet another adaptation of La Cage, this one set in Miami Beach, which included a song
by Stephen Sondheim.
Nothing from Yeston’s Basin Street score seems to have surfaced, and it’s a tantalizing “lost” score that
theatre buffs would love to hear (and is perhaps second only to lyricist Arnold B. Horwitt and composer Le-
roy Anderson’s “lost” score for Wonderful Town, which was tossed aside at almost the last minute and was
replaced with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Leonard Bernstein).
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (La Cage aux Folles); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Gene
Barry); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (George Hearn); Best Director of a Musical (Arthur Laurents); Best
Book (Harvey Fierstein); Best Score (lyrics and music by Jerry Herman); Best Costume Designer (Theoni
V. Aldredge); Best Lighting Designer (Jules Fisher); Best Choreography (Scott Salmon)
THE MERRY WIDOW

Music: Franz Lehar
Direction: Ronald Bentley; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director;
Daniel R. Rule, Managing Director); Choreography: Donald Saddler; Scenery: Helen Pond and Herbert
Senn; Costumes: Suzanne Mess; Lighting: Gilbert V. Hemsley Jr.; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri;
Musical Direction: Eric Knight
Cast: Jack Harrold (Baron Popoff), Susanne Marsee (Natalie), William Eichorn (M. de St. Brioche), Thomas
Jamerson (Marquis de Cascada), Debra Vanderline (Sylviane), Joyce Castle (Olga), Jonathan Green (General
Novikovich), Alan Kays (Vicomte Camille de Jolidon), William Ledbetter (Counsellor Khadja), Gerald
Isaac (Nisch), Karen Huffstodt (Sonia), Cris Groenendaal (Prince Danilo), Mervin Crook (Head Waiter),
Anny DeGange (Zozo), Joan Mirabella (Lolo), Esperanza Galan (Dodo), Candace Itow (Jou-Jou), Victoria
Rinaldi (Frou-Frou), Raven Wilkinson (Clo-Clo), Jean Barber (Margot); Members of Marsovian and Parisian
Society, Servants, and Waiters: The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers
The New York City Opera Company’s revival of Franz Lehar’s 1905 operetta The Merry Widow had last
been produced by the company a year earlier (for more information about that production and for general in-
formation about the operetta, see entry for the 1982 revival as well as entries for the company’s subsequent
1985, 1988, and 1989 revivals; also see entry for the Vienna Volksoper’s 1984 revival).
Bernard Holland in the New York Times said that for the current revival Karen Huffstodt’s Sonia was
“splendid” with her “rich, refined and expressive soprano” and Cris Groenendaal’s Danilo did “very well vo-
cally” and visually he matched Huffstodt “with his tall good looks.” Otherwise, Ronald Bentley’s direction
“chased after every scrap” of humor and thus “dehumanized” the characters with a television sitcom style
of “blackout skits and stand-up, one-line routines” in which “people mean little and the laugh becomes all.”
CANDIDE
Book: Hugh Wheeler
Lyrics: Richard Wilbur; additional lyrics by Leonard Bernstein, John Latouche, and Stephen Sondheim
Direction: Harold Prince (Arthur Masella, Stage Director); Producer: The New York City Opera Company
(Beverly Sills, General Director; Daniel R. Rule, Managing Director); Choreography: Patricia Birch; Scen-
ery: Clarke Dunham (set graphics by Donald Beckman); Costumes: Judith Dolan; Lighting: Ken Billington;
Choral Direction: Mitchell Krieger; Musical Direction: Scott Bergeson
Sage), Cris Groenendaal (Candide), Don Yule (Huntsman, Bulgarian Soldier, Don), Maris Clement (Pa-
quette), Bonnie Kirk (Baroness, Calliope Player), Jack Harrold (Baron, Grand Inquisitor, Slave Driver,
Pasha-Prefect), Claudette Peterson (Cunegonde), Scott Reeve (Maximilian), James Billings (Maximilian’s
1983–1984 SEASON 187
Servant, Bulgarian Soldier, Don Isaachar, Judge, Father Bernard, First Gambler), Andy Ferrell (Westpha-
lian Soldier, Governor’s Aide, Sailor), William Ledbetter (Westphalian Soldier, Don, Pirate), Ralph Bas-
sett (Heresy Agent, Don), Gary Dietrich (Inquisition Agent, Sailor), William Selissen (Inquisition Agent,
Sailor), Muriel Costa-Greenspon (Old Lady), Vasilis Iracledes (Don), Brian Kaman (Don), Michael Rubino
(Don), Travis Wright (Sailor), John Henry Thomas (Pirate), Ivy Austin (Pink Sheep), Rhoda Butler (Pink
Sheep), Robert Brubaker (Lion); Ensemble: The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers
The New York City Opera Company’s revival of Candide was its second of seven revivals of Leonard
Bernstein’s self-described “comic operetta.” The entry for the 1982 production includes a list of musical num-
bers and a general history of the musical (for more information about the 1984, 1986, and 1989 revivals, see
specific entries). The operetta was also revived by the company in 2005 and 2008.
Bernard Holland in the New York Times praised the revival, and said Cris Groenendaal brought “fine
clarity” to the title role through “wonderful” diction and a “clean and clear” tenor. Claudette Peterson’s Cu-
negonde handled her “coloratura acrobatics” with a “reasonably firm” and “agile” soprano but occasionally
seemed “a little bland.” Returning from the previous season’s production were John Lankston who in his six
roles was a “virtuoso study in velocity” and Muriel Costa-Greenspon who “kvetched very nicely” as the Old
Lady.
ZORBA
Theatre: Broadway Theatre
Performances: 354
Book: Joseph Stein
Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Music: John Kander
Based on the 1946 novel Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis.
Direction: Michael Cacoyannis; Producers: Barry and Fran Weissler and Kenneth-John Productions, Inc. (Ale-
cia Parker, Associate Producer); Choreography: Graciela Daniele; Scenery: David Chapman; Costumes:
Hal George; Lighting: Marc B. Weiss; Musical Direction: Randolph Mauldin
Cast: Debbie Shapiro (The Woman), Frank DeSal (Konstandi, Turkish Dancer, Russian Admiral), John Mineo
(Thanassai, French Admiral, Monk), Raphael LaManna (Constable), Suzanne Costallos (Athena, Crow),
Robert Westenberg (Niko), Anthony Quinn (Zorba), Panchali Null (Despo, Crow), Angelina Fiordellisi
(Marika, Crow), Susan Terry (Katina), Chip Cornelius (Vassilakas), Peter Marinos (Marinakos, Monk),
Aurelio Padron (Mimiko), Peter Kevoian (Katapolis, Monk), Richard Warren Pugh (Yorgo, Italian Admi-
ral), Pamela Trevisani (Sophia, Crow), Charles Karel (Mavrodani), Thomas David Scalise (Pavli), Michael
Dantuono (Manolakas), Taro Meyer (The Widow), Paul Straney (Priest, English Admiral), Lila Kedrova
(Madame Hortense), Rob Marshall (Marsalias, Monk), Tim Flavin (Anagnosti), Karen Giombetti (Maria,
Café Whore)
The action takes place during 1924 in Piraeus, Greece, and on the island of Crete.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Life Is” (Debbie Shapiro, Company); “The First Time” (Anthony Quinn); “The Top of the Hill”
(Debbie Shapiro, Company); “No Boom Boom” (Lila Kedrova, Frank DeSal, John Mineo, Richard Warren
Pugh, Paul Straney, Anthony Quinn, Robert Westenberg); “Vive La Difference” (Frank DeSal, John Mineo,
Richard Warren Pugh, Paul Straney); “Mine Song” (Company); “The Butterfly” (Taro Meyer, Robert
Westenberg, Debbie Shapiro); “Goodbye, Canavaro” (Lila Kedrova, Anthony Quinn, Robert Westenberg);
“Grandpapa” (Anthony Quinn, Debbie Shapiro, Company); “Only Love” (Lila Kedrova); “The Bend of the
Road” (Debbie Shapiro); “Only Love” (reprise) (Debbie Shapiro)
Act Two: “Y’assou” (Company); “Woman” (Anthony Quinn); “Why Can’t I Speak?” and “That’s a Beginning”
(Taro Meyer, Robert Westenberg, Debbie Shapiro); “Easter Dance” (Company); “Miners’ Dance” (Men);
“The Crow” (Debbie Shapiro, Suzanne Costallos, Panchali Null, Angelina Fiordellisi, Pamela Trevisani,
John Mineo, Peter Marinos, Rob Marshall); “Happy Birthday” (Lila Kedrova); “I Am Free” (Anthony
Quinn)
The revival of Zorba was the first of two John Kander and Fred Ebb musicals to play on Broadway during
the season. Unfortunately, Zorba’s book was lacking, and Kander’s often full-blooded score wasn’t matched
by Fred Ebb’s generally unimaginative and often ordinary lyrics. And despite the star power of their newest
musical, The Rink was a major disappointment. But Zorba (which was billed as “ANTHONY QUINN as
ZORBA in the Musical”) enjoyed a long national tour, managed nearly a full-year’s run on Broadway, and
outlasted the original 1968 production by about two months.
Zorba was one of the most pretentious musicals of the 1960s, and one suspects the creators of Cabaret felt
it necessary to create another “important” work. But Zorba fell short of Cabaret in almost every respect. The
story centered on a young man named Niko (Nikos in the 1968 production, and here played by Robert West-
enberg) who comes to Crete in order to open an abandoned mine he’s inherited. He meets Zorba (Anthony
Quinn), a tiresome noble-savage type who lets you know he’s a free spirit by raising his arms in the air and
dancing in the face of tragedy. In reality, Zorba is an annoying windbag, and if he lived next door you might
seriously consider moving to another neighborhood. Niko and Zorba encounter an insular community on the
island, but both eventually enter into romantic liaisons, Niko with a young woman known as the Widow
(Taro Meyer) and Zorba with Hortense (Lila Kedrova), an aging courtesan. When a villager commits suicide
because of his unrequited love for the widow, his death is avenged by another villager who stabs the widow
to death. In the meantime, Hortense dies of illness. And there’s a mine disaster, too. Despite the tragedies of
suicide, murder, illness, and disaster all around him, Zorba insists that he’s “free” and encourages Niko to
embrace life by dancing in the face of adversity.
The musical’s concept and book were flawed, and the story was replete with repressed characters and even
a couple of repressed songs (“Why Can’t I Speak?” and “The Butterfly”). With one or two major exceptions,
Ebb’s lyrics were among the most disappointing of his career, and while they aimed for spare understatement
they came across as dummy lyrics waiting for the final ones to follow. Kander’s music was the most satisfac-
tory aspect of the evening, but as noted his score was hampered by the mostly dull lyrics and tiresome story
and characters.
Only once did the work reach its full musical potential, in Hortense’s surreal “Happy Birthday.” Here
the dying old woman recalls a long-ago birthday when she was a little girl and all life was before her, and
Kander’s music shimmered with sad music-hall hurdy-gurdy tinkliness and Ebb’s brilliant lyric matched the
bittersweet mood of the moment.
The original production found Herschel Bernardi in Anthony Quinn drag, and Clive Barnes (then writ-
ing for the New York Times) decided Bernardi wasn’t playing Zorba but was instead playing Anthony Quinn
playing Zorba, and Martin Gottfried in Women’s Wear Daily said Bernardi was “frankly, terrible,” and noted
the actor was “hidden beneath six ridiculous pounds of make-up and wigs” and “looked and sounded as if he
were wearing a rubber mask on both his face and his presence.”
But the revival offered the real thing in Anthony Quinn, who had created the title role in the 1964 film
version of the novel, and the icing on the cake was Lila Kedrova, who re-created her film role of Hortense,
for which she had won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Moreover, Michael Cacoyannis had
directed the film and now helmed the revival. Some of the critics were underwhelmed by the musical itself,
but they showered Quinn and Kedrova with valentines.
Frank Rich in the New York Times noted that the musical was “large and lumbering,” and while Zorba’s
philosophy might once have seemed “liberating and romantic” it was now “juvenile.” But happily Quinn
refused to inflate his performance into “self-parody” and as a result his characterization was “modest” and
“remarkably dignified.” Rich said Kedrova was “no less delightful” and that when Hortense recalls the past it
is “no wonder our eyes mist over.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News praised the “intelligent” lyr-
ics and “rich” music, noted the book was “strong, if occasionally diffuse,” said Quinn took “full command”
of the stage with an “enormously skillful characterization,” and Kedrova was “a fluttery, kittenish delight.”
1983–1984 SEASON 189
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily felt the original production “had an integrity that transcended the
limitations of the material and the performances,” but the revival was “played largely as a conventional musi-
cal comedy.” However, Quinn was “fresh and invigorating” and Kedrova was “endearing.”
Barnes (now reviewing for the New York Post) praised the “serious” musical with its “handsomely apt”
lyrics but felt the music went “a bit heavy on the bouzouki.” As for the two stars, Kedrova was “superb” and
Quinn was “great!” or “something a little more enthusiastic.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor
said Quinn gave a “rambunctious, comically zestful, unabashedly virile performance” and Kedrova was an
“indispensable” Hortense with her “delicately textured” characterization. Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street
Journal said Zorba had a “melodramatic quality” with sometimes “heavy-handed” staging, and the score was
“stale and flat.” But Quinn was the living embodiment of his character, and as for the “fetching” Kedrova,
“no one can say ‘you wicked man’ in such an inviting way, or give a more delicious twirl to a parasol.”
Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 said the “ponderous, self-important and pretentious” musical
“lurched along, crashing into blank walls” with music “full of agony and lamentation” and staging “done up
like a grand Wagnerian funeral,” and Jack Kroll in Newsweek said the “dated” show was burdened by “por-
tentous” direction that was “like a rock tied around the neck of the most death-laden musical in history.”
The script was published in hardback by Random House in 1969, and the 1968 cast album was released by
Capitol/EMI Records (LP # SO-118) and later issued on CD by Broadway Angel Records (# ZMD-7-64665-2).
Capitol/EMI also released Music from the Broadway Hit “Zorba” by Claus Ogerman, an instrumental version
of the score that included the unused song “Better Than Nothing” (LP # ST-119). The current revival was re-
corded by RCA Victor Records (LP # ABL1-4732; CD # 09026-683377-2), and a 1988 Hungarian cast recording
was issued by Hungaroton MHV Records (LP # SLPX-14110).
The best recording of the score is from a German production that opened at the Theatre an der Wien on
January 28, 1971 (as Sorbas, the album was released by Preiser Records LP # SPR-3221), and the electric sing-
ers and orchestra elevate the score to an intensity undreamed of in the Broadway recordings. Also, hearing
the songs in German is a plus because it allows one to avoid Ebb’s generally unimaginative and clichéd lyrics.
One song in the musical (“The Top of the Hill”) was reworked as “Over the Wall” for Kander and Ebb’s
1993 musical Kiss of the Spider Woman. Zorba’s first national tour starred John Raitt (Zorba), Barbara Baxley
(Hortense), Chita Rivera (Leader [called The Woman in the current revival]), and Gray Krawford (Niko), and
omitted three numbers (“Bells,” “Y’assou,” and “Why Can’t I Speak?”) and added two (“Bouboulina” and
“That’s a Beginning”). The current revival included a new song (“Women,” for Zorba), added two dance se-
quences (“Easter Dance” and “Miners’ Song” aka “Mine Song” and “Mine Celebration”), interpolated “That’s
a Beginning” from the earlier national tour, and omitted “Belly Dance” and “Bells.” For “Grandpapa,” Theo-
dore Pappas created additional choreography.
Note that future film director Rob Marshall had two minor roles in the revival; in 2002, he brought Kan-
der and Ebb’s 1975 musical Chicago to the screen in an enormously successful adaptation which won the
Academy Award for Best Picture. He later directed the film versions of Nine (2009) and Into the Woods (2014),
and the television version of Annie in 1999.
AMEN CORNER
“A New Musical”

Performances: 29
Book: Philip Rose and Peter Udell
Lyrics: Peter Udell
Music: Garry Sherman
Based on the 1965 play The Amen Corner by James Baldwin.
Direction: Philip Rose; Producers: Prudhomme Productions Ltd., Edward Mann, Judith Henry, Joel Goldstein,
Gil Gerard (Philip Rose, Associate Producer); Choreography: Al Perryman; Scenery: Karl Eigsti; Costumes:
Felix E. Cochren; Lighting: Shirley Prendergast; Musical Direction: Margaret Harris
Cast: Rhetta Hughes (Margaret Alexander), Jean Cheek (Sister Moore), Ruth Brown (Odessa), Keith Lorenzo
Amos (David), Helena-Joyce Wright (Sister Boxer), Chuck Cooper (Brother Boxer), Roger Robinson (Luke);
Members of the Congregation: Loretta Abbott, Leslie Dockery, Cheryl Freeman, Gene Lewis, Denise Mor-
gan, Lewis Robinson, Renee Rose, Vanessa Shaw, Jeffrey V. Thompson; Dancers: Loretta Abbott, Leslie
Dockery, Renee Rose
The action takes place during the early 1960s in Harlem.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Amen Corner” (Rhetta Hughes); “That Woman Can’t Play No Piano” (Keith Lorenzo Amos,
Friends); “In the Real World” (Chuck Cooper); “You Ain’t Gonna Pick Up Where You Left Off” (Rhetta
Hughes, Roger Robinson); “In the Real World” (reprise) (Helena Joyce-Wright); “We Got a Good Thing
Goin’” (Roger Robinson, Keith Lorenzo Amos); “In His Own Good Time” (Helena-Joyce Wright, Chuck
Cooper, Jean Cheek, Ruth Brown, Congregation); “Heat Sensation” (Roger Robinson); “Every Time We
Call It Quits” (Roger Robinson)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “Somewhere Close By” (Ruth Brown); “Leanin’ on the Lord” (Jean Cheek,
Chuck Cooper, Helena-Joyce Wright, Ruth Brown, Congregation); “I’m Already Gone” (Keith Lorenzo
Amos); “Love Dies Hard” (Rhetta Hughes); “Every Time We Call It Quits” (reprise) (Roger Robinson,
Rhetta Hughes); “Rise Up and Stand Again” (Rhetta Hughes)
James Baldwin’s drama The Amen Corner opened on Broadway in 1965 and had a short run of eighty-four
performances. As Amen Corner, the musical had an even shorter life and closed after twenty-nine showings.
Set in the world of a black storefront church in Harlem and using a fair amount of gospel-styled music in its
score, the musical fell into the trap of far too many of the era’s black-themed musicals. These were clearly
well-intentioned but nonetheless (and inadvertently) condescending in their constricting attitudes of what
constituted the “proper” way to depict blacks on the stage, and so most such musicals (the majority of which
were written and composed by whites) relegated black characters to musicals that revolved around church-
and-gospel or show-business themes, all of which seemed to suggest that the lives of black Americans exclu-
sively centered around these topics. Even “white” musicals got on the gospel bandwagon with at least one
token black character who had his or her gospel-styled number shoehorned into the plot. It would have been
refreshing, and innovative, to see black musicals bereft of these clichés and focused on mainstream stories in
the tradition of a Company or a Nine.
Amen Corner’s melodramatic plot verged on soap opera as it dealt with a small church in Harlem and its
somewhat stand-offish pastor Margaret Alexander (Rhetta Hughes) who faces both professional and personal
crises. The elders of the church demand her ouster, her son David (Keith Lorenzo Amos) feels constricted by
her and wants to strike off on his own, and her long-estranged and now invalid husband Luke (Roger Robin-
son) has come home to die. By evening’s end, David has found independence, Luke has died, and Margaret
has learned to relate to her flock. The book was tedious, the score mostly vapid, the extraneous choreography
uninspired, and the décor dreary with its kitchen-sink setting.
Frank Rich in the New York Times found the songs “bland and frequently irrelevant,” and noted that
three “go-go girls” constantly dash “out of the wings any time anyone on stage threatens to shake a leg.”
Their dances resembled “potato-sack races at a church picnic,” and because the “tacky” scenery shook so
badly during an earlier “kinetic” routine it was clear that “high-flying choreography” was a “safety hazard.”
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor commented that when the performers started to dance “the
scenery trembles.” He said the “uneven entertainment” included “caricatures” instead of people, and the
setting was “cramped and inconvenient.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the songs seemed to emerge “from a jukebox we have heard
before,” the setting was “scant” and “extraordinarily unattractive,” and the book was one of the “talkiest”
on record. But despite all the talk, he felt the plot never explained Margaret’s problems with her church and
her flock, the book “scarcely explored” her relationship with Luke, and even David emerged as a “simplistic
sketch.” Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily suggested the musical wanted to “please” with “imita-
tion gospel music” and numbers “designed simply to wow an audience.” The songs were never thoroughly
developed into the story line and as a result the musical lacked “truth and consistency.”
1983–1984 SEASON 191
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the songs “indifferent,” and while “it couldn’t have
been easy to mix sex, religion and spirituals and come up with nothing,” the creators “accomplished” just
that. Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 suggested that “dropping one word from the original title is as in-
ventive as it gets” during an evening which played like “an early workshop tryout rather than a finely honed
Broadway opening night.”
During the tryout, the score’s finest song “It Ain’t No Fault of His” was dropped. The cast album was
scheduled to be recorded by CBS Records, but was canceled due to the musical’s short run. However, a demo
recording (LP # SU-001-A/B) with the notation “Not for Sale” was nonetheless briefly on sale to the public in
a limited distribution (and included “It Ain’t No Fault of His”).
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Rhetta Hughes)
LA TRAGEDIE DE CARMEN AND (aka CARMEN)

Theatre: Vivian Beaumont Theatre
Opening Date: November 17, 1983; Closing Date: April 28, 1984
Performances: 187
Libretto: Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy
Music: Georges Bizet
(Note: For the current production, the libretto and music were adapted by Marius Constant, Jean-Claude Car-
riere, and Peter Brook.)
Based on the 1875 opera Carmen with libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy and music by Georges
Bizet (which in turn was based on the 1845 novella “Carmen” by Prosper Merimee which was first pub-
lished in serial format in 1845 and in a book edition the following year).
Direction: Peter Brooks (Maurice Benichou, Associate Director); Producers: Alexander H. Cohen and Hildy
Parks (A Peter Brooks Production); as originally presented in Paris at the Bouffes du Nord by the Theatre
National de L’Opera de Paris and the Centre International de Creations Theatrales, Micheline Rozan,
Producer; Roy A. Somlyo, Coproducer; presented in association with James M. Nederlander Jr., and Arthur
Rubin; Scenery: Jean-Guy Lecat; Costumes: Chloe Obolensky; Lighting: Not Credited (probably Jean-Guy
Lecat); Musical Direction: Randall Behr and Roger Cantrell alternated as conductors during the run
Cast: (Note: The roles of Carmen, Don Jose, Escamillo, Michaela, Zuniga, Garcia, and Lillas Pastia were alter-
nated among the performers.) Cynthia Clarey, Helene Delavault, Emily Golden, Eva Saurova, and Patricia
Schuman (Carmen), Evan Bortnick, Laurence Dale, Howard Hensel, James Hoback, and Peter Puzzo (Don
Jose), Carl Johan Falkman, Jake Gardner, Ronald Madden, and John Rath (Escamillo), Anne Christine Biel,
Veronique Dietschy, Agnes Host, and Beverly Morgan (Micaela), Jean-Paul Denizon (Zuniga), Andreas
Katsulas (Zuniga, Vieille Dame, Lillas Pastia, Garcia), Alain Maratrat (Lillas Pastia), Tapa Sudana (Garcia)
The opera was presented in one act.
The action takes place in and around Seville during the nineteenth century.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t list individual musical numbers.
Peter Brooks’s production of Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera Carmen was a short one-act version that ran
less than ninety minutes. It was spoken and sung in French, and the adaptation stripped the plot to its es-
sentials and presented only the musical highlights, many of which were not sung in their original order (in
fact, the overture was heard on a recording that was played about fifteen minutes before the finale). The cast
and orchestra were small; only the four principals sang, and there was no choral singing. The experiment
pleased many, most of the critics gushed, and the production even won a special Tony Award “for outstand-
ing achievement in musical theatre.”
Happily, other directors and adaptors didn’t take the current success of Carmen to heart. Do we really
want to see and hear grand opera in such an abbreviated format? A six-character Porgy and Bess might be a
passing novelty for some, but most audiences would undoubtedly prefer the opera more or less the way that
Gershwin intended. Many operas (Carmen and Porgy and Bess included) have variant scores and texts and
arguably there is no “correct” version for some of them. Virtually every revival of Porgy and Bess from 1942
to the present offers a different approach to the work and various productions are presented with or without
recitative and many include music that was deleted during the original’s preproduction phase. But all these
productions would have been recognizable to Gershwin.
Occasional Broadway experiments with modest musical accompaniment, such as the two-piano version
of Frank Loesser’s The Most Happy Fella in 1992 (which Loesser himself orchestrated) and the two John
Doyle-directed revivals of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Com-
pany in 2005 and 2006, may be fine for an occasional experimental evening, but probably most audiences
would prefer Loesser and Sondheim with full orchestra.
If Carmen had always been produced in the style of the current revival, and if suddenly a company pre-
sented the work in a full-scale version akin to what was seen and heard at the opera’s world premiere in 1875,
one suspects the critics would have gushed and exclaimed that full operatic treatment brought out the true
grandeur and tragedy of the work.
At any rate, Brooks’s revival took top honors during the season, and no other lyric work equaled the criti-
cal adulation it received: “The impact of this Carmen is so strong that even the evening’s inevitable climax
makes us gasp” (Frank Rich in the New York Times); “Utterly intoxicating” (Douglas Watt in the New York
Daily News); “This is one of those magic evenings in the theatre never to be forgotten” (Clive Barnes in the
New York Post); “Brook uses bold visual effects and physical action to enhance the theatricalism of this spare,
compressed treatment” (John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor); “The work stands on its own, a daz-
zling piece of theatre craft” (Alan Rich in Newsweek); “An experience for which the words memorable and
incomparable for once are not hyperbolic” (Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal); “This is one of those
rare nights I could feel the genius” (Joel Siegel on WABCTV7); and “Urgent, intense, irresistible theatre” (Den-
nis Cunningham on WCBSTV2).
But while Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily noted that Brooks’s adaptation was “livelier” and “more
imaginative” than many traditional productions of the opera, the current version was nonetheless “self-con-
scious” and “self-important.” And, in an imaginary conversation between Bizet and Merimee, Christopher
Porterfield in Time speculated that “vandalism” was the word Bizet would have used to describe the current
treatment of his masterpiece (and the composer also missed “my big orchestra”).
Later in the season, lyricist Sheldon Harnick wrote an English translation for the revival, and beginning
on March 19, 1984, the French version (La tragedie de Carmen) and English version (Carmen) alternated in
repertory. Harnick had previously written an English libretto for a Houston Grand Opera production, but the
lyrics he created for Brooks’s version hadn’t been heard before. Rich said Harnick created “smooth, elegant,
singable lines” of “high caliber”; Barnes found the lyrics “admirably apt and idiomatic”; Watt said the transla-
tion was “smooth” and “clean-cut”; Beaufort noted that Harnick’s words ran “smoothly”; and Kissel stated
Harnick had provided “a dramatically savvy translation.”
Awards
Tony Award: Special Tony Award to La tragedie de Carmen “for outstanding achievement in musical the-
atre.”
MARILYN
“An American Fable”

Performances: 16
1983–1984 SEASON 193
Book (here, “Libretto”): Patricia Michaels

Lyrics and Music: Jeanne Napoli, Doug Frank, Gary Portnoy, Beth Lawrence, Norman Thalheimer, David Zip-
pel, Wally Harper, James Komack, and Dawsen and Turner (first names unidentified in program)
Direction and Choreography: Kenny Ortega (Greg Smith, Assistant Director; Veda Jackson, Assistant Chore-
ographer); Producers: Malcolm Cooke, William May, Dolores Quinton, James Kabler, Joseph DioGuardi,
John Ricciadelli, Arnold Bruck, Tom Kaye, Leo Rosenthal, Harper Sibley, June Curtis, and Renee Blau in
association with Jerome Minskoff (Peter Duke, Paul Faske, and France Weiner, Associate Producers; Janet
Robinson, Consultant Producer); Scenery: Tom H. John; Costumes: Joseph G. Aulisi; Lighting: Marcia
Madeira; Musical Direction: Steven Margoshes
Cast: Kristi Coombs (Young Norma Jean): Destiny: Peggie Blue, Michael Kubala, and T. A. Stephens; Aly-
son Reed (Norma Jean/Marilyn Monroe), George Dvorsky (Jim Dougherty), Debi Monahan (Pat), Melissa
Bailey (Factory Girl, Louella), Deborah Dotson (Factory Girl, Hairdresser), Jodi Marzorati (Factory Girl),
Mary Testa (Factory Girl, Hedda), Dooba Wilkins (Factory Girl, Coach/Companion), James Haskins (Pho-
tographer), Gary-Michael Davies (Serviceman, Director), Mark Ziebell (Serviceman), Mitchell Greenberg
(Agent), Alan North (Studio Head), Ty Crowley (Assistant Director, Acting Coach), Michael Rivera (De-
signer), Scott Bakula (Joe DiMaggio), Lise Lang (Sis), Willy Falk (Tommy), Will Gerard (Arthur Miller),
Steve Schocket (Strasberg); Ensemble: Melissa Bailey, Eileen Casey, Andrew Charles, Kevin Cort, Ty
Crowley, Gary-Michael Davies, Deborah Dotson, Mark Esposito, Ed Forsyth, Marcial Gonzalez, Christine
Gradl, Marguerite Lowell, Jodi Marzorati, Debi Monahan, Michael Rivera, Steve Schocket, Mary Testa,
Dooba Wilkins, Mark Ziebell
The action takes place mainly in Hollywood, San Francisco, and New York City during the period 1934–1960.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “A Single Dream” (lyric and music by Jeanne Napoli and Doug Frank) (Kristi Coombs, Peggie Blue,
Michael Kubala, T. A. Stephens); “Jimmy Jimmy” (lyric and music by Jeanne Napoli and Doug Frank)
(Peggie Blue, Michael Kubala, T. A. Stephens, Alyson Reed, George Dvorsky, Debi Monahan, Ensemble);
“Church Doors” (lyric and music by Beth Lawrence and Norman Thalheimer) (Peggie Blue, Michael
Kubala, T. A. Stephens); “Swing Shift” (lyric and music by Beth Lawrence and Norman Thalheimer) (Me-
lissa Bailey, Deborah Dotson, Jodi Marzorati, Mary Testa, Dooba Wilkins); “The Golden Dream” (lyric
and music by Beth Lawrence and Norman Thalheimer) (George Dvorsky, Gary-Michael Davies, Mark
Ziebell); “When You Run the Show” (lyric by Beth Lawrence and Norman Thalheimer) (Alan North,
Mitchell Greenberg); “Gossip” (lyric and music by James Komack and Doug Frank); “Cold Hard Cash”
(lyric by David Zippel, music by Wally Harper) (Alyson Reed, Men); “I’m a Fan” (lyric and music by Beth
Lawrence and Norman Thalheimer) (Willy Falk, Lise Lang); “Finally” (lyric by Beth Lawrence and Nor-
man Thalheimer) (Scott Bakula, Alyson Reed); “Church Doors” (lyric and music by Beth Lawrence and
Norman Thalheimer) (Peggie Blue, Michael Kubala, T. A. Stephens); “It’s a Premiere Night” (lyric and
music by Beth Lawrence and Norman Thalheimer) (Company); “A Single Dream” (reprise) (Alyson Reed)
Act Two: “We’ll Help You Through the Night” (lyric and music by Jeanne Napoli, and Dawsen and Turner)
(Peggie Blue, Michael Kubala, T. A. Stephens); “Run between the Raindrops” (lyric and music by Jeanne
Napoli and Gary Portnoy) (Alyson Reed); “You Are So Beyond” (lyric and music by Jeanne Napoli and
Doug Frank) (Willy Falk); “Cultural Pursuits” (lyric and music by Doug Frank) (Alyson Reed, Will Ge-
rard, Ensemble); “Church Doors” (reprise) (Peggie Blue, Michael Kubala, T. A. Stephens); “Don’t Hang Up
the Telephone” (lyric and music by Jeanne Napoli and Gary Portnoy) (Scott Bakula); “All Roads Lead to
Hollywood” (lyric and music by Beth Lawrence and Norman Thalheimer) (Alyson Reed, Company); “My
Heart’s an Open Door” (lyric and music by Beth Lawrence and Norman Thalheimer) (Alyson Reed, Scott
Bakula); “Miss Bubbles” (lyric and music by Jeanne Napoli, Doug Frank, and Gary Portnoy) (Alyson Reed,
Men’s Ensemble); “The Best of Me” (lyric and music by Beth Lawrence and Norman Thalheimer) (Alyson
Reed); “A Single Dream” (reprise) (Alyson Reed); “We Are the Ones” (lyric and music by Beth Lawrence
and Norman Thalheimer) (Company)
The $4 million production Marilyn was one of the season’s biggest disasters and closed after just two
weeks of performances. Purportedly based on the life and career of Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962), the musical
skimmed over her life (Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 noted that Monroe’s first husband appeared and then sud-
denly vanished without an explanation: Did they divorce? Did he die? Or did he see Marilyn and decide to
“slip out the back door of the Minskoff while no one was watching?”).
The musical never mentioned two of Monroe’s most important films (Some Like It Hot [1959] and The
Misfits [1961]), and ignored her death and the attendant speculation about its cause. And the script tele-
graphed information with glimpses of Joe DiMaggio swinging a baseball bat and Arthur Miller smoking a pipe
(in show business, smoking a pipe or wearing a cardigan sweater with leather patches on the elbows are the
marks of an intellectual). But the show produced one classic line. When Monroe and Miller’s marriage begins
to fall apart, she asks: “But you’re Arthur Miller. How can you be so boring?”
As for the age-old question of whether or not the theatre is really dead, Dennis Cunningham on
WCBSTV2 said he’d attended its wake after seeing Marilyn. The “vile” musical was “runaway, rank ama-
teurism” and a “pointless exercise” of “appalling stupidity.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News
said Marilyn was a “musical by committee” with far “too many cooks” (indeed, the writers, composers, and
producers almost outnumbered the performers) and the resulting “hodgepodge” was a “mess.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post also found the show a “mess.” The book had “no real focus,” the mu-
sic “practically redefines one’s concept of undistinguished,” and he quoted “one typical but particular gem of
prosody” from the song “I’m a Fan”: “I have seen every film she’s ever been in/My love for her is deeply hid-
den.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said the “sprawling mishmash” contained a few songs
that were “relevant” to the action and others that were “downright silly”; and Christopher Sharp in Women’s
Wear Daily said “the show badly needs a brain.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times found the direction and choreography amateurish, said the set looked
“as if it suffered a bombing raid during previews,” and the number “Gossip” for the columnists “Hedda”
(Hopper) and “Louella” (Parsons) was “so bowdlerized that they might as well be describing the private life
of Shirley Temple.” Rich also wondered if the huge number of producers and writers had ever been “in the
same rehearsal room—or even the same city—at the same time.”
The writers employed the dubious notion of using a trio they called Destiny as a kind of Greek chorus to
comment in song about Monroe’s life and career, and once the trio sprinkles stardust on Little Norma Jean
she’s well on her way to tinsel town and immortality. Barnes noted the trio might have been a singing group
“had they anything worth singing” and surmised that Destiny was “destined for very little in this show.”
Beaufort said the musical’s “looniest tune” was “Miss Bubbles,” in which a bevy of dancing male plumb-
ers serenaded Monroe as she took a bubble bath. The men wore pink-and-silver overalls and pink patent-
leather shoes and carried pink plastic monkey-wrenches and lucite plungers, and Siegel exclaimed that the
sequence was “the closest thing I’ve seen on Broadway to ‘Springtime for Hitler.’”
Rich noted Marilyn was “incoherent to the point of being loony,” and he defied anyone to explain what
“Miss Bubbles” attempted to convey. One wonders if the song was intended as a homage to a scene in the
1955 film The Seven Year Itch that found Monroe in a bubble bath where her toe somehow gets stuck in the
faucet and a hapless plumber (Victor Moore) is called in to free her. The allusion surely didn’t refer to Mon-
roe’s 1956 film Bus Stop, because in that film the director Joshua Logan insured it was Don Murray and not
Monroe who took a bubble bath. But you never know.
As for Alyson Reed’s performance, Sharp said she was “trapped in a mission impossible” where she came
across “like a transvestite, disguised within a collage of cosmetics and peroxide”; Beaufort said her “credible”
performance had to meet the challenge of “the unwieldiness of the material”; Barnes noted she handled her
role “with enviable aplomb”; and Rich said she was “professional and hard-working” but had “precious little
to do” except to use her “chest and derriere” to convey her character.
Marilyn is one of a number of lyric works about the iconic Hollywood legend. The 1980 Hey Marilyn pre-
miered in Canada with lyrics and music by Cliff Jones, best remembered for his songs for the notorious 1976
flop Rockabye Hamlet; the 1983 British musical Marilyn! had a brief run, and its star Stephanie Lawrence
later recorded the album Marilyn—the Legend (Carlton Sounds Records CD # 30360-00312) which includes
songs from Marilyn! as well as numbers performed by Monroe in her films; the 1993 Marilyn—Musical
opened in Germany and was recorded by Edelton Records (CD # EDL-2734-2); and Ezra Laderman’s opera
Marilyn was produced by the New York City Opera Company at the New York State Theatre on October 6,
1993, for three performances.
1983–1984 SEASON 195
DOONESBURY
Opening Date: November 21, 1983; Closing Date: February 19, 1984
Performances: 104
Book and Lyrics: Garry Trudeau
Music: Elizabeth Swados
Based on the comic strip Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau.
Direction: Jacques Levy; Producers: James Walsh in association with Universal Pictures; Choreography:
Margo Sappington; Scenery: Peter Larkin; Costumes: Patricia McGourty; Lighting: Beverly Emmons;
Musical Direction: Jeff Waxman
Cast: Reathel Bean (Roland, Voice of President Reagan), Ralph Bruneau (Mike Doonesbury), Mark Linn-Baker
(Mark), Keith Szarabajka (B.D.), Laura Dean (Boopsie), Albert Macklin (Zonker), Gary Beach (Duke), Lau-
ren Tom (Honey), Kate Burton (J.J.), Barbara Andres (Joanie), Peter Shawn (Provost)
The action takes place in Walden during the late spring.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Graduation” (Reathel Bean, Ralph Bruneau, Keith Szarabajka, Laura Dean, Mark Linn-Baker, Al-
bert Macklin); “Just One More Night” (Ralph Bruneau); “I Came to Tan” (Albert Macklin, Ensemble);
“Guilty” (Gary Beach, Ensemble); “I Can Have It All” (Laura Dean, Ensemble); “Get Together” (Kate
Burton, Ralph Bruneau); “Baby Boom Boogie Boy” (Mark Linn-Baker, Reathel Bean, Ensemble); “Another
Memorable Meal” (Ralph Bruneau, Keith Szarabajka, Laura Dean, Mark Linn-Baker, Albert Macklin, Kate
Burton, Barbara Andres)
Act Two: “Just a House” (Ensemble); “Complicated Man” (Lauren Tom, Laura Dean); “Real Estate” (Gary
Beach, Albert Macklin); “Mother” (Kate Burton, Barbara Andres); “It’s the Right Time to Be Rich” (Keith
Szarabajka, Reathel Bean); “Muffy and the Topsiders” (Laura Dean, Ralph Bruneau, Mark Linn-Baker,
Albert Macklin); “Just One More Night” (reprise) (Ralph Bruneau, Kate Burton); “Graduation” (Ensemble)
Based on Garry Trudeau’s popular comic strip of the same name, the intimate musical Doonesbury (with
a cast of eleven and a three-man musical combo) managed just three months on Broadway. The show received
generally mild reviews, and one or two critics noted the musical might have fared better Off Broadway in an
intimate venue. Trudeau wrote the book and lyrics, and Elizabeth Swados, whose previous Broadway musical
was Runaways in 1978, composed the score.
The musical took place during the weeks prior to college graduation in Walden, an off-campus commune
where the main characters have lived in their ivy cocoon for four years and now face the prospect of life in
the real world. The revue-like evening touched upon the familiar quirks of the characters, and the main plot
revolved around Zonker’s deliriously demented Uncle Duke (Gary Beach), who hopes to turn the beloved
Walden into a condominium community. The evening’s highlight was watching Duke drive his bulldozer
through the walls of Walden’s living room and demolish part of it (Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News
suspected that replacing the “shredded” part of the set eight times a week must have “considerably added”
to the show’s expenses, but the effect was “worth it”).
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the “trendy” comic strip had always seemed “facetious, pre-
tentious, pointless and opportunistic” and suffered from Trudeau’s “pompous inconsequentiality.” For the
“patchwork” musical adaptation, those not attuned to the chapter-and-verse of Walden’s world might find
parts of the “fairly simple” plot a bit “confusing.” Watt stated the “exceedingly slight” musical didn’t “quite
make the grade,” and Richard Corliss in Time suggested the problems attendant on dramatizing the comic
strip “might occupy a students’ lunch break at the High School of Performing Arts” but was hardly worth
Trudeau’s time “or two hours of anyone else’s.” Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 said he had read the
comic strip only “occasionally” and “could take it or leave it,” and he felt the musical version suggested “the
senior class follies” with “heavy contribution from the sophomore class.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the
cartoon-like sets provided the “best work” of the evening and thus he suspected the musical would work best
“as a comic strip.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times found the musical “pleasant” but surprisingly “dull,” and despite an
occasional “bright” interlude the show never caught “fire.” He noted that the “flimsy” evening was a com-
bination of “standard musical-comedy narrative” and “a series of sketches,” and as result neither form was
“realized.” Jack Kroll in Newsweek felt the show was overloaded with “sweetness” and the political satire
lacked bite (President Reagan wonders if the United States should invade Canada).
But Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily found the evening “effective, witty and endearing” and
said the production was “a breath of clear air during a rather murky season.” And John Beaufort in the Chris-
tian Science Monitor said that “modesty” didn’t prevent the “modest” musical “from being a larkish lam-
poon of an entertainment, sometimes sweet and often very funny.”
As for Elizabeth Swados’s score, Siegel noted it was “much better than her past work” because it was
“almost mediocre,” and Cunningham said the songs sounded like “castoffs from Godspell.” Corliss stated
the composer created “rhinestone settings” for Trudeau’s often “witty and energetic” lyrics and that not one
song in the entire score offered “a memorable melody or a surprising chord pattern.” Kroll said the songs had
the “pastel taste of musical Necco wafers”; Rich found the score “weak”; and while Watt liked “It’s the Right
Time to Be Rich” and “Get Together,” the score for the most part “failed to live up to the ideas generating
them.” But Barnes found the score “sometimes plaintive and sometimes jaunty” and was thus “characteristi-
cally characteristic,” and Beaufort said the “lively” score “pleasantly complemented” the book.
During the tryout and New York previews, “Second Thoughts,” “I’ll Call You,” and “The Chairman’s
Song” were deleted; for the national tour, the latter was reinstated.
The cast album was recorded by MCA Records (LP # 6129).
BABY
“The New Musical”
Theatre: Ethel Barrymore Theatre

Opening Date: December 4, 1983; Closing Date: July 1, 1984
Performances: 241
Book: Sybille Pearson
Lyrics: Richard Maltby Jr.
Music: David Shire
Direction: Richard Maltby Jr.; Producers: James B. Freydberg and Ivan Bloch, Kenneth-John Productions, Inc.,
and Suzanne J. Schwartz in association with Manuscript Productions (Ronald Light, Robert A. Stewart,
J.C. Associates, Elaine Yaker, Karen Howard, and Lillian Steinberg) (A Freydberg/Bloch Production); Cho-
reography: Wayne Cilento; Scenery: John Lee Beatty; Costumes: Jennifer Von Mayrhauser; Lighting: Pat
Collins; Musical Direction: Peter Howard
Cast: Liz Callaway (Lizzie Fields), Todd Graff (Danny Hooper), Beth Fowler (Arlene MacNally), James
Congdon (Alan MacNally), Catherine Cox (Pam Sakarian), Martin Vidnovic (Nick Sakarian), Barbara Gil-
bert (Nurse, Fourth Woman), John Jellison (Doctor), Philip Hoffman (Mr. Weiss), Dennis Warning (Dean
Webber, Mr. Hart), Lon Hoyt (Intern), Judith Thiergaard (First Woman, Fifth Woman), Lisa Robinson (Sec-
ond Woman), Kirsti Carnahan (Third Woman), Kim Criswell (Sixth Woman); People in the Town: Kirsti
Carnahan, Kim Criswell, Barbara Gilbert, Philip Hoffman, Lon Hoyt, John Jellison, Lisa Robinson, Judith
Thiergaard, Dennis Warning
The action takes place during the present time from March to November in a college town.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “We Start Today” (Todd Graff, Liz Callaway, James Congdon, Beth Fowler, Martin Vidnovic,
Catherine Cox, Townspeople); “What Could Be Better?” (Todd Graff, Liz Callaway); “The Plaza Song”
(James Congdon, Beth Fowler); “Baby, Baby, Baby” (Martin Vidnovic, Catherine Cox, James Congdon,
Beth Fowler, Todd Graff, Liz Callaway); “I Want It All” (Catherine Cox, Liz Callaway, Beth Fowler); “At
Night She Comes Home to Me” (Martin Vidnovic, Todd Graff); “What Could Be Better?” (reprise) (Todd
1983–1984 SEASON 197
Graff, Liz Callaway); “Fatherhood Blues” (Todd Graff, James Congdon, Martin Vidnovic, Philip Hoffman,
Dennis Warning); “Romance” (Martin Vidnovic, Catherine Cox); “I Chose Right” (Todd Graff); “We Start
Today” (reprise) (Ensemble); “The Story Goes On” (Liz Callaway)
Act Two: “The Ladies Singin’ Their Song” (Liz Callaway, Townswomen); “Baby, Baby, Baby” (reprise) (Beth
Fowler); “Romance” (reprise) (Martin Vidnovic, Catherine Cox); “Easier to Love” (James Congdon); “Two
People in Love” (Todd Graff, Liz Callaway); “With You” (Martin Vidnovic, Catherine Cox); “And What
If We Had Loved Like That” (James Congdon, Beth Fowler); “We Start Today” (reprise) (Todd Graff, Liz
Callaway, Martin Vidnovic, Catherine Cox, James Congdon, Beth Fowler); “The Story Goes On” (reprise)
(Company)
Baby was a musical that dealt with three couples and their coming to terms with unplanned or failed
pregnancies. In light of the show’s relatively short Broadway run, it’s safe to assume the subject matter wasn’t
for everyone. Baby wasn’t one of those shows that might have worked better Off Broadway because most of
the downtown audience would probably have been as disinterested as those uptown. Perhaps Baby was best
at home in very specialized community theatre.
It’s hard to imagine that most audience members cared all that much about couples and their problems
with pregnancies, and since everyone knows about the stork there was probably no need to instruct the
audience with a documentary-like film that went into clinical details about the mechanics of impregnation
(Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal reported that the film showed sperm swimming up the Fallopian
tube to fertilize eggs and presented “graphic” depictions of the womb and a growing fetus). The musical also
over-shared when it came to discussing medical procedures that can help infertile couples. After an evening
about baby-making, many audience members might well have longed for revivals of Fearless Frank and A
Doll’s Life.
There is in fact a mini-genre of fertility plays and musicals that go back to Federico Garcia Lorca’s 1934
drama Yerma (or “barren”), and in recent decades the theme has been explored in David Rudkin’s affecting
if perhaps slightly overwrought 1977 Off-Broadway drama Ashes and the 2005 Off-Off-Broadway musical
Infertility (the work was subtitled “The Musical That’s Hard to Conceive” and the cast album was released
by Conception Productions).
Baby centered on the unmarried college couple Lizzie (Liz Callaway) and Danny (Todd Graff), the thir-
tyish Pam (Catherine Cox) and Nick (Martin Vidnovic), and the middle-aged Arlene (Beth Fowler) and Alan
(James Congdon). Lizzie discovers she’s pregnant, but despite Danny’s desire to tie the knot she at first doesn’t
want marriage and commitment; Pam and Nick discover he’s infertile, and come to realize they don’t need a
child to validate their love; and Arlene and Alan are surprised to find that she’s pregnant at a time when their
three children are young adults. The vignette-like plot didn’t have much in the way of drama, and Richard
Maltby Jr., and David Shire’s score was pleasant if not particularly distinguished.
Frank Rich in the New York Times felt Sybille Pearson’s “jerry-built” book was overloaded with sitcom
jokes that valued “hit-and-miss one-liners over substance,” and he suggested the musical was “definitely
not for anyone who believes that expectant parents should be seen and not heard.” But the evening offered a
“lovely” score and an “exuberant” cast, and he singled out “The Story Goes On” as an intelligent lyric wed-
ded to “cascading” music.
Like many of the critics, Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the second act was weak, and he noted
that overall the musical was a “one-joke show.” But the book was “agreeably smart” and for all purposes each
couple was “in effect writing a Dear Abby letter to the audience.” The music was “tuneful” and “at times
rhapsodic” but not particularly “original,” and the lyrics were “pleasant” but never “memorable.” Douglas
Watt in the New York Daily News said the show came close to being “stillborn.” The book was “doggedly
uninteresting,” it strained “too hard to establish the equality of the sexes in all situations,” and when a trio
sang that the creation of a baby was an “unsharable” moment he felt that word best summed up the audi-
ence’s “indifference” to the subject matter. Jack Kroll in Newsweek suggested the musical was “more sitcom
than standout” and needed “more guts and grit” because as written the material was “too goody to be true.”
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily found the musical “tremendously refreshing” but noted Pearson’s
book often seemed like a “comic revue” because of her “funny but glib dialogue.” Richard Schickel in Time
said the book offered “tart dialogue and pleasant personification,” but its “defect” was that the situations
proceeded “a little too smoothly” and “some second-act confusions and reversals might well have been in or-
der.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 liked the “honest-to-goodness” music and “clever and intelligent” lyrics, but
said the show lacked an “idea” and the presentation of the musical in two acts was a “bad choice” because
the second act emphasized that “nothing happened in the first.” And Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2
admitted there was “a lag and a lull and a loose end here and there” but the show was nonetheless “a bright
and bountiful” musical.
During previews, the following songs were deleted: “Patterns,” “In One Cell,” and “I Wouldn’t Go Back.”
The original cast album was released by Polydor Records (LP # 821-593-1-Y-1; later reissued by That’s
Entertainment Records LP # TER-1089; and on CD by Polydor # 821593), and includes “Patterns,” which was
cut in previews (the song was later reinstated for regional and foreign productions). A 2004 Philippines pro-
duction with Lea Salonga was recorded on CD by Musico/BMG Records and includes three songs (“I Chose
Right,” “Two People in Love,” and “The Story Goes On”).
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Musical (Baby); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Todd Graff); Best Featured
Actress in a Musical (Liz Callaway); Best Director of a Musical (Richard Maltby Jr.); Best Book (Sybille
Pearson); Best Score (lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr., and music by David Shire); Best Choreographer (Wayne
Cilento)
PEG
“A Musical Autobiography”

Performances: 5
Story: Peggy Lee
New Lyrics: Peggy Lee
New Music: Paul Horner
(For specific lyric and music credits, see song list.)
Direction: Robert Drivas; Producers: Zev Bufman, Marge and Irv Cowan, and Georgia Frontiere; Scenery: Tom
H. John; Costumes: Florence Klotz; Lighting: Thomas Skelton; Musical Direction: John Miller
Cast: Peggy Lee; Backup Singers: Grady Tate, Jay Leonhart, and Mike Renzi; Quartet: Michael Renzi (Piano),
Grady Tate (Drums), Jay Leonhart (Bass), Bucky Pizzarelli (Guitar)
Musical Numbers
Note: All songs were performed by Peggy Lee, with occasional back-up by singers Grady Tate, Jay Leonhart,
and Mike Renzi.
Act One: “Fever” (lyric and music by Johnny Davenport and Eddie Cooley; special lyric by Peggy Lee); “Soul”
(lyric by Peggy Lee, music by Paul Horner); “Daddy Was a Railroad Man” (lyric by Peggy Lee, music by
Paul Horner); “Mama” (lyric by Peggy Lee, music by Paul Horner); “That Old Piano” (lyric by Peggy Lee,
music by Paul Horner); “One Beating a Day” (lyric and music by Peggy Lee); “That’s How I Learned to
Sing the Blues” (lyric by Peggy Lee, music by Paul Horner); “Goody, Goody” (lyric by Johnny Mercer, mu-
sic by Matt Malneck); “Sometimes You’re Up” (lyric by Peggy Lee, music by Paul Horner); “He’ll Make
Me Believe That He’s Mine” (lyric by Peggy Lee, music by Paul Horner); “Why Don’t You Do Right?”
(lyric and music by Joe McCoy)
Act Two: Overture (Quartet); “I Love Being Here with You” (lyric and music by Peggy Lee); “The Other Part
of Me” (lyric by Peggy Lee, music by Paul Horner); “I Don’t Know Enough About You” (lyric and music by
Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour); “Angels on Your Pillow” (lyric by Peggy Lee, music by Paul Horner); “It’s a
Good Day” (lyric and music by Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour); “Manana” (lyric and music by Peggy Lee and
Dave Barbour); “What Did Dey Do to My Goil?” (lyric by Peggy Lee, music by Paul Horner); “Stay Away
from Louisville Lou” (lyric by Jack Yellen, music by Milton Ager); “No More Rainbows” (lyric by Peggy
1983–1984 SEASON 199
Lee, music by Paul Horner); “Flowers and Flowers” (lyric by Peggy Lee, music by Paul Horner); “Lover”
(1932 film musical Love Me Tonight; lyric by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers); “Big Spender”
(Sweet Charity, 1966; lyric by Dorothy Fields, music by Cy Coleman); “I’m a Woman” (lyric and music
by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller); “Is That All There Is?” (from the unproduced late 1960s musical Inter-
national Wrestling Match; lyric and music by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller); “There Is More” (lyric by
Peggy Lee, music by Paul Horner)
Peg was virtually a one-woman Broadway concert by the legendary Peggy Lee (1920–2002), whose highly
stylized voice was alternately sultry, sexy, and sentimental. Throughout her career she constantly surprised
her audience with an astonishing array of musical personalities. She could be slyly comical in “Manana” and
sexually sizzling in “Fever”; she found heartbreak in the moody contours of George Harrison’s “Something,”
brought delicacy and wisdom to Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen’s “Love Held Lightly” (from the 1959 musi-
cal Saratoga), and wearily insinuated her way through the philosophic vamps of the Kurt Weill-like “Is That
All There Is?” (from the late-1960s unproduced musical International Wrestling Match).
But unlike the concert Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, in which Horne emphasized her song rep-
ertoire and occasionally talked about her career, Peg was a pretentious evening in which Lee perhaps rambled
on too much about her life and shared more information than the audience really wanted or needed to know.
Further, while Lee performed a few of her hits, the score contained no less than fourteen numbers that had
been especially written for the concert, thirteen with lyrics by Lee and music by Paul Horner and one with
lyric and music by Lee.
Frank Rich in the New York Times suggested the concert was more in the nature of a “religious rite” in
which Lee was a “high priestess ascending the altar” in an evening that was “most likely to excite those who
are evangelically devoted to both Peggy Lee and God—ideally in that order.” The new songs served to “en-
shrine the red-letter events in the star’s life,” and while the Lunt-Fontanne was a large theatre that required
a “huge” personality to fill it, Lee lacked “so sizable a presence” and thus she let “her ego inflate” in order
“to fill the gap.”
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the “disappointing” production was “comprised of a largely
uninspired narrative” of Lee’s life with “dull and often badly written” material (on the order of “the years
went by, full of comedy and tragedy”), but he singled out the new song “He’ll Make Me Believe That He’s
Mine,” an impressive and “skillful evocation of a Thirties ballad” which Lee sang “with her customary au-
thority.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News noted that Lee was backed by a jazz quartet and a thirty-
piece orchestra, and so the concert was more in the nature of a “splendiferous supper club entertainment
than a Broadway musical.” While she offered “a skimpy soapy account” of her life and career with material
that “rarely” transcended the “commonplace,” she nonetheless sang “with winning grace and good humor.”
Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 decided if the concert had been reduced to an hour it could have been
“a landmark, knockout nightclub act,” but as presented it revealed Lee’s “insistently private, sometimes
embarrassingly personal” life which was “of no particular interest to the public at large”; and Joel Siegel on
WABCTV7 said if the evening had been a concert he would have given Lee a good review, but instead the
production was an “odd collection” of “maudlin, pointless, shameless stories” that seem to have come from
“a cancelled TV telethon.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the “curious” production was less a musical than a pop-song
cycle; it wasn’t a “show” but a “concert,” and “as a concert it is quite a show.” Lee sang “memorably” and
was an “astonishing song stylist” who was “deft and often witty” in her upbeat songs and “glisteningly soul-
ful” in her ballads.
“He’ll Make Me Believe That He’s Mine” is included in KT Sullivan’s collection Crazy World released
by DRG Records (CD # 91413).
THE TAP DANCE KID

Theatre: Broadhurst Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Minskoff Theatre)
Opening Date: December 21, 1983; Closing Date: April 11, 1985
Performances: 669
Book: Charles Blackwell
Lyrics: Robert Lorick

Based on the 1974 novel Nobody’s Family Is Going to Change by Louise Fitzhugh.
Direction: Vivian Matalon; Producers: Stanley White, Evelyn Baron, Harvey J. Klaris, and Michel Stuart (Mark
Beigelman and Richard Chwatt, Associate Producers) (produced in association with Michel Kleinman
Productions); Choreography: Danny Daniels; Scenery: Michael Hotopp and Paul dePass (scenic photog-
raphy by Mark Feldstein); Costumes: William Ivey Long; Lighting: Richard Nelson; Musical Direction:
Don Jones
Cast: Alfonso Ribeiro (Willie), Hattie Winston (Ginnie), Barbara Montgomery (Dulcie), Martine Allard
(Emma), Samuel E. Wright (William), Hinton Battle (Dipsey), Karen Paskow (Mona), Jackie Lowe (Carole),
Alan Weeks (Daddy Bates), Michael Blevins (Winslow); Little Rio Dancers and New Yorkers: Leah Bass,
Kevin Berdini, Michael Blevins, Karen Curlee, Suzzanne Douglas, Rick Emery, Karen E. Fraction, D. J.
Giagni, J. J. Jepson, Karen Paskow, Rodney Alan McGuire, Jackie Patterson, Mayme Paul, Jamie M. Pi-
sano, Ken Prescott, Oliver Woodall, James Young
The action takes place during the present time on Roosevelt Island and in Manhattan.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Another Day” (Hattie Winston, Martine Allard, Alfonso Ribeiro); “Four Strikes Against Me” (Mar-
tine Allard); “Class Act” (Hattie Winston, Hinton Battle, Alan Weeks); “They Never Hear What I Say”
(Martine Allard, Alfonso Ribeiro); “Dancing Is Everything” (Alfonso Ribeiro); “Crosstown” (Alfonso Ri-
beiro, New Yorkers); “Fabulous Feet” (Hinton Battle, Jackie Lowe, Dancers); “I Could Get Used to Him”
(Jackie Lowe, Dancers); “Man in the Moon” (Hinton Battle)
Act Two: “Like Him” (Martine Allard, Hattie Winston); “Someday” (Martine Allard, Alfonso Ribeiro); “My
Luck Is Changing” (Hinton Battle); “I Remember How It Was” (Hattie Winston); “Lullabye” (Hattie Win-
ston); “Tap Tap” (Alan Weeks, Alfonso Ribeiro, Hinton Battle); “Dance If It Makes You Happy” (Alfonso
Ribeiro, Hinton Battle, Alan Weeks, Jackie Lowe, Dancers); “William’s Song” (Samuel E. Wright); “Class
Act” (reprise) (Family)
The Tap Dance Kid was a well-meaning but flawed musical that was plot-heavy and often too predict-
able. It also suffered from an ordinary score by Robert Lorick and Henry Krieger. The show was at its best in
the dancing department, and to that end choreographer Danny Daniels, who won the Tony Award for Best
Choreography, created a series of bright dance sequences.
The title character is Willie (Alfonso Ribeiro), a ten-year-old who wants to follow in the tap-dancing tradi-
tion of his uncle Dipsey (Hinton Battle) and his late grandfather Daddy Bates (Alan Weeks). But his upwardly
mobile lawyer father William (Samuel E. Wright) sees tap dancing as a step backward for blacks, and he wants
his son to become a lawyer. Of course, all this was moot. Willie is after all a youngster in grade school and his
passion for tap dancing might be a passing phase, and so why doesn’t William indulge him with a few dancing
lessons and at the same time encourage him to do well in school? In all likelihood, a ten-year-old’s interests
will change as the boy grows up and attends high school and college. But William comes across as too stuffy
and single-minded, and his character soon became a bore (especially in his lugubrious eleven o’clock number
“William’s Turn”—that is, “William’s Song,” which Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said was “one of
the most ineptly conceived, antipathetic songs imaginable”).
And like so many musicals before and after it, the story and characters were fixated on show business as
life’s only reality (indeed, most of Krieger’s musicals are set in the world of showbiz: besides The Tap Dance
Kid, he composed Dreamgirls, Dangerous Music, and Side Show). Willie of course wants to be a tap-dancer;
Dipsey runs a dancing school and his ambition is to land in the chorus of a Broadway show and perhaps even-
tually choreograph one; Daddy Bates occasionally returns to life and encourages Willie to seek the limelight;
and even Willie’s mother Ginnie (Hattie Winston) fondly looks back on her days in show business. Only Wil-
lie’s overweight sister Emma (Martine Allard) seems to have a head on her shoulders in her realization that
education is the practical key to success, and it’s her ambition to follow in her father’s footsteps and become
a lawyer (but William apparently believes that a career in the law is only for men). Further, the book got
lost with its emphasis on Dipsey, and even included a romantic subplot for him; and the story also fumbled
1983–1984 SEASON 201
around with hints that Ginnie isn’t all that happy in her marriage. And, in true sit-com fashion, William and
Ginnie have a black maid, whom one critic described as “plain-spoken.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the book lacked “subtlety” and the various subplots were “for-
mulaically written” and added nothing but “dead weight” to the evening. The lyrics were “too ordinary” and
the music was “often forgettable.” But Daniels’s choreography carried the day, including his “grand” second-
act “Dance If It Makes You Happy” in which Willie and the images of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Gene
Kelly, and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson are seen “kicking up a storm in musical-comedy heaven.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News stated that too often the musical dragged its feet in its “tan-
gled, lopsided and tensionless” book, one which was “overlong and ill-balanced” because tap dancing was “a
limited art that can become downright tiring in large doses.” But he praised the production numbers, includ-
ing “Class Act” and “Fabulous Feet,” and said the show only came to life when Daniels’s “vibrant” dances
took over the stage.
Clive Barnes in the New York Post found the story “fairly predictable,” the songs “uninteresting,” and
the choreography “unimaginatively adequate.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor praised the
“ebulliently warm-hearted” show, while Jack Kroll in Newsweek said the “somewhat over-earnest musical”
had occasional “honest intelligence rare for Broadway.” And Richard Corliss in Time didn’t care for Willie’s
“perverse decision” about show business, one that “satisfies his parents but not a Broadway musical comedy
audience” when the tap dance kid himself “says, in effect, ‘I won’t dance, don’t ask me.’”
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 liked the score and choreography, but felt director Vivian Matalon allowed Al-
fonso Ribeiro too much leeway and as a result the young actor “destroys his own performance.” Dennis Cun-
ningham on WCBSTV2 said the musical was more “lightheaded” than “lighthearted,” and despite its “genial”
and “amiable” ambitions was “shallow and overdone” in its “curious mixture of TV sitcom and children’s
theatre.” The songs were “truly mediocre” with lyrics in the style of “inspirational greeting cards” and music
“direct from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.”
The musical opted for a series of Broadway previews rather than an out-of-town tryout, and during the
very public and turbulent New York preview period director Matalon was fired and then rehired.
The cast album was released by Polydor Records (LP # 820-210-1-Y-1 and CD # 820210).
The national tour omitted “Another Day” and added four songs, (“Dipsey’s Comin’ Over,” “High Heels,”
“Something Better, Something More,” and “Dipsey’s Vaudeville”), all of which in one way or another focused
on the character of Dipsey.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (The Tap Dance Kid); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Hinton
Battle); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Samuel E. Wright); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Martine
Allard); Best Director of a Musical (Vivian Matalon); Best Book (Charles Blackwell); Best Choreographer
(Danny Daniels)
THE RINK
Opening Date: February 9, 1984; Closing Date: August 4, 1984
Performances: 204
Book: Terrence McNally
Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Music: John Kander
Direction: A. J. Antoon; Producers: Jules Fisher and Roger Berlind; and Joan Cullman, Milbro Productions,
and Kenneth-John Productions, Inc., in association with Jonathan Farkas (Tina Chen, Associate Producer;
Robin Ullman, Executive Producer; and produced in association with Jujamcyn Theatres Corp., Richard
G. Wolff, President); Choreography: Graciela Daniele (Tina Paul, Assistant Choreographer); Scenery: Peter
Larkin; Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge; Lighting: Marc B. Weiss; Musical Direction: Paul Gemignani
Cast: Liza Minnelli (Angel), Kim Hauser (Little Girl), Jason Alexander (Lino [Wrecker], Lenny, Punk, Uncle
Fausto), Mel Johnson Jr. (Buddy [Wrecker], Hiram, Mrs. Jackson, Charlie, Suitor, Junior Miller), Scott
Holmes (Guy [Wrecker], Dino, Father Rocco, Debbie Duberman), Scott Ellis (Lucky [Wrecker], Sugar,
Punk, Arnie, Suitor, Bobby Perillo, Danny), Frank Mastrocola (Tony [Wrecker], Tom, Punk, Suitor, Peter
Reilly), Ronn Carroll (Ben [Wrecker], Dino’s Father, Mrs. Silverman, Sister Philomena), Chita Rivera
(Anna)
The action takes place on the Eastern seaboard in the 1970s.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Colored Lights” (Liza Minnelli); “Chief Cook and Bottle Washer” (Chita Rivera); “Don’t ‘Ah Ma’
Me” (Chita Rivera, Liza Minnelli); “Blue Crystal” (Scott Holmes); “Under the Roller Coaster” (Liza Min-
nelli); “Not Enough Magic” (Scott Holmes, Liza Minnelli, Chita Rivera, Scott Ellis, Mel Johnson Jr., Frank
Mastrocola, Jason Alexander, Ronn Carroll); “We Can Make It” (Chita Rivera); “After All These Years”
(Jason Alexander, Mel Johnson Jr., Scott Holmes, Scott Ellis, Frank Mastrocola, Ronn Carroll); “Angel’s
Rink and Social Center” (Liza Minnelli, Jason Alexander, Mel Johnson Jr., Scott Holmes, Scott Ellis, Frank
Mastrocola, Ronn Carroll); “What Happened to the Old Days?” (Chita Rivera, Ronn Carroll, Mel Johnson
Jr.); “Colored Lights” (reprise) (Liza Minnelli)
Act Two: “The Apple Doesn’t Fall” (Chita Rivera, Liza Minnelli); “Marry Me” (Jason Alexander); “We Can
Make It” (reprise) (Chita Rivera); “Mrs. A.” (Chita Rivera, Liza Minnelli, Jason Alexander, Scott Ellis, Mel
Johnson Jr., Frank Mastrocola); “The Rink” (Jason Alexander, Mel Johnson Jr., Scott Holmes, Scott Ellis,
Frank Mastrocola, Ronn Carroll); “Wallflower” (Chita Rivera, Liza Minnelli); “All the Children in a Row”
(Liza Minnelli, Scott Ellis); “Coda” (Chita Rivera, Liza Minnelli)
The Rink was a mostly dreary exercise that in soap-opera fashion looked at the tenuous relationship be-
tween mother and daughter Anna and Angel (Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli). Their estrangement comes to a
head when Anna makes the decision to sell her and Angel’s joint-owned skating rink at a dilapidated amuse-
ment park somewhere on the East Coast at the very time when Angel returns to the rink and park after seven
years in the hope that there she can retreat into the past and escape from the present. With scenes set both
in the present and in flashback, the worlds of Angel and Anna are replete with Family Secrets and Harbored
Resentments. But there was never any question that by the final curtain the two would resolve their differ-
ences and be friends again.
Terrence McNally’s tedious and predictable book was as tiresome as his ones for the pretentious and
highly overrated Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993) and the appallingly political correct Ragtime (1998). John
Kander and Fred Ebb’s score was one of their lesser efforts, but it included an occasional solid number such as
“Colored Lights.” Besides the back-and-forth bickering between the two main characters, there was a mean-
ingless conceit in which six male performers played a total of thirty-one characters, and, in the clichéd fashion
of then and current-day Broadway, some of their roles were performed in drag. In further attempts to be hip,
the dialogue was needlessly crude, occasional quips ridiculed the Catholic Church, and one scene found Angel
and Anna playing cute as they smoked pot.
The script was full of laughable dialogue. Angel complains that everyone yells, screams, hurts, and hates,
and does everything but “talk”; Anna says she gave her husband “all” her love and hadn’t any left for others;
and when Angel tells Anna “I expected you to love me,” Anna replies that she did, and Angel’s retort is that
it was “not enough.” And the creaky twists and turns of the plot were embarrassing. Angel returns home to
the rink after an absence of seven years, and is apparently so dumb that she’s shocked shocked to find that
things have changed and the old homestead isn’t the same. And there was Revelation after Revelation: in a
variation of “the papers” in old melodramas, Angel discovers Anna has forged her name on the rink’s deed-of-
property sale; Angel still blames Anna for a long-ago Deception when Anna lied and said her father was dead;
Anna has Dark Secrets concerning her loose past when she slept with other men out of Loneliness; Anna has
Dark Memories of the time when she told off a group of neighborhood punks and was then beaten up for her
efforts (the published script indicates a beating, but the staging depicted a gang rape); and for the denouement
Angel’s Secret Is Revealed: she’s the mother of a little girl whom she’s named . . . Anna. With this, mother
and daughter embrace, the rink rises above them and ascends to the heavens, and, in Ragtime-finale fashion,
1983–1984 SEASON 203
they and Little Anna are silhouetted against the morning sunlight and a backdrop of sea and sky as they join
hands and walk towards the future (or maybe the Atlantic Ocean).
Frank Rich in the New York Times said he could watch the “powerhouse” Chita Rivera “forever,” but
unfortunately her “turgid” and “sour” musical’s running time was “forever and a day.” The work had “empty
pretentions” with “phony” and “mean-spirited” content. McNally had contrived a “synthetic” show with
“banal” dialogue of “psychobabble,” characters who were “ciphers,” and “melodramatic revelations” that
were “a parody of William Inge.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the “mishmash” was “tortuous” but Rivera and Minnelli
made a “terrific pair,” Kander and Ebb provided a “nice assortment” of songs, and Peter Larkin’s “almost awe-
somely realistic and ultimately vanishing” set was impressive. Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said
The Rink was “an unusually sordid chapter in the history of the Broadway musical.” It was about “vulgarity,
ugliness and misogyny,” and “no effort had been spared” to make Rivera seem “coarse and repellent.” Lar-
kin’s rink setting created a “charmingly dilapidated vaulted interior,” but perhaps “the most startling” aspect
of the show was that Minnelli didn’t wear artificial eyelashes. Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal said
the story was told in “clichés” and the “predictable” plot was lost in a time warp of the 1960s. A strong score
could have saved the evening, but unfortunately the plot’s “unpleasant incidents” weren’t “raised above the
ordinary” by the songs.
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 found The Rink “a hopeless wreck of a musical,” and Dennis Cunningham on
WCBSTV2 said the “bleak and barren kitchen-sink drama in the middle of a vaudeville show” was “riddled
with flashbacks both pointless and pretentious.” Although Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the
musical was “serious” and “ambitious” with “impeccable” direction, “crisply sophisticated” lyrics, and
performances by Rivera and Minnelli that “will live in Broadway legend,” he noted the musical missed the
“authentic belting surge” it hoped to evoke and as a result never reached “the high level” it aimed for.
As for the gang-rape sequence, Kissel reported that the “rape ballet” was one of “astonishing crudeness”
which was “dragged out interminably” (he noted that Rivera had been “assaulted balletically” in a similar
dance sequence in 1957’s West Side Story, but there the “Taunting” number was choreographed “quickly and
startlingly”). Rich found the sequence “gratuitous,” and also noted that the script presented every male as a
“crude sexual adventurer” and both women as “reformed ‘tramps.’”
During previews, the musical was presented in one act. Dropped in preproduction were “Leche Bella,”
“Mirror Ball,” “Murphy’s Law,” “Postcards,” “So It’s All Over, Then,” “When the Antonellis Were Here,”
“You Kept Me in Touch with Mama,” and “Wine and Peaches” (the latter is included in the collection Contem-
porary Broadway Revisited, released by Painted Smiles Records CD # PSCD-131). The song “Yesterday” was
also cut in preproduction, and had originally been written for Kander and Ebb’s unproduced Golden Gate (aka
The Emperor of San Francisco), which was written in the early 1960s. As “Yesterday Is Yesterday,” the song
is included on the Golden Gate demo recording (performed by Kander and Ebb) along with “A Certain Girl,”
which was later added to the score of the team’s 1968 musical The Happy Time (the Golden Gate demo includes
twenty-two songs from the production, including alternate versions of a few numbers). Another song dropped
in preproduction was “Only in the Movies,” which was later added to the score of Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Late in the run of The Rink, Liza Minnelli was succeeded by Stockard Channing. The script was published
in paperback by Samuel French in 1985, and the original cast album was released by Polydor Records (LP #
823-125-1-Y-1; issued on CD by That’s Entertainment Records # 1091). A 1988 regional production starred
Lainie Kazan and Lenora Nemetz and included the song “It’s a Great Big World” (for Angel) which replaced
“All the Children in a Row,” and a 1996 regional production included “Familiar Things,” which was probably
an alternate title for “Under the Roller Coaster.” Part of the music of “Colored Lights” was recycled as “The
Day after That” for Kiss of the Spider Woman.
The London production of The Rink opened at the Cambridge Theatre on February 17, 1988, with Jo-
sephine Blake and Diane Langton in the roles of Anna and Angel, and the cast album was issued by That‘s
Entertainment Records (both LP and CD were assigned # 1155).
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Liza Minnelli); Best Leading Actress in
a Musical (Chita Rivera); Best Score (lyrics by Fred Ebb and music by John Kander); Best Scenic Designer
(Peter Larkin); Best Choreographer (Graciela Daniele)
THE HUMAN COMEDY

“A New Musical”

Performances: 13
Libretto: William Dumaresq
Music: Galt MacDermot
Based on the 1943 novel The Human Comedy by William Saroyan (which in turn had been based on Saroyan’s
screenplay for the 1943 film The Human Comedy).
Direction: Wilford Leach; Producers: Joseph Papp and The Shubert Organization (The New York Shakespeare
Festival Production; Jason Steven Cohen, Associate Producer for The New York Shakespeare Festival);
Scenery: Bob Shaw; Costumes: Rita Ryack; Lighting: James F. Ingalls; Musical Direction: Tania Leon
Cast: David Lawrence Johnson (Trainman), Josh Blake (Ulysses Macauley), Bonnie Koloc (Mrs. Kate Macau-
ley), Stephen Geoffreys (Homer Macauley), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Bess Macauley), Anne Marie
Bobby (Helen), Laurie Franks (Miss Hicks), Rex Smith (Spangler), Christopher Edmonds (Thief), Gordon
Connell (Mr. Grogan), Daniel Noel (Felix), Debra Byrd (Beautiful Music), Caroline Peyton (Mary Arena),
Olga Merediz (Mexican Woman), Grady Mulligan (Voice of Matthew Macauley), Don Kehr (Matthew
Macauley), Joseph Kolinski (Tobey), Kathleen Rowe McAllen (Neighbor), Leata Galloway (Diana Steed),
Walter Hudson (Minister); Soldiers: Kenneth Bryan, Louis Padilla, Michael Willson; Townspeople: Marc
Stephen Del-Gatto, Lisa Kirchner, Vernon Spencer, Dan Tramon
The action takes place during 1943 in the small town of Ithaca, California.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “In a Little Town in California” (Company); “Hi Ya Kid” (David Lawrence Johnson, Josh Blake);
“We’re a Little Family” (Bonnie Koloc, Stephen Geoffreys, Josh Blake, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio);
“The Assyrians” (Anne Marie Bobby, Laurie Franks); “Noses” (Stephen Geoffreys); “You’re a Little Young
for the Job” (Rex Smith, Stephen Geoffreys); “I Can Carry a Tune” (Stephen Geoffreys); “Happy Birthday”
(Stephen Geoffreys); “Happy Anniversary” (Stephen Geoffreys, Rex Smith, Gordon Connell); “I Think the
Kid Will Do” (Gordon Connell, Rex Evans); “Beautiful Music” (Debra Byrd, Company); “Cocoanut Cream
Pie” (Gordon Connell, Stephen Geoffreys); “When I Am Lost” (Stephen Geoffreys, Debra Byrd, Company);
“I Said, Oh No” (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Caroline Peyton, Olga Merediz); “Daddy Will Not Come
Walking Through the Door” (Bonnie Koloc); “The Birds in the Sky” (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio); “Re-
member Always to Give” (Bonnie Koloc); “Long Past Sunset” (Grady Mulligan); “Don’t Tell Me” (Louis
Padilla, Lisa Kirchner, Family, Company); “The Fourth Telegram” (Rex Evans, Gordon Connell); “Give
Me All the Money” (Christopher Edmonds, Rex Evans); “Everything Is Changed” (Stephen Geoffreys,
Bonnie Koloc); “The World Is Full of Loneliness” (Bonnie Koloc); “Hi Ya Kid” (reprise) (David Lawrence
Johnson, Josh Blake, Company)
Act Two: “How I Love Your Thingamajig” (Soldiers); “Everlasting” (Joseph Kolinski); “An Orphan I Am”
(Joseph Kolinski); “I’ll Tell You about My Family” (Don Kehr); “I Wish I Were a Man” (Caroline Pey-
ton); “Marcus, My Friend” (Joseph Kolinski); “My Sister Bess” (Don Kehr); “I’ve Known a Lot of Guys”
(Leata Galloway); “Diana” (Rex Evans); “Dear Brother” (Stephen Geoffreys, Don Kehr); “The Birds in
the Trees”/“A Lot of Men” (Leata Galloway, Rex Evans); “Parting” (Bonnie Koloc, Wives, Sweethearts,
Mothers, Friends, Soldiers); “Mr. Grogan, Wake Up” (Stephen Geoffreys); “Hello Doc” (Rex Evans); “What
Am I Supposed to Do?” (Stephen Geoffreys, Rex Evans); “Long Past Sunset” (Bonnie Koloc, Company);
“I’m Home” (Joseph Kolinski); “Somewhere, Someone” (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio); “I’ll Always Love
You” (Caroline Peyton, Company); “Hi Ya Kid” (reprise) (David Lawrence Johnson, Josh Blake); “Fathers
and Mothers (and You and Me)” (Company)
The program for Galt MacDermot’s virtually sung-through musical The Human Comedy credited its
source as William Saroyan’s 1943 novel of the same name. In a reversal of the usual process, the novel was
1983–1984 SEASON 205
based on a film script, in this case Saroyan’s Academy Award-winning screenplay for the 1943 MGM film of
the same title.
The musical had first been presented Off Broadway at the Public’s Anspacher Theatre on December 28,
1983, for seventy-nine performances, but despite MacDermot’s ambitious and often impressive score, the
musical lasted less than two weeks on Broadway.
Set in a small California town during World War II, the musical centered on the widow Kate Macauley
(Bonnie Koloc) and her four children, Marcus (Don Kehr), who is later killed in the war, her younger sons
Homer (Stephen Geoffreys) and Ulysses (Josh Blake), and her daughter Bess (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio).
The story also dealt with Spangler (Rex Smith), the manager of the town’s telegraph office who sometimes
has the grim duty to deliver death notices from the War Department.
Many critics complained that the evening was more of a cantata or an oratorio than a musical, and while
MacDermot’s music received generally favorable notices, librettist William Dumaresq was criticized for his
sometimes awkward and simplistic lyrics. Further, director Wilford Leach’s major staging concept lacked
urgency. All the performers sat on chairs and individual cast members stepped forward for his or her songs
and scenes while the others watched. The stylized technique was off-putting and created a certain sense of
alienation between the performers and the audience, and even among the performers. If the musical had been
staged naturalistically and had allowed more interaction among the performers, the evening would perhaps
have been more successful.
For many, a little of Saroyan went a long way, and his sentimentality for the average man could be cloy-
ing in his Norman Rockwell–like universe where everyone gets along and overlooks racial barriers, a perhaps
not quite realistic view of life in 1943 (this was after all the era of the Sleepy Lagoon murder and the Zoot
Suit riots).
In his review of the Off-Broadway engagement, Frank Rich in the New York Times praised MacDermot’s
“sophisticated” score which was composed in the “true operatic manner.” Sometimes the composer’s “high
aspirations” outstripped the music, but the evening offered a “highly eclectic” score that seemed to “whip”
across the stage like an “old-time train so essential to Saroyan’s iconography.” Howard Kissel in Women’s
Wear Daily also reviewed the Off-Broadway production, and he noted the evening was more like a cantata
than a musical. Although MacDermot’s “choral harmonies” were “often fresh,” there was “no sense of the-
atre music” and “no sense of character,” and because the story was never truly dramatized the result was
“undifferentiated mush.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor also reviewed the downtown ver-
sion, and he liked the “exceptional charm and winning appeal” of the musical and said the “operatic needs of
aria, recitative, and vocal ensemble” were wedded to the “loving vignettes” which captured the “poignancy
and heartfelt feeling of home.”
As for the reviews of the Broadway production, Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the work
remained “a staged pop cantata rather than a full-blown musical.” The libretto was “ambling” with a some-
times “incomprehensively arch libretto,” but MacDermot’s score was “agreeable” and the performers were
“pleasant.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post found the staging a combination of “the minimal theatrics
of Thornton Wilder” and “a village hall oratorio.” Except for the “vibrantly alive” score, the evening was
“fundamentally insincere and therefore phony” with its warmth and sentimentality of “mushed-over goo.”
Jack Kroll in Newsweek said the “pop cantata” was “Norman Rockwell set to music” and the choral format
lacked a sense of urgency. But the cast was the “strongest group of singers heard on Broadway in a long time”
and MacDermot’s score was “extraordinary” in its ability to “find the precise melody for a wide range of
emotions.”
Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 said the score was “the most inspired, inventive, and downright plea-
surable music to grace Broadway in a long, long time” and he predicted the cast album would be a “treasure.”
Although he found the score “lovely,” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the work was an oratorio and not a
musical, and as a result the characters and the story were lacking. He noted that the show was a sell-out Off
Broadway, but for Broadway the décor was “skimpy” and the direction “static.” For all purposes, The Human
Comedy was now “an Off Broadway show in a Broadway house, at Broadway prices.”
The script was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1985. The Broadway cast album was first
released on two audiocassettes, and then on a two-CD set by Kilmarnock Records (# KIL-9702). For the Off-
Broadway production, Cass Morgan was an understudy and Donna Murphy was both an understudy and
swing, and both are included in the album’s chorus.
The musical’s nostalgic and evocative poster artwork was by Paul Davis, one of the most impressive art-
ists in the field, but unfortunately the poster was marred by the glaring intrusion of a coy photograph of Joseph
Papp, one of the musical’s producers.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Stephen Geoffreys)
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Book: Carl Haffner and Richard Genee
Lyrics: Richard Genee
Direction: Karl Donsch; Producer: Kazuko Hillyer International (A Vienna Volksoper Company Production;
Karl Donsch, General Director); Choreography: Gerhard Senft; Scenery: Pantelis Dessyllas; Costumes:
Fred Adlmuller and Alice Maria Schlesinger; Lighting: Mark W. Stanley; Choral Direction: Franz Ger-
stacker; Musical Direction: Caspar Richter
Cast: Peter Minich (Gabriel von Eisenstein), Barbara Daniels (Rosalinda), Karl Donsch (Frank), Dagmar Koller
(Prince Orlofsky), Adolph Dalapozza (Alfred), Russell Smythe (Doctor Falke), Rudolf Wasserlof (Doctor
Blind), Elisabeth Kales (Adele), Guggi Loewinger (Ida), Ossy Kolman (Frosch); Singers: The Vienna Volk-
soper Company Chorus; Dancers: The Vienna Volksoper Company Dancers, including Christina Klein,
Elisabeth Stelzer, Istvan Bernath, Melitta Ogrisse, and Ivan Jakus
The Vienna Volksoper Opera Company’s visiting production of Johann Strauss’s 1874 operetta Die Fleder-
maus (The Bat) was the first of three limited-engagement presentations by the company at the New York State
Theatre during the late spring (Die Fledermaus was followed by The Merry Widow and Czardas Princess).
Donal Henahan in the New York Times noted that some revivals of the operetta couldn’t comfortably
negotiate both the musical and comic aspects of the plot, and while the current production tried “for a balance
between these elements” the scales definitely tipped “toward Viennese vaudeville.” In one scene, a performer
falls asleep with a newspaper covering his face, and through a hole in the newspaper a smoking cigar pops
up; there was also some “scatological” byplay with a seltzer bottle; and at one point a character cried out
“Where’s the beef?” in a nod to a popular television commercial.
Henahan noted that Barbara Daniels’s Rosalinda offered “clarion sounds” but wasn’t enough of a come-
dian, and thus her performance was “a sturdy, unexceptional job” which lacked “real charm.” The ballroom
scene included a ballet that interpolated Strauss’s polka “Thunder and Lightning” and his “Blue Danube”
waltz, and while the dancing was “spirited” it wasn’t “outstanding.” However, under Casper Richter’s baton
the musicians played with “commendable verve and more precision” than was normally heard in most op-
erettas.
For more information about the operetta, see entries for The New York City Opera Company’s revivals
which were presented in February 1980, September 1980, 1981, 1986, and 1987.
THE MERRY WIDOW

Book and Lyrics: Victor Leon and Leo Stein
1983–1984 SEASON 207
Music: Franz Lehar

Direction: Robert Herzl; Producers: Kazuko Hillyer International (A Vienna Volksoper Company Production;
Karl Donsch, General Director); Choreography: Gerhard Senft; Scenery: Pantelis Dessyllas; Costumes:
Barbara Bilabel and Alice Maria Schlesinger; Lighting: Mark W. Stanley; Choral Direction: Franz Ger-
stacker; Musical Direction: For this production, there were two alternate musical directors, Franz Bauer-
Theussl and Rudolf Bibl
Cast: Karl Donsch (Baron Mirko Zeta), Melanie Holiday (Valencienne), Eberhard Waechter (Count Danilo
Danilowitsch), Mirjana Irosch (Hanna Glawari), Richard Karczykowski (Camille de Rosillon), Peter Dra-
hosch (Vicomte Cascada), Heinz Hellberg (Raoul de St. Brioche), Wolfgang Dauscha (Bogdanowitsch),
Renate Krula (Sylviane), Hans Kraemmer (Kromow), Magdalena Emesz (Olga), Wolfgang Jeschek (Pritsch-
itsch), Sonja Mottl (Praskowia), Erich Kuchar (Njegus); Singers: The Vienna Volksoper Company Chorus;
Dancers: The Vienna Volksoper Company Dancers, which included Melitta Ogrise, Elisabeth Stelzer,
Istvan Bernath, Zdislav Zelinka, Christina Klein, Lili Clemente, Felicitas Prikopa, Istvan Varga, Gabriella
Masek, Percy Kofranek, and Peter Gavrikov
Earlier in the season, The New York City Opera Company presented a revival of Franz Lehar’s 1905 op-
eretta The Merry Widow in an English translation by Adrian Ross, and now The Vienna Volksoper brought
over its limited-engagement visiting production of Lehar’s operetta (here, Die lustige witwe) along with Rich-
ard Strauss’s Die Fledermaus and Emmerich Kalman’s Czardas Princess (Die Csardasfurstin, or The Gypsy
Princess), all of which were performed in the original German.
John Rockwell in the New York Times found the revival “a generally charming affair” and noted that
for the title role Mirjana Irosch was a “bright-voiced” and “confident” heroine. Over the years, Eberhard
Waechter’s baritone “had grown steadily rougher and wobblier” and was “even worse now,” but he nonethe-
less managed to act and sing Danilo “with a practiced charm.” Rockwell felt the production occasionally got
“lost” on the large stage of the New York State Theatre, and he noted that Melanie Holiday (as Valencienne)
literally became lost backstage and missed an entrance, all of which led to an unscheduled and quick curtain.
Rockwell also reported the production underwent an “ill-advised experiment” with amplification, but ten
minutes into the first act the experiment was thankfully “abandoned.”
For more information about the operetta, see entry for the 1982 revival which was produced by the New
York City Opera Company; also see entries for the company’s subsequent 1983, 1985, 1988, and 1989 revivals.
CZARDAS PRINCESS
Book and Lyrics: Leo Stein and Bela Jenbach
Music: Emmerich Kalman
Direction: Robert Herzl; Producer: Kazuko Hillyer International (A Vienna Volksoper Company Production;
Karl Donsch, General Manager); Choreography: Michael Maurer; Scenery: Pantelis Dessyllas; Costumes:
Silvia Strahammer; Lighting: Mark W. Stanley; Choral Direction: Karl Heinz Dold; Musical Direction: For
this production, there were two alternate musical directors, Franz Bauer-Theussl and Rudolf Bibl
Cast: Rudolf Wasserlof (Leopold Maria, Prince von und Lippert-Weylersheim); Sonja Mottl (Anhilte), Franz
Waechter (Edwin Ronald), Elisabeth Kales (Countess Anastasia), Peter Drahosch (Baron Eugen von
Rohnsdorff), Jack Poppell (Count Boni Kacsianu), Sandor Nemeth (Feri von Kerekes aka Feri Basci),
Melena Rudiferia (Sylva Varescu), Wolfgang Dauscha (Wilhelm von Billing), Helmut Randers (Siggi
Gross), Rudolf Katzboeck (Sandor von Kiss), Josef Forstner (Max); Singers: The Vienna Volksoper Com-
pany Chorus; Dancers: The Vienna Volksoper Opera Dancers
The action takes place in Budapest and Vienna during 1914.
The Vienna Volksoper Company’s revival of Emmerich Kalman’s 1915 operetta Czardas Princess (Die
Csardasfurstin, and also known as The Gypsy Princess) was its third limited-engagement of the season at the
New York State Theatre and it followed Die Fledermaus and The Merry Widow.
The principal story line followed cabaret singer Sylva, the three men with whom in one way or another
she’s romantically involved, and her occasional confrontation with social snobbery. But all ends happily as
almost everyone is paired off as they sail away to the United States for a cabaret booking.
Bernard Holland in the New York Times praised Kalman’s “lovely” and sometimes “surprisingly sub-
stantial” score that merged “Viennese rhythmic drawl and Hungary’s wailing lyric style” into a “tale of
two cities” in which the language is both “lilting Viennese” and German as the Hungarians speak it “with
dragged-out vowels and exaggerated articulation.” The production offered a “great deal” of dancing (including
the waltz and the hootchy-kootchy), the women were “unfailingly elegant,” and the men looked as if born
“in white tie and tails.”
The operetta’s premiere took place at the Johann Strauss Theatre in Vienna on November 17, 1915, and
as The Riviera Girl it opened in New York at the New Amsterdam Theatre on September 24, 1917, for one-
hundred performances (the book’s adaptation was by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, and the lyrics by
Wodehouse).
Among the recordings of the score is a highlights version released by Apon Records, and as Silva a Russian
film adaptation was released in 1944.
SHIRLEY MACLAINE ON BROADWAY

Performances: 47
New Lyrics: Christopher Adler
New Music: Marvin Hamlisch
Additional Material: Larry Grossman and Buz Kohan
Direction and Choreography: Alan Johnson; Producers: Guber/Gross Productions and The Nederlander Orga-
nization (Michael Flowers, Producer); Costumes: Pete Menefee; Lighting: Ken Billington (Jeffrey Schissler,
Associate Lighting Designer); Musical Direction: Jack French
Cast: Shirley MacLaine; Dancers: Mark Reina, Larry Vickers, Jamilah Lucas, Antonette Yuskis; Musicians:
Jack French (Musical Direction), John Spooner (Drums), John Smith (Bass), Rick Marvin (Keyboards)
The concert was presented in one act.
Musical Numbers
Note: All sequences were performed by Shirley MacLaine, who was occasionally backed by four dancers.
Overture (Orchestra); “Now” (lyric by Christopher Adler, music by Marvin Hamlisch); Harold Arlen Medley
(including “If I Only Had a Brain,” lyric by E. Y. Harburg; 1939 film The Wizard of Oz; “Get Happy,” lyric
by Ted Koehler; Nine-Fifteen Revue, 1930; and “I’ve Got the World on a String,” lyric by Ted Koehler;
Cotton Club Parade [twenty-first edition, 1932]); “’S Wonderful,” Funny Face, 1927; lyric by Ira Gersh-
win, music by George Gershwin); Hooker Medley (including “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” lyric
by Dorothy Fields, music by Cy Coleman; Sweet Charity, 1966); “In the Movies” (lyric by Christopher
Adler, music by Marvin Hamlisch) and Film Monologues (from MacLaine’s films Some Came Running,
1958; The Turning Point, 1977; and Terms of Endearment, 1983); a tribute to choreographers Bob Fosse
and Michael Kidd (“Sweet Georgia Brown,” lyric and music by Maceo Pinkard, Ben Bernie, and Kenneth
Casey); a salute to black choreographers (George Faison, Billy Wilson, and Geoffrey Holder); a monologue
(about MacLaine’s trip in the Himalayas); “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” (original lyric by Lew Brown,
new lyric by Christopher Adler, music by Ray Henderson; George White’s Scandals [1931 edition]); “No-
body Does It Like Me” (original lyric by Dorothy Fields, new lyric by Buz Kohan, music by Cy Coleman;
Seesaw, 1973); “A Cockeyed Optimist” (lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodgers; South
Pacific, 1949); “Imagine” (lyric and music by John Lennon); “Friends”; “Now” (reprise)
1983–1984 SEASON 209
Frank Rich in the New York Times said if you liked Shirley MacLaine’s Oscar acceptance speech for
Terms of Endearment then you’d love the lady’s current concert, where she even displayed her Oscar for the
audience. Although the “unabashedly self-congratulatory showbiz queen bee” preened over herself, she was
nonetheless full of “energy and charm” with her “lithe, bubbly countenance and ever-warming rag-doll’s
smile.” But the evening also included “In the Movies” (a new song by Christopher Adler and Marvin Ham-
lisch), a “self-pitying” number about the miseries of being a movie star and a “truly jarring” salute to black
choreographers that was “more patronizing than appreciative.” Otherwise, the star was always on stage per-
forming songs, dances, and monologues, and was backed by four dancers, an instrumental quartet, and a full
orchestra of some two-dozen players.
Jack Kroll in Newsweek commented that MacLaine sang “golden oldies and some zink newies,” and was
at her best in a tribute to Bob Fosse in which she presented “Sweet Georgia Brown” in the styles of both Fosse
and Michael Kidd (but her salute to black choreographers was “more embarrassing than enchanting”). Doug-
las Watt in the New York Daily News said MacLaine danced with aplomb, looked “terrific,” and exceeded
“the boundaries of the formula variety entertainment she’s chosen for her return to Broadway.” Clive Barnes
in the New York Post found MacLaine an “electric,” “electrified,” and “gorgeously outrageous and quite im-
possibly impossible” performer who was “quite a phony” although her phoniness was “an essential part of
her appeal” (but with so much talk about her Oscar, the critic wondered what topics MacLaine would have
covered had she not won the award). And John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said she was “lithe,
graceful, winsome, and impish, a versatile performer with the haunting face of a clown.”
Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily noted that throughout the concert MacLaine was “occupied” with
“paying heart-felt homage to Shirley MacLaine,” and it was clear that “self-congratulation is the sacred busi-
ness of the evening.” Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 felt the concert was “hastily” put together and in
need of “a nice, firm, and thoroughly overall polishing.” And Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said MacLaine was
“spectacular” and a “tremendous talent.”
T. E. Kalem in Time noted that Lena Horne (Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music) discussed Hollywood
racism in her concert; Peggy Lee (Peg) delved into the matters of losing fame and finding religion; and in Off-
Broadway’s Hey, Ma . . . Kaye Ballard (1984), Ballard shared occasional “bitter” memories of her mother. But
MacLaine was at a “disadvantage” because according to the star “nothing really bad” had ever happened to
her. Kalem mentioned that as a dancer MacLaine’s “timing and placement” were “precise” and that her facial
expressions suggested she “may be the best mugger since Lucille Ball.”
MacLaine made her Broadway debut in the chorus of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s 1953
musical Me and Juliet, and the following year appeared in the chorus of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross’s The
Pajama Game, where she was also understudy to Carol Haney. At this point, the showbiz myth of 42nd Street
became reality when MacLaine went on for the ailing Haney. A film agent saw one of her performances, and
from there it was Hollywood and international fame for the endearing star whose career brought her five Os-
car nominations (and of course that Best Actress statuette) over a span of six decades, a period that covers her
first film (Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 comedy-mystery The Trouble with Harry) to her most recent appearances
(including the television series Downton Abbey).
MacLaine’s earlier New York concert appearance was Shirley MacLaine, which opened for a limited run
at the Palace Theatre on April 19, 1976, for fourteen performances and then returned there on July 9 for a
limited engagement of twenty showings.
OLIVER!
Performances: 17
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Lionel Bart
Based on the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
Direction: Peter Coe (Geoffrey Ferris, Associate Director); Producers: Cameron Mackintosh, Carole J. Sho-
renstein, and James M. Nederlander by arrangement with The Southbrook Group (R. Tyler Gatchell Jr.,
and Peter Neufeld, Executive Producers) ; Scenery and Costumes: Sean Kenny; Lighting: Andrew Bridge;
Musical Direction: John Lesko
Cast: Braden Danner (Oliver Twist), I. M. Hobson (Mr. Bumble), Elizabeth Larner (Mrs. Corney), Susan Willis
(Old Sally), Roderick Horn (Mr. Sowerberry), Frances Cuka (Mrs. Sowerberry, Mrs. Bedwin), Andi Henig
(Charlotte), Alan Braunstein (Noah Claypole), Ron Moody (Fagin), David Garlick (The Artful Dodger),
Patti LuPone (Nancy), Sarah E. Litzsinger (Bet), Graeme Campbell (Bill Sykes), Michael Allinson (Mr.
Brownlow), Louis Beachner (Doctor Grimwig); Workhouse Boys and Fagin’s Gang: Robert David Cavana-
ugh, Samir Chowdhury, Ruben Cuevas, Roshi Handerwerger, Cameron Johann, Mark Manasseri, Michael
Manasseri, Kipp Marcus, Shawn Morgal, Brian Noodt, Roy Nygaard, R. D. Robb, Dennis Singletrary,
Zachary A. Stier; Londoners: Diane Armistead, W. P. Dremak, Gregg Edelman, Tony Gilbert, Eleanor
Glockner, Beth Guiffre, Jan Horvath, Michael McCarty, William McClary, Marcia Mitzman, Martin Mo-
ran, Barbara Moroz, Cheryl Russell, Clark Sayre, Jane Strauss; Note: Vito and Buffy alternated in the role
of Bill Sykes’s bull-terrier Bullseye.
The action takes place in the North of England and in London during the nineteenth century.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Food, Glorious Food” (Braden Danner, Boys); “Oliver!” (I. M. Hobson, Elizabeth Larner, Boys); “Boy
for Sale” (I. M. Hobson); “That’s Your Funeral” (Roderick Horn, Frances Cuka, I. M. Hobson); “Where Is
Love?” (Braden Danner); “Consider Yourself” (David Garlick, Braden Danner, Company); “You’ve Got to
Pick a Pocket or Two” (Ron Moody, Boys); “It’s a Fine Life” (Patti LuPone, Sarah E. Litzsinger, Boys); “I’d
Do Anything” (Patti LuPone, David Garlick, Braden Danner, Sarah E. Litzsinger, Ron Moody, Boys); “Be
Back Soon” (Ron Moody, Boys)
Act Two: “Oom-Pah-Pah” (Patti LuPone, Company); “My Name” (Graeme Campbell); “As Long as He
Needs Me” (Patti LuPone); “Where Is Love?” (reprise) (Frances Cuka); “Who Will Buy?” (Braden Danner,
Company); “It’s a Fine Life” (reprise) (Patti LuPone, Ron Moody, Graeme Campbell, David Garlick); “Re-
viewing the Situation” (Ron Moody); “Oliver!” (reprise) (I. M. Hobson, Elizabeth Larner); “As Long as He
Needs Me” (reprise) (Patti LuPone); “Reviewing the Situation” (reprise) (Ron Moody); Finale (Company)
The first Broadway production of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! opened on January 6, 1963, at the Imperial Theatre
for a stand of 744 performances, and while it didn’t match the long run of the original British production,
which opened at the New Theatre on June 30, 1960, and played for 2,618 performances, it enjoyed a healthy
run. And thanks to its lengthy and lucrative pre-Broadway tour, it recouped its initial capitalization before
reaching New York. As part of the musical’s post-Broadway tour, the musical played a return engagement at
the Martin Beck Theatre on August 2, 1965, for sixty-four performances. The current revival received mixed
reviews and closed after just seventeen showings.
The revival’s cast included Ron Moody, who created the role of Fagin for the original London production
and later reprised the role for the 1968 film version, and Patti LuPone played Nancy. Besides Moody, director
Peter Coe re-created his original staging of the London and New York productions (although “I Shall Scream,”
which had been performed during New York previews, was cut by opening night), and the late Sean Kenny’s
innovative scenery was again used. And it’s important to note that during previews, the role of Bill Sykes’s
bull-terrier Bullseye was performed at alternate performances by either Lydia or Buffy, but by opening night
the role was played by either Buffy or Vito (perhaps Lydia was indisposed or had stage fright).
Bart freely adapted Dickens’s sprawling novel, but his book was true to the basic plot of the orphaned
Oliver Twist, his adventures with Fagin and his band of young pickpockets, and his eventual discovery that
he’s from a wealthy family. One of the most talked-about aspects of the musical was Kenny’s clever revolving
unit set, which depicted a number of locales and kept the story moving at a fast clip. And Bart’s audience-
friendly score included “Food, Glorious Food,” “Consider Yourself,” and “I’d Do Anything” as well as two
numbers (“Where Is Love?” and the show’s most popular song, the lugubrious “As Long as He Needs Me”)
which sounded suspiciously like trunk songs shoe-horned into the plot. The score also included the irresist-
ible circus-music rhythms of the cynical “Oom-Pah-Pah,” which makes an interesting thematic pairing with
Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s “The Picture of Happiness” from Tenderloin (1960).
The original London and Broadway productions included Barry Humphries in the role of Mr. Sowerberry,
and years later the performer became famous for his theatrical alter-ego Dame Edna, the waspish take-no-pris-
1983–1984 SEASON 211
oners-or-possums virago who never met a man (or woman) who wasn’t ripe for ridicule. Although Humphries
had created the role of Sowerberry in London, he wasn’t part of the original American company during its
lengthy pre-Broadway tour where the role was performed by Frederic Warriner. When Humphries joined the
company for the New York opening, his song “That’s Your Funeral,” which had been dropped for the tour,
was reinstated for Broadway. Because the American cast album was recorded prior to the New York opening,
“That’s Your Funeral” isn’t heard on the recording.
During the extended 1962 American tryout, Michael Goodman was the Artful Dodger, but for New York
the role was performed by David Jones, who was later part of the popular singing group The Monkees. As
noted, the cast album was recorded prior to Broadway, and so it’s Goodman and not Jones who is heard on
the recording.
The British cast album was released by Decca Records (LP # SKL-4105 and # LK-4359, and issued on CD
# 422-820-590-20), and the Broadway version was issued by RCA Victor Records (LP # LOCD/LSOD-2004).
The LP was first released on CD by Broadway Angel Records (# ZMD-0777-7-64890-2-5) and then later by
RCA (# 82876-51432-2) in a deluxe edition that includes three songs from the London recording (“That’s Your
Funeral,” “You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,” and “Reviewing the Situation”), “As Long as He Needs Me”
(sung by Patti LuPone), and an interview with Donald Pippin, who conducted the original Broadway produc-
tion.
The overblown film adaptation by Columbia Pictures was directed by Carol Reed and the cast included
Moody, Mark Lester (Oliver), Shani Wallis (Nancy), Jack Wild (The Artful Dodger), Harry Secombe (Mr. Bum-
ble), and Sheila White (Bet). The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Direction,
and a special Oscar citation was given to Onna White for her choreography.
Because Fagin is looked upon by many as an offensive Jewish caricature bordering on the anti-Semitic,
and to ensure that no one was offended, David Merrick (who was the coproducer of the original American
production) insisted that all traces of Jewishness be leavened out of Fagin’s character by the time the current
revival reached New York. In his review of the original Broadway production, Howard Taubman in the New
York Times noted that Bart “nowhere identifies [Fagin] as a Jew,” but by a “strange coincidence” Fagin was
given a song (“Reviewing the Situation”) that “bears a close resemblance to Jewish folksong . . . a lush vio-
lin obbligato seems to stress racial strains.” But Norman Nadel in the New York World-Telegram and Sun
mentioned that a critic who reviewed the Los Angeles tryout said Fagin was “the kind of lovable old codger
you’d invite to a Hadassah tea.”
For the current production, most of the critics didn’t seem bothered that Fagin was clearly a Jewish man,
and both Frank Rich in the New York Times and Clive Barnes in the New York Post praised Moody’s perfor-
mance and said they were reminded of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (1964). Barnes also noted that Moody’s
characterization was “pure Jewish humor in a particularly English context” and his clowning was “English
Jewish at its best.” But Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said Moody’s performance was “dangerously close to an
anti-Semitic caricature” and he complained that Moody broke into “Jewish liturgical music” while sing-
ing “You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two.” He also suggested that Moody’s “excesses” needed to be “toned
down.” But Siegel was glad to note that Asians, Hispanics, and blacks were to be found among the nineteenth-
century London orphans.
Rich found Oliver! “not unpleasant—just dull.” The musical needed “genuine musical-comedy panache
and spontaneity,” and what was missing in the production could be found in Annie (1977), another orphan-
centric musical but one “built like a clock and wrapped in razzle-dazzle.” Further, director Coe hadn’t
“bothered to shake the mothballs out of his original staging,” and as a result the company looked “tired”
and sometimes it seemed Coe was remembering “the end, rather than the outset,” of the musical’s original
five-year London run.
But Barnes found the evening “fast-moving, attractive, and, always dramatic” and he praised Coe’s “ex-
emplary” direction, and Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News liked Coe’s “imaginative” staging of the
“sprightly revival.” Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily said Oliver! was a “stage-filling musical” that time
had neither “enhanced” nor “particularly withered.”
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Ron Moody)
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE

“A Musical”

Opening Date: May 2, 1984; Closing Date: October 13, 1985
Performances: 604
Book: James Lapine
Direction: James Lapine; Producers: The Shubert Organization and Emanuel Azenberg by arrangement with
Playwrights Horizons; Movement: Randolyn Zinn; Scenery: Tony Straiges; Special Effects: Bran Ferren;
Costumes: Patricia Zipprodt and Ann Hould-Ward; Lighting: Richard Nelson; Musical Direction: Paul
Gemignani
Cast:
Act One: Mandy Patinkin (George), Bernadette Peters (Dot), Barbara Byrne (An Old Lady), Judith Moore (The
Old Lady’s Nurse, Mrs.), Brent Spiner (Franz), Danielle Ferland (A Boy, Louise), Nancy Opel (A Young
Man, Frieda), Cris Groenendaal (A Man, Louis), Charles Kimbrough (Jules), Dana Ivey (Yvonne), William
Parry (A Boatman), Melanie Vaughan (Celeste # 1), Mary D’Arcy (Celeste # 2), Robert Westenberg (A Sol-
dier), John Jellison (A Man with Bicycle), Michele Rigan (A Little Girl), Sue Anne Gershenson (A Woman
with Baby Carriage), Kurt Knudson (Mr.)
Act Two: Mandy Patinkin (George), Bernadette Peters (Marie, Dot), Brent Spiner (Dennis), Charles Kimbrough
(Bob Greenberg), Dana Ivey (Naomi Eisen), Judith Moore (Harriet Pawling), Cris Groenendaal (Billy Web-
ster), Sue Anne Gershenson (A Photographer), John Jellison (A Museum Assistant), William Parry (Charles
Redmond), Robert Westenberg (Alex), Nancy Opel (Betty), Kurt Knudson (Lee Randolph), Barbara Byrne
(Blair Daniels), Melanie Vaughan (A Waitress), Mary D’Arcy (Waitress)
The action for the first act takes place on a series of Sundays from 1884 to 1886 and alternates between a park
on an island in the Seine just outside of Paris, and in George’s studio; the action for the second takes place
in 1984 at an American art museum, and on the island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Sunday in the Park with George” (Bernadette Peters); “No Life” (Charles Kimbrough, Dana Ivey);
“Color and Light” (Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin); “Gossip” (Melanie Vaughan, Mary D’Arcy, Wil-
liam Parry, Judith Moore, Barbara Byrne, Charles Kimbrough, Dana Ivey); “The Day Off” (Mandy Pat-
inkin, Judith Moore, Brent Spiner, Nancy Opel, William Parry, Robert Westenberg, Melanie Vaughan,
Mary D’Arcy, Dana Ivey, Danielle Ferland, Charles Kimbrough, Cris Groenendaal); “Everybody Loves
Louis” (Bernadette Peters); “The One on the Left” (Robert Westenberg, Melanie Vaughan, Mary D’Arcy,
Mandy Patinkin); “Finishing the Hat” (Mandy Patinkin); “We Do Not Belong Together” (Bernadette Pe-
ters, Mandy Patinkin); “Beautiful” (Barbara Byrne, Mandy Patinkin); “Sunday” (Company)
Act Two: “It’s Hot Up Here” (Company); “Chromolume # 7” (Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters); “Putting
It Together” (Mandy Patinkin, Company); “Children and Art” (Bernadette Peters); “Lesson # 8” (Mandy
Patinkin); “Move On” (Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters); “Sunday” (reprise) (Company)
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Sunday in the Park with George was a fantasia that speculated on
the creation of Georges Seurat’s masterpiece A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Seurat
(1859–1891) began the work in 1884 and completed it two years later. The huge painting, which is comprised
of thousands of dot-like brush strokes, measures 81 by 120 inches and is on permanent display at The Art
Institute of Chicago.
The first act takes place on a series of Sunday afternoons over the two years it took Seurat (Mandy Pat-
inkin) to complete his masterwork, and the story focused on the artist’s unique vision in which he merged
the techniques of chromoluminarism and pointillism. Instead of mixing colors together with brush strokes
to create images, Seurat used thousands of tiny separate dots of color, and it was the eye of the viewer that
optically merged the dots into coherent areas of color and light. In the musical, Seurat is depicted as a lonely
1983–1984 SEASON 213
figure who follows his muse and places his art above everything else in his life. His mistress must necessarily
take second place, and he doesn’t require approval from the art establishment to validate his work.
The people in the park become figures in Seurat’s painting, and the musical theorized that some were
known to him, such as his appropriately named mistress Dot (Bernadette Peters), his mother, and a fellow art-
ist, while others are strangers. Some figures were represented by actors in the company, others were depicted
by life-sized cut-outs, and some by pop-ups which emerged from beneath the stage. At the end of the first act
Seurat has completed the painting, and as if ordained by destiny the people in the park assume their places on
stage to match their positions on the canvas. As the first-act curtain fell and the subjects in La Grande Jatte
fell into place, the audience witnessed one of the most stunning visual images of the era as Seurat stood on
the apron of the stage before the completed painting.
The first act was a perfect musical, but unfortunately there was a second one that never matched its
magnificence. The second half occurs one hundred years later and looks at a multimedia artist, also named
George and who may be Seurat’s great-grandson. Unlike his great-grandfather, the young man is beholden to
museum politics, rich donors, foundation money, grants, and the like. There is incipient irony in how the
two Georges differ, the first dependent on nothing but his artistic vision, the second on commissions and the
approbation of the art community because in his words mere “vision” is “no solution.” The second half suf-
fered because the present-day George was generally bland and uninteresting. You were emotionally drawn to
Seurat and his vision, but the modern-day George was mostly tiresome in his journey through the labyrinth
of museum intrigues. And it didn’t help that one had to endure Bernadette Peters’s tiresome old-lady shtick
in the second act. She played Marie, young George’s grandmother who claims to be Dot’s daughter, and her
performance and would-be comic lines were groan-inducing.
But Lapine’s first act was a supreme achievement, and one wished the second had been as compelling.
Sondheim’s entire score was brilliant, and at its nucleus was a handful of songs that dealt with art from the
perspective of artists, critics, and the general art community (“No Life,” “Color and Light,” “Finishing the
Hat,” “Putting It Together,” and “Children and Art”). The first act finale, the ethereal “Sunday,” was a shim-
mering promenade in which the characters in the painting assume their final poses, and for the second-act
opening “It’s Hot Up Here” the characters complain of being forever trapped in the painting where there’s
no perspective, no proportion, and where even their profiles don’t show them to best advantage. As the song
ended, the painting melted away and soon the audience was thrust into 1984.
The musical received a few rave reviews, but many were surprisingly indifferent. The show was almost
completely shut out by the Tony Awards, winning only two (Best Scenic Designer and Best Lighting Designer)
while La Cage aux Folles walked off with the lion’s share, including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book, and
Best Direction. But Sunday was designated Best Musical by the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award and
it won the Pulitzer Prize.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said Sondheim and Lapine had “created an audacious, haunting and,
in its own intensely personal way, touching work.” Sondheim’s score was “lovely” and “wildly inventive,”
his lyrics were “brilliantly funny,” and the song “Sunday” offered “glorious harmony.” But he noted the
second act was “muddled” and the depiction of the present-day George regaining his artistic integrity was
“less successful” in its presentation because his artistic “breakthrough” was “ordained” by the “pretty” but
“inorganic” songs “Children and Art” and “Move On.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal praised the first act as “the best musical of the season,” one that
was “enchanting,” “imaginative,” and “one of the most beautiful and original pieces of musical theatre to
appear in some time.” But the second act had “shortcomings” and should have been scrapped, and “Putting
It Together” was “interminable.” Jack Kroll in Newsweek said Sondheim and Lapine made the creation of
the painting “as exciting as the discovery of a new world,” and Sondheim’s score was “original even for him”
(and Kroll singled out “Color and Light,” “Finishing the Hat,” and “Sunday”). And while the second act had
“uncertainties of focus,” it was nonetheless “indispensable.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the musical didn’t “bear looking at or listening to for
very long” because Sondheim’s contributions were at “low ebb” and Lapine’s book and direction were “too
stiff and reverential.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post was “nonplussed, unplussed, and disappointed”
with the “somewhat simplistic and bathetically pretentious course in art appreciation,” and he concluded it
was “better to go to the park with anyone than to spend it boringly in the theatre with George.” And Howard
Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily found the work “contrived” and “tepid” and said it made him “nostalgic” for
Merrily We Roll Along.
David Sterritt in the Christian Science Monitor said the musical didn’t lack “imagination” but it nonethe-
less suffered from “a basic conflict between its style and substance” because Seurat’s dictum of “order, design,
and harmony” didn’t suit the needs of a Broadway musical. As a result, the characters were “stereotypes,”
their situations were “trite,” and Lapine’s staging was “too studied to bring [the musical] fully to life.” Rich-
ard Corliss in Time said Lapine’s characters were “cardboard stereotypes” and Sondheim’s music was “often
doggedly mimetic, achieving its pointillist effects note by Johnny-one-note.” He stated that it took a second
or third hearing of the songs to realize that Sondheim had created “subterranean seisms of feeling” that were
“ironic, wistful, profound, possessed.”
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the evening lacked human beings, drama, conflict, and story, and Sond-
heim’s music was “repetitive–mechanical” and his lyrics were “uninspired–mechanical” (and he noted it
wasn’t until “Sunday” that Sondheim supplied a “real, meaningful, tuneful song”). Otherwise, Sunday was
“no picnic.” Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 complained that Lapine’s conception never took the musi-
cal beyond “a-painting-comes-to-life gimmick,” and as a result the “limp and shallow” book offered “flat”
comedy and “predictable” jokes. However, he singled out “Finishing the Hat” because in that one song
“everything in and about the show fuses into one forceful, meaningful, shining perfection.” But except for
Sondheim’s music, the second act “hardly offers a reason for its existence.”
Curiously, Lapine’s book took gratuitous swipes at Americans, and Mr. and Mrs., a tourist couple, are
depicted as Southern caricatures. They speak French incorrectly, talk loudly, are overdressed, eat pastries,
and can hardly wait to go back home. Kissel noted that Mr. and Mrs. were “the most offensive” of Lapine’s
stereotypes, and he asked how did such “vulgar” and “stupid” Americans come to buy so many “major works
of French art of the period” (including La Grande Jatte) that are now housed in American rather than French
collections? Barnes noted that the two tourists are eventually seen “carting off a couple of Renoir paintings
as souvenirs,” and he found this “a small visual joke—but a cheap one.”
The script was published in hardback by Dodd, Mead & Company in 1986, and a paperback edition pub-
lished by Applause Books in 1991 includes supplemental materials, including deleted lyrics. All the lyrics
are included in the Sondheim’s collection Look, I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981–2011) with Attendant
Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany. The script was
also published in Great Britain in 1990 by Nick Hern Books and includes articles and background information
about the musical.
The original Broadway cast album was released by RCA Victor Records (LP # HBC1-5042 and CD # RCD1-
5042), and a later CD release by Sony/BMG/Masterworks Broadway (# 82876-68638-2) includes bonus tracks
of “Sunday” (performed by Bernadette Peters and the Broadway Chorus and American Theatre Orchestra from
the 1992 concert Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall) and “Putting It Together” (performed by the
Off-Broadway cast of the 1993 retrospective revue Putting It Together).
The New York production was filmed at the Booth Theatre with most of the original Broadway cast and
was shown on both cable and public television in 1986. The film was released on home video in videocassette,
laser disk, and DVD formats, and its most recent video release is part of the DVD boxed-set The Stephen
Sondheim Collection (# ID-17531-MDVD).
A tenth-anniversary concert production with most of the original Broadway cast was given for one perfor-
mance at the St. James Theatre on May 15, 1994.
The original London production was presented in repertory by the Royal National Theatre at the Lyttel-
ton Theatre on March 15, 1990, for a limited engagement of 117 performances with Philip Quast and Maria
Friedman. Another London production opened at the Menier Chocolate Factory on November 29, 2005, with
Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell; it was recorded on a two-CD set by PS Classics (# PS-640) and includes the
complete version of “The One on the Left” (for more information about the song, see below). This production
opened on Broadway at Studio 54 on February 21, 2008, for 116 performances with Evans and Russell (others
in the cast were Mary Beth Peil, Jessica Molaskey, and Michael Cumpsty).
Sunday in the Park with George was first produced Off Broadway for twenty-five workshop performances
at Playwrights Horizons beginning on July 6, 1983; for the first twenty-two performances, only the first act
was presented, and for the final three showings the second act was also given. Most of the cast members were
seen in the Broadway production which opened ten months later, and those in the workshop who didn’t trans-
fer to Broadway were Carmen Mathews, Christine Baranski, Kelsey Grammer, and Mary Elizabeth Mastranto-
nio. Three songs in the workshop were deleted for Broadway: “Yoo-Hoo!,” “Soldiers and Girls,” and “Have to
Keep Them Humming.” “Soldiers and Girls” was replaced by “The One on the Left,” a brief number which
1983–1984 SEASON 215
wasn’t listed in the Broadway program but was sung between “Everybody Loves Louis” and “Finishing the
Hat.” Although “The One on the Left” was performed throughout the Broadway production and was included
in the published script, it wasn’t part of the Broadway cast recording. The song was listed in the Broadway
preview program but not in the opening night and following programs.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Sunday in the Park with George); Best Actor in a Musical
(Mandy Patinkin); Best Actress in a Musical (Bernadette Peters); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Dana
Ivey); Best Director of a Musical (James Lapine); Best Book (James Lapine); Best Score (lyrics and music by
Stephen Sondheim); Best Scenic Designer (Tony Straiges); Best Costume Designer (Patricia Zipprodt and
Ann Hould-Ward); Best Lighting Designer (Richard Nelson)
New York Critics’ Circle Award: Best Musical 1983–1984 (Sunday in the Park with George)
Pulitzer Prize: Best Play 1984–1985 (Sunday in the Park with George)
THE WIZ
“The Smash Hit Musical Version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”

Performances: 13
Book: William F. Brown
Lyrics and Music: Charlie Smalls
Based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (who also wrote thirteen other Oz
novels).
Direction: Geoffrey Holder; Producers: Tom Mallow, James Janek, and The Shubert Organization; Choreog-
raphy: George Faison; Scenery: Peter Wolf; Costumes: Geoffrey Holder; Lighting: Paul Sullivan; Musical
Direction: Charles H. Coleman
Cast: Peggie Blue (Aunt Em), Toto (Toto), Stephanie Mills (Dorothy), David Weatherspoon (Uncle Henry,
Munchkin, Sunflower, Stranger, Field Mouse, Emerald City Citizen), Daryl Richardson (Tornado, Poppy,
Emerald City Citizen), Carol Dennis (Munchkin, Sunflower, Stranger, Emerald City Citizen), Ada Dyer
(Munchkin, Sunflower, Chief of the Field Mice, Emerald City Citizen), Lawrence Hamilton (Munchkin,
Kalidah, Field Mouse, Emerald City Citizen, Lord High Underling), Sam Harkness (Munchkin, Sunflower,
Stranger, Royal Gatekeeper, Emerald City Citizen), Juanita Fleming (Addaperle), Alfred L. Dove (Yellow
Brick Road, Emerald City Citizen), Germaine Edwards (Yellow Brick Road, Emerald City Citizen, Winged
Monkey), Dwight Leon (Yellow Brick Road, Emerald City Citizen), David Robertson (Yellow Brick
Road, Emerald City Citizen), Charles Valentino (Scarecrow), Paula Anita Brown (Crow, Poppy, Emerald
City Citizen), Marvin Engran (Crow, Kalidah, Emerald City Citizen, Soldier Messenger), Jasmine Guy
(Crow, Kalidah, Emerald City Citizen), Howard Porter (Tinman), Gregg Baker (Lion), Raymond C. Harris
(Kalidah, Emerald City Citizen), Gigi Hunter (Kalidah, Poppy, Emerald City Citizen), Martial Roumain
(Kalidah, Emerald City Citizen), Sharon Brooks (Poppy, Head of the Society of Emerald City), Carla Earle
(Poppy, Emerald City Citizen), Tanya Gibson (Poppy, Emerald City Citizen), Roslyn Burrough (Emerald
City Citizen), Carl Hall (The Wiz), Ella Mitchell (Evillene), Ann Duquesnay (Glinda)
The action takes place in Kansas, Munchkin Land, and Oz.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Feeling We Once Had” (Peggie Blue); “Tornado Ballet” (Company); “He’s the Wizard” (Juanita
Fleming, Carol Dennis, Ada Dyer, Lawrence Hamilton, Sam Harkness, David Weatherspoon); “Soon as I
Get Home” (Stephanie Mills); “I Was Born on the Day before Yesterday” (Charles Valentino, Paula Anita
Brown, Marvin Engran, Jasmine Guy); “Ease on Down the Road” (Stephanie Mills, Charles Valentino,
Alfred L. Dove, Germaine Edwards, Dwight Leon, David Robertson); “Slide Some Oil to Me” (Howard
Porter, Stephanie Mills, Charles Valentino); “Mean Ole Lion” (Gregg Baker); “Kalidah Battle” (Marvin
Engran, Jasmine Guy, Lawrence Hamilton, Raymond C. Harris, Gigi Hunter, Martial Roumain, Alfred L.
Dove, Germain Edwards, Dwight Leon, David Robertson); “Be a Lion” (Stephanie Mills, Gregg Baker); “Li-
on’s Dream” (Gregg Baker, Sharon Brooks, Paula Anita Brown, Carla Earle, Tanya Gibson, Gigi Hunter,
Daryl Richardson); “Emerald City Ballet” (aka “Psst”) (lyric by Timothy Graphenreed and George Faison,
music by George Faison) (Friends, Company); “So You Wanted to Meet the Wizard” (Carl Hall); “What
Would I Do If I Could Feel” (Howard Porter)
Act Two: “No Bad News” (Ella Mitchell); “Funky Monkeys” (Monkeys); “Wonder, Wonder, Why” (Stephanie
Mills); “Everybody Rejoice” (lyric and music by Luther Vandross) (Friends, Winkies); “Who Do You Think
You Are?” (Friends); “If You Believe” (Carl Hall); “Y’all Got It!” (Carl Hall); “A Rested Body Is a Rested
Mind” (Ann Duquesnay); “If You Believe” (reprise) (Ann Duquesnay); “Home” (Stephanie Mills)
The revivals of Oliver! and The Wiz came along late in the season and perhaps were in hope that the end-
of-school season and the upcoming summer months would attract the family trade. But both shows badly
floundered; the former managed just seventeen performances and the latter only thirteen.
In its day, The Wiz had been an enormously popular audience hit. It opened on January 5, 1975, at the Ma-
jestic Theatre and ran for 1,672 performances; won seven Tony Awards (including Best Musical, Best Score,
Best Direction, Best Choreography, and Best Costumes); and, in an era when Broadway songs were becoming
increasingly irrelevant to the general public, the musical enjoyed a hit song in “Ease on Down the Road.”
The Wiz was an updated black version of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and while it
never began to match the charm of the 1939 MGM film adaptation and its classic songs by E. Y. Harburg and
Harold Arlen, it was nonetheless occasionally amusing in its street-smart attitude. The décor and costumes
were lavish and the dances lively (a “Tornado Ballet” was a particular stand-out), but the score was generally
disappointing and the book was essentially a one-joke show with its updated vernacular and outlook (the
scarecrow asks Dorothy for “spare change”).
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the “tacky touring production” was “spilled on the stage as if it
were a trunk load of marked-down, damaged goods.” The costumes seemed “stapled” together, the sets were
lacking (Emerald City looked like “a honeymoon suite at a Las Vegas hotel shortly after a major fire”), and
the dances were all “calisthenics” with no “panache.” He further noted that not one performer could act, and
Stephanie Mills “failed to deliver” the meaning “and often the words” of her dialogue, looked “supremely
bored” with her fellow performers, and danced like a “wind-up doll.”
Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily said Mills had now matured into her mid-20s and thus made a “rather
severe-looking” Dorothy, and in many respects she seemed “trapped in a Las Vegas chorine’s nightmare” with
“oppressive disco choreography” and winged monkeys that “bump and grind like male strippers.” The head-
line of Clive Barnes’s review in the New York Post said the musical was back and “worse than ever,” and he
noted that Mills didn’t “seem to have gotten older, simply worse.” Dennis Cunningham on WCBSTV2 said
the musical had less to do with the black experience and more to do “with Las Vegas glitz, Rockette kicks,
knee-jerk Broadway shlock, miles and miles of costuming excesses, and VERY HIGH CAMP.” And he noted
the camp level was so high the revival made La Cage Aux Folles “look like a documentary about stevedores.”
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor feared the musical had “gotten considerably out of hand
during its months on the road” and many of the cast members were “self-indulgently hamming it up.” But the
score was “agreeable” and the revival qualified “as an exuberant gesture to family fare and summertime fun.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the musical earned “enough high marks to make it worth a
visit,” but it looked “a bit road weary.” He noted the show was “long, too long,” the book was “patchy,” and
the dance numbers were “overextended,” but the music was “versatile and very fitting,” the décor was “suf-
ficiently eye-catching,” the costumes were “extravagant and colorful,” and the lighting was “fittingly garish.”
The script was published in paperback by Samuel French, Inc., in 1979, and was included in the 1979
hardback collection Great Rock Musicals (edited by Stanley Richards and published by Stein and Day). The
original Broadway cast album was released by Atlantic Records (LP # SD-18137 and CD # 18137).
The 1978 film version released by Universal Pictures was a dreary and overblown exercise that managed
to obliterate the few charms offered by the stage production. Among the film’s wrong turns was Diana Ross
as a misconceived Dorothy, who is now an adult and a school teacher by profession; others in the cast were
1983–1984 SEASON 217
Michael Jackson (Scarecrow), Nipsey Russell (Tinman), Richard Pryor (The Wiz), Lena Horne (Glinda), and
Theresa Merritt (Aunt Em), and reprising their roles from the Broadway production, Ted Ross (Lion) and Ma-
bel King (Evillene). The soundtrack was issued on a two-LP set by MCA Records (# MCA2-14000), and the
DVD was released by Universal Studios. On December 3, 2015, the musical was telecast live on NBC with
Stephanie Mills in the role of Aunt Em.
After the current revival, the musical was presented at the Beacon Theatre on March 16, 1993, for sixteen
showings (Mills was again Dorothy, and Andre De Shields reprised his original Broadway role of the Wiz), and
on June 18, 2009, the musical was revived in concert by Encores! at City Center for a limited engagement of
twenty-one performances.
CHAPLIN
“A New Musical” / “A New Musical about the Life of Charlie Chaplin”
The musical opened on August 12, 1983, at the Music Center/Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, Cali-
fornia, and permanently closed there on September 24, 1983.
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Anthony Newley and Stanley Ralph Ross
Direction and Choreography: Michael Smuin (Claudia Asbury, Co-Choreographer); Producers: Raymond
Katz, Sandy Gallin, James M. Nederlander, and Arthur Rubin in association with David Susskind; Scen-
ery: Douglas W. Schmidt; Costumes: Willa Kim; Lighting: Ken Billington; Musical Direction: Ian Fraser
Cast: Anthony Newley (Charlie Chaplin), Mary Leigh Stahl (Hannah, Miss Peterson), Scott Grimes (Young
Charlie), Ricky Segall (Young Sydney), Lyle Kanouse (Master of Ceremonies), Kenneth H. Waller (Charles
Senior, Hearst), Andrea Marcovicci (Oona, Lita, Paulette Goddard), Kathy Andrini (Victoria), Jack Ritschel
(Grudgewick, Picklebrain), Marsha Bagwell (Matron, Chee Chee San, Lillian), Michael Byers (Grown Syd-
ney), Thom Keeling (Teen Sydney), John Allee (Teen Charlie), S. Marc Jordan (Karno, Butzi), Ric Stoneback
(Reeves, Fatty Arbuckle, Dubczek), Jim MacGeorge (Stan Laurel, Willhartz), Lyle Kanouse (Mack Sennett,
Edwin), Sheri Cowart (Mabel Normand), Thom Sesma (Kojo); The People Who Touched Charlie’s Life:
Kathy Andrini, K. T. Brown, Sheri Cowart, Nikki D’Amico, Dennis Daniels, Kathleen Dawson, Michael
Estes, Michael Jay Lawrence, Aaron Lohr, Bridget Michele, Barbara Moroz, Roger Spivy, Chance Taylor
The action takes place from 1895 to the present in New York City, London, Switzerland, Middle America,
and in Los Angeles, Glendale, Beverly Hills, San Simeon, and Hollywood, California.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Overture” (Company); “A Little Bit of Powder and Paint” (Anthony Newley, Children); “A Little
Bit of Powder and Paint” (reprise) (Kenneth H. Waller, The Flora Dora Girls); “Me and You” (Anthony
Newley, Scott Grimes); “Joyeux Noel” (Carol Singers); “Love” (Anthony Newley, Children); “Love”
(reprise) (Anthony Newley, Mary Leigh Stahl, Ricky Segall, Scott Grimes, Salvation Army Singers);
“Sydney’s Hymn” (Ricky Segall, Michael Byers, Scott Grimes, Anthony Newley); “Heel, Toe and Away
We Go” (The Lancashire Lads); “A Little Bit of Powder and Paint” (reprise) (Kenneth H. Waller); “Heel,
Toe and Away We Go” (reprise) (Scott Grimes, Ricky Segall, John Allee, Thom Keeling); “Funny Man”
(Anthony Newley, John Allee, Thom Keeling, S. Marc Jordan, Ric Stoneback); “Funny Man” (reprise)
(Anthony Newley, Company); “The American Dream” (Anthony Newley); “Madame Butterfingers” (Jack
Ritschel, Anthony Newley, Marsha Bagwell); “Going Places” (Anthony Newley); “Funny Man” (reprise)
(Lyle Kanouse, Sheri Cowart, Ric Stoneback, S. Marc Jordan); “Doing the Charlie Chaplin” (Dancers,
Street People); “If Only You Were Here” (Anthony Newley); “Bon Nuit, Papa” (Mourners)
Act Two: “Doing the Charlie Chaplin” (reprise) (The Empire Lovelies); “My Private Life” (Anthony New-
ley); “Thanks for Nothing” (Andrea Marcovicci, Company); “Dinner with W.R.” (Anthony Newley, The
Hearst Staff); “A Little Bit of Powder and Paint” (reprise) (Mary Leigh Stahl); “One Man Band” (Anthony
Newley, Scott Grimes, Company); “Sydney’s Hymn” (reprise) (Anthony Newley, Michael Byers); “The
American Dream” (reprise) (Anthony Newley); “Remember Me” (Anthony Newley); “Joyeux Noel” (re-
prise) (Carol Singers); “Love” (reprise) (Anthony Newley, Andrea Marcovicci); “Me and You” (reprise)
(Anthony Newley, Scott Grimes)
Chaplin purported to tell the life story of film personality Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), but the critics and
public weren’t interested and so the $4.3 million musical cut short its Los Angeles engagement by one week
and canceled its November 10, 1983, opening at the Mark Hellinger Theatre where it was to begin previews
on October 21.
Edwa in Variety said the musical had “little to say” and just paid “lip service” in its documentary ap-
proach to Chaplin’s life and career. It didn’t do “much digging” into the character, Newley’s performance was
“undistinguished,” and director and choreographer Michael Smuin didn’t have much to work with in the way
of a book and score. But Douglas W. Schmidt’s décor was “heavy, busy and attractive” and was “the star of the
show.” During the chaotic tryout, the creators tried to pull the show together (and at one point the purposely
fluid plot that shifted back and forth in time was rewritten in chronological order, and a new song with lyric
by Ellen Fitzhugh and music by Larry Grossman was added to the score). But nothing worked, and the show’s
closing (with its attendant accusations and recriminations among cast members and producers) made the first
page of the New York Times in an article matter-of-factly titled “Why Chaplin Is Not Opening on Broadway.”
A revised version of the musical opened at the Theatre Under the Star’s Miller Theatre in Houston, Texas,
on July 18, 1985, with Newley again the star and in this case also the director. Claudia Asbury, who had co-
choreographed the original production, was now the choreographer, Willa Kim returned as costume designer,
and the cast included a few players from the first production, including Jim MacGeorge, Michael Byers, S.
Marc Jordan, and Ric Stoneback. Valerie Lee, who had created the role of the little girl Susan Walker in the
original 1963 Broadway production of Here’s Love, played the roles of Oona, Lita, and Paulette Goddard. The
revised version included many of the songs from the 1983 version, and added one new number (“Read All
About It”). Jole in Variety felt the musical had “enormous potential” with its “good” score and Newley’s
“excellent” performance. But the critic noted the “geography of the show confuses” and “in the stringing
together of so many barely inter-locking episodes” the show sacrificed “too much momentum.”
There have been at least three other musical versions about Chaplin. A 1993 production (also called Chap-
lin) played in regional theatre (book by Ernest Kinoy, lyrics by Lee Goldsmith, and music by Roger Anderson);
Little Tramp played in regional theatre in 1995 and later in Great Britain and Russia (book by David Pomeranz
and Steven David Horwich and lyrics and music by Pomeranz); and Chaplin (book by Christopher Curtis and
Thomas Meehan and lyrics and music by Curtis) opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on September 10,
2012, for 135 performances. A studio cast recording of Little Tramp was issued by Warner Music (CD # 4509-
91387-2) with Richard Harris, Petula Clark, Mel Brooks, Lea Salonga, Tim Curry, and Treat Williams; and the
cast recording of the 2012 Broadway production was released on CD by Sony Masterworks.
DUDDY
The musical opened on April 7, 1984, at the Citadel Theatre’s Shoctor Theatre, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,
closed there on May 5, and then played at the National Arts Center in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where
it permanently closed on June 3, 1984.
Book: Mordecai Richler
Lyrics: Jerry Leiber
Music: Mike Stoller
Based on the 1959 novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler.
Direction and Choreography: Brian Macdonald (Anne Wootten, Assistant Director); Producer: The Citadel
Theatre (Samuel Gesser and Douglas M. Cohen, Producers); Scenery: Phillip Silver (Judith Lee, Associate
Set Designer); Costumes: Suzanne Mess; Lighting: Stephen Ross; Musical Direction: Howard Cable
Cast: Lonny Price (Duddy Kravitz), Ted Beniades (Max Kravitz), Howard Jerome (Cohen), Jack Northmore
(Calder), Sam Malkin (Uncle Benjy), Jan Filips (Lennie), Nicholas Rice (Simcha), Marlane O’Brien (Yvette),
Marshall Borden (Friar), Jay Brazeau (Boy Wonder), Reed Jones (Virgil), David Gale (Irwin, Acolyte, Various
Characters), Max Reimer (La Pointe, Waiter, Humphrey Bogart, Choreographer, Various Characters), Ted
Pearson (Waiter, Bartender, Various Characters), Sal Bienstock (David Huberman, Acolyte, Rabbi, Vari-
ous Characters), Larry Mannell (Taxi Driver, Mr. Nathan, Acolyte, Various Characters), Dom Fiore (Mr.
Huberman, Shub, Various Characters), Rosanne Hopkins (Mrs. Kaiser, Last Reel Singer, Tico-Tico Dancer,
Various Characters), Vinetta Strombergs (Mrs. Nathan, Tico-Tico Dancer, Various Characters), Marshall
Perlmutar (Tansky, Mr. Kaiser, Reporter, Various Characters), J. Gordon Masten (Taxi Driver, Mr. Selwyn,
1983–1984 SEASON 219
Reporter, Various Characters), Scott A. Hurst (Taxi Driver, Mrs. Cohen, Reporter, Various Characters),
Jason Ross (Young Duddy, Herbie Selwyn, Fergus Calder, Bernie), Faye Cohen (Linda Rubin, Last Reel
Singer, Sandra, Various Characters), Anna Starnino (Jewel Huberman, Tico-Tico Dancer, Debutante, Vari-
ous Characters), Diane Fabian (Mrs. Selwyn, Tico-Tico Dancer, Mrs. Calder, Various Characters), Wendy
Abbott (Josette, Rosa Nathan, Last Reel Singer, Various Characters)
The action takes place in Montreal, Canada.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “St. Urbain Street Theme” (Company); “E = mc2” (Lonny Price); “The Ballad of the Boy Wonder”
(Ted Beniades, Larry Mannell, J. Gordon Masten, Scott A. Hurst); “Someday I’m Gonna Be a Somebody”
(Lonny Price); “When I Was Young” (Nicholas Rice); “More, More, More” (Company); “You Breathe Out,
I Breathe In” (Marlane O’Brien); “Trust Me” (Lonny Price); “What Did She Look Like?” (Lonny Price);
“Humphrey Bogart” (Max Reimer, Rosanne Hopkins, Faye Cohen, Wendy Abbott); “Doing the Tico-Tico”
(Rosanne Hopkins, Vinetta Strombergs, Anna Starnino, Diane Fabian, Max Reimer); “Ya Gotta Be on Your
Toes” (Jay Brazeau, David Gale, Ted Pearson, Sal Bienstock, Larry Mannell); “Someday I’m Gonna Be a
Somebody” and “St. Urbain Street Theme” (reprises) (Lonny Price)
Act Two: “Lennie’s Dream” (Jan Filips); “St. Andrew’s Ball” (Jack Northmore, Company); “That Old Tune
Called Romance” (Marshall Borden); “You Never Had It So Good” (Lonny Price, Marlane O’Brien); “Trust
Me” (reprise) (Marlane O’Brien); “Friends” (Lonny Price, Reed Jones); “Duddy Kravitz, You’re a Bum”
(Company); “That’s the Way It Is” (Howard Jerome, Cronies); “Friends” (reprise) (Reed Jones, Marlane
O’Brien, Lonny Price); “Friends” (reprise) (Company)
Mordecai Richler wrote the book for Duddy, an adaptation of his 1959 novel The Apprenticeship of
Duddy Kravitz which was later filmed in 1974 with Richard Dreyfuss in the title role. The songs were by the
legendary team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who had written many of Elvis Presley’s hits (“Hound Dog,”
“Jailhouse Rock,” and “Treat Me Nice”) as well as such popular songs (occasionally in collaboration with
others) as “Kansas City,” “Love Potion No. 9,” “On Broadway,” “Yakety Yak,” “Spanish Harlem,” and “Is
That All There Is?” (the latter had been written by the team in the late 1960s for their unproduced musical
International Wrestling Match).
Duddy was about a young Jewish man who lives in a poor neighborhood in Montreal during the 1940s
and yearns to break free of his hardscrabble existence by hitting it big in real estate. Duddy was a likeable
scoundrel in the tradition of Harry Bogen and Sammy Glick, the antiheroes of I Can Get It for You Wholesale
(1962) and What Makes Sammy Run?(1964), but perhaps the honest but sour ending turned off audiences. The
musical played for two months, and then disappeared.
But on September 22, 1987, a completely different musical version of the material premiered as The
Adventures of Duddy Kravitz at Philadelphia’s American Music Theatre Festival at the Annenberg Center’s
Zellerbach Theatre. The book was cowritten by Austin Pendleton and by Richler, the lyrics were by David
Spencer, and the music by Alan Menken. Lonny Price again played the title role, and others in the cast were
Stephen Pearlman, Merwin Goldsmith, Marty Brill, John Jellison, Bob Morrisey, Emily Zacharias, and Anne
Marie Bobby. The musical played out its Philadelphia engagement and closed on October 11, when it vanished
for almost thirty years. However, on June 8, 2015, a revised version of this production opened at the Segal
Centre for Performing Arts in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and as of this writing a cast album is scheduled to
be recorded.
1984–1985 Season
CANDIDE
Performances: 7
Book: Hugh Wheeler
Direction: Harold Prince (Arthur Masella and Albert Sherman, Stage Directors); Producer: The New York City
Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director; Daniel R. Rule, Managing Director); Choreography: Pa-
tricia Birch; Scenery: Clarke Dunham; Costumes: Judith Dolan; Lighting: Ken Billington; Choral Master:
Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: John Mauceri
Sage), David Eisler (Candide), Don Yule (Huntsman, Bulgarian Soldier, Don), Deborah Darr (Paquette),
Carol Sparrow (Baroness, Calliope Player), Jack Harrold (Baron, Grand Inquisitor, Slave Driver, Pasha-
Prefect), Leigh Munro (Cunegonde), Scott Reeve (Maximilian), James Billings (Maximilian’s Servant,
Bulgarian Soldier, Don Isaachar, Judge, Father Bernard, First Gambler), Scott Evans (Westphalian Sol-
dier, Don, Governor’s Aide, Sailor), William Ledbetter (Westphalian Soldier, Don, Pirate), Ralph Bassett
(Heresy Agent, Don), Gary Dietrich (Inquisition Agent, Sailor), Michael Martorano (Inquisition Agent,
Sailor), Muriel Costa-Greenspon (Old Lady), Vasilis Iracledes (Don), Richard Smith (Don), Travis Wright
(Sailor), John Henry Thomas (Pirate), Ivy Austin (Pink Sheep), Susan Delery-Whedon (Pink Sheep), Robert
Brubaker (Lion); The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers
The New York City Opera Company’s 1984 revival of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide was its third of seven;
for more information about the operetta, see entry for the 1982 production (which also includes a list of musi-
cal numbers and a general history of the musical). For information about the 1983, 1986, and 1989 revivals,
see specific entries. The work was also revived by the company in 2005 and 2008.
For the current presentation, Donal Henahan in the New York Times said David Eisler was not a “great”
tenor but his Candide was “the only imaginable” one as the “rabbit-brained, accident-prone victim of a
flawed educational theory.” Leigh Munro’s “properly twittery” Cunegonde utilized a “windup-doll approach”
which was undoubtedly the fault of the director, and her “Betty Boop parody” unfortunately carried over into
“Glitter and Be Gay.” In reviewing a later performance with a few alternate cast members, John Rockwell in
the Times praised the “really winning innocence” and “strong, warmly grainy tenor” of Cris Groenendaal’s
Candide, and while the “full-voiced soprano” of Claudette Peterson’s Cunegonde lacked “the ultimate in
coloratura agility” for “Glitter and Be Gay,” she nonetheless compensated with “real lyric charm.”
221
SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET

Book: Hugh Wheeler
Based on the 1970 play Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond.
Direction: Harold Prince (Arthur Masella, Assistant); Producers: The New York City Opera Company (Bev-
erly Sills, General Director); Choreography: Larry Fuller (William Kirk, Assistant); Scenery: Eugene Lee
(Leo Yoshimura, Assistant Scenic Designer); Costumes: Franne Lee (Sheila Kehoe, Assistant Costume De-
signer); Lighting: Ken Billington (Marcia Madeira, Associate Lighting Designer); Choral Direction: Joseph
Colaneri; Musical Direction: Paul Gemignani
Cast: Cris Groenendaal (Anthony Hope), Timothy Nolen (Sweeney Todd), Adair Lewis (Beggar Woman),
Rosalind Elias (Mrs. Lovett), William Dansby (Judge Turpin), John Lankston (The Beadle), Leigh Munro
(Johanna), Paul Binotto (Tobias Ragg), Jerold Siena (Pirelli), William Ledbetter (Jonas Fogg); Chorus: The
New York City Opera Company Chorus; Dancers: The New York City Opera Company Dancers
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” (“Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd”) (Company); “No Place Like
London” (Cris Groenendaal, Timothy Nolen, Adair Lewis); “The Barber and His Wife” (Timothy Nolen);
“The Worst Pies in London” (Rosalind Elias); “Poor Thing” (Rosalind Elias); “My Friends” (Timothy No-
len, Rosalind Elias); “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” (“Lift your razor high, Sweeney!”) (Company);“Green
Finch and Linnet Bird” (Leigh Munro); “Ah, Miss” (Chris Groenendaal); “Johanna” (“I’ll steal you,
Johanna”) (Cris Groenendaal); “Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir” (Paul Binotto, Timothy Nolen, Rosalind Elias,
Company); “The Contest” (Jerold Siena); “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” (“Sweeney pondered and Swee-
ney planned”) (Adair Lewis, Company); “Johanna” (“Mea culpa, mea culpa”) (William Dansby); “Wait”
(Rosalind Elias); “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” (“His hands were quick, his fingers strong”) (Three
Tenors);“Kiss Me” (Leigh Munro, Cris Groenendaal); “Ladies in Their Sensitivities” (John Lankston);
“Kiss Me” (aka “Quartet”) (Leigh Munro, Cris Groenendaal, John Lankston, William Dansby); “Pretty
Women” (Timothy Nolen, William Dansby); “Epiphany” (Timothy Nolen); “A Little Priest” (Timothy
Nolen, Rosalind Elias)
Act Two: “God, That’s Good!” (Paul Binotto, Rosalind Elias, Timothy Nolen, Adair Lewis, Customers);
“Johanna” (“I feel you, Johanna”) (Cris Groenendaal, Timothy Nolen, Leigh Munro, Adair Lewis); “By
the Sea” (Rosalind Elias); “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” (“Sweeney’d waited too long before—”) (Quin-
tet); “Wigmaker” and “Letter Sequence” (Timothy Nolen, Cris Groenendaal, Quintet); “Not While
I’m Around” (Paul Binotto, Rosalind Elias); “Parlor Songs” (“Sweet Polly Plunkett” and “Ding Dong”)
(John Lankston); “City on Fire!” (Lunatics, Leigh Munro, Cris Groenendaal); “Final Sequence” (Cris
Groenendaal, Adair Lewis, Timothy Nolen, William Dansby, Rosalind Elias, Leigh Munro, Paul Binotto);
“The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” (“Lift your razor high, Sweeney!”) (Company); “The Ballad of Sweeney
Todd” (“Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd”) (Entire Company)
In reviewing The New York City Opera Company’s revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, the
Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Donal Henahan in the New York Times didn’t believe the music was best
served in the opera house because “more attention” was focused on the “sing-song score than was good for
it.” Further, the theatre’s amplification system was “eccentric,” but as it improved through the course of
the evening Henahan was forced “to question the score’s presumptions” because the songs were “probably”
meant to be sung by performers “trained to ignore pitch and quality in favor of word clarity.” Although Rosa-
lind Elias’s Mrs. Lovett had a “nice antic touch,” Timothy Nolan’s Sweeney Todd “displayed only a couple of
push-button attitudes and emotions to go with his adequate voice.” The revival added Judge Turpin’s version
1984–1985 SEASON 223
of “Johanna,” which had been cut during the New York previews of the original Broadway production, and
Henahan thought the “sado-masochistic aria” was “repellently cheap as a dramatic device.”
During the run, Joyce Castle and Stanley Wexler sang the roles of Mrs. Lovett and Todd, and John Rock-
well in the Times noted Castle’s “wit and charm evoked memories of Angela Lansbury.” Wexler’s voice was
“a little weak at the low end,” but he was nonetheless “very good” as well as “charismatic” and “heartfelt.”
The musical opened on Broadway on March 1, 1979, at the Uris (now Gershwin) Theatre for 557 perfor-
mances and won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, and Best Direction. The
story centers on the falsely imprisoned Benjamin Barker who under the alias of Sweeney Todd returns to Lon-
don in order to avenge himself on the judge and the judge’s cronies who created trumped-up charges against
him so that the judge could ravish Barker’s wife, the innocent Lucy. Todd is recognized by Mrs. Lovett, who
runs a dilapidated and unsuccessful pie shop, and the two soon form an unholy alliance that allows him to
slice the throats of his enemies and other unfortunates while she bakes their flesh into meat pies.
The story of revenge, murder, and cannibalism was virtually sung-through, and of the ten major roles,
seven characters are murdered (five have their throats slit, one is shot to death, and another is burned alive)
and one goes insane. Yet despite the horrific story, Sondheim’s music was, after A Little Night Music, his
most lushly romantic and lyrical score and contained some of the most gorgeous theatre music of the era.
The script was published in hardback and paperback editions by Dodd, Mead & Company in 1979, and
includes the cut “Johanna” and tooth-pulling sequences. A later edition that contains background material
about the musical was published in hardback and paperback by Applause Musical Library in 1991. The script
is also included in the hardback collection Four by Sondheim (published by Applause in 2000). All the lyr-
ics for Sweeney Todd are included in Sondheim’s hardback collection Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics
(1954–1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes, published in
2010 by Alfred A. Knopf.
The original Broadway cast album was released on a two-LP set and two-CD set by RCA Victor Records
(LP # CBL2-3379 and CD # 3379-2-RC), and includes the Judge’s version of ”Johanna.”
During the musical’s national tour with Angela Lansbury and George Hearn, a performance at the Doro-
thy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles was taped and shown on the Entertainment Channel on September 12,
1982. This version was released on DVD by Warner Home Video, Inc. (# T-6750).
As of this writing, the musical has been revived in New York eight times. The first of two Broadway
revivals was presented at the Circle in the Square Theatre on September 14, 1989, for 189 performances (Bob
Gunton and Beth Fowler), and was based on an Off-Off-Broadway production by the York Theatre Company
that opened at the Church of the Heavenly Rest on March 31, 1989, for a limited engagement of twenty-four
performances. The second Broadway revival opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre on November 3, 2005, for
384 showings (Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone) in a controversial staging by John Doyle, which, like his
Broadway revival of Company, eliminated the traditional orchestra and instead had the actors play musical
instruments (and this time around the musical was set in a mental institution). The cast album of the 2005
production was released on a two-CD set by Nonesuch Records (# 79946-2).
After City Opera’s current revival, the company produced the work two more times, both at the New
York State Theatre: on July 29, 1987, for eleven performances (Timothy Nolen/Stanley Wexler and Marcia
Mitzman/Joyce Castle) and on March 1, 2004, for twenty-eight performances (Timothy Nolen/Mark Delavan
and Elaine Paige/Myrna Paris); for more information about the 1987 revival, see entry. The work was also
twice presented in concert at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall with the New York City Philharmonic: on
May 4, 2000, for three performances (George Hearn and Patti LuPone) and on March 5, 2014, for five per-
formances (Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson). The 2000 concert was released on a two-CD set by Philhar-
monic Special Editions (# NYP-2001/2002), and a later production of the concert was presented with Hearn
and LuPone at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco and was released on DVD by Image Entertainment
(# ID1529EMDVD). The 2014 concert was shown on public television on September 26, 2014.
There have been three major London stagings (in 1980, 1994, and 2012, and the last two won the Olivier
Award for Best Musical Revival). The 1980 production, which opened at the Drury Lane on July 2 and ran
for 157 performances, starred Denis Quilley and Sheila Hancock and included a new second-act musical se-
quence (“Beggar Woman’s Lullaby”) for the Beggar Woman, who was played by Dilys Watling. A recording of
highlights from the 2012 production was released by First Night Records (CD # CASTCD-113) with Michael
Ball and Imelda Staunton.
The 2007 film version was released by Dreamworks Pictures and Warner Brothers Pictures; directed by
Tim Burton and with a screenplay by John Logan, the film starred Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.
Although the adaptation didn’t include all the musical numbers, it nonetheless retained the mood of the
original stage production and Depp made an arresting Todd. Two sequences stood out: “Epiphany” began in
Todd’s tonsorial parlor and then surreally catapulted him into the streets of London while he glowered at and
sang to unseeing passersby; and the film’s atmospherically dark and gloomy look exploded into a Technicolor
MGM musical moment when in her reverie Mrs. Lovett envisions life “By the Sea” where she and Todd
promenade on the boardwalk against the blue sky and sparkling water. The two-CD soundtrack was released
by Nonesuch Records (# 368572-2), the DVD was issued on a special two-disc edition by Dreamworks Home
Entertainment (# 13215), and a lavish hardback book published by Titan Books in 2007 includes articles about
the musical and the making of the film and offers a generous sampling of photographs from the movie.
Other recordings of the score include a two-CD set of the Barcelona production Sweeney Todd, El barber
diabolic del carrer Fleet (Horus Records # CD-25002); a 2012 two-CD German recording which was sung in
English (BR Classics # 900316); a two-CD “accompaniment” recording with tracks without vocals and com-
plete tracks with guide vocals (Stage Stars Records # RPT-516); and The Trotter Trio’s Sweeney Todd . . .
in Jazz (Varese Sarabande CD # VSD-5603), an instrumental album with a vocal by Lorraine Feather for one
selection (“Not While I’m Around”).
QUILTERS
“A New Musical”
Theatre: Jack Lawrence Theatre

Performances: 24
Book: Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek
Lyrics and Music: Barbara Damashek
Based on the 1977 book The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art by Patricia Cooper and Norma Bradley Allen
Direction: Barbara Damashek; Producers: The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, The John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts, The American National Theatre and Academy, and Brockman Seawell;
Scenery: Ursula Belden; Costumes: Elizabeth Palmer; Lighting: Allen Lee Hughes; Musical Direction: Not
credited
Cast: Lenka Peterson (Sarah); The Daughters: Evalyn Baron, Marjorie Berman, Alma Cuervo, Lynn Lobban,
Rosemary McNamara, Jennifer Parsons; Musicians’ Daughters and Sons: Emily Knapp Chatfield, Melanie
Sue Harby, John S. Lionarons, Joseph A. Waterkotte, Catherine Way
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t list names of singers.
Act One: “Pieces of Lives” (first four lines of lyric from “The Quilt” by Dorothy MacFarlane); “Rocky Road”;
“Little Babes That Sleep All Night” (lyric from Our Homes and Their Adornments by Almon C. Varney);
“Thread the Needle”; “Cornelia”; “The Windmill Song”; “Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb?”
(song by E. A. Hoffman); “The Butterfly”; “Pieces of Lives” (reprise); “Green, Green, Green”; “The Nee-
dle’s Eye” (chorus from the lyric of a traditional folk song)
Act Two: “Hoedown” (traditional); “Quiltin’ and Dreamin’”; “Pieces of Lives” (reprise); “Every Log in My
Home” (first line by Elinore Pruitt Stewart); “Land Where We’ll Never Grow Old” (by J. C. Moore); “Who
Will Count the Stitches?”; “The Lord Don’t Rain Down Manna”; “Dandelion” (lyric by Clara J. Denton
from the poem “Blooming in the Fall”); “Everything Has a Time”; “Hands Around”
The revue-like musical Quilters utilized songs, sketches, monologues, dances, mime sequences, and even
some Story Theatre techniques to tell its story about American pioneer women who memorialized their lives
through the crafting of quilts. The evening was clearly earnest and well intentioned but it was generic and
1984–1985 SEASON 225
lacked strong character and narrative perspectives. Quilters played in a small theatre, but even in a lean musi-
cal season (the Tony Award committee chose to eliminate the categories for Best Leading Actor in a Musical,
Best Leading Actress in a Musical, and Best Choreographer) it couldn’t survive beyond three weeks. It’s doubt-
ful it could have run much longer in a smaller Off-Broadway house because its mild subject matter might not
have played well downtown. Perhaps the show was best suited for community theatre and the college circuit.
Frank Rich in the New York Times commented that the musical’s creators knew much about quilting
but little about theatre because the “static” evening had a “patchwork structure.” As a result, the work
never amounted to much more than “a tired slogan” and the characters lacked “specificity and authenticity”
because they were less people than conceits. Rich noted that the show’s “synthetic, candied brand of Ameri-
cana” suggested “the more aggressive gift shops in Colonial Williamsburg.”
Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily said the work was more pageant than play with a “thin and rep-
etitious” and “fragmented structure” that lacked “narrative thrust.” And Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street
Journal found the musical “tame” and “modest” and felt that “at best it will find an enthusiastic but limited
audience.”
But Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News praised the “gem of a mini-musical” and said it had been
created with “artful simplicity.” At evening’s end an enormous quilt is finished and raised aloft, and he found
the effect “more joyous” than the first act finale of Sunday in the Park with George (Rich commented that
unfurling was so “glorious” it made one forget that the rest of the evening was “threadbare”). John Beaufort
in the Christian Science Monitor said the musical was “splendidly” performed and the work was both “en-
tertaining and educational,” and Marilyn Stasio in the New York Post liked Barbara Damashek’s “delicate”
score and said the evening was “pieced together with love and stitched with pride.”
The script was published in softcover by Dramatists Play Service in 1986.
Theatre World 1984–1985 classified Quilters as an Off-Broadway production, but because the Jack Law-
rence Theatre was a “middle” Broadway house the Tony Award committee, The Best Plays of 1984–1985, and
New York Theatre Critics’ Reviews 1985 classified the work as a Broadway production.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Musical (Quilters); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Evalyn Baron); Best
Featured Actress in a Musical (Lenka Peterson); Best Director of a Musical (Barbara Damashek); Best Book
(Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek); Best Score (lyrics and music by Barbara Damashek)
THE THREE MUSKETEERS

“A Musical Adventure”

Performances: 9
Book: Adaptation by Mark Bramble (based on the original book by William Anthony McGuire)
Lyrics: P. G. Wodehouse and Clifford Grey
Music: Rudolf Friml (music adapted by Kirk Nurock)
Based on the 1844 novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.
Direction: Joe Layton; Producers: Irvin Feld, Kenneth Feld, Ina Lea Meibach, and Jerome Minskoff; Choreog-
raphy: Lester Wilson; Fight Movement: Steve Dunnington; Scenery: Nancy Winters; Costumes: Freddy
Wittop; Lighting: Ken Billington; Musical Direction: Gordon Lowry Harrell
Cast: Darlene Anders (Queen Anne of France), Liz Callaway (Lady Constance Bonacieux), Ed Dixon (Cardi-
nal Richelieu), Raymond Patterson (Sergeant Jussac), J. P. Dougherty (Innkeeper, Selenus, Major Domo),
Joseph Kolinsky (The Duke of Buckingham), Michael Dantuono (The Compte de la Rochefort), Marianne
Tatum (Milday de Winter), Michael Praed (D’Artagnan), Chuck Wagner (Athos), Brent Spiner (Aramis),
Ron Taylor (Porthos), Susan Goodman (Laundress, Tavern Wench), Steve Dunnington (De Beauverais),
Peter Samuel (Captain Treville), Roy Brocksmith (King Louis XIII), Elisa Fiorillo (Chambermaid), Perry
Arthur (Patrick); The Cardinal’s Guards: Bill Badolato, Steve Dunnington, Craig Heath Nim, Steve
Marder, Mark McGrath, Sal Viviano, and Faruma Williams; Citizens of Poissy, Paris, Calais, The King’s
Musketeers, and “Characters Too Numerous to Mention”: Janet Aldrich, Perry Arthur, Bill Badolato, Tina
Belis, Steven Blanchard, Steve Dunnington, Elisa Fiorillo, Terri Garcia, Susan Goodman, Patty Holley, Jeff
Johnson, Steve Marder, Mark McGrath, Craig Heath Nim, Suzan Postel, Wynonna Smith, Sal Viviano,
Faruma Williams, Sandra Zigars
The action takes place in France and England during 1626.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Prologue” (Chuck Wagner, Ron Taylor, Brent Spiner, Roy Brocksmith, Peter Samuel, Darlene An-
ders, Liz Callaway, Raymond Patterson, J. P. Dougherty, Joseph Kolinski, Michael Dantuono, Marianne
Tatum, Michael Praed); “Gascony Bred” (Michael Praed, J. P. Dougherty, All); “All for One (and One
for All)” (Chuck Wagner, Ron Taylor, Brent Spiner); “Only a Rose” (Michael Praed, Liz Callaway); “My
Sword and I” (Michael Praed, All); “Carnival of Fools” (Full Company); “L’amour, toujours l’amour”
(Joseph Kolinski, Darlene Anders); “Come to Us” (Marianne Tatum, Raymond Patterson); “March of the
Musketeers” (Chuck Wagner, Ron Taylor, Brent Spiner, Michael Praed, All); “Bless My Soul” (Ed Dixon,
Marianne Tatum, Michael Dantuono); “Only a Rose” (reprise) (Liz Callaway, Michael Praed, All); Act One
Finale (Michael Praed, Chuck Wagner, Ron Taylor, Brent Spiner, Full Company)
Act Two: “Vive La France” (Roy Brocksmith, Company); “The Actor’s Life” (Chuck Wagner, Ron Taylor,
Brent Spiner, Michael Praed); “My (Ma) Belle” (Michael Praed, Liz Callaway); “The Chase” (Full Com-
pany); “My (Ma) Belle” (reprise) (Michael Praed, Chuck Wagner, Ron Taylor, Brent Spiner); “(My) Dreams”
(Joseph Kolinski); “L’amour, toujours l’amour” (Marianne Tatum); “All for One” (reprise) (Chuck Wagner,
Ron Taylor, Brent Spiner, Michael Praed); “Gossip” (Chuck Wagner, Ron Taylor, Brent Spiner, Michael
Praed, Marianne Tatum, Raymond Patterson, Ed Dixon, Liz Callaway, Peter Samuel, Roy Brocksmith,
Darlene Anders, Full Company); Finale (Full Company)
The short-lived adaptation of Rudolf Friml’s The Three Musketeers was based on the hit of the same name
which opened at the Lyric Theatre on March 13, 1928, for 318 performances; produced by Florenz Ziegfeld and
choreographed by Albertina Rasch, the original production starred Dennis King (D’Artagnan) and Vivienne
Segal (Constance). King was also the leading man in two other Friml musicals, Rose-Marie (1924) and The
Vagabond King (1925), and he reprised his stage role in the 1930 film version of the latter.
The story was set in France and England during 1626, and centered on D’Artagnan (Michael Praed for the
revival) and his comradeship with the three musketeers Athos (Chuck Wagner), Aramis (Brent Spiner), and
Porthos (Ron Taylor), all of whom are knee-deep in royal intrigues. D’Artagnan is also romantically involved
with Queen Anne’s lady-in-waiting Constance (Liz Callaway). The production mocked the original material
by presenting the story as a spoof, and the free-for-all style didn’t amuse most of the critics.
Frank Rich in the New York Times suggested the production aspired to the genius of the Public Theatre’s
reinvented and riotous version of The Pirates of Penzance, but in this case the goings-on were more in the
nature of “a routine English Christmas pantomime” . . . or Merlin. But he noted that at least the latter had
offered Doug Henning’s feats of magic, a huge physical production, and, if memory served, a “prettier” horse
than the one briefly seen in The Three Musketeers when Michael Praed made his entrance on horseback as
he and the steed ambled down one of the aisles of the Broadway Theatre. Mark Bramble’s book was confused,
the sets were “cheesy and joyless,” and the three title characters seemed like “interchangeable stand-ins for
the Three Stooges” (the headline of Clive Barnes’s review in the New York Post exclaimed “Bring Back the
Ritz Brothers!”).
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the “dreary” musical had “an almost total lack of imagi-
nation” and “everything flounders in tired, campy ideas.” As for Praed’s performance, it fell victim to the
show’s “basic dilemma—whether to risk old-fashioned romanticism or settle for fey updating.” The three
musketeers were “so undeveloped” they came across as “incidental characters,” the costumes were “garish
and vulgar,” and the décor “cumbersome and charmless.” He concluded by noting Thanksgiving was a few
days away but “Broadway already has a generous helping of turkey.”
1984–1985 SEASON 227
Barnes said the creators hadn’t faith in the original material and so “virtually everything went wrong,”
and the result was “a show not merely without a show-stopper but without even a show-starter.” And John
Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor stated that the approach of the “astonishing mishmash” was to
“gag it up” and to “ham it up” in the “spirit of vulgar lampoon.”
While Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News noted that “things do get a bit sloppy from time to
time,” he nonetheless found the evening “a laughable, occasionally lovable, eye-filling and melodious hodge-
podge.” Marianne Tatum provided the “most delightful and amusing performance,” Joseph Kolinksi had an
“outstanding” baritone, Liz Callaway “richly” sang her numbers, and although Praed had a “contemporary
vocal style,” he did well with Callaway in the duet “Only a Rose.”
The current adaptation of The Three Musketeers had first been produced almost two years earlier at the
Hartman Theatre at the Stamford Center for the Performing Arts, Stamford, Connecticut, for the period
March 18–April 10, 1983. It was directed by Mark Bramble and choreographed by Onna White, and the cast
included David Garrison (D’Artagnan), George Dvorsky (Athos), Clent Bowers (Porthos), Jeffrey Reynolds
(Aramis), Kim Criswell (Queen Anne), Ken Jennings (Planchet), and Jerry Colker (Sergeant Jussac). “Ladies’
Man” and “Heart of Mine” were included in this production (the source of the former is unknown, and the
latter is from the original 1928 production). During Broadway previews, director Tom O’Horgan was suc-
ceeded by Joe Layton.
The Broadway revival retained seven songs from the original production, “All for One (and One for All),”
“My Sword and I,” “(My) Dreams,” “March of the Musketeers,” “Gascony (Bred),” “My (Ma) Belle,” and
“Gossip,” and “Only a Rose” was interpolated from The Vagabond King. The musical sources of “Carnival of
Fools,” “L’amour, toujours l’amour,” “Come to Us,” “Bless My Soul,” “Viva La France,” “The Actor’s Life,”
and “The Chase” are unclear.
The original London production opened at the Drury Lane on March 28, 1930, for 240 performances and
Dennis King reprised his Broadway role. The London cast recording was issued by Monmouth-Evergreen
Records (LP # MES-7050) and includes a total of eight songs from the production: “Gascony,” “Your Eyes,”
“March of the Musketeers,” “Ma Belle,” “One Kiss,” “My Sword and I,” and two orchestral sequences, one of
which includes “Every Little While” and “Queen of My Heart.” The album also offers songs from Rose-Marie
and The Vagabond King, and from the latter Dennis King performs “Song of the Vagabonds.”
The script of the original production was published in paperback by Chappell & Co. Ltd./Harms Inc. in
1937.
HAARLEM NOCTURNE
Theatre: Latin Quarter
Performances: 49
Book: André De Shields and Murray Horwitz
Lyrics and Music: See song list for specific credits.
Direction: André De Shields and Murray Horwitz (Gary Sullivan, Assistant Director); Producers: Barry and
Fran Weissler (Alecia Parker, Associate Producer); Choreography: Not credited in program, but probably
by André De Shields; Scenery: David Chapman; Costumes: Jean-Claude Robin; Lighting: Marc B. Weiss;
Musical Direction: Marc Shaiman
Cast: André De Shields, Marc Shaiman; The Ladies: Debra Byrd, Ellia English, Freida Williams
The program stated the revue was presented in one act, but at least one critic reported there was a short in-
termission during which drinks were sold.
Musical Numbers
“Love in the Morning” (lyric and music by Steven Lemberg) (André De Shields, The Ladies); “Wishful Think-
ing” (lyric and music by Kenny Moore, Marti McCall, and Zedrick Turnbough) (André De Shields, The
Ladies); “New York Is a Party” (lyric by Robert I, music by Marc Shaiman) (André De Shields, The La-
dies); “Jungle Hip Hop” (lyric and music by André De Shields) (André De Shields, The Ladies); “Sweet
Dreams (Are Made of This)” (lyric by D. A. Stewart, music by Annie Lennox) (The Ladies); “What Be-
comes of the Broken-Hearted?” (lyric and music by W. Witherspoon, P. Riser, and J. Dean) (André De
Shields, The Ladies); “Love’s Sad Glance” (lyric by Ula Hedwig, music by Marc Shaiman) (The Ladies);
“Secret Love” (lyric by Alex Brown, music by Kenny Moore) (Debra Byrd, The Ladies); “Say It Again”
(lyric and music by Denis Andreopoulos) (Freida Williams, The Ladies); “Heads or Tails” (lyric and music
by Denis Andreopoulos) (André De Shields, The Ladies); “Hit the Road, Jack” (lyric and music by Percy
Mayfield) (Ellia English, André De Shields, The Ladies); “Waterfaucet Blues” (traditional) (Ellia English);
and “Streetcorner Symphony”: (1) “Release Yourself” (lyric by Larry Graham, music uncredited) (André
De Shields, The Ladies); (2) “Bad Boy” (lyric and music by Lil Armstrong) (André De Shields, The Ladies);
(3) “Symphony Rap” (lyric and music by André De Shields) (André De Shields, The Ladies); (4) “Mary
Mack” (traditional children’s song) (André De Shields, Freida Williams, The Ladies); and (5) “Pastiche”
(unidentified songs by various lyricists and composers, including Alan Bergman, Marvin Hamlisch, Eddie
Holland, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector, Cynthia Weil, Barry
Mann, Gene Pitney, Carol King, Burt Bacharach, Hal David, George Harrison, Andrew Lloyd Webber,
and Trevor Nunn) (The Ladies); “Sermon” (written by André De Shields and Murray Horwitz) (André De
Shields); “Harlem Nocturne” (lyric by Dick Rogers, music by Earl Hagen) (The Ladies); “Louie” (lyric
and music by Marc Shaiman) (André De Shields, Marc Shaiman, The Ladies); “B.Y.O.B.” (lyric and music
by André De Shields) (André De Shields, The Ladies); “Now Is the Time” (lyric and music by André De
Shields) (André De Shields, The Ladies)
Haarlem Nocturne was yet another in the seemingly endless series of Broadway and Off-Broadway revues
which celebrated Harlem nightlife and black music. With such a surfeit, only the best (Bubbling Brown Sugar,
Ain’t Misbehavin’, Eubie!, One Mo’ Time!, Sophisticated Ladies, and Black and Blue) succeeded, and the
remaining ones (such as Shades of Harlem, Uptown . . . It’s Hot!, Honky Tonk Nights, Further Mo’, Rollin’
on the T.O.B.A., It Ain’t Nothin’ but the Blues, and Harlem Song) quickly faded. Haarlem Nocturne fell into
the latter category and survived for just six weeks.
The revue had a slight story of sorts, which followed a wispy through-line with its look at a black per-
former (André De Shields) from his days as a slave to his glory period as a Harlem headliner, and then to the
present when his kind of music becomes old-hat and he’s displaced by girl-group performers. Or something
like that. (The few critics who dwelt on the plot didn’t seem quite sure what it was meant to convey.) The
evening included a few standards along with a sheaf of new songs, some by De Shields and a few by the pre-
Hairspray Marc Shaiman, who was also the show’s musical director and occasionally took part in the songs.
Mel Gussow in the New York Times said the evening wasn’t “cohesive” in the nature of Sophisticated
Ladies and was instead an “eclectic collage” designed to focus on De Shields, whose performance “defined
narcissism.” He mentioned that in one number De Shields appeared in a break-away pirate costume that
revealed the “preening” performer in red-hot briefs. But the backup trio of Debra Byrd, Ellia English, and
Freida Williams was “strong” and “sultry.” Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily noted the revue had a “high
sense of energy” but otherwise there was “nothing remarkable or striking” about the evening and it lacked
“dramatic glue to hold it together.” As for Clive Barnes in the New York Post, he felt inclined to paraphrase
Henny Youngman as he watched the revue: “Take it—please!”
Don Nelsen in the New York Daily News praised the “estimable” De Shields and said the show’s “vi-
brant spirits” were a “dandy way” to resurrect nostalgia for “the big, brassy New York night club,” and John
Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor hailed the “smart, hip, and stylish” evening as “the hottest concert
in town.”
Marc Shaiman warmed up the audience in a preshow segment in which he encouraged the crowd to join
him in singing a batch of theme songs from old television shows (such as Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbil-
lies, Mr. Ed, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show). Gussow found the sequence “inexplicable,” and, considering
the evening’s theme, Cohen found the warm-up “peculiarly out-of-place.” Barnes said Shaiman came across
as a “pixie-like Liberace without the chandelier” (shouldn’t that have been candelabra?), and felt he was “a
shade too cute.” And Nelsen reported that his theatre companion remarked that the segment “sounded like
summer camp on Broadway.”
The Latin Quarter had been a popular night club located on the second floor of a building at Broadway and
West 47th Street, and once the club shuttered the space eventually deteriorated into an X-rated movie house.
In 1979, the venue was converted into a traditional theatre and re-opened as the 22 Steps (so-named because it
1984–1985 SEASON 229
took twenty-two steps to reach the building’s second floor). The first production to play there was Coquelico,
and the 450-seat theatre was considered both a Broadway and an Off-Broadway house under Middle or Limited
Broadway contracts. In 1980, the theatre was renamed the Princess, and with the production of Haarlem Noc-
turne the space reverted to its original name of the Latin Quarter. The final show to play there was Charles
Strouse’s Mayor, which transferred from Off Broadway in 1985. In 1989, the building that housed the theatre
was demolished and today a hotel stands on the site.
Cohen noted he always felt the space was “ungainly” as a regular theatre, but as a cabaret the “little tables
and crowded chairs gave the feeling of doing some old-time night clubbing,” and Gussow said the tables were
so close together “a dancer could move from top to top without ever touching feet to floor.” Nelson thought
that the novelty of a runway from the stage and into the audience allowed for a more “intimate” space, and
Barnes reported that during the performance itself smoking wasn’t allowed but otherwise was permitted and
was in fact “so heavy” that nonsmokers might need gas masks.
The song “Louie” had been written for the comedy-and-music group The High-Heeled Women (which
were sometimes billed as a “musical comedy revue” and “an evening of ovarian humor”), and “New York Is
a Party” was from the 1983 Off-Off-Broadway musical Dementos (which took place in a welfare hotel).
DOUG HENNING AND HIS WORLD OF MAGIC

Performances: 56
Music: Peter Matz
Direction: Doug Henning (staging by Charlene Painter); Producers: James M. Nederlander and Arthur Rubin;
Choreography: Charlene Painter (Victor Heineman, Assistant Choreographer); Scenery: Bill Bohnert; Cos-
tumes: Jef Billings (additional costumes by Bill Hargate); Lighting: Michael McGiveney; Musical Direc-
tion: Peter Matz
Cast: Doug Henning, Debby Henning; Magical Dancers: Victor Heineman, D. J. Mergenthaler, Gina Rose,
Kathleen White
The magic revue was presented in two acts.
Magician Doug Henning’s revue had toured throughout the United States, and the New York limited-
engagement opened just in time for the holiday season. Henning had appeared in the Broadway musicals The
Magic Show (1974) and Merlin, and critics complained that a book musical wasn’t the most effective format
to display the master illusionist’s talents. Instead, they suggested that an evening of magic acts would best
showcase his mind-boggling tricks, and so his current vehicle filled the bill.
Mel Gussow in the New York Times was glad that “with one sweep of his wand” Henning had “banished
Broadway musical accouterments,” and he praised the “unpretentious entertainment” which proved that
“Houdini had nothing on Henning.” Among the magical feats were a trunk-and-box trick in which Henning
and his wife Debby were locked inside the containers and yet managed to trade places, and a sequence in
which Henning was tied in a sack and then somehow emerged from the inside of a large stuffed animal. He
also plucked silver dollars out of the air and magically converted dollar bills into hundred-dollar bills, and in
a reprise of one of his celebrated feats in The Magic Show, he sawed two women in half and then reassembled
one with the other.
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News liked the “glittery, tinselly, very showy show” and he praised
Henning’s “slick patter and winning manner.” He noted that the horse trick (from Merlin) was now a motor-
cycle trick; in this sequence, Henning was seen on the vehicle on one side of the stage floor and then instantly
he and the motorcycle appeared high above the other side of the stage.
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said “prestissimo!” Henning had kept the magic and gotten rid of the
book musical. Barnes watched the show in “happy astonishment” as Henning first ripped a newspaper in
shreds and then magically restored it to pristine condition and then later walked through a plate-glass mir-
ror. The evening was a “superior, action-packed, illusion-studded” show, and he cautioned his readers not to
leave early because “the show isn’t over until the fat tiger growls.” Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily noted
the evening included a tuxedo-clad monkey, various ducks, a “sleek” panther, and of course the tiger, and he
said if you were at the stage door after a performance you’d see the tiger and panther “make one of the more
impressive stage-door exits of the season.” In fact, the two animals made “the epic [Cats] over at the Winter
Garden look like a side show.”
THE KING AND I

Opening Date: January 7, 1985; Closing Date: June 30, 1985
Performances: 191
Based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon.
Direction: Mitch Leigh; Producers: The Mitch Leigh Company (Milton Herson, Executive Producer; Manny
Kladitis, Associate Producer); Choreography: Jerome Robbins (Robbins’s choreography reproduced by Re-
becca West); Scenery: Peter Wolf; Costumes: Stanley Simmons (based on the original costumes designed
by Irene Sharaff); Lighting: Ruth Roberts; Musical Direction: Richard Parrinello
Cast: Jeffrey Bryan Davis (Louis Leonowens), Burt Edwards (Captain Orton), Mary Beth Peil (Anna Leonow-
ens), Jae Woo Lee (The Interpreter), Jonathan Farwell (The Kralahome), Yul Brynner (The King), Kathy Lee
Brynner (Lead Royal Dancer, Eliza), Sal Provenza (Lun Tha), Patricia Welch (Tuptim), Irma-Estel LaGuerre
(Lady Thiang), Araby Abaya (Prince Chulalongkorn), Yvette Laura Martin (Princess Ying Yaowalak), Pa-
tricia Weber (Fan Dancer, Angel), Edward Crotty (Sir Edward Ramsey), Hope Sogawa (Uncle Thomas),
Evelina Deocares (Little Eva), Deborah Harada (Topsy), Rebecca West (Simon); The Royal Dancers and
Wives: Marla F. Bingham, Young-Hee Cho, Carolyn DeLany, Evelina Deocares, Deborah Harada, Valerie
Lau-Kee, Suzen Murakoshi, Hope Sogawa, Sylvia Yamada; Princes and Princesses: Max Barabas, Michael
Bulos, Amy Chin, Lisa Chui, Mark Damrongsri, Kate Gwon, Tracie Mon-Ting Lee, Michelle Nigalan,
Steven Tom, Luke Trainer, Annie Woo; Nurses and Amazons: Alis-Elaine Anderson, Joyce Campana,
Mariann Cook, Janet Jordan; Priests and Slaves: Cornel Chan, Kaipo Daniels, Gary Bain Domasin, Stanley
Earl Harrison, Andre Lengyel, Ron Stefan
The action takes place in and around the King’s Palace in Bangkok, Siam, during the early 1860s.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “I Whistle a Happy Tune” (Mary Beth Peil, Jeffrey Bryan Davis); “My Lord
and Master” (Patricia Welch); “Hello, Young Lovers” (Mary Beth Peil); “March of the Siamese Children”
(Mary Beth Peil, Yul Brynner, The King’s Wives, The King’s Children); “A Puzzlement” (Yul Brynner);
“The Royal Bangkok Academy” (Mary Beth Peil, Children); “Getting to Know You” (Mary Beth Peil,
Patricia Weber, The King’s Wives, The King’s Children); “We Kiss in a Shadow” (Patricia Welch, Sal
Provenza); “A Puzzlement” (reprise) (Araby Abaya, Jeffrey Bryan Davis); “Shall I Tell You What I Think
of You?” (Mary Beth Peil); “Something Wonderful” (Irma-Estel LaGuerre); Finale (Company)
Act Two: “Western People Funny” (Irma-Estel LaGuerre, The King’s Wives); “I Have Dreamed” (Patricia
Welch, Sal Provenza); “Hello, Young Lovers” (reprise) (Mary Beth Peil); “The Small House of Uncle
Thomas” (ballet) (Patricia Welch, Kathy Lee Brynner, Hope Sogawa, Deborah Harada, Evelina Deocares,
Rebecca West, Patricia Weber, The Royal Dancers, The Royal Singers, Propmen); “Song of King” (Yul
Brynner, Mary Beth Peil); “Shall We Dance?” (Mary Beth Peil, Yul Brynner); Finale (Company)
With the current revival of The King and I, Yul Brynner made his final appearances in his signature role.
Brynner died of cancer less than four months after his last New York performance, but he left behind one of
the greatest creations in all musical theatre.
For the critics’ performance he didn’t sing “A Puzzlement,” reportedly because of laryngitis. But “A
Puzzlement” or not, Brynner’s performance was riveting: “Man and role have long since merged into a fixed
image that is as much a part of our collective consciousness as the Statue of Liberty” (Frank Rich in the New
1984–1985 SEASON 231
York Times); “Excellent, striking and unforgettable” (Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News); “When
he moves into ‘Shall We Dance?,’ the capacity audience goes ecstatic,” “breaks into mad applause,” and
“Baryshnikov could scarcely expect more” because “such adulation is beyond criticism” (Clive Barnes in the
New York Post); he is “in command and yet seems still to be exploring the nuances of the character with
invigorating wit” (Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily); and he is “the absolute monarch of all he surveys”
and proves “his right to Broadway kingship” (John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor).
The original Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on March 29, 1951, for 1,246 perfor-
mances with Gertrude Lawrence and Brynner in the leading roles. It won five Tony Awards, including Best
Musical, Best Leading Actress in a Musical, and Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Brynner (at the time, any
performer whose name was billed below the title was considered a featured player).
As of this writing, the musical has been revived in New York nine times for over 3,000 performances. The
first five were limited-engagement institutional revivals, four produced by the New York City Center Light
Opera Company at City Center (April 18, 1956, for 23 performances with Jan Clayton and Zachary Scott;
May 11, 1960, for 24 performances (Barbara Cook and Farley Granger); June 12, 1963, for 15 performances
(Eileen Brennan and Manolo Fabregas); and May 28, 1968, for 22 performances (Constance Towers and Mi-
chael Kermoyan) and one produced by the Music Theatre of Lincoln Center at the New York State Theatre
on July 6, 1964, for 40 performances (Rise Stevens and Darren McGavin). The next revival opened at the Uris
(now Gershwin) Theatre on May 2, 1977, for 696 performances with Brynner and Constance Towers (Michael
Kermoyan was the Kralahome, June Angela was Tuptim, and Martin Vidnovic was Lun Tha), and after the
current production the musical was revived on April 11, 1996, at the Neil Simon Theatre for 80 performances
with Donna Murphy and Lou Diamond Phillips. The most recent revival opened at the Vivian Beaumont
Theatre on April 16, 2015, with Kelli O’Hara and Ken Watanabe.
The first London production opened at the Drury Lane on October 9, 1953, for 926 performances with
Valerie Hobson and Herbert Lom, and other West End revivals in 1973 and 1999 starred Sally Ann Howes and
Elaine Paige, respectively.
The 1956 film version was released by Twentieth Century-Fox with Brynner (who won the Academy
Award for Best Actor) and Deborah Kerr, and an animated version was released by Warner Brothers Family
Entertainment in 1999.
The script was published in hardback by Random House in 1951, and the used and unused lyrics are in-
cluded in the collection The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II. There are numerous recordings of
the classic score, including later ones that are more complete than the original cast album (Decca Records LP
# DL-7-9008 and MCA CD #MCAD-10049), but the original is the essential one to own.
Perhaps the strangest review of The King and I was Henry Hewes’s appraisal of Lincoln Center’s 1964
revival. Writing in Saturday Review, he said Anna is a “smug representative of Western colonialism” and her
purported “‘goodness’ now emerges as a hypocritical disguise for intolerance of another country’s traditions
and for her ruthless drive to emasculate a man.” He further stated that Anna “succeeds in destroying” the
King. Talk about a puzzlement!
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Mary Beth Peil); Best Director of a Musical
(Mitch Leigh); Special Tony Award to Yul Brynner in honor of his 4,525 performances as The King from
1951 to the present.
STREETHEAT
Theatre: 54th Street Theatre Cabaret at Studio 54
Performances: 20
Book: Uncredited (“Original concept” by Michele Assaf and Rick Atwell)
Direction and Choreography: Rick Atwell; Producers: Bert Stratford Productions in association with Gene
Cates, Doug Leeds, Christine Mortimer Biddle, and Rex Farr (Judee Wales, Associate Producer); Scenery
(“Production”) and Costumes: Franne Lee and Scenery and Costumes: Dianna Freas and Michael Rizzo;
Lighting: John McLain; Musical Direction: Uncredited (see below)
Cast: Michael DeLorenzo (Spinner), James Arthur Johnson (Leon), Vicki Lewis (Victoria), Ron Lee Savin (The
Character Man), Glenn Scarpelli (Lucky Louie), Tico Wells (Picasso); The Streetheat Ensemble: Bryant
Baldwin, Nora Cherry, Cecilia Marta, Troy Myers, Rick Negron, Daryl Richardson, Louis Ritarossi, Robin
Summerfield, Jorge Vaszuez
The cabaret-styled musical revue was presented in one act.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t identify performers; there was no live orchestra, and the cast members sang their
numbers to prerecorded musical tracks.
“We Paint Life” (lyric and music by Rick Atwell and Perry Arthur Kroeger); “Picasso’s Theme” (lyric and
music by Frank Owens); “Uptown Dreamer’s Express” (lyric and music by James Gregory and Rick At-
well); “Hold On” (lyric and music by Chris Darway); “To Dance Is to Fly” (lyric and music by Kyra Kapt-
zan); “Power” (lyric and music by Vinnie Rich and Dave Moritz); “I’m a Wow” (lyric and music by Ron
Abel and Bob Garrett); “Lucky Louie” (lyric and music by Frank Owens, Rick Atwell, and Perry Arthur
Kroeger); “Full Circle” (lyric and music by Laura Taylor and Charles Mortimer); “Streetheat” (lyric and
music by James Gregory, Charles Mortimer, and William Hocher); “I Want a Real Man” (lyric and music
by Geoff Bradford); “Sacrifice Your Body” (lyric and music by James Gregory, Charles Mortimer, and Rick
Atwell); “The King Becomes a Clown” (lyric and music by Laura Taylor); “Nirvana” (lyric and music by
James Gregory and Perry Arthur Kroeger); “Danger Men Working” (lyric and music by Bob Garrett and Joe
Curiale); “Today I Found Me” (lyric and music by Laura Taylor); “Power” (reprise); “Full Circle” (reprise);
“The Power Lies Within” (lyric and music by James Gregory, Joe Hudson, and Rick Atwell)
The score of the cabaret-styled musical revue Streetheat was by a total of fourteen lyricists and compos-
ers, and the program noted that the “music & songs” were produced by Michael G. Millius and James Gregory
for M.C.A. Music, and the songs were “developed and supervised” by Michael G. Millius for M.C.A. Music.
Further, Frank Owens and James Gregory were credited for all the orchestrations, dance music, underscoring,
and special music. If all this wasn’t enough, the program also noted that “prerecorded music” was produced
by Michael G. Millius and James Gregory.
Stephen Holden in the New York Times said the “glitzy Las Vegas-style” evening offered a “mediocre
disco-rap score” set to a “hopelessly childish and platitudinous” story in which New York drifters are urged
by a genie named Picasso to take a magical subway ride on the Uptown Dreamer’s Express where their wishes
for “fame, wealth, beauty, and power” are granted.
But the drifters should have known that Success Has Its Price, and they soon long to return to life on the
streets. If the song titles are any indication, the score was full of empowerment and inspirational numbers:
“To Dance Is to Fly,” “Power,” “I’m a Wow,” “Today I Found Me,” and “The Power Lies Within.”
The intermission-less ninety-minute evening lasted less than three weeks.
HARRIGAN ’N HART
“A New Musical”
Theatre: Longacre Theatre

Performances: 5
Book: Michael Stewart
Lyrics: Peter Walker
Music: Max Showalter
(The score also included songs of the period with lyrics by Edward Harrigan and music by David Braham.)
Based on material compiled by Nedda Harrigan Logan and the 1955 book The Merry Partners: The Age and
Stage of Harrigan & Hart by E. J. Kahn Jr.
1984–1985 SEASON 233
Direction: Joe Layton; Producers: Elliot Martin, Arnold Bernhard, and The Shubert Organization; Choreog-
raphy: D. J. Giagni; Scenery: David Mitchell; Costumes: Ann Hould-Ward; Lighting: Richard Nelson;
Musical Direction: Peter Howard
Cast: Mark Fotopoulos (Stetson, Andrew LeCouvrier, Judge, Johnny Wild, Captain, William Gill), Harry
Groener (Edward Harrigan), Mark Hamill (Tony Hart), Clent Bowers (Archie White, Sam Nichols, Felix
Barker, Uncle Albert), Cleve Asbury (Old Colonel, Billy Gross, Nat Goodwin), Barbara Moroz (The Colo-
nel’s Wife, Elsie Fay, Belle), Roxie Lucas (Eleanor, Ada Lewis), Oliver Woodall (Martin Hanley), Christo-
pher Wells (Alfred J. Dugan, Harry Mack, Judge Hilton, Doctor), Tudi Roche (Annie Braham Harrigan),
Kenston Ames (Chester Fox, Photographer, Newsboy, Newspaperman), Merilee Magnuson (Lily Fay,
Adelaide Harrigan, Nurse), Armelia McQueen (Mrs. Annie Yeamons), Amelia Marshall (Jennie Yeamons,
Newsgirl), Christine Ebersole (Gerta Granville)
The action takes place in New York City and other cities throughout the United States during the period
1871–1888.
Musical Numbers
Note: * = Lyric by Peter Howard and music by Max Showalter; ** = Lyric by Edward Hannigan and music by
David Braham. When known, sources of Hannigan and Braham’s songs are given.
Act One: “Put Me in My Little Bed” (*) (Mark Hamill); “Wonderful Me” (*) (Harry Groener, Mark Hamill);
“Mulligan Guard” (**) (Harry Groener, Mark Hamill); “Put Me in My Little Bed” (reprise) (Mark Hamill);
“I Love to Follow a Band” (**) (Harry Groener, Company); “Such an Education Has My Mary Ann” (**)
(The Mulligan Guard Pic-nic, 1878) (Harry Groener, Mark Hamill, Company); “Maggie Murphy’s Home”
(**) (Reilly and the 400, 1890) (Tudi Roche, Harry Groener, Clent Bowers, Company); “McNally’s Row
of Flats” (**) (McSorley’s Inflation, 1882) (Armelia McQueen, Company); “Something New, Something
Different” (*) (Harry Groener, Mark Hamill, Company); “That’s My Partner” (*) (Harry Groener, Mark
Hamill); “She’s Our Gretel” (**) (Harry Groener, Mark Hamill, Armelia McQueen, Company); “What You
Need Is a Woman” (*) (Christine Ebersole); “Knights of the Mystic Star” (**) (The Last of the Hogans,
1891) (Armelia McQueen, Company); “Girl of the Mystic Star” (**) (probably a variation of “Knights of
the Mystic Star” from The Last of the Hogans, 1891) (Christine Ebersole, Men); “Mulligan Guard” (re-
prise) (Harry Groener, Mark Hamill)
Act Two: “Skidmore Fancy Ball”(**) (The Mulligan Guard Ball, 1879) (Clent Bowers, Christopher Wells,
Mark Fotopoulos, Cleve Asbury); “Sweetest Love” (**) (Old Lavender, 1885 revival) (Roxie Lucas, Barbara
Moroz); “The Old Barn Floor” (*) (Mark Fotopoulos, Amelia Marshall, Kenston Ames, Merilee Magnuson);
“Silly Boy” (**) (The Muddy Day, 1883) (Christine Ebersole, Cleve Asbury, Christopher Wells); “Mulligan
Guard” (reprise) (Harry Groener, Mark Hamill, Company); “We’ll Be There” (*) (Harry Groener, Mark
Hamill, Company); “Ada with the Golden Hair” (**) (Tudi Roche, Mark Fotopoulos, Cleve Asbury); “That
Old Featherbed” (**) (McSorley’s Inflation, 1882) (Christopher Wells, Merilee Magnuson, Barbara Moroz);
“Sam (Samuel) Johnson’s Colored Cakewalk” (**) (Cordelia’s Aspirations, 1883) (Clent Bowers, Ame-
lia Marshall); “Dip Me in the Golden Sea” (**) (Harry Groener, Armelia McQueen, Company); “That’s
My Partner” (reprise) (Harry Groener); “I’ve Come Home to Stay” (**) (Reilly and the 400, 1890) (Mark
Hamill); “If I Could Trust Me” (*) (Mark Hamill); “Maggie Murphy’s Home” (reprise) (Oliver Woodall,
Merilee Magnuson, Armelia McQueen, Roxie Lucas); “I’ve Come Home to Stay” (reprise) (Mark Hamill,
Girls); “I Need This One Chance” (Christine Ebersole); “I Love to Follow a Band” (reprise) (Tudi Roche,
Company); “Mulligan’s Guard” (reprise) (Harry Groener, Mark Hamill, Armelia McQueen); “Something
New, Something Different” (reprise) (Harry Groener, Mark Hamill, Company)
Harrigan ’n Hart (and shouldn’t that have been Harrigan ’n’ Hart?) was another disaster in what was
quickly shaping up as the worst season for Broadway musicals in memory. The season offered a smattering
of revivals, revues, and revue-like musicals, and most of the new music heard in many of these shows didn’t
make much of an impression. Shockingly, the season offered just two book musicals with new music, Grind
and Big River.
The current debacle was another of book writer Michael Stewart’s forays into the world of show-business
biography: George M! (1968) was about Cohan, and managed a year’s run; Mack & Mabel (1974) looked at
Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand and lasted two months; Barnum (1980) explored the life and times of
P. T. Barnum and played for two years; and Harrigan ’n Hart mustered just five performances (except for Mack
& Mabel, the three other biographical musicals were directed by Joe Layton). The musical was partially based
on material compiled by Nedda Harrigan Logan, who was Harrigan’s daughter and later the wife of director
Joshua Logan.
Edward (Ned) Harrigan (1845–1911) and Tony Hart (1855–1891) were a popular team who starred in sev-
enteen successful “Mulligan Guard” and other musicals during the period 1878–1885. Earlier, Harrigan had
added songs to sketches he had written for variety revues, and from there he wrote the scripts and lyrics for
the “Mulligan Guard” series which anticipated the style and format of later Broadway musical comedies. His
musicals were set in the United States, and with their friendly ethnic humor celebrated the lives of the ongo-
ing tide of European immigrants who came to make America their home.
Harrigan ’n Hart looked at the team’s professional partnership and its eventual dissolution when Hart
(Mark Hamill) became resentful that Harrigan (Harry Groener) was both a performer and a writer (and Hart
was egged on by his vicious and calculating wife Gerta, played by Christine Ebersole). The script also hinted
that perhaps Hart harbored repressed romantic feelings for Harrigan. The musical concluded with Hart’s
illness and eventual death (the plot skirted the matter that he had syphilis) and it evolved into a dreamlike
sequence where Harrigan holds an actors’ benefit performance to aid the financially distressed Hart, and the
heretofore scold Gerta does a complete about-face and is transformed into an understanding soul. The score
was a mixture of new songs with lyrics by Peter Howard and music by Max Showalter and old ones with lyr-
ics by Harrigan and music by David Braham.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the “dull” but” dutifully professional” musical bustled with
“kinetic” but “aimless” energy, and the “frantic and mirthless” comedy routines suggested “what Sugar Ba-
bies might be like on a night when Mickey Rooney called in sick.” Jack Kroll in Newsweek liked Groener’s
“warmth” and Hamill’s “brashness,” noted that Layton directed with “showbiz zip,” and for “She’s Our Gre-
tel” choreographer D. J. Giagni created a comic and “delightful” Dutch-clog sequence. Edwin Wilson in the
Wall Street Journal said the show tried to re-create the comedy routines of Harrigan and Hart in Sugar Babies
style as well as to present a traditional biographical backstage musical, and while the salute to Broadway’s
early days was successful, the book scenes were tiresome. Although the real-life team split up, the musical
was “confusing” and “dishonest” when in the final sequence it brought the duo together for “a series of fan-
tasy scenes” (it’s worth noting that Stewart had ended Mack & Mabel in an equally unrealistic and dishonest
manner with a “happy ending” fantasy wedding for the two leading characters).
The headline of Douglas Watt’s review in the New York Daily News proclaimed “Now We Know Why
Vaudeville Is Dead,” and the critic noted the “Mulligan stew of a show” was a “grim and unedifying story.”
He was sure that the real Harrigan and Hart “were vastly more entertaining than this lame musical about
their careers,” but “even so” he hoped he’d “never have to hear one of their songs again.” Ron Cohen in
Women’s Wear Daily said the musical was “so pedestrian that it makes 42nd Street look like a Robert Wil-
son epic,” but noted Hamill gave a “zestful” performance and Groener was “one of the more engaging young
actors in the theatre today” whose “immaculate dancing style is a joy to watch.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post liked the “uneventfully charming, antimacassar-period score,” but felt
the “incidental pleasures” of the evening “never ignite into the conflagration of an unquenchable musical.”
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said when Harrigan ’n Hart stuck to its guns by “singing original songs” and “clog-
ging period-like dances,” it was “fascinating” and “fun.” But with underwritten characters and the lack of a
strong story, the result was “not a show” but “a history lesson.”
During previews, “Dapper Dan McGee” was cut. The musical had first been produced at the Goodspeed
Opera House’s Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Connecticut, on July 10, 1984; the production was directed
by Edward Stone, and the cast included Mark Hamill (Hart), Christopher Wells (Harrigan), and Marianne Ta-
tum (Gerta). For Broadway, the latter was succeeded by Christine Ebersole and Groener assumed the role of
Harrigan (but Wells appeared in the Broadway production and played four roles). The summer tryout included
three songs that weren’t heard in New York: “Love, Put on Your Orange Blossoms” (source unknown), “Clara
Jenkins’ (Socialistic) Tea” (The Mayor, 1881), and “Savannah Sue” (Marty Malone, 1896).
George M. Cohan saluted Harrigan in Cohan’s song “Harrigan” (Fifty Miles from Boston, 1908) which was
later heard in George M! and was included on that show’s cast album.
1984–1985 SEASON 235
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Book (Michael Stewart)
LEADER OF THE PACK

“The Ellie Greenwich Musical”

Opening Date: April 8, 1985; Closing Date: July 21, 1985
Performances: 120
Book: “Liner Notes” by Ann Beatts; additional material by Jack Heifner
Lyrics and Music: Ellie Greenwich “& Friends” (Note: See song list for specific credits.)
Direction and Choreography: Michael Peters; Producer: The Pack; Scenery: Tony Walton; Costumes: Robert
de Mora; Lighting: Pamela Cooper; Musical Direction: Jimmy Vivino
Cast: Darlene Love (Darlene Love), Annie Golden (Annie Golden), Dinah Manoff (Young Ellie Greenwich
in the 1960s), Zora Rasmussen (Rosie), Barbara Yeager (Shelley), Jasmine Guy (Mickey, Waitress), Pat-
rick Cassidy (Jeff Barry), Dennis Bailey (Gus Sharkey), Peter Neptune (D. J. Voice), Pattie Darcy (Lounge
Singer), Shirley Black-Brown and Keith McDaniel (Dance Couple), Gina Taylor (Gina), Ellie Greenwich
(Ellie Greenwich in the 1980s); Girls and Guys: Shirley Black-Brown, Pattie Darcy, Christopher Gregory,
Jasmine Guy, Danny Herman, Lon Hoyt, Keith McDaniel, Jodi Moccia, Peter Neptune, Zora Rasmussen,
Joey Sheck, Gina Taylor, Barbara Yeager
The action takes place in the “here and now . . . and in the days of beehives and 45s.”
Musical Numbers
“Be My Baby” (lyric and music by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector) (Annie Golden, Girls); “Wait
’Til My Bobby Gets Home” (lyric and music by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector) (Darlene
Love, Company); “A . . . My Name Is Ellie” (lyric and music by Ellie Greenwich) (Dinah Manoff); “Jivette
Boogie Beat” (lyric and music by Ellie Greenwich) (Dinah Manoff, Barbara Yeager, Jasmine Guy); “Why Do
Lovers Break Each Other’s Hearts” (lyrics and music by Ellie Greenwich, Tony Powers, and Phil Spector)
(Darlene Love, Company); “Today I Met the Boy I’m Gonna Marry” (lyric and music by Ellie Greenwich,
Tony Powers, and Phil Spector) (Darlene Love, Company); “I Want to Love Him So Bad” (lyric and music
by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector) (Dinah Manoff, Girls); “Do Wah Diddy” (lyric and music
by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry) (Patrick Cassidy); “And Then He Kissed Me” (lyric and music by Ellie
Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector) (Dinah Manoff, Girls); “Hanky Panky” (lyric and music by Ellie
Greenwich and Jeff Barry) (Patrick Cassidy, Guys); “Not Too Young (to Get Married)” (lyric and music
by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector) (Darlene Love, Girls); “Chapel of Love” (lyric and music
by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector) (Company); “Baby I Love You” (lyric and music by Ellie
Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector) (Annie Golden, Girls); and “Leader of the Pack” (lyric and music
by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and George “Shadow” Morton) (Annie Golden, Company); “Look of Love”
(lyric by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry) (Pattie Darcy); “Christmas—Baby Please Come Home” (lyric and
music by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector) (Darlene Love, Girls); “I Can Hear Music” (lyric
and music by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector) (Patrick Cassidy, Annie Golden, Pattie Darcy,
Keith McDaniel): “Rock of Rages” (lyric and music by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Kent) (Dinah Manoff);
“Keep It Confidential” (lyric and music by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Kent, and Ellen Foley) (Gina Taylor,
Company); “Da Doo Ron Ron” (lyric and music by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector) (Ellie
Greenwich, Company); “What a Guy” (lyric and music by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector)
(Ellie Greenwich, Company); “Maybe I Know” (lyric and music by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry) (Ellie
Greenwich, Darlene Love, Annie Golden, Girls); “River Deep, Mountain High” (lyric and music by Ellie
Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and Phil Spector) (Darlene Love, Company); “We’re Gonna Make It (After All)”
(lyric and music Ellie Greenwich) (Ellie Greenwich, Darlene Love, Annie Golden, Company)
The revue Leader of the Pack paid tribute to lyricist and composer Ellie Greenwich, who also appeared
in the production. She and others had written a number of popular hits in the 1960s, including “Chapel of
Love,” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” and the title song, all of which were performed in the revue, which had originated
Off Broadway at the Bottom Line in 1984.
The musical began previews in February 1985, and an opening night program was distributed for the
production’s originally scheduled premiere of March 11, 1985. But the opening was canceled and the musical
went back into previews for re-tooling, and the official opening night finally took place on April 8 after fifty-
two preview performances.
During previews, the musical was presented in two acts (“Side One” and “Side Two,” and each scene was
designated as a “cut”) and there appears to have been a plot of sorts that covered Greenwich’s life and career.
The book (instead of its later designation “liner notes”) was credited to Anne Beatts, and the program cited
an original play by Melanie Mintz as its basis (later programs credited Mintz with the show’s “original con-
cept”). As the musical continued in previews, various plot elements were dropped and the evening morphed
into a concert-like revue.
Frank Rich in the New York Times noted there were as yet “no candidates” in competition for the sea-
son’s best musical, but “the race for most calamitous” one had a “strong contender” in Leader of the Pack,
which “leads the pack” in terms of “incoherence (total), vulgarity (boundless), and decibel level (stratospheric,
with piercing electronic feedback).” The “fiasco” had the worst book since the “dumbfounding” Marilyn
and included characters “whose identities are known only to the authors.” Rich also mentioned that Tony
Walton’s “tacky” set utilized circular rotating platforms that suggested 45 RPM records, and director and
choreographer Michael Peters’s production “might pass for a banana republic’s revival of Your Hit Parade.”
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the “simpleminded nature” of the material provided little for
the actors to work with, the lyrics were “mindless,” and the choreography “limited.” If the “unsuccessful”
show had been presented at “some nightclub that specializes in Sweet 16 parties” the evening would have
been “harmless,” but to pass off the proceedings as “theatre” was “offensive.” Douglas Watt in the New York
Daily News said the “monotonous” production was not a Broadway show “in the usual sense . . . not by a
long shot.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post noted the revue had first been seen downtown at the Bottom Line,
“and the bottom line is that it should have stayed there.” He commented that the show was “The Return of
‘Grease’ or The Revenge of ‘Hair,’” and when Greenwich herself appeared during the final twenty or so min-
utes of the evening, the show lost whatever momentum it had. But then again, just “how could you end the
show?” And he supposed “by never starting it, and just issuing a record album.” Edwin Wilson in the Wall
Street Journal said the evening was “less a theatre piece than an animated concert,” and William A. Henry III
in Time noted the creators never settled on a tone and thus the songs were treated “with an awkward mix of
reverence and mockery” and the characters were “reduced to cartoons.”
Although Jack Kroll in Newsweek felt the evening belonged Off Broadway, he said the show was “endear-
ingly unpretentious” and really “not that bad, dad.”
The following songs were dropped in previews: “Dance Craze Number” (lyric and music by Ellie Green-
wich and Jeff Kent), “He’s the Kind of Boy You Can’t Forget” (lyric by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry), “You
Don’t Know” (lyric and music by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, and George “Shadow” Morton), “People Say”
(lyric and music by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry), and another version of “A . . . My Name Is Ellie” which
was titled “A . . . My Name Is Angel.” Preview programs listed a special pas de deux by Shirley Black-Brown
and Keith McDaniel which followed “Look of Love”; the dance wasn’t listed in the opening night program,
but because Black-Brown and McDaniel were cited in the program as the “dance couple,” it seems likely the
dance sequence was performed.
The cast album was released on a two-LP set by Elektra Records (# 960409-1-Q), and the CD was issued by
Wounded Bird Records (# WOU-409). The script was published in paperback by Samuel French in an undated
edition (circa 1987).
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Musical (Leader of the Pack)
1984–1985 SEASON 237
TAKE ME ALONG
Performances: 1
Book: Joseph Stein and Robert Russell
Lyrics and Music: Bob Merrill
Based on the 1933 play Ah, Wilderness! by Eugene O’Neill.
Direction: Thomas Gruenewald; Producers: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and The
Goodspeed Opera House presented by arrangement with The Shubert Performing Arts Center, New Ha-
ven, Connecticut; Choreography: Dan Siretta; Scenery: James Leonard Joy; Costumes: David Toser; Light-
ing: Craig Miller; Musical Direction: Lynn Crigler
Cast: Robert Nichols (Nat Miller), Betty Johnson (Essie Miller), Stephen McDonough (Arthur Miller), Alyson
Kirk (Mildred Miller), Beth Fowler (Lily Miller), Taryn Grimes (Muriel McComber), Gary Landon Wright
(Richard Miller), Richard Korthaze (David Macomber), Kurt Knudson (Sid Davis), Nikki Sahagen (Belle),
Joel Whittaker (Wint), David Vosburgh (Bartender), John Witham (The Salesman); Trolley Conductors,
Firemen, Townsfolk, Bar Patrons, and Ladies of the Evening: Kathy Andrini, Blake Atherton, Michael
Kelly Boone, Ed Brazo, Richard Dodd, Andy Hostettler, Richard Korthaze, Patrick S. Murphy, Mercedes
Perez, Keith Savage, David Vosburgh, Joel Whittaker, Betty Winsett, John Witham
The action takes place in Centerville, Connecticut, on July 4 and July 5, 1906.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Marvelous Fire Machine” (Robert Nichols, Ensemble); “Oh, Please” (Betty
Johnson, Robert Nichols); “Oh, Please” (reprise) (Betty Johnson, Robert Nichols, Beth Fowler, Stephen
McDonough, Alyson Kirk); “I Would Die” (Gary Landon Wright, Taryn Grimes); “Sid, Ol’ Kid” (Kurt
Knudson, Nikki Sahagen, Townspeople); “Staying Young” (Robert Nichols); “I Get Embarrassed” (Kurt
Knudson, Beth Fowler); “We’re Home” (Beth Fowler); “Take Me Along” (Robert Nichols, Kurt Knudson);
“Take Me Along” (reprise) (Company); “The Only Pair I’ve Got” (Nikki Sahagen, Ensemble); “In the
Company of Men” (Kurt Knudson, Robert Nichols, Male Ensemble); “Knights on White Horses” (Beth
Fowler, Betty Johnson); “That’s How It Starts” (Gary Landon Wright)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “If Jesus Don’t Love Ya” (Gary Landon Wright, Nikki Sahagen, Ensemble);
“Oh, Please” (reprise) (Robert Nichols, Betty Johnson); “Promise Me a Rose” (Beth Fowler); “Staying
Young” (reprise) (Robert Nichols); “(Little) Green Snake” (Kurt Knudson); “Nine O’Clock” (Gary Landon
Wright); “Nine O’Clock” (reprise) (Gary Landon Wright, Taryn Grimes); “But Yours” (Kurt Knudson, Beth
Fowler); Finale (Kurt Knudson, Beth Fowler)
Take Me Along was based on Eugene O’Neill’s 1933 comedy Ah, Wilderness!, and the revival of the 1959
musical played for just one performance and was the season’s shortest-running musical. The low-key pro-
duction was perhaps a bit unfairly ridiculed as a summer-stock show with delusions of Broadway grandeur,
but in truth the scaled-down version was too mild-mannered for its own good. The original 1959 production
enjoyed the star power of Jackie Gleason, Robert Morse, Walter Pidgeon, and Eileen Herlie, and while all
the participants in the current revival were genial, they lacked the spark needed to add color and humor to
the plot’s sometimes genteel and occasionally would-be-naughty goings-on. Further, the company was about
half the size of the original Broadway production, and thus the old town of Centerville, Connecticut, looked
underpopulated. The choreography was far too modest, and Onna White’s celebrated “Beardsley Ballet” was
eliminated.
The 1959 production ran over a year, and back when Variety used to report on such matters, a 1976 article
stated the musical had cost $325,000 to produce; made $13,274 in profits during 1975; and going into 1976
was still in the red by $59,547. Despite the musical’s less than stellar track record, the current revival opti-
mistically went forward and then quickly stumbled. The new production clearly needed a powerful personal-
ity to propel the evening forward, but didn’t get it. And its paltry production values failed to illuminate both
the leafy summer splendor of a small turn-of-the-century New England town in its full gingerbread Victorian
glory and the fantasy of its Aubrey Beardsley–styled Art Nouveau dance hall.
O’Neill’s play took place over the Fourth of July holiday of 1906 and the lighthearted work was far re-
moved from the anguished New England summer day and night which he depicted in Long Day’s Journey
into Night. The musical centered on local newspaper publisher Nat Miller (Robert Nichols), his moon-struck
son Richard (Gary Landon Wright), and his generally irresponsible and usually in-his-cups brother-in-law Sid
(Kurt Knudson), who is attracted to Nat’s spinster sister Lily (Beth Fowler). While O’Neill focused on Rich-
ard’s growing pains and first romantic awakenings, the musical emphasized Sid’s comic capers. (The 1959
production took place in 1910, but the current revival moved the action to 1906, the year in which O’Neill’s
play was originally set.)
Bob Merrill’s likeable score included warm, introspective ballads (“Staying Young” and “We’re Home”);
a giddy look at the married-facts-of-life for Lily and Sid (“I Get Embarrassed”); a comic patter song for Sid
(“Sid, Ol’ Kid”); a duet of puppy love for Richard and his girlfriend Muriel (“I Would Die”); a soaring ballad
for Richard (“Nine O’Clock”); a wise and emotionally direct warning from Lily to Sid (“Promise Me a Rose”);
and the jubilant title song. The musical also offered an impressive overture, one of Broadway’s very best.
The current revival was first produced earlier in the season on September 12, 1984, at Goodspeed Opera
House, East Haddam, Connecticut, and then briefly toured before opening on Broadway.
Besides the ballet, the revival omitted “Pleasant Beach House” (aka “Wint’s Song”) and tweaked a lyric or
two in order to appease the gods of political correctness. “The Parade” and “For Sweet Charity” (aka “Volun-
teer Fireman Picnic” and “Volunteer Fire Brigade”) were slightly reworked and respectively retitled “Marvel-
ous Fire Machine” and “The Only Pair I’ve Got.” The production also added three songs: “In the Company of
Men,” which had first been heard in an all-black Off-Off-Broadway revival which opened on March 14, 1984,
for twelve performances at Manhattan Community College’s Richard Allen Center for Culture and Art, as
well as two new ones specifically written for the current showing, “Knights on White Horses” and “If Jesus
Don’t Love Ya.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times noted that Take Me Along was the kind of “solid book musical” that
had been the “bread-and-butter of the commercial New York theatre,” and there was no reason to believe the
show couldn’t work a quarter-century later. But any “life” the show had wasn’t “sufficiently tapped” in the
revival, and despite Merrill’s “charming” score (and “dandy” overture), the production offered an “overripe”
chorus, “undernourished” scenery, and leading players who often performed “in the muted tones of under-
studies.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News felt that Take Me Along had been “no great shakes”
in 1959, but had possessed “gentle charm” and “tuneful but far from striking” songs. However, the revival
lacked stars, the décor was “workmanlike,” and the costumes were just “okay” (and he noted that the “Beard-
sley Ballet” had been “wisely discarded”).
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily found the revival “routine” but “affectionate,” and he praised
the “gentle” and “endearing” score. He had seen the original production late in its run when William Bendix
had succeeded Jackie Gleason, and he noted the “Beardsley Ballet” had been “stunningly executed” and the
overall production “had a polish we rarely see today.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post stated that while
Take Me Along was no classic it was nonetheless “a good-natured, well-conceived, immaculately tailored
Broadway musical.” Despite the revival’s lack of a “stellar” cast, the musical was “a classic realization of
a musical from a classic period that is not itself quite a classic.” But the evening offered a “cheerful” score
and a “comic geniality,” and he suspected its “unabashed stylishness could still warm kind hearts this chilly
Broadway season.”
The 1959 cast album was recorded by RCA Victor Records (LP # LOC/LSO-1050), and the CD was first
issued by RCA/BMG Records (# 07863-51050-2) and then by DRG Records (# 19116). Besides the cast album,
there were three contemporary recordings of the score: Frankie Carle and His Piano and Orchestra (RCA Vic-
tor Records LP # LSP-2142), which includes the unused song “Thinkin’ Things”; Hill Bowen and His Orches-
tra (RCA Camden LP # CAS-580); and Russ Case’s musical direction of orchestra and chorus (Rondo-Lette LP
# SA151). In 2011, Seth MacFarlane’s sparkling collection Music Is Better Than Words (Universal Republic
Records CD # BOO15591-10) included a real surprise, a thrilling and joyous rendition of “Nine O’Clock.”
The collection Lost Broadway and More includes “Here We Are Again,” which seems to have been dropped
during the preproduction phase of the original production, and Lost Broadway and More Volume Three offers
“If Jesus Don’t Love Ya”; both CDs were released by Original Cast Records in unnumbered editions.
1984–1985 SEASON 239
Take Me Along wasn’t the first musical adaptation of O’Neill’s comedy. MGM’s 1948 Summer Holiday
was a problematic version of the story with lyrics by Ralph Blane, music by Harry Warren, and a cast that
included Mickey Rooney (Richard), Gloria DeHaven (Muriel), and Walter Huston (Nat Miller). Directed by
Rouben Mamoulian, the film is visually enchanting and drenched in glorious sunshine and Technicolor. It
offers a charming opening number (“Our Home Town”), a rousing salute to the Fourth of July (“Indepen-
dence Day”), a richly melodic tribute to “The Stanley Steamer” (a musical kissing cousin to “The Trolley
Song” from MGM’s 1944 Meet Me in St. Louis and “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe” from the
same studio’s 1946 The Harvey Girls), and Nat’s tender and rueful “Spring Isn’t Everything,” which makes
a fascinating companion piece to both Huston’s “September Song” from Knickerbocker Holiday (1938) and
Take Me Along’s “Staying Young” (“Spring Isn’t Everything” was cut from the film’s final release print but
is included on the soundtrack album issued by Rhino Records CD # RHM2-7769). The film also included
an innovative scene in rhymed dialogue for Richard and a floozy in the local bawdy house. It was cleverly
photographed and edited to depict Richard’s tipsy impressions: the floozy’s pale pink gown becomes pinker,
then red, and then even redder, and the screen becomes awash in garish colors. The film was made in 1946,
sat on the shelf for two years, and when released in 1948 was severely edited with the deletion of three songs
and one dance sequence.
GRIND
Performances: 79
Book: Fay Kanin
Lyrics: Ellen Fitzhugh
Music: Larry Grossman
Direction: Harold Prince; Producers: Kenneth D. Greenblatt, John J. Pomerantz, Mary Lea Johnson, Martin
Richards, James M. Nederlander, Harold Prince, and Michael Frazier in association with Susan Madden
Samson and Jonathan Farkas (Ruth Mitchell and Sam Crothers, Executive Producers); Choreography: Les-
ter Wilson (Larry Vickers, Assistant Choreographer); Scenery: Clarke Dunham; Costumes: Florence Klotz;
Lighting: Ken Billington; Musical Direction: Paul Gemignani
Cast: Ben Vereen (Leroy), Lee Wallace (Harry), Stubby Kaye (Gus), Joey Faye (Solly), Marion Ramsey
(Vernelle), Hope Clarke (Ruby), Valarie Pettiford (Fleta), Candy Brown (Kitty), Wynonna Smith (Linette),
Carol Woods (Maybelle), Jackie Jay Patterson (Mechanical Man), Leonard John Crofoot (Knockabout,
Stooge, Tough), Ray Roderick (Knockabout, Tough), Kelly Walters (Knockabout, Tough), Steve Owsley
(Knockabout, Tough), Malcolm Perry (Knockabout, Tough), Sharon Murray (Romaine), Leilani Jones
(Satin), Brian McKay (Louis), Oscar Stokes (Mike), Timothy Nolen (Doyle), Donald Acree (Grover), Ruth
Brisbane (Mrs. Faye)
The action takes place in Chicago during 1933.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “This Must Be the Place” (Company); “Cadava” (Joey Faye, Stubby Kaye, Sharon Murray); “A Sweet
Thing Like Me” (Leilani Jones, Earle’s Pearls); “I Get Myself Out” (Stubby Kaye); “My Daddy Always
Taught Me to Share” (Ben Vereen); “All Things to One Man” (Leilani Jones); “The Line” (Ben Vereen,
Earle’s Pearls); “Katie, My Love” (Timothy Nolen); “The Grind” (Stubby Kaye, Company); “Yes, Ma’am”
(Timothy Nolen); “Why, Mama, Why” (Leilani Jones, Ben Vereen); “This Crazy Place” (Ben Vereen, Com-
pany)
Act Two: “From the Ankles Down” (Ben Vereen, Earle’s Pearls); “Who Is He?” (Leilani Jones)/ “Never Put
It in Writing” (Stubby Kaye)/“I Talk, You Talk” (Timothy Nolen); “Timing” (Sharon Murray, Joey Faye);
“These Eyes of Mine” (Carol Woods, Company); “New Man” (Ben Vereen); “Down” (Timothy Nolen); “A
Century of Progress” (Ben Vereen, Leilani Jones, Company); Finale (Company)
Grind was a well-meaning but pretentious and confused mess. Titled Century of Progress during prepro-
duction, the musical took place in a burlesque house in the Chicago of 1933 during the Century of Progress
Exposition, and the triple-edged title referred to the bumps-and-grinds of the strip-tease performers, the grind
of daily living during the Depression era, and the grinding of powder to make bombs. But Grind was a musical
that shouldn’t have whispered the word “bomb.”
The musical’s creators seemed thunderstruck with their realization that racism is evil, and they appar-
ently thought audiences were too stupid to know the history of America’s conflicted racial politics. As a
result, the musical had nothing new to say on the subject and hammered away at the obvious by creating
happenstance moments that depicted racism within the world of the burlesque theatre and its performers. As
a result, evil whites run amok and do everything from destroying a bicycle that belongs to the little brother
of strip-tease performer Satin (Leilani Jones) to harassing Satin while she performs one of her routines. More-
over, the white establishment won’t allow blacks and whites to appear on the stage at the same time, and the
dressing-room areas are carefully segregated. It was all too much as the writers piled on incident after incident
to prove their show’s bona-fide progressive credentials.
The essentially anonymous evil whites were little more than mob-scene participants in the action, and
one of the few non-racist whites was Doyle (Timothy Nolen), an Irish Republican Army terrorist-on-the-run
who has killed the innocent in the name of his country’s independence. It turns out that in Ireland Doyle
blew up a train that unbeknownst to him carried his wife and child, and because he has murdered his family
he’s turned to drink and come to the United States in the hope of forgetting the Irish “troubles” and his guilt.
He now has a job as a stooge for Gus (Stubby Kaye), one of the top bananas at the burlesque house, who has
troubles of his own: Gus is going blind and eventually kills himself. But his funeral conveniently allowed for
the inclusion of the song “These Eyes of Mine,” one of the era’s umpteenth gospel numbers. Quilters had
offered the traditional “Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb?”; those few who attended the revival of
Take Me Along had just heard “If Jesus Don’t Love Ya”; and, yes, right down the Big River a few weeks later
Broadway audiences were treated to yet even more gospel-styled songs.
In the meantime, an interracial romance blooms when Doyle and Satin fall in love, and a triangle of sorts
develops when Leroy (Ben Vereen, in an impossibly written non-role which as performed and staged seemed
to anticipate Las-Vegas-styled entertainment shtick of the 1960s) also falls for Satin. The evening soon came
to a head in a far-fetched and out-of-nowhere conclusion in which the black and white performers join hands
in defiance of the era’s racial attitudes and appear on stage together. But given the world depicted by the musi-
cal’s creators, one wonders if this act of bravado might incite a racial riot that would make the Chicago Fire
look like a camp fire.
The book was hopelessly lost in a sea of antiquated racial notions that refused to acknowledge there had
been a certain amount of racial progress during the years following the Civil War, and the production tried in
vain to equate the Chicago of 1933 with that of the world of 1928 Berlin and Cabaret. As a result, the various
subplots were limp and scattershot and the often ill-defined characterizations did in the performers.
The musical’s strengths were threefold. Although Ellen Fitzhugh and Larry Grossman’s score contained
the tiresome gospel number, a couple of throwaway songs, and some noticeably flavorless ones for Ben Ver-
een’s and Stubby Kaye’s characters, the team created many strong theatrical ones: Satin’s vampy strip number
“A Sweet Thing Like Me” was both cautionary and come-hither; her Arlenesque “All Things to One Man”
was a heartfelt blues; the fugue-like trio (“Who Is He?,” “Never Put It in Writing,” and “I Talk, You Talk”)
evoked the splendor and bravado of old-time Broadway; and the irresistibly jaunty “A Century of Progress”
brought the show to its would-be ironic conclusion. Doyle was given three effective “Irish” numbers, “Katie,
My Love,” “Down,” and “Rabbity Stew” (the latter was deleted during the tryout).
The musical’s two other strengths were Clarke Dunham’s magnificent decor and Ken Billington’s moody
lighting. Dunham’s set was a breathtaking multitiered revolving phantasmagoria that depicted the burlesque
theatre with its marquee and box office, stage and runway, back alley, and, most spectacularly, a honeycomb
of shabby dressing rooms that were reached by spider webs of wrought-iron staircases. In one sequence, the
wall of dressing rooms provided a reverse view that reflected the auditorium of the burlesque house. Billing-
ton’s lighting was appropriately murky and menacing. His specialty is “dark” lighting, of which he is the
master, and his genius enhanced the look of the original production of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of
Fleet Street, and his lighting (along with Larry Grossman’s score) was responsible for giving A Doll’s Life what
little life it had. Billington also created the dusty and atmospheric lighting for the 1996 revival of Chicago, for
which he won the Tony Award.
1984–1985 SEASON 241
The critics noted the musical evoked passages from Gypsy, Cabaret, Follies, Pippin, Chicago, and Swee-
ney Todd, and Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the enterprise suggested “what might have happened
if Sweeney Todd had met the Sugar Babies and they all got together in a rousing gospel-style chorus of ‘We
Shall Overcome.’” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 felt that the musical was “Sugar Babies meets Eugene O’Neill.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times said that for the show’s first hour it was virtually “impossible” to
“figure out” what was going on, but when the authors’ intentions became clear the heretofore “insinuating
atmosphere” turned “torpid” and its “mystery” evaporated into “banality.” The musical was “all too heav-
ily didactic” and “all too familiar,” but he praised the “mysterious aura” evoked by Dunham’s splendid set,
and noted that the backstage area suggested that “Catfish Row had been plunked down in a Reginald Marsh
painting of a Depression movie palace.” Further, Billington’s lighting design was “as eerie as the House of
Usher before the fall.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said that despite the uncredited assistance of Bob Fosse, the
musical couldn’t overcome the two things wrong with it, the book and the score. The “stew” on stage seemed
to have been created by committee, the work was “wearing,” “overlong,” and “unsure of itself,” and Timothy
Nolen gave the impression that Sweeney Todd had “wandered into the wrong show.”
Barnes noted that the finale’s upbeat image of black and white hands joined in “racial togetherness”
seemed “unlikely,” and he said the overall “social significance hangs gloomily over the show like a belt of low
pressure.” He too noted that Nolen looked “as if he had walked into the wrong stage door,” and his character’s
songs must have been written by “Sweeney Sondheim.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily stated that
with Grind “another nail has been driven into the coffin of musical theatre.” The show’s view of racism was
outdated, “gratuitous,” “self-congratulatory,” and “in no way pertinent,” and the evening seemed more like
“an exercise in the study of musical theatre than a musical.” Further, the characters were “stereotypes” and
the story never came to life. Jack Kroll in Newsweek said the show was never “believable,” and despite the
professionalism of the score it left him “unravished,” and William A. Henry III in Time said the book was full
of unlikely coincidence, “cheap tricks,” and “falseness.”
During the tryout and New York previews, the following numbers were deleted: “The Best,” “The One
I Want Is Always on the Bottom,” “You, Pasha, You,” “Rabbity Stew,” “La Salle Street Stomp,” and “Rise
and Shine” (the latter’s music was incorporated into the title song). “Rabbity Stew” was later included in
Grossman’s musical Paper Moon, which premiered in 1993 and was occasionally produced in regional theatre.
The script was published in paperback by Broadway Play Publishing in 1986, and the cast album was
released by Polydor Records (LP # 827-072-1-Y-1) and was later issued on CD by That’s Entertainment/Jay
Records (# CDTER-1103). Unfortunately, the cast album omitted “A Century of Progress,” one of the score’s
most outstanding songs.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Grind); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Leilani Jones); Best
Director of a Musical (Harold Prince); Best Book (Fay Kanin); Best Score (lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh, music
by Larry Grossman); Best Scenic Designer (Clarke Dunham); Best Costume Designer (Florence Klotz)
BIG RIVER: THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN

Theatre: Eugene O’Neill Theatre
Opening Date: April 25, 1985; Closing Date: September 20, 1987
Performances: 1,005
Book: William Hauptman
Lyrics and Music: Roger Miller; dance and incidental music by John Richard Lewis
Based on the 1884 novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
Direction: Des McAnuff; Producers: Rocco Landesman, Heidi Landesman, Rick Steiner, M. Anthony Fisher,
and Dodger Productions (Arthur Katz, Emily Landau, Fred Mayerson, and TM Productions, Inc.); Chore-
ography: Janet Watson; Stage Movement and Fights: B. H. Barry; Scenery: Heidi Landesman (Robert Shaw,
Associate Scenic Designer); Costumes: Patricia McGourty; Lighting: Richard Riddell; Musical Direction:
Linda Twine
Cast: Gordon Connell (Mark Twain, Doctor), Daniel H. Jenkins (Huckleberry Finn), Susan Browning (Widow
Douglas, Sally Phelps), Evalyn Baron (Miss Watson, Woman in Shanty, Harmonica Player), Ron Richard-
son (Jim), John Short (Tom Sawyer), William Youmans (Ben Rogers, Hank, A Young Fool), Andi Henig
(Jo Harper, Joanna Wilkes), Aramis Estevez (Simon), Michael Brian (Dick, Andy, Man in the Crowd),
John Goodman (Pap Finn, Sheriff Bell), Ralph Byers (Judge Thatcher, Harvey Wilkes, Silas Phelps); Slaves
and Overseers: Carol Dennis, Elmore James, Jennifer Leigh Warren, Franz Jones, Aramis Estevez, John
Goodman, William Youmans, and Michael Ryan; Three Men on a Skiff: Ralph Byers, Reathel Bean, and
Elmore James; Bob Gunton (The King), Rene Auberjonois (The Duke); Soldiers and Citizens: The Com-
pany; Reathel Bean (Lafe, Counselor Robinson); Townspeople: The Company; Patti Cohenour (Mary Jane
Wilkes), Peggy Harmon (Susan Wilkes), Franz Jones (Bill), Carol Dennis (Alice), Jennifer Leigh Warren
(Alice’s Daughter); Mourners and Mob: The Company; Hired Hands: Reathel Bean, Michael Brian, and
John Goodman
The action takes place along the Mississippi River Valley “sometime in the 1840s.”
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Do You Want to Go to Heaven?” (Company); “The Boys” (John Short, The Gang); “Waitin’ for the
Light to Shine” (Daniel H. Jenkins); “Guv’ment” (John Goodman); “Hand for the Hog” (John Short); “I,
Huckleberry, Me” (Daniel H. Jenkins); “Muddy Water” (Ron Richardson, Daniel H. Jenkins); “Crossing
Over” (Carol Dennis, Elmore James, Jennifer Leigh Warren, Franz Jones, Aramis Estevez, John Goodman,
William Youmans, Michael Ryan); “River in the Rain” (Daniel H. Jenkins, Ron Richardson); “When the
Sun Goes Down in the South” (Rene Auberjonois, Bob Gunton, Daniel H. Jenkins)
Act Two: “The Royal Nonesuch” (Rene Auberjonois, Company); “Worlds Apart” (Ron Richardson, Daniel H.
Jenkins); “Arkansas” (William Youmans); “How Blest We Are” (Jennifer Leigh Warren, Company); “You
Ought to Be Here with Me” (Patti Cohenour, Peggy Harmon, Andi Henig); “How Blest We Are” (reprise)
(Carol Dennis); “Leaving’s Not the Only Way to Go” (Patti Cohenour, Ron Richardson, Daniel H. Jen-
kins); “Waitin’ for the Light to Shine” (reprise) (Daniel H. Jenkins, Men Slaves, Women Slaves); “Free at
Last” (Ron Richardson, Slaves); “River in the Rain” (reprise) (Daniel H. Jenkins, Ron Richardson); “Muddy
Water” (reprise) (Company)
Big River had the good fortune to open at the end of one of the most undistinguished seasons in the his-
tory of Broadway musicals, a season in which the Tony Award committee decided to eliminate the categories
of Best Leading Actor in a Musical, Best Leading Actress in a Musical, and Best Choreographer. In better
seasons, Big River might have been an also-ran, but in comparison to the desultory shows that opened before
it (Quilters, the revival of The Three Musketeers, Harrigan ’n Hart, Grind, et al.), the musical seemed bet-
ter than it really was. As a result, it won a number of awards, enjoyed a run of over 1,000 performances and
became the longest-running musical of the season, had a national tour, and was revived on Broadway two
decades later.
But Big River was generally small change. The adaptation came across like The Greatest Hits of Mark
Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and popular singer and songwriter Roger Miller’s score
was mostly bland in a pleasant and innocuous fashion. Some made a case for the obvious and tiresome
“Guv’ment,” and others even enjoyed the clichéd gospel numbers. But the only song that transcended the
material was Huck and Jim’s haunting “River in the Rain,” arguably one of the best theatre songs of the era.
Heidi Landesman’s evocative and sometimes brooding Tony Award–winning décor of the eternally wind-
ing Mississippi River was effective (although not as impressive as Clarke Dunham’s scenery for Grind), and
had the rest of Big River lived up to her inventive scenery and had the entire score been on the level of “River
in the Rain,” the musical might have been memorable. Director Des McAnuff did what he could, and it would
have been interesting had he tackled a staging of Huckleberry Finn in the style of Nicholas Nickleby with an
expanded adaptation that utilized fluid staging techniques and an epic vision.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said Big River was the first musical of the season that audiences could
attend “without fear of suffering either profound embarrassment or terminal boredom.” He noted that occa-
1984–1985 SEASON 243
sionally the show’s “imaginative flow” slowed “to a trickle” with “a mixture of the modestly engaging to the
tolerably bland.” He was also surprised that the adaptation did “the hard things well and the easy things slop-
pily,” and so while McAnuff’s staging was “daring” with its promise of Twain’s “visionary sweep,” the book
was a “comic-book-style digest” that “flattens out an American Ulysses into The Hardy Boys” and could
never “quite bring itself to raise hell.” Daniel H. Jenkins was “charming” but too mature and “domesticated”
for Huck, and Ron Richardson’s Jim was “timidly and anachronistically bowdlerized” as “an incipient 20th-
century civil-rights activist.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the “amiable, tuneful, rambling
and almost totally uninvolving” evening lost much of the novel’s “flavor,” and some of the book’s “altera-
tions” were “questionable.” Ultimately, the adaptation committed “the unpardonable sin of being dull.”
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the “dreary” production offered “monotonous” music, “un-
interesting” lyrics, and a book that was clichéd with tableaux “we never take seriously.” As for the Gospel
Number, he noted this too had “become a Broadway cliché, and only the most innocent members of the au-
dience can still find this novel or moving.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 liked the cast but said “things don’t go
swimmingly” in Big River because the show mostly “treads water.” There were no dance numbers, the first
twenty minutes of the first act “were a waste of time,” Miller had “rewritten ‘King of the Road’ six times”
and tried to “pass it off as a Broadway score,” and as for the musicians, Siegel said he had “a bigger band at
my Bar Mitzvah.”
Jack Kroll in Newsweek said Miller had written “beautiful” songs, and both McAnuff and Landesman
“beautifully realized” the look and feeling of Huck and Jim’s odyssey on the Mississippi. But some sequences
lost “the flow and thrust” of the story,” some of Twain’s “grittiness” had been “sanitized,” and the “appeal-
ing” Daniel H. Jenkins was nonetheless too old for the role. Clive Barnes in the New York Post praised the
“extremely welcome” musical, which was notable for “its simplicity, straightforwardness and general grasp
of theatrical verities”; John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor liked the “engaging” score and Landes-
man’s “splendid” and “panoramic” visual designs; and Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal singled out
the “strong” performances, “imaginative” sets, and “the infectious, foot-stomping score,” but cautioned that
the second act became “bogged down in the overly involved plot” and McAnuff tended to treat the secondary
characters as “caricatures.”
The musical was first presented on February 17, 1984, at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. The script was published in hardback by Grove Press in 1986. The cast album was released
by MCA Records (LP # MCA-6147 and CD # MCAD-6147), and a 1990 Australian cast album was issued by
Rich River Records (CD # BRR-1989). Roger Miller recorded “River in the Rain” and “Hand for the Hog,” and
during the Broadway run he succeeded John Goodman in the role of Pap Finn for three months.
The musical was revived on July 24, 2003, at the American Airlines Theatre for sixty-seven performances;
the cast included Tyrone Giordano (Huckleberry Finn), Michael McElroy (Jim), and from the original produc-
tion Daniel H. Jenkins (who had now dropped his middle initial) played the role of Mark Twain as well as the
voice of Huck. The production utilized hearing and deaf actors who signed and sang.
There have been almost twenty musical adaptations of Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), including Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, regional
theatre (including versions specifically written as children’s musicals), television, film, and West End produc-
tions. The earliest seems to be Huckleberry Finn, which closed during its Broadway tryout in 1902, and one
of the most recent is the 2001 Broadway production of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which closed after
twenty-one performances.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Big River); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Rene Auber-
jonois); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Daniel H. Jenkins); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Ron
Richardson); Best Director of a Musical (Des McAnuff); Best Book (William Hauptman); Best Score (lyrics
and music by Roger Miller); Best Scenic Designer (Heidi Landesman); Best Costume Designer (Patricia
McGourty); Best Lighting Designer (Richard Riddell)
AMERICA’S SWEETHEART
The musical opened at Hartford Stage, Hartford, Connecticut, on March 5, 1985, and closed there on April 7,
1985. The production then played at the Coconut Grove Playhouse, in Miami, Florida, where it perma-
nently closed.
Book: John Weidman and Alfred Uhry
Lyrics: Alfred Uhry
Music: Robert Waldman
Based on the 1971 book Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone by John Kobler.
Direction: Gerald Freedman; Producer: The Hartford Stage Company (Mark Lamos, Artistic Director; William
Stewart, Managing Director); Choreography: Graciela Daniele; Scenery: Kevin Rupnik; Costumes: Jeanne
Button; Lighting: Pat Collins; Musical Direction: Liza Redfield
Cast: Family—Stephen Vinovich (Al Capone), K. T. (KT) Sullivan (Mae Capone), Trevor Keeth (Sonny Ca-
pone); Gang—Nicholas Gunn (Jake Bensick), Michael McCormick (Frankie Rivaldo), Tom Robbins (Tony
Rivaldo); People of Chicago: Wayne Bryan (Officer Zwick, Jerry Allen, Badger, Grown Sonny), Carolyn
Casanave (Edna Beal), Lucinda Hitchcock Cone (Lulu Blombeck), Gary-Michael Davies (Barney, Schemer
Drucci, Senator Krauss, President), Donna English (Bernice Madden, Muriel Wilson), Jeff Etjen (Bugs Mo-
ran, Attorney General, Judge Fox), Tom Henning (Harry Wilzak, Dion O’Bannion, Stone), Richard Levine
(Nate Beal, Doctor Bailey), K. K. Preece (Radio Lady, Gladys), Steve Routman (Max Chase, Hymie Weiss,
Frank Wilson), Deanna Wells (Vicki Chase, Fay, Stern)
The action takes place in and around Chicago “in the days of Al Capone.”
Musical Numbers
Act One: “You’ll Get Yours” (K. K. Preece, Stephen Vinovich, Nicholas Gunn, Michael McCormick, Tom
Robbins, People of Chicago); “Happy Time Al” (Stephen Vinovich, Nicholas Gunn, Michael McCormick,
Tom Robbins); “Better Off Bad” (Carolyn Casanave, Lucinda Hitchcock Cone, Deanna Wells, Wayne
Bryan); “Here’s to a Lady” (Stephen Vinovich, Trevor Keith); “Chicago Style” (Stephen Vinovich, Nicho-
las Gunn, Michael McCormick, Tom Robbins); “Florida” (Michael McCormick, Tom Robbins, Bathing
Beauties); “He Gets Away with Murder” (Lucinda Hitchcock Cone, Tom Henning, Richard Levine, People
of Chicago); “America’s Sweetheart” (Stephen Vinovich, People of Chicago)
Act Two: “Call in the Tax Collector” (Jeff Etjen, Gary-Michael Davis, Steve Routman, Donna English);
“Crime Doesn’t Pay” (Stephen Vinovich, Nicholas Gunn, Michael McCormick, Tom Robbins, People of
Chicago); “Simple” (K. T. Sullivan, Trevor Keeth, Stephen Vinovich, Tom Henning, Deanna Wells, Wayne
Bryan); “Love Time” (Lucinda Hitchcock Cone, Donna English, Carolyn Casanave, Stephen Vinovich,
Deanna Wells, K. K. Preece, Richard Levine); “All Fwoo” (Wayne Bryan), “Old Year” (K. K. Preece, Deanna
Wells, Michael McCormick, Tom Robbins); “Flower of Their Days” (Mourners); “Buddy Buddy” (Stephen
Vinovich, Steve Routman); “Getting to Wilson” (Stephen Vinovich); “Capone’s Day in Court” (Stephen
Vinovich, People of Chicago); “The Last Ten Years” (Company)
America’s Sweetheart was Al Capone (1899–1947) and not a revival of the 1931 Richard Rodgers and
Lorenz Hart Broadway musical of the same name. The current show looked at Capone’s life and times in
the bad old days of the gangster era. The musical was clearly aimed for Broadway, and besides cowriter John
Weidman, lyricist and cowriter Alfred Uhry, and composer Robert Waldman, the creative team included di-
rector Gerald Freedman and choreographer Graciela Daniele. But the show floundered in regional theatre, and
it brought to a close the handful of interesting collaborations by Uhry and Waldman.
Despite some solid songs, Uhry and Waldman’s first musical Here’s Where I Belong, which was based on
John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, closed after one performance in 1968. Following a 1974 limited engagement
Off Off Broadway that starred Raul Julia (in the title role) and Rhonda Coullet, their next musical The Rob-
ber Bridegroom was presented on Broadway in 1975 for another limited engagement (with Kevin Kline and
Patti LuPone) and then in 1976 (with Barry Bostwick, who won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a
Musical, and Coullet reprising her original role); with its folk-like story and engaging score, the small-scale
1984–1985 SEASON 245
musical played on Broadway for a few months and enjoyed many regional productions. In 1980, their ambi-
tious concept musical Swing closed during its pre-Broadway tryout.
But Uhry enjoyed a tremendous success with his 1987 Off-Broadway drama Driving Miss Daisy, which
won the Pulitzer Prize and ran for 1,195 performances; it was revived on Broadway in 2010 for 180 showings,
and for the 1989 film version Uhry won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (the film also won
the Academy Award for Best Picture and Jessica Tandy won for Best Actress). His 1997 Broadway drama The
Last Night of Ballyhoo won the Tony Award for Best Play, and he wrote the book for the 1998 musical Parade
(lyrics and music by Jason Robert Brown), for which he won the Tony Award for Best Book; the work also won
the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Musical.
Capone’s book was cowritten by Weidman, who wrote the books for three other musicals that looked
at figures from America’s past, all with lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim: Commodore Matthew Perry
(Pacific Overtures, 1976); assassins and would-be assassins of American presidents (Assassins, 1991); and
1920s entrepreneur and con man Wilson Mizner and his architect brother Addison (Wise Guys, 1999; revised
as Bounce in 2003 and revised yet again as Road Show in 2008).
1985–1986 Season
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN

“Based on the MGM Film”

Opening Date: July 2, 1985; Closing Date: May 18, 1986
Performances: 367
Book: Adaptation by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Lyrics: Arthur Freed
Music: Nacio Herb Brown
Based on the 1952 MGM film Singin’ in the Rain (screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, directed
and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen).
Direction and Choreography: Twyla Tharp; Producers: Maurice Rosenfield, Lois F. Rosenfield, and Cindy
Pritzker, Inc. (Eugene V. Wolsk, Associate Producer); Film Sequences: Directed by Gordon Willis; Scenery:
Santo Loquasto; Costumes: Ann Roth; Lighting: Jennifer Tipton; Musical Direction: Robert Billig
Cast: Melinda Gilb (Dora Bailey), Peter Slutsker (Cosmo Brown), Faye Grant (Lina Lamont), Don Correia (Don
Lockwood), Hansford Rowe (R. F. Simpson), Richard Fancy (Roscoe Dexter), Mary D’Arcy (Kathy Selden),
Martin Van Treuren (Sid Phillips, Ticket Taker), Jacque Dean (Phoebe Dinsmore), Austin Colyer (Diction
Coach, A Warner Brother), John Spalla (Sound Engineer), Mary Ann Kellogg (Zelda Zanders); Ensemble:
Ray Benson, John Carrafa, Richard Colton, Austin Colyer, Jacque Dean, Diane Duncan, Yvonne Dutton,
Craig Frawley, Melinda Gilb, Katie Glasner, Barbara Hoon, David-Michael Johnson, Mary Ann Kellogg,
Raymond Kurshals, Alison Mann, Barbara Moroz, Kevin O’Day, Robert Radford, Tom Rawe, Gene Sager,
John Spalla, Amy Spencer, Cynthia Thole, Martin Van Treuren, Shelley Washington, Laurie Williamson
The action takes place in Hollywood during the late 1920s.
Musical Numbers
Note: * = Denotes choreography by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen as created for the original 1952 film.
Act One: “Fit as a Fiddle” (*) (lyric by Arthur Freed, music by Al Hoffman and Al Goodhart; 1932 film Col-
lege Coach) (Don Correia, Peter Slutsker); “Beautiful Girl” (lyric by Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb
Brown; 1933 films Stage Mother and Going Hollywood) (Don Correia, Fans); “I’ve (I) Got a Feelin’ (Feeling)
You’re Foolin’ (Fooling)” (lyric by Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb Brown; film Broadway Melody of
1936) (Mary D’Arcy, The Coconut Grove Coquettes); “Make ’Em Laugh” (lyric by Arthur Freed, music by
Nacio Herb Brown; Singin’ in the Rain, 1952) (Peter Slutsker); “Hub Bub” (music by Stanley Lebowsky)
(Peter Slutsker; The Studio Stage Hands: John Carrafa, Richard Colton, Raymond Kurshals, Kevin O’Day,
Robert Radford, and Tom Rawe); “You Are My Lucky Star” (lyric by Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb
Brown; film Broadway Melody of 1936) (Don Correia, Mary D’Arcy); “Moses Supposes” (*) (lyric by
247
Betty Comden and Adolph Green, music by Roger Edens; Singin’ in the Rain, 1952) (Don Correia, Peter
Slutsker); “Good Mornin’ (Morning)” (*) (lyric by Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb Brown; 1939 film
Babes in Arms) ( (Don Correia, Mary D’Arcy, Peter Slutsker); “Singin’ in the Rain” (*) (lyric by Arthur
Freed, music by Nacio Herb Brown; film Hollywood Revue of 1929) (Don Correia)
Act Two: “The Wedding of the Painted Doll” (lyric by Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb Brown; 1929 film
The Broadway Melody) (Diane Duncan, Yvonne Dutton, Katie Glasner, Kevin O’Day, Amy Spencer, Cyn-
thia Thole); “Rag Doll” (lyricist and composer unknown; source unknown) Richard Colton, Barbara Hoon,
Raymond Kurshals); “Temptation” (lyric by Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb Brown; 1933 film Going
Hollywood) (Singers: Melinda Gilb; Dancers: Mary Ann Kellogg, Robert Radford, Shelley Washington);
“Takin’ (Taking) Miss Mary to the Ball” (lyric by Edward Heyman, music by Nacio Herb Brown; 1948
film On an Island with You) (Singers: Ray Benson and Alison Mann; Dancing Horse: Robert Radford and
Shelley Washington); “Love Is Where You Find It” (lyric by Earl Brent [program attributes lyric to Gus
Kahn], music by Nacio Herb Brown; 1948 film The Kissing Bandit) (Ensemble); “Would You?” (lyric by
Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb Brown; 1936 film San Francisco) (Mary D’Arcy); The Dancing Cava-
lier—“Broadway Rhythm” (lyric by Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb Brown; film Broadway Melody of
1936) (Company) and “Blue Prelude” (lyric by Gordon Jenkins, music by Al Bishop) (Company)—Court at
Frolic: Ray Benson, John Carrafa, Richard Colton, Katie Glasner, Barbara Hoon, Mary Ann Kellogg, Ray-
mond Kurshals, Robert Radford, Tom Rawe, Amy Spencer, Cynthia Thole, Shelley Washington; Pierre:
Don Correia; Manservant: Gene Sager; Villain: Martin Van Treuren; Apache Dancers: John Carrafa, Rich-
ard Colton, Yvonne Dutton, Katie Glasner, Barbara Hoon, Mary Ann Kellogg, Raymond Kurshals, Kevin
O’Day, Tom Rawe, Amy Spencer; Chanteuse: Laurie Williamson; Danseuse: Shelley Washington; Savate
Fighters: Ray Benson and Raymond Kurshals; Peasants: Austin Colyer, Jacque Dean, Craig Frawley, Me-
linda Gilb, David-Michael Johnson, John Spalla; “Would You?” (reprise) (Mary D’Arcy); “You Are My
Lucky Star” (reprise) (Don Correia, Mary D’Arcy, Company); “Singin’ in the Rain” (reprise) (Company)
Twyla Tharp’s Broadway interpretation of the classic 1952 MGM film Singin’ in the Rain cost $5 million
to produce and at the time was the most expensive musical ever seen in New York. The show played a lengthy
series of previews during which the opening night was twice postponed. The reviews were at best mild and
the producers decided to close the extravaganza, but a last-minute cash infusion of $1 million allowed the
show to cover its initial weekly losses and to mount an ad campaign for television and newspapers. As a re-
sult, the show managed to run for almost a year and later enjoyed a national tour that played for a full year.
But the musical never attained must-see status and it quickly fell off the theatrical radar. It was probably too
much to expect that the stage version could compete with the legendary film, one that almost everyone agrees
is the most entertaining movie musical ever made.
The movie never went away, and in the days before home video it was a staple at film festivals and on
television, and with the advent of videocassettes in the early 1980s, the film’s iconic songs, dances, comedy,
and performances were readily available for viewing. A stage version seemed redundant when you could see
Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds, and Jean Hagan in the real thing.
The familiar story spoofed the early days of Hollywood when the studios were transitioning from silent
films to talkies, and centered on star Don Lockwood (Kelly in the film, Don Correia in the musical) and his
love for chorus girl Kathy (Debbie Reynolds/Mary D’Arcy). But Don is unwillingly pursued by film glamour
queen Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen/Faye Grant), a shrill talent-free harpy with a voice like nails on a blackboard.
Her voice is sure to doom her in talkies, but through studio politics she ensures that bit-player Kathy will
dub her speaking and singing voices on the silver screen. Of course, all ends well when Don tells the public
it’s Kathy who possesses the lovely voice they hear, and Kathy appears to be well on her way to stardom and
marriage to Don, not necessarily in that order. Lina is sent packing, and Don and Kathy’s composer friend
Cosmo (Donald O’Connor/Peter Slutsker), who seems uninterested in romance and is mostly a genial hanger-
on, will write songs for Don and Kathy’s movies.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said Tharp’s production was “a pleasant but innocuous matinee spec-
tacle” which made “no attempt to find theatrical equivalents to film techniques” and as a result the dances
sometimes seemed “lost in the frame, as if viewed through the wrong end of the telescope.” Despite the
spectacle and the novelty of stage rain pouring down, the musical turned the film’s “celestial entertainment”
into “a mild diversion that remains resolutely earthbound.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post stated that
the show lacked “brass assurance” and Tharp was more a “Broadway embryo than a Broadway baby.” He sug-
1985–1986 SEASON 249
gested she did “pretty well” with her re-creations of Kelly and Stanley Donen’s film dances, but “on her own”
she was “surprisingly disastrous” and was an “art choreographer whose Broadway time has yet to come.”
The headline of Edwin Wilson’s review in the Wall Street Journal proclaimed “Twyla Tharp Under
Water,” and he complained that the adaptation had no “conception” because the material had “never been
looked at in purely stage terms.” As a result, most of the evening was a “slavish reproduction” of the film
and only in the second act’s depiction of the making of a musical at the Warner Brothers studio did Tharp
finally come into her own and display “her antic imagination.” Here for “the first time in the evening true
inventiveness and spontaneity break through.” Linda Winer in USA Today wondered why Tharp, one of the
“most talented iconoclasts” in the dance world, was hired “to duplicate somebody else’s beloved myth” and
noted it wasn’t until the second act’s Warner Brothers sequence that the choreographer was able to unveil an
“original idea,” which included a riotous dance.
Douglas Watt’s headline in the New York Daily News couldn’t resist saying “Singin’ Down the Drain,”
and he noted the “pallid imitation” was “like re-creating Top Hat minus Astaire and Rogers”; John Beaufort
in the Christian Science Monitor said the evening had “too many rough edges,” but whatever was lacking in
“Broadway slickness” was more than compensated for “in extravagance, bustle, and good-will”; and Howard
Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the stage version was a “dumb idea” for a good musical but a “good idea”
for a “tourist attraction” because the demands on the audience were “minimal” and the show had “built-in
‘product recognition.’”
William A. Henry III in Time said the musical was “dogged by conceptual confusion” but looked “so ex-
pensive that when compared with other recent musicals, it amply justifies the steep price of Broadway tickets
(at $45 top)”; and while Jack Kroll in Newsweek noted there were “undeniable high spirits onstage,” there
were “also high prices” at the box office and so “why should a loving couple spend nearly a hundred bucks to
see a Singin’ in the Rain that can’t come within water buckets of the original?”
As for Don Correia, he had the unenviable task of following Gene Kelly in the leading role, and Joseph M.
Mazo in the New York Post noted he was “a very good dancer” who was “forced into the impossible position
of having to recreate the style and steps” of Kelly. Correia received mixed reviews, but virtually all the critics
acknowledged his innate dancing talents. Winer said he may have lacked Kelly’s “charm” but was nonethe-
less a “terrific hoofer” and a “whiz at Kelly’s acrobatic tap virtuosity”; Beaufort found him a “terrific” dancer
who matched “nimbleness with the charm of a genuine musical-comedy leading man”; and Kissel said he had
“an enormous amount of energy and talent” but lacked Kelly’s “charm.”
Rich said Correia had “so much grace and vitality as a dancer” but was otherwise “too plebeian a Hol-
lywood heartthrob”; Barnes said Correia was a “delightful talent” who sang and danced like Kelly, and if he
looked more like the film actor he “would make a swell stand-in”; Wilson said Correia was “an extremely
nimble dancer” who in the title song provided “a first-rate facsimile of the original”; Kroll found him “a fine
Broadway dancer and a likeable guy” who lacked “magnetism”; and Watt said he was “nimble and accom-
plished” but had the “personality of a chorus boy” (other young up-from-the-chorus male dancers of the era
who graduated to leading roles, such as Christopher Chadman in the 1976 revival of Pal Joey and Lara Teeter
in the recent revival of On Your Toes, also endured similar “chorus boy” criticisms).
During New York previews, “Sun Showers” (lyric by Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb Brown; film
Broadway Melody of 1937), and “You Stepped Out of a Dream” (lyric by Gus Kahn, music by Nacio Herb
Brown; 1941 film Ziegfeld Girl) were dropped. During previews, director Albert Marre was brought in to re-
direct the book scenes, and Kroll reported rumors “of no love lost between the Broadway cast members and
those from Tharp’s own company.”
Successfully transforming a well-known film property for the stage is difficult, and adaptations of MGM
musicals are notoriously problematic. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which had been released by MGM
in 1954, floundered after 5 performances, and two different adaptations of 1958’s Gigi (1973 and 2015) were
unsuccessful and ran for 103 and 86 respective performances. The former adaptation was at least faithful to
the spirit of the movie, but the latter was so politically correct it even took away “Thank Heaven for Little
Girls” from the Maurice Chevalier character and assigned it to two women, and reduced the difference in the
ages between Gigi and Gaston from about fifteen to perhaps five years. In reviewing the second adaptation,
Marilyn Stasio in Variety noted the two young leads of the “antiseptic” production were “as Parisian as hot
dogs and beer.”
Summer-stock productions of the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis popped up periodically for years, but
a lavish 1989 Broadway staging lasted for just 253 performances and never paid back its investment, and an
adaptation of The Pirate (1948) never got beyond the straw-hat circuit. Later, a proposed stage version of
Easter Parade (1948) never got off the ground, and a recent concert staging of The Band Wagon (1953) by
Encores! on November 6, 2014, for eight performances seems to be in a holding pattern (adapted by Douglas
Carter Beane, the work was first produced as Dancing in the Dark in 2008 at the Old Globe Theatre in San
Diego, California). In 2008, Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of An American in Paris (1951) premiered at the Alley
Theatre in Houston, Texas, but soon disappeared. But another adaptation (by Craig Lucas) opened at the Pal-
ace Theatre on April 15, 2015, and seems to have overcome the jinx of MGM musical adaptations; as of this
writing, the show is consistently at or near sell-out status, and it won four Tony Awards (Best Choreography,
Best Orchestrations, Best Scenic Design, and Best Lighting Design). MGM’s The Wizard of Oz (1939) has been
occasionally revived on Broadway for limited engagements, including one in 1989.
Although Singin’ in the Rain didn’t do all that well on Broadway, an earlier London adaptation enjoyed
a long run. The musical opened at the London Palladium on June 30, 1983, and played for 894 performances;
like the later Broadway version, the adaptation was by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and some of the
choreography was based on the dances created by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen for the film (new choreog-
raphy was by Peter Gennaro). Tommy Steele played Don Lockwood, and in 1989 he appeared in a revival,
which again played at the London Palladium. For the revival, Steele was credited with the stage adaptation,
and some of the choreography was still credited to Kelly and Donen (Gennaro’s choreography was restaged
by Maggie Goodwin).
There was no Broadway cast album of Singin’ in the Rain, but the London version was released by Safari
Records (LP # RAIN-1) and then later issued on CD by First Night Records (# 6013); a studio cast album was
also released by Jay Records (CD # 1262).
The DVD of the 1952 film version is available on a special two-disc set issued by Warner Video (# 65621),
which includes an outtake of “You Are My Lucky Star” and original excerpts of songs by Freed and Brown
which were heard in the film and first introduced in other movies. The soundtrack was released on a two-CD
set by Rhino Movie Music Records (# R2-74497), which includes alternate, extended, and unused versions of
songs as well as original recordings of songs heard in the film by the artists who originally introduced them. In
1972, the screenplay was issued in both hardback and paperback as part of The MGM Library of Film Scripts
by Viking Adult Books. A DVD was also released of the Japanese Takarazuka company’s production of the
musical (TCA Pictures # TCAD-218), which includes the original film choreography created by Gene Kelly
and Stanley Donen.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Don Correia); Best Book (Betty Comden and
Adolph Green)
THE STUDENT PRINCE

Book and Lyrics: Dorothy Donnelly (book adapted by Hugh Wheeler)
Direction: Jack Hofsiss (Christian Smith, Stage Director); Producer: The New York City Opera Company
(Beverly Sills, General Director); Choreography: Donald Saddler; Scenery: David Jenkins; Costumes: Pat-
ton Campbell; Lighting: Gilbert V. Hemsley Jr.; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction:
Paul Gemignani
Cast: Edward Zimmerman (Lackey), Louis Perry (Lackey, Freshman), George Wyman (Lackey, Huzzar), Neil
Eddinger (Lackey), Adib Fazah (Doctor Engel), David Rae Smith (Count von Mark), Glenn Rowen (Sec-
retary, Huzzar), Jonathan Guss (Secretary), Jerry Hadley (Prince Karl Franz), Jack Harrold (Lutz), Carol
1985–1986 SEASON 251
Sparrow (Gretchen), Joseph McKee (Ruder), Douglas Hamilton (Nicholas), James Billings (Tony), William
Ledbetter (Hubert), Stephen O’Mara (Detlef), Robert Brubaker (von Asterberg), Wilbur Pauley (Lucas),
Elizabeth Hynes (Kathie), Madeleine Mines (Girl), Paula Hostetter (Girl), Beth Pensiero (Girl), Muriel
Costa-Greenspon (Grand Duchess Anastasia), Cynthia Rose (Princess Margaret), Cris Groenendaal (Cap-
tain Tarnitz), Jane Shaulis (Countess Leydon), Neil Eddinger (Huzzar), Gregory Moore (Huzzar); Friends
of the Huzzars: Madeleine Mines, Paula Hostetter, Beth Pensiero, and Jill Bosworth; Ensemble: The New
York City Opera Singers and Dancers
In reviewing the New York City Opera Company’s third of five presentations of Sigmund Romberg’s 1924
operetta The Student Prince, Donal Henahan in the New York Times said the work had not been “so much
revived as lovingly restored.” Jerry Hadley (in the title role) and Elizabeth Hynes (Kathie) were “attractive
both in appearance and voice” and were “artists” who didn’t “condescend” to the material. He noted that “for
anyone who does not despise the operetta genre on principle,” The Student Prince proves that “an occasional
overdose of sugar water can be enspiriting.”
For more information about the operetta, see entry for the August 1980 production; also see entries for
the 1981 and 1987 revivals.
THE MERRY WIDOW

Book and Lyrics; Victor Leon and Leo Stein (English adaptation by Adrian Ross)
Music: Franz Lehar
Direction: Ronald Bentley; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director);
Choreography: Uncredited; Scenery: Helen Pond and Herbert Senn; Costumes: Suzanne Mess; Lighting:
Gilbert V. Hemsley Jr.; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Imre Pallo
Cast: Jack Harrold (Baron Popoff), Susanne Marsee (Natalie), Douglas Perry (General Novikovich), William
Ledbetter (Counsellor Khadja), William Parcher (Marquis de Cascada), Ruth Golden (Sylviane), John
Lankston (M. de St. Brioche), Jane Bunnell (Olga), Mark Thomsen (Vicomte Camille de Jolidon), James
Billings (Nisch), Leigh Munro (Sonia), Alan Titus (Count Danilo), Mervin Crook (Head Waiter), Ivy Austin
(Zozo), Joan Mirabella (Lolo), Esperanza Galan (Dodo), Candace Itow (Jou-Jou), Victoria Rinaldi (Frou-Frou,
Clo-Clo), Jean Barber (Margot); Chorus of Marsovian and Parisian Society, Dancers, Servants, and Waiters:
The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers
The current production of Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow was the New York City Opera Company’s
third of five revivals of the operetta during the decade. For more information about the operetta, see entry for
the 1982 revival; also see entries for the company’s 1983, 1988, and 1989 presentations. The operetta was also
revived by the Vienna Volksoper in April 1984 (see entry).
In reviewing City Opera’s production, Will Crutchfield in the New York Times said the “pleasant”
evening was “not exciting, not quite charming, but gemutlich.” Imre Pollo conducted “with care,” Leigh
Munro’s Sonia was “gracious of spirit if sometimes squally of voice,” and while the tones of Alan Titus’s
Danilo had “grown a bit wooly” his was nonetheless “still a basically warm voice—a listener-friendly voice.”
Crutchfield also noted that Danilo was given an interpolation from Lehar’s 1925 operetta Paganini (“Gern
hab’ich die Frau’n gekusst” in the original German).
In his review of the operetta’s second cast, Tim Page in the Times felt the revival was a “modest triumph.”
Claudia Cummings’s Sonia had a “heavy” soprano which tended to “wobble,” but she brought a “ripe lan-
guor” to “Vilia” and “appropriately bejeweled, she made a glittering impression on stage.” Cris Groenendaal
made a “dashing” Danilo, and he had “genuine stage presence” and “managed to simultaneously incarnate
and gently mock the role of matinee idol.” Pallo’s conducting was “unusually sensitive” and he seemed to
“genuinely love the score, and never let it devolve into caloric goo.”
SONG & DANCE

(Two one-act musicals, the musical Song and the dance-musical Dance)
Performances: 474
Book: Don Black; American adaptation by Richard Maltby Jr.
Lyrics: Don Black; additional lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr.
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber (for the Song act) and Niccolo Paganini (for the Dance act)
Direction: Richard Maltby Jr. (“entire production supervised” by Richard Maltby Jr., and Peter Martins);
Producers: Cameron Mackintosh, Inc., The Shubert Organization, and F.W.M. Producing Group by ar-
rangement with The Really Useful Company Ltd. (R. Tyler Gatchell Jr., and Peter Neufeld, Executive
Producers) (A Cameron Mackintosh/Shubert Organization Production); Choreography: Peter Martins
(Gregg Burge, Associate Tap Choreographer); Scenery: Robin Wagner; Costumes: Willa Kim; Lighting:
Jules Fisher; Musical Direction: John Mauceri
Cast:
Act One—Bernadette Peters (Emma)
Act Two—Christopher d’Amboise (Joe); The Women: Charlotte d’Amboise, Denise Faye, Cynthia Onrubia,
Mary Ellen Stuart; The Men: Gregg Burge, Gen Horiuchi, Gregory Mitchell, Scott Wise; Mary Ellen Stu-
art (Woman in Gold), Scott Wise and Gregory Mitchell (Woman in Gold’s Escorts), Charlotte d’Amboise
(Woman in Blue), Gen Horiuchi (Tourist), Cynthia Onrubia and Denise Faye (Tourist’s Pick-Ups), Gregg
Burge (Man from the Streets), Cynthia Onrubia (Woman in Gray Flannel), Bernadette Peters (Emma)
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and Los Angeles.
Musical Numbers
Act One: (Note: All songs performed by Bernadette Peters.) —“Take That Look Off Your Face”; “Let Me Fin-
ish”; “So Much to Do in New York” (I); “First Letter Home”; “English Girls”; “Capped Teeth and Caesar
Salad”; “You Made Me Think You Were in Love”; “Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad” (reprise); “So Much
to Do in New York” (II); “Second Letter Home”; “Unexpected Song”; “Come Back with the Same Look
in Your Eyes”; “Take That Look Off Your Face” (reprise); “Tell Me on a Sunday”; “I Love New York”;
“So Much to Do in New York” (III); “Married Man”; “Third Letter Home”; “Nothing Like You’ve Ever
Known”; “Let Me Finish” (reprise); “What Have I Done?”; “Take That Look Off Your Face” (reprise)
Act Two: The second act was all-danced; Lloyd Webber created a set of variations based on Niccolo Paganini’s
“A-Minor Caprice No. 24.” The act’s eleven scenes included interludes in a New York subway station, on
Wall Street and Fifth Avenue, and in a Manhattan department store. At the end of the act, “Unexpected
Song” was reprised by Bernadette Peters.
The London import Song & Dance managed slightly more than a year’s run in New York and then em-
barked on a national tour that lasted for six months. The evening was decidedly weak tea and the only reason
it crossed the Atlantic was because Andrew Lloyd Webber had composed the music for the Song half of the
evening (the song cycle was originally titled Tell Me on a Sunday). For Dance, Lloyd Webber created a set of
variations (Variations was the sequence’s original title) based on Niccolo Paganini’s “A-Minor Caprice No.
24.”
Song was a dreary one-character, one-hour song cycle about Emma (Bernadette Peters on Broadway, who
was succeeded by Betty Buckley, and for the tour was played by Melissa Manchester) a superficial young Brit-
ish woman who lives first in New York and then Hollywood, and whose only aspiration is to become a hat
designer (one hopes her hats aren’t as tacky as her taste in clothes and hair style). The self-important evening
1985–1986 SEASON 253
dealt with the succession of men in her life, some who dump her, and one whom she dumps. Dumpee or
dumper, Emma was one of the blandest and most boring characters imaginable, and the production offered
no reason to care about her and her empty and shallow lifestyle. As a result, the show became quickly tire-
some, and unfortunately Lloyd Webber’s score wasn’t strong enough to compensate for the narrative’s plod-
ding vignettes about poor little confused Emma and her guys Paul, Chuck, Sheldon, and Joe. However, there
were two stand-out numbers, the obvious but amusing commentary about life in Los Angeles (“Capped Teeth
and Caesar Salad”) and the elegiac and haunting ballad “Unexpected Song.” But the audience had to suffer
through Emma’s groan-inducing journey to self-awareness, including her musical statement that she wants
to be “Emma again.” She sings that if she’s hurt, well, she’ll be hurt, but at least she’ll have learned to “like
myself.”
Dance was an all-danced look at Joe (Christopher d’Amboise) and his life-after-Emma in New York. The
ballet includes different people with whom he becomes involved, including his encounter with a mysterious
“Man from the Streets” (Gregg Burge) who teaches him how to tap dance (a similar sequence occurred in My
One and Only when the character played by Charles “Honi” Coles teaches the Tommy Tune character to
tap).
At the end of Dance, Emma appears and, because she and Joe have (as they say) grown, they reunite. The
musical also seemed to imply that in New York only non-New Yorkers can ultimately relate to one another
(Emma is of course from Britain, and Joe is from Nebraska). But perhaps that’s reading too much into such a
featherweight show.
Like all the critics, Frank Rich in the New York Times praised Bernadette Peters’s performance. But he
wasn’t all that taken with the musical itself and found the first act “grating” and the second “monotonous.”
The evening offered “empty material,” and it was impossible to care whether Emma “lives or dies (as long
as she’s brief about it).” And one scene in which Emma receives her green card was “treated with a dramatic
intensity worthy of Saint Joan.” Lloyd Webber’s score sounded “like the stuff that’s piped into a 747 just
before takeoff,” and the choreography was a “cynical, acrobatic approximation of vintage Broadway dancing.”
But Clive Barnes in the New York Post said Lloyd Webber had now created songs about “real” human
beings instead of “biblical personages, historical figures, animals, or inanimate objects” and thus his score
was the “best” he’d “so far written for the theatre.” In the second half, Christopher d’Amboise danced with
“lopsided charm” and was “excellent” (incidentally, he’s the son of Jacques d’Amboise, and his sister Char-
lotte was among the other dancers in the show).
Linda Winer in USA Today said the production offered “lots of talent lavished on an empty project,” and
suggested the evening was “slim, painless entertainment.” Jack Kroll in Newsweek felt it “strains credulity to
accept the narrative connection” between the two acts, but “what the hell.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear
Daily stated the show offered “a score of great aimlessness and pointlessness” and despite the production’s
“admirable gloss” there was “no denying that there’s very little underneath.” And Joel Siegel on WABCTV7
said the score was “weak,” there was “no story,” and the two acts had “nothing” to do with one another.
Although Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the evening “superficial and even downright
silly” with “questionable musical values,” the show was nonetheless “brightly spirited entertainment.” But
he noted the first half was “sentimental pap.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor praised the
“superb” music, and William A. Henry III in Time liked Peters’s “vocal color and emotional depth” and said
d’Amboise’s ballet routines had “puppyish appeal.”
With lyrics by Don Black, Tell Me on a Sunday (the Song part of the evening) had originally starred Marti
Webb; in January 1980, the work was first presented in concert and then telecast on the BBC and recorded
by Polydor Records (CD # 833447). The stage version opened in London at the Palace Theatre on March 26,
1982, for 781 performances and was titled Song and Dance and subtitled A Concert for the Theatre; the first
act was titled Tell Me on a Sunday and the second Variations. Webb reprised her role for the stage production
and Wayne Sleep was the lead dancer in the ballet, which at that time wasn’t thematically related to the Song
part of the evening. The London cast album was recorded by Polydor on a two-CD set (# 843617), and there
was also a 1984 recording of the score by Sarah Brightman released by RCA Victor Records (LP # 70480). The
CD of a later 2003 London revival with Denise Van Outen was recorded by Verve Records. In 1984, a video-
cassette of Song & Dance was released by RCA/Columbia.
For New York, the work was adapted by Richard Maltby Jr., who also wrote additional lyrics. Maltby’s
liner notes for the Broadway cast album (RCA Victor/BMG Classics Records CD # 09026-68264-20) indicates
that for Broadway almost two-thirds of both the lyrics (for the first act) and the story line (for the second)
were either altered or newly created for the production. The program credited Maltby with the direction, and
both he and choreographer Peter Martins shared “entire production supervised by” credit. The Broadway cast
album included only the Song portion of the score and was released by RCA Victor/BMG Classics Records
(CD # 09026-68264-20).
Songs heard in the London production that weren’t used in New York were: “It’s Not the End of the
World (If He’s Younger),” “Sheldon Bloom,” “The Last Man in My Life,” “I’m Very You, You’re Very Me,”
and “Let’s Talk about You.”
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Song & Dance); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Bernadette
Peters); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Christopher d’Amboise); Best Director of a Musical (Richard
Maltby Jr.); Best Score (lyrics by Don Black and Richard Maltby Jr., and music by Andrew Lloyd Web-
ber); Best Costume Designer (Willa Kim); Best Lighting Designer (Jules Fisher); Best Choreographer (Peter
Martins)
KISMET
Book: Charles Lederer and Luther Davis
Lyrics and Music: Robert Wright and George Forrest (music adapted from themes by Alexander Borodin)
Based on the 1911 play Kismet by Edward Knoblock (aka Knoblauch).
Direction: Frank Corsaro; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director;
Christopher Keene, Music Director); Choreography: Randolyn Zinn; Scenery and Costumes: Lawrence
Miller; Lighting: Mark W. Stanley; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Scott Bergeson
Cast: James Clark (Imam of the Mosque, Bangle Man, Prosecutor), Ashley Janeway (Silk Dancer, Slave Girl),
Jean Barber (Silk Dancer, Slave Girl), Malcolm Grant (Silk Dancer, Swain), Terry Lacy (Silk Dancer,
Swain), Louis Perry (Muezzin, Silk Merchant, Giant), Glenn Rowen (Muezzin), Bernard Waters (Muezzin,
Silk Merchant), George Wyman (Muezzin), Don Yule (Beggar, Chief of Police), Robert Brubaker (Beggar,
Policeman, Spy), Vasilis Iracledes (Dervish), Richard Smith (Dervish), James Billings (Omar), George
Hearn (Hajj), Maryanne Telese (Marsinah), William Ledbetter (Businessman, Pearl Merchant, Informer,
Spy), Ralph Bassett (Hassan-Ben, Policeman, Spy), John Lankston (Jawan), Harris Davis (Brave Merchant),
Madeleine Mines (Young Woman), Mary Ann Rydzeski (Young Woman, Ayah to Lalume), Mervin Crook
(Slave Merchant), Jack Harrold (Wazir of Police), Jeff Davis (Wazir’s Guard), Eric Miller (Wazir’s Guard),
Donald R. Richardson (Wazir’s Guard), Elliot Santiago (Wazir’s Guard), Frank Sollito (Wazir’s Guard),
Stephanie Godino (Slave Girl), Deborah Saverance (Harem Girl), Susanne Marsee (Lalume), Shannon
Bresnahan (Princess of Ababu), Joan Mirabella (Princess of Ababu), Victoria Rinaldi (Princess of Ababu),
Cris Groenendaal (Caliph), Jane Shaulis (Widow Yussef, Ayah to Zubbediya), Esperanza Galan (Princess
of Zubbediya), Candace Itow (Princess of Samaris of Bangalore); Singers and Dancers: The New York City
Opera Company Singers and Dancers
The action takes place in Old Baghdad during one day (“from dawn to dusk” and “from dusk to dawn”).
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra) and “Sands of Time” (James Clark, Louis Perry, Glenn Rowen, Bernard Wa-
ters, Robert Brubaker); “Rhymes Have I” (George Hearn, Maryanne Telese); “Fate” (George Hearn); “The
Hand of Fate” (Orchestra); “Fate” (reprise) (George Hearn); “Bazaar of the Caravans” (Chorus); “Not Since
Nineveh” (Susannne Marsee, Chorus); “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” (Maryanne Telese, Cris Groenendaal,
1985–1986 SEASON 255
Chorus); “Stranger in Paradise” (Maryanne Telese, Cris Groenendaal); “Gesticulate” (George Hearn, Jack
Harrold, Susanne Marsee, Wazir’s Council); “Fate” (reprise) (Company)
Act Two: “Night of My Nights” (Cris Groenendaal, Attendants); “Stranger in Paradise” (reprise) (Mary-
anne Telese); “Was I Wazir?” (Jack Harrold, Council); “The Olive Tree” (George Hearn); “Rahadlakum”
(Susanne Marsee, George Hearn, Harem Girls); “And This Is My Beloved” (Maryanne Telese, Cris
Groenendaal, George Hearn, Jack Harrold); “Zubbediya” (Jane Shaulis); “Samaris’ Dance” (Ensemble);
“Abadu Dance” (Shannon Bresnahan, Joan Mirabella, Victoria Rinaldi); Finale (Company)
The theatrical fates have been kind to Kismet. The original Broadway production opened at the Ziegfeld
Theatre on December 3, 1953, during a newspaper strike, and although the reviews were eventually dissemi-
nated, it’s likely some of the early and unenthusiastic ones were lost on the public (Walter Kerr in the New
York Herald-Tribune said the musical offered only “piecemeal” pleasures and its “incidental splendors” were
“odd baubles” and not “genuine gold,” and Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times found the work “com-
monplace” and “cumbersome”). But the public turned Kismet into a long-running hit of 583 performances,
and the songs (which Robert Wright and George Forrest adapted from music by Alexander Borodin) included
“Stranger in Paradise,” “Baubles, Bangles and Beads,” and “This Is My Beloved,” all of which became popular
standards. The show won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Alfred
Drake), Best Book, Best Producer, and Best Composer (for Borodin, who had died in 1887).
But the current revival by the New York City Opera Company received a withering notice from Donal
Henahan in the New York Times, who said the show was “aimless” and “feeble stuff.” He found fault with
almost every aspect of the evening, including George Hearn (he didn’t “command the stage” as Hajj should
do), Susanne Marsee (as Lalume, she was “tiresomely arch and obvious, as if she were doing an imitation of
Lucille Ball posing as a seductress”), the direction (“absentminded”), the choreography (it seemed “to have
been designed for another show entirely”), and the orchestra (a “rasping comb-and-tissue sound”). Further, the
scenery was sometimes “gaudy” and the lighting occasionally “bizarre.” But Henahan praised James Billings
(Omar) and Jack Harrold (The Wazir), who gave the production its “sturdiest performances.”
Despite the dismissive review, City Opera brought back the musical the following season (see entry), and
this time around it received favorable reviews from two of the Times’ critics.
The story takes place “from dawn to dusk” and “from dusk to dawn” in Old Baghdad where the beggar-
poet Hajj and his daughter Marsinah sell rhymes to passersby. She catches the eye of the Caliph, who imme-
diately falls in love with her, and Hajj becomes involved in court intrigues as well as amorous ones when he
becomes the lover of Lalume, the Wazir’s sexy and bored-to-death wife.
The book is generally dismissed by critics (Kerr said the show “would sell its soul for a joke”), but in truth
the script is amusing, ironic, and fast-moving, and never takes itself seriously. Further, the dialogue is tongue-
in-cheek, and, yes, it is arch (and purposely so: the luscious Lalume tells Hajj she knows of a private oasis
where lovers can indulge in untold sensual pleasures . . . “not that I’ve ever been there,” she quickly adds).
Besides the two City Opera productions, the musical has been revived in New York twice: at the New
York State Theatre in a production by The Music Theatre of Lincoln Center on June 22, 1965, for forty-eight
performances with a cast that included Alfred Drake, and a revised all-black version titled Timbuktu! which
opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 1, 1978, for 221 performances (Eartha Kitt was Lalume [here,
Sahleem-La-Lume]).
The original London production opened at the Stoll Theatre on April 20, 1955, for 648 performances, and
besides Drake it included two other original Broadway cast members, Joan Diener (Lalume) and Doretta Mor-
row (Marsinah); the role of Princess Samaris was played by Juliet Prowse.
The 1955 MGM film version was directed by Vincente Minnelli and the cast included Howard Keel
(Hajj), Dolores Gray (Lalume), Ann Blyth (Marsinah), and Vic Damone (The Caliph). The film added the song
“Bored” (for Lalume), and the number is occasionally interpolated into revivals of the musical. The DVD is
included in the collection Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory (Volume 3) (Warner Brothers # 12569).
A television version was aired by ABC on October 24, 1967, with José Ferrer (Hajj), Anna Maria Alber-
ghetti (Marsinah), Barbara Eden (Lalume), George Chakiris (The Caliph), and Hans Conried (The Wazir).
The script was published in hardback by Random House in 1954, and a paperback was published in Great
Britain in an undated edition by Frank Music Co.
There are many renderings of the score, but the finest is the spectacularly recorded original cast album by
Columbia Records (LP # OL-4850; the CD was issued by Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy # SK-89252). The
two-CD studio cast album by That’s Entertainment Records (# CDTER2-1170) includes “Bored”; three songs
written for Timbuktu! (“In the Beginning, Woman,” “Golden Land, Golden Life,” and “My Magic Lamp”)
and one dropped during the tryout of Timbuktu! (“Power!”). Another studio cast album was issued by Sony
Broadway Records (CD # SK-46438) and is lushly recorded; it includes powerful singing performances by
Samuel Ramey (Hajj) and Jerry Hadley (The Caliph), but one could easily do without Julia Migenes (Lalume),
who seems to be channeling Barbra Streisand, and Mandy Patinkin’s “Marriage Arranger” is an unwelcome
and campy intrusion. The Music Theatre of Lincoln Center’s production was recorded by RCA Victor Records
(LP # LOC/LSO-1112), and a demo recording of Timbuktu! (LP # SS-33782-01A/02B) was briefly available for
sale (two songs are performed by Eartha Kitt, and others are by Johnny Mathis, Sarah Vaughan, Lena Horne,
Della Reese, and Isaac Hayes).
TANGO ARGENTINO
Opening Date: October 9, 1985; Closing Date: March 30, 1986
Performances: 198
Direction: Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli; Producers: Mel Howard and Donald K. Donald; Choreogra-
phy: Juan Carlos Copes; Scenery and Costumes: Hector Orezzoli and Claudio Segovia; Lighting: Uncred-
ited; Musical Directors: Jose Libertella, Luis Stazo, and Osvaldo Berlingieri
Cast: Singers—Raul Lavie, Jovita Luna, Elba Beron, and Alba Solis; Dancers—Soloist: Naanim Timoyko;
Couples: Juan Carlos Copes and Maria Nieves, Nelida and Nelson, Gloria Rivarolo and Eduardo, Mayoral
and Elsa Maria, Virulazo and Elvira, The Dinzels (Gloria and Rodolfo), Maria Rivarolo and Carlos Riva-
rola; Musicians—Sexteto Major: Jose Libertella (Bandoneon), Luis Stazo (Bandoneon), Mario Abramovich
(Violin), Eduardo Walczak (Violin), Oscar Palermo (Piano), Osvaldo Aulicino (Bass); Other Musicians—Os-
valdo Berlingieri (Piano), Oscar Ruben Gonzalez (Bandoneon and Flute), Rodolfo Fernandez (Violin), Juan
Schiaffino (Violin), Dino Carlos Quarleri (Violoncello), Lisandro Adrover (Bandoneon)
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Quejas de bandoneon” (music by J. de Dios Filiberto) (Orchestra); “El Apache argentino” (music
by M. Aroztegui-A. Mathon) (Dancers); “El esquinazo” (music by A. Villoldo) (Dancers); “Milonga del
tiempo heroico” (music by F. Canaro) (Juan Carlos Copes and Maria Nieves); “La punalada” (music by
P. Castellanos and E. C. Flores) (Osvaldo Berlingieri and Orchestra); “La morocha” (music by E. Saborido
and A. Villoldo) (Gloria Rivarolo, Maria Rivarolo); “El choclo” (lyric and music by A. Villoldo and E. S.
Discepolo) (sung by Elba Beron); “La cumparsita” (music by G. M. Rodriguez) (Maria Rivarolo and Car-
los Rivarolo); “Mi noche triste” (lyric and music by S. Castriotta and P. Contursi) (sung by Raul Lavie);
“Orgullo criollo” (music by J. DeCaro and P. Laurenz) (choreography by Virulazo) (Virulazo and Elvira);
“De mi barrio” (lyric and music by R. Goyeneche) (sung by Jovita Luna); “Bandoneones” (Jose Libertella,
Luis Stazo, Lisandro Adrover, and Oscar Ruben Gonzalez); “Milonguita”: (1) “Milonguita” (music by E.
Delfino and S. Linning); (2) “Divina” (music by J. Mora and J. de la Calle); (3) “Melenita de oro” (music by
E. Delfino and S. Linning); and (4) “RE-FA-SI” (music by E. Delfino) (Milonguita: Naanim Timoyko; The
Ruffian: Juan Carlos Copes; The Ruffian’s Accomplice: Nelida; The Bridegroom: Nelson; The Cabaret’s
Customers: Eduardo, Mayoral, and Carlos Rivarola; The Prostitutes: Gloria Rivarolo, Elsa Maria, Gloria
Dinzel, and Maria Rivarolo); “Nostalgias” (music by J. C. Cobian and E. Cadicamo) (Sexteto mayor); and
“Cuesta abajo” (lyric and music by Gardel–Le Pera) (Raul Lavie); “El entrerriano” (music by R. Mendiza-
bal) (choreography by Gloria and Rodolfo Dinzel) (Gloria and Rodolfo Dinzel); “Canaro en Paris” (music
by Scarpino and Caldarella) (Osvaldo Berlingieri and Orchestra); “Taquito militar” (music by M. Mores)
(Juan Carlos Copes, Maria Nieves, Nelida and Nelson, Gloria Rivarolo and Eduardo)
Act Two: “Milongueando en el 40” (music by Armando Pontier) (choreography by Eduardo) (Gloria Rivarolo
and Eduardo); “Uno” (lyric and music by E. S. Discepolo-M. Mores) (Alba Solis); “La ultima curda” (lyric
and music by A. Troilo and C. Castillo) (Alba Solis); “La yumba” (music by O. Pugliese) (choreography
1985–1986 SEASON 257
by Mayoral) (Mayoral and Elsa Maria); “Nunca tuvo novio” (lyric and music by E. Cadicamo and A.
Bardi) (Raul Lavie, Osvaldo Berlingieri, and Orchestra); “Jealousy” (music by J. Gade) (choreography by
Nelida and Nelson) (Nelida and Nelson); “Desencuentro” (lyric and music by Elba Beron) (Elba Beron);
“Tanguera” (music by M. Mores) (Orchestra); “Verano porteno” (music by A. Piazzola) (Juan Carlos Copes
and Maria Nieves); “Balada para mi muerte” (lyric and music by A. Piazzola and H. Ferrer) (Jovita Luna);
“Adios noning” (music by A. Piazzola) (Sexteto Major); “Danzarin” (music by J. Plaza) and “Quejas de
bandoneon” (music by J. de Dios Filiberto) (Ballet)
The dance import Tango Argentino was originally set for a five-week run at the Mark Hellinger, but it
proved so popular it played for six months. The dance revue presented an array of expertly performed tangos
accompanied by musicians and singers, and the background was reminiscent of a smoky and sometimes sin-
ister tango palace.
Unfortunately, the revue was too one-note; despite the variety of tangos and the occasional musical inter-
ludes, the show was slightly monotonous and would have been more successful had it been part of an evening
that included other types of dances. But the critics were delighted with the revue and showered it with praise.
Jennifer Dunning in the New York Times hailed the “high-spirited and stylish” program, but with tongue-
in-cheek reported that an audience member said “something was missing” because the Hellinger’s lobby
lacked a “sign-up table for tango lessons”; Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the “dazzling and
immaculate footwork” of the dancers made the National Football League “look like a swarm of flatfooted
stumblebums”; Clive Barnes in the New York Post noted the dancers were “peerless among their peers”; and
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor found the evening a “super vaudeville show” that had been
“stylishly” choreographed and “handsomely designed.”
Directors Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli’s dance revue had played in New York a few months
earlier for a one-week limited engagement at City Center during June 1985. During 1983 and 1984, the work
had first been presented in Europe. It premiered in Paris at the Festival d’Automne, and then played at the
Biennale of Venice, in various Italian cities, at the Vienna Festival, and in Germany. Prior to the City Center
engagement, the work had toured the United States, and after the Broadway run the revue continued its U.S.
tour.
Segovia and Orezzoli’s flamenco dance revue Flamenco puro had premiered in Seville in 1980, and the
Broadway production opened at the Hellinger a few months after Tango Argentino closed. The team later
produced the revue Black and Blue, which played for 829 performances.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Musical (Tango Argentino); Best Director (Claudio Segovia and Hector Orez-
zoli); Best Choreography (The Dancers in Tango Argentino)
LA GATTA CENERENTOLA
Performances: 2
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Roberto De Simone
Based on the sixth fable of Giovan Basile’s Pentamerone.
Direction: Roberto De Simone; Producers: The Italian Government with special assistance from the America-
Italy Society in Celebration of the City of New York’s Italian Heritage and Cultural Month; Scenery:
Mauro Carosi; Costumes: Odette Nicoletti; Lighting: Uncredited; Musical Direction: Renato Piemontese
Cast: Antonella D’Agostino (Jesce sole), Ofelia De Simone (La donna della cabala, La zingara), Virgilio Villani
(Il canto dei turchi, Bene mio, La voce del Rosario, Asso di bastoni), Lello Giulivo (Il ballo di S. Giovanni,
Il militaire spagnuolo), Giuseppe De Vittorio (Il ballo di S. Giovanni, La sorella Patrizia), Valeria Bajano
(La gatta Cenerentola), Rino Marcelli (La matrigna), Isa Danielli (La pettinatrice, L’angoscia), Patrizia
Spinosi (La sarta orfana di madre), Giovanni Mauriello (Il monacello, Cuccurucu, Il femminella), Gianni
Lamagna (Vurria addeventare); La cameriere di Palazzo Reale: Anna Incoronato, Patrizia Spinosi, Adria
Mortari, Anna Spagnuolo, and Antonella D’Agostino; Gianfranco Mari (La voce castrata, Il militaire fran-
cese); La canzone dei militari: Luciano Catapano and Gianni Lamagna
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t list musical sequences.
Act One: “Jesce sole”; “E’nata”; “Villanella di Cenerentola”; “Canzone dei sette mariti”; “Canzone delle sei
sorelle”; “Duetto” (“Mamma, Mamma, che belle cosa”); “Rosario”; “Canzone del monacello”
Act Two: “Villanella a ballo” (“Vurria addeventare”); “Moresca”; “Madrigali”; “Tarantella” (“Oi Mamma ca
mo vene”)
Act Three: “Coro dei soldati”; “Coro delle lavandaie”; “Coro delle lavandaie” (reprise); “Canzone della zing-
ara”; “Il suicidio del femminella”; “Jesce sole” (reprise); “Scene della ingiurie”; Finale
Roberto De Simone’s musical fable La gatta Cenerentola (Cinderella, the Cat) was presented in Italian
(with English subtitles) for two performances during the two-week salute to Italian theatre and music Italy on
Stage, which was presented by the Italian government with special assistance from the America-Italy Society
in Celebration of the City of New York’s Italian Heritage and Cultural Month. The event was also supported
by a $1 million contribution from Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Embassy in Washington,
D.C. The celebration included musicals, plays, operas, concerts, films, art exhibits, and panel discussions, and
besides La gatta Cenerentola, other musicals presented during the festival were I due sergenti and Pipino il
breve.
La gatta Cenerentola was performed by The Ente Teatro Cronaca of Naples, which according to the New
York Times was Southern Italy’s oldest private theatre company. The musical was based on the classic Cin-
derella story.
The musical was recorded by EMI Music Italy (CD number unknown).
I DUE SERGENTI
Performances: 2
Text: Attilio Corsini and Roberto Ripamonte
Music: Giovanna Marini
Based on the 1823 play I due sergenti by Theodore Baudouin d’Aubigny.
Direction: Attilio Corsini; Producers: The Italian Government with special assistance from the America-Italy
Society in Celebration of the City of New York’s Italian Heritage and Cultural Month; Choreography:
Hasel Moore; Scenery and Costumes: Uberto Bertacca; Musical Direction: Uncredited
Cast: The Actors and Technicians Company of Rome—Gerolamo Alchieri, Stefanco Altieri, Franco Bergesio,
Eleonora Cosmo, Sandro De Paoli, Ruggero Dondi, Anna Lisa Di Nola, Roberto Ivan Orano, Silvestro
Pontani, Viviana Toniolo
Based on a melodrama written in 1823, I due sergenti (The Two Sergeants) was presented in Italian (with
English subtitles) for two performances during the two-week salute to Italian theatre and music Italy on
Stage, which was presented by the Italian government with special assistance from the America-Italy Society
in Celebration of the City of New York’s Italian Heritage and Cultural Month. The event was also supported
by a $1 million contribution from Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Embassy in Washington,
D.C. The celebration included musicals, plays, operas, concerts, films, art exhibits, and panel discussions, and
besides I due sergenti, other musicals presented during the festival were La gatta Cenerentola and Pipino il
breve.
1985–1986 SEASON 259
I due sergenti was a play-within-a-play that included songs and dealt with a group of actors touring the
world in a play titled I due sergenti. Walter Goodman in the New York Times reported that the equipment
that provided English subtitles proved faulty for most of the evening, and because he had only a “menu ac-
quaintance” with Italian he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to enjoy and understand the evening. As it turned out,
“ignorance was no handicap” because the show was full of “hokum” and “theatrics,” including an elevated
parquet floor that morphed into various settings, such as a banquet table and a ship rocking on waves. As a
result, the evening’s vaudeville-like sequences carried the day and included a lady who was sawed in half, a
number of characters who kept popping up through trapdoors, a duel scene from Hamlet that was fought with
umbrellas, and a Wild West takeoff that offered country music “delivered with an Italian accent.”
MAYOR
“The Musical”
Theatre: Latin Quarter

Performances: 70
Book: Warren Leight
Lyrics and Music: Charles Strouse
Based on the 1982 book Mayor: An Autobiography by Edward I. Koch (with William Rauch).
Direction: Jeffrey B. Moss; Producers: Martin Richards, Jerry Kravat, Mary Lea Johnson, and The New York
Music Company (Sam Crothers, Associate Producer); Choreography: Barbara Siman; Scenery and Cos-
tumes: Randy Barcelo; Lighting: Richard Winkler; Musical Direction: Michael Kosarin
Cast: Lenny Wolpe (The Mayor), Douglas Bernstein, Marion J. Caffey, Nancy Giles, Ken Jennings, Ilene Kris-
ten, Kathryn McAteer, John Sloman
The action takes place in New York City during the present time.
Musical Numbers
Note: Quotation marks are used for song but not for sketch titles.
Act One: “Mayor” (Lenny Wolpe); “You Can Be a New Yorker, Too!” (Businessman: John Sloman; Out-of-
Towner: Douglas Bernstein; Bicycle Messenger: Marion J. Caffey; Company); Board of Estimate (Lenny
Wolpe; Carol Bellamy: Kathryn McAteer; Leona Helmsley: Ilene Kristen; Harrison J. Golden: Douglas
Bernstein; Security Guard: Marion J. Caffey); “You’re Not the Mayor” (Carol Bellamy: Kathryn McAteer;
Security Guard: Marion J. Caffey; Aide: Ken Jennings); “Mayor” (reprise) (Lenny Wolpe); Critics (Ken Jen-
nings, Marion J. Caffey, Kathryn McAteer); “March of the Yuppies” (Nancy Giles, John Sloman, Douglas
Bernstein, Company); The Ribbon Cutting: “Hootspa” (Lenny Wolpe; John V. Lindsay: John Sloman; Abe
Beame: Ken Jennings); Alternate Side: Kathryn McAteer; Coalition: Marion J. Caffey, Ilene Kristen, Doug-
las Bernstein); “What You See Is What You Get” (Sue Simmons: Nancy Giles; Lenny Wolpe, Company)
Act Two: In the Park (Company); “Ballad” (Ilene Kristen, John Sloman); “On the Telephone” (Lenny Wolpe;
Carol Bellamy: Kathryn McAteer); “I Want to Be the Mayor” (Harrison S. Golden: Douglas Bernstein);
Subway: “The Last ‘I Love New York’ Song” (Company); “Ballad” (reprise; lyric for reprise version by
Warren Leight) (Lenny Wolpe); Testimonial Dinner: “Good Times” (Lenny Wolpe; Archbishop John Jo-
seph O’Connor: Douglas Bernstein; Bess Myerson: Nancy Giles; Leona Helmsley: Ilene Kristen; Harry
Helmsley: John Sloman; David Rockefeller: Ken Jennings; Waiter: Marion J. Caffey); “We Are One”
(Homeless People: Marion J. Caffey, Kathryn McAteer; Leona Helmsley: Ilene Kristen; Harry Helmsley:
John Sloman); “How’m I Doin’?” (Lenny Wolpe, Company); “Mayor” (reprise) (Lenny Wolpe); “My City”
(Company)
Although the program credited Warren Leight with Mayor’s book, his contributions were more in the
nature of sketches. The revue-like musical, which was nominally based on New York City’s Mayor Edward I.
Koch’s memoirs, looked at the mayor and his career but was mostly reminiscent of early Off-Broadway satiric
revues that kidded the fads and foibles of New York City life. There were songs and sketches about subways
(“The Last ‘I Love New York’ Song”), the homeless (“We Are One,” in which Leona and Harry Helmsley share
a song with street people), gentrification (“March of the Yuppies”), a crash-course on how to become a New
Yorker (“You Can Be a New Yorker, Too!”), the problems of finding a place to park (“Alternate Side”), and an
ode to Manhattan (“My City”).
The revue originated Off Broadway where it played for five months, but the Broadway transfer lasted little
more than two months before folding. In reviewing the Off-Broadway production, the critics praised the mod-
est evening, which included music by Charles Strouse, who also wrote the lyrics (as he had done for the 1971
Off-Broadway revue Six and the 1982 Off-Off-Broadway and London musical Nightingale).
Frank Rich in the New York Times found the revue “a grab bag of hit-and-miss revue songs” and a “mini-
mal script” that included a running joke about the mayor and Leona Helmsley’s attempt to transform Times
Square into a theme park called Manhabitat which includes Joffrey Ballet–trained break dancers (because of
this plan, Koch is visited in his dreams by two former New York City mayors, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, whose
spirit encourages Koch to “listen” to the people, and Abraham Beame, both of whom were portrayed by Ken
Jennings). There were also jokes in which Archbishop John Joseph O’Connor (Douglas Bernstein) introduces
Koch as Manhattan’s “second most eligible bachelor.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post praised the “most beguiling and sprightly music” and the “resource-
ful” book, and suggested that his readers “Vote for Mayor! The musical, that is.” Linda Winer in USA Today
found the revue “surprisingly sharp,” and while the first half was “almost too soft,” the second went after
Koch “with the satirical ferocity of a Berlin cabaret.” She noted the show was Koch’s idea (and she and one or
two other critics reported that Koch received 1 percent of the revue’s gross receipts), and she commented that
John Sloman (as former “WASP” New York City Mayor John V. Lindsay) sang “Hootspa” (as in chutzpah).
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News liked the “bouncy topical revue” with Strouse’s “attractive
jingly tunes and lyrics to match” and the “sprightly” choreography by Barbara Siman. Edwin Wilson in the
Wall Street Journal praised the “highly amusing and telling” sketches and songs (but noted the revue “side-
steps the unvarnished frankness about friend and foe that gave a savage zest” to Koch’s memoirs). John Beau-
fort in the Christian Science Monitor said Lenny Wolpe caught the “essentials” of Koch in his portrayal, and
“whether or not Koch (the mayor) deserves to be reelected, Mayor (the musical) deserves to run.” And Ron
Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily hailed the “extremely entertaining” revue, which “carries on in high style the
rebirth of political cabaret on the New York theatre scene,” and he singled out Strouse’s “infectiously jaunty
melodies,” “masterful” lyrics, and Leight’s “good” and “rich” sketches, which were “laced with touches of
not terribly far-fetched insanity.”
Mayor originally opened Off Broadway at the Top of the Gate/The Village Gate on May 13, 1985, for 185
performances. During Off-Broadway previews, the musical was presented in one act and the song “Everyone
Tells Me So” was cut. During the course of the Off-Broadway run, the sketch “The Four Seasons” and the
song “Isn’t It Time for the People?” were dropped and two sketches (“Critics” and “Coalition”) were added.
The Off-Broadway cast album was recorded by New York Music Company Records (LP # NYM-21).
The revue joined two other musicals about New York City mayors, Fiorello! (1959) and Jimmy (1969;
James J. Walker). Mayor wasn’t as successful as the former, which had won the Pulitzer Prize and played for
almost two years, but it wasn’t a fast flop like Jimmy, and the revue’s Off-Broadway and Broadway runs man-
aged a total of 255 performances. Other New York mayors with musical comedy connections include Mayor
Abraham Oakey Hall, who was a character in the 1945 musical Up in Central Park, and Mayor Lindsay, who
made a cameo appearance in an early performance of Seesaw (1973) during the song “My City” (incidentally,
the score of Mayor also included a song with this same title).
Mayor was the final show to play at the Latin Quarter, a theatre housed in the space where the fabled
night club of the same name had once been located. For more information about the venue, see Haarlem
Nocturne.
PIPINO IL BREVE
Performances: 2
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Tony Cucchiara
1985–1986 SEASON 261
Direction: Giuseppe DiMartino; Producers: The Italian Government with special assistance from the Amer-
ica-Italy Society in Celebration of the City of New York’s Italian Heritage and Cultural Month
Cast: The Teatro Stabile di Catania of Sicily
Musical Numbers
The musical numbers included: “Figlia”; “Chilpericu III”; “Di Berta e Pipinu cuntamu la storia”; “La partenza
di l’ambasceria”; “Figlia” (reprise); “La me ventura”; “U corredu”; “Duetto d’amore”; “Chistu succedi
da mill’anni”; “Matruzza mia”; “Viva, viva la regina”; “Picchi’ chiangi sta beddra regina”; “Berta filava”;
“Viva Carlu Magnu”
The puppet musical Pipino il breve (Pepin the short) was presented in Italian (with English subtitles)
for two performances during the two-week salute to Italian theatre and music Italy on Stage, which was
presented by the Italian government with special assistance from the America-Italy Society in Celebration
of the City of New York’s Italian Heritage and Cultural Month. The event was also supported by a $1 mil-
lion contribution from Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Embassy in Washington, D.C. The
celebration included musicals, plays, operas, concerts, films, art exhibits, and panel discussions, and besides
Pipino il breve, other musicals presented during the festival were La gatta Cenerentola and I due sergenti.
The New York Times reported that Pipino il breve was “a cheerful operatic comedy done in the tradition
of Sicilian street theatre.” The Teatro Stabile di Catania of Sicily used life-sized puppets to tell the story of
the marriage of Pepin (Pippin), King of the Franks (France), to Berta of Hungary. (The musical was recorded
[company and record number unknown].)
THE NEWS
Performances: 4
Book: Paul Schierhorn, David Rotenberg, and R. Vincent Park
Lyrics and Music: Paul Schierhorn
Direction: David Rotenberg; Producers: Zev Bufman, Kathleen Lindsey, Nicholas Neubauer, and R. Vincent
Park with Martin and Janice Barandes (Patricia Bayer, Associate Producer; Annette R. McDonald and
Quentin H. McDonald, Associate Producers); Choreography: Wesley Fata; Scenery: Jane Musky; Cos-
tumes: Richard Hornung; Lighting: Norman Coates; Musical Direction: John Rinehimer
Cast: Cheryl Alexander (Reporter), Frank Baier (Circulation Editor), Jeff Conaway (Executive Editor), Anthony
Crivello (Killer), Michael Duff (City Editor), Jonathan S. Gerber (Feature Editor), Anthony Hoylen (Talk
Show Host), Patrick Jude (Reporter), Lisa Michaels (Girl), Charles Pistone (Reporter), John Rinehimer
(Sports Editor), Peter Valentine (Style Editor), Billy Ward (Managing Editor)
The action takes place in a large U.S. city during the present time.
Musical Numbers
“I Am the News” (Jeff Conaway, Company); “They Write the News” (Jeff Conaway); “Mirror, Mirror” (Lisa
Michaels); “Front Page Expose” (Jeff Conaway, Cheryl Alexander, Patrick Jude, Charles Pistone); “Hot
Flashes” (I) (Cheryl Alexander, Patrick Jude, Charles Pistone); “Dad” (Lisa Michaels); “She’s on File” (Jeff
Conaway); “Super Singo” (Jeff Conaway, Cheryl Alexander, Patrick Jude, Charles Pistone); “Dear Felicia”
(Jeff Conaway, Frank Baier); “Horoscope” (Cheryl Alexander, Patrick Jude, Charles Pistone, Band); “Hot
Flashes” (II) (Band, Cheryl Alexander, Patrick Jude, Charles Pistone); “Classifieds”/“Personals” (Band,
Cheryl Alexander, Patrick Jude, Charles Pistone, Lisa Michaels, Anthony Crivello); “Wonderman” (Lisa
Michaels); “Shooting Stars” (Anthony Crivello); “What’s the Angle” (Jeff Conaway, Cheryl Alexander,
Patrick Jude, Charles Pistone); “The Contest” (Jeff Conaway, Cheryl Alexander, Patrick Jude, Charles
Pistone, Jonathan S. Gerber, Band); “Dear Editor” (Anthony Crivello); “Editorial” (Jeff Conaway, Cheryl
Alexander, Patrick Jude, Charles Pistone, Anthony Crivello, Band); “Hot Flashes” (“Financial”) (Band);
“Talk to Me” (Anthony Crivello, Lisa Michaels); “Pyramid Lead” (Jeff Conaway, Cheryl Alexander,
Patrick Jude, Charles Pistone); “Beautiful People” (Cheryl Alexander, Peter Valentine, Jeff Conaway, An-
thony Crivello, Patrick Jude, Charles Pistone, Band); “Hot Flashes” (III) (Cheryl Alexander, Patrick Jude,
Charles Pistone, Band); “Open Letter” (Jeff Conaway, Anthony Crivello, Company); “Mirror, Mirror”
(reprise) (Lisa Michaels); “Ordinary, Extraordinary Day” (Anthony Crivello, Lisa Michaels); “What’s the
Angle” (reprise) (Cheryl Alexander, Patrick Jude, Charles Pistone, Band); “Violent Crime” (Jeff Conaway,
Lisa Michaels, Cheryl Alexander, Patrick Jude, Charles Pistone); “What in the World” (Patrick Jude,
Cheryl Alexander, Charles Pistone, Band); “Act of God (Births, Deaths and the Weather)” (Company)
The News and Wind in the Willows were the season’s shortest-running musicals with four performances
apiece (the musicals in the Italy on Stage festival were non-commercial productions that played for limited
engagements of two performances apiece).
Most of The News was set in the city room of the Mirror, a scandal-sheet tabloid that sports headlines on
the order of “Pope and Party Girls Undressed,” “Live Goat Found in Madonna’s Stomach,” and “Head Red
Dead.” But this was unlike any newspaper office on the planet, let alone the Daily Planet. Frank Rich in the
New York Times reported that the newsroom resembled a sushi bar filled with “punk-styled band members”
and microphones, and while the story supposedly took take place in a large American city, the view from
one character’s apartment provided a vista of snow-covered mountains “reminiscent of suburban Zurich.”
Further, the cast members sported “loud” sunglasses and “hideous” costumes, and at one point the Executive
Editor (Jeff Conaway [all the characters were given generic descriptive titles rather than names]) did a bump-
and-grind. And although the Mirror was a newspaper, the newsroom was filled with television monitors that
provided news updates. At the end of the musical, the closed-circuit televisions showed live images of the
theatre audience, no doubt to make the statement that the Mirror mirrors life and that in Cabaret fashion
we are all somehow complicit as willing viewers and readers in the sleazy world of tabloid television and
newspapers.
The critics noted that a preshow announcement promised the intermission-less production would last
ninety-nine minutes, but the promise was broken and the show ran on a bit longer. But at least such an an-
nouncement assured the audience that the musical would indeed end at some point. Rich wondered why such
specific information was provided to the audience, and soon came to realize that every one of those minutes
was “agony.”
The musical was sung-through, and of those ninety-nine-plus minutes, about nine included spoken dia-
logue. The story dealt with the Mirror’s attempt to uncover a serial killer (Killer, played by Anthony Crivello)
who stalks the city (Rich noted that only the newspaper seems interested in finding Killer, who is completely
ignored by the police), and Executive Editor is so caught up in promoting the paper’s search for him (including
a half-million-dollar prize to the reader who comes up with the best nickname for Killer) that he doesn’t real-
ize his daughter, Girl (Lisa Michaels), has hooked up with Killer via the newspaper’s lonely hearts column. In
the meantime, Killer kills and kills (including the Mirror’s astrologer and a particularly obnoxious television
personality) and enjoys leaving clues behind for Executive Editor and the Mirror staff to decipher. As for the
score, Rich said it was “aggressively screechy” and Crivello’s performance didn’t “so much recall Robert De-
Niro’s taxi driver as Jerry Lewis in mid-telethon.” (In some respects, the plot was reminiscent of Fritz Lang’s
1956 newspaper-office-and-murder-mystery film While the City Sleeps.)
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the score was “shapeless” and “unbearably noisy,” the
lyrics were “dumb,” and the show was “ugly to look at” (with “cheesy” costumes and a “cluttered” set).
Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily decided The News made Moose Murders “look competent by com-
parison,” and noted that Conaway couldn’t decide if he were starring in Citizen Kane or The Rocky Horror
Show. And Clive Barnes in the New York Post found the lyrics “puerile,” said the music had “the inventive-
ness of an old-fashioned steam hammer out of breath,” and concluded by noting that “yesterday’s paper wraps
today’s fish” and for The News “it was always yesterday.” But Linda Winer in USA Today said the musical
was “kind of fun in a trashy B-movie way” and suggested it might have been successful in an “unassuming”
Off-Broadway theatre. She noted the lyrics were often “fresh and tough” and the “grinding” choreography
1985–1986 SEASON 263
and décor had “fun with their own intentional ugliness,” but otherwise the music offered only “punched-up
monotony” and the story vacillated “between moral and parody.”
During previews the musical was presented in two acts with the intermission following the “Editorial”
number, and the song “Sports” was cut. A few critics mentioned that the song “Gimme Da Money” was
performed, but the number isn’t listed in preview programs, the opening night program, or on a corrected
program insert sheet.
The musical was first presented Off Off Broadway in a showcase production at the West Bank Café/Down-
stairs Theatre Bar in April 1984, and was later staged at the Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre in Jupiter, Florida.
The original Helen Hayes Theatre (which first opened its doors as the Fulton Theatre in 1911) was located
at 210 West 46th Street, and was demolished in 1982 (the last musical to play there was The Five O’Clock
Girl and the theatre’s final production was Oliver Hailey’s 1981 comedy I Won’t Dance, which closed after
one performance). In 1983, the Little Theatre (which opened in 1912 at 240 West 44th Street and for most of
the century was known as the Little Theatre or variants thereof and was later briefly named the Winthrop
Ames Theatre) was renamed the Helen Hayes during the run of Torch Song Trilogy. The News was the first
musical to play there under the venue’s new name.
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Score (lyrics and music by Paul Schierhorn)
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD

“A Musical” / “A New Musical” / “The Music Hall Musical” / “The Solve-It-Yourself Broadway Musical”

Opening Date: December 2, 1985; Closing Date: May 16, 1987
Performances: 608
Book, Lyrics, and Music: Rupert Holmes
Based on the unfinished 1870 novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens.
Direction: Wilford Leach; Producers: Joseph Papp (A New York Shakespeare Festival Production) (Jason Ste-
ven Cohen, Associate Producer); Choreography: Graciela Daniele; Scenery: Bob Shaw; Costumes: Lindsay
W. Davis; Lighting: Paul Gallo; Musical Direction: Michael Starobin
Note: The musical was presented as a musical-within-a-musical in which a group of music-hall performers
present their version of Dickens’s novel; following the name of each Broadway cast member is (1) the
name of the music-hall performer and (2) the name of the Dickens character portrayed by the music-hall
performer.
Cast: George Rose (Chairman William Cartwright/Major Thomas Sapsea), Peter McRobbie (James Throttle/
Stage Manager, Barkeep, Harold), Howard McGillin (Clive Paget/John Jasper), George N. Martin (Cedric
Moncrieffe/Reverend Mr. Crisparkle), Betty Buckley (Alice Nutting/Edwin Drood), Patti Cohenour (De-
idre Peregrine/Rosa Bud), Judy Kuhn (Isabel Yearsley/Alice, Succubae), Donna Murphy (Florence Gill/
Beatrice, Succubae), Jana Schneider (Janet Conover/Helena Landless), John Herrera (Victor Grinstead/Nev-
ille Landless), Jerome Dempsey (Nick Cricker/Durdles), Stephen Glavin (Master Nick Cricker/Deputy,
Statue), Cleo Laine (Angela Prysock/Princess Puffer), Nicholas Gunn (Harry Sayle/Shade of Jasper), Brad
Miskell (Montague Pruitt/Shade of Drood), Herndon Lackey (Alan Eliot/Client of Princess Puffer), Rob
Marshall (Christopher Lyon/Client of Princess Puffer), Francine Landes (Gwendolyn Pynn/Succubae, Ser-
vant), Karen Giombetti (Sarah Cook/Succubae), Joe Grifasi (Phillip Bax/Servant, Bazzard), Susan Goodman
(Violet Balfour/Servant), Charles Goff (Brian Pankhurst/Horace), Citizens of Cloisterham: Karen Giom-
betti, Charles Goff, Susan Goodman, Nicholas Gunn, Judy Kuhn, Herndon Lackey, Francine Landes, Rob
Marshall, Peter McRobbie, Brad Miskell, Donna Murphy; and performer identified in program as “?????,”
who plays the role of Dick Datchery in the music-hall presentation
The action takes place in 1873 at The Music Hall Royale in London.
Musical Numbers
Act One: The Situation: “There You Are” (George Rose, Company); “A Man Could Go Quite Mad” (Howard
McGillin); “Two Kinsmen” (Betty Buckley, Howard McGillin); “Moonfall” (Patti Cohenour); “A British
Subject” (John Herrera, George N. Martin, Howard McGillin, Patti Cohenour, Jana Schneider); “Moon-
fall” (reprise) (Patti Cohenour, Jana Schneider, Judy Kuhn, Donna Murphy); “I Wouldn’t Say No” (Jerome
Dempsey, Stephen Glavin, George Rose, Ensemble); “The Wages of Sin” (Cleo Laine); “Jasper’s Vision”
(Nicholas Gunn, Brad Miskell, Francine Landes, Karen Giombetti, Donna Murphy, Judy Kuhn, Stephen
Glavin); “Ceylon” (Jana Schneider, John Herrera, Betty Buckley, Patti Cohenour, Ensemble); “Both Sides
of the Coin” (Howard McGillin, George Rose, Ensemble); “Perfect Strangers” (Betty Buckley, Patti Co-
henour); “No Good Can Come from Bad” (John Herrera, Betty Buckley, Patti Cohenour, Jana Schneider,
George N. Martin, Howard McGillin, Joe Grifasi, Susan Goodman, Francine Landes); “In the Name of
Love” and “Moonfall” (reprise) (Patti Cohenour, Howard McGillin, Ensemble)
Act Two: The Solution: “Settling Up the Score” (Purposely unnamed performer who plays role of Datchery,
Cleo Laine, Ensemble); “Off to the Races” (George Rose, Jerome Dempsey, Stephen Glavin, Ensemble);
“Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead” (Cleo Laine, Company); “The Garden Path to Hell” (Cleo Laine); “The
Solution” (Company) (Note: “The Solution” consists of seven complete musical sequences, each one
dependent on who is voted the murderer: “Puffer’s Confession”; “Out on a Limerick”; “Jasper’s Confes-
sion”; “Murderer’s Confession”; a reprise version of “Perfect Strangers”; “The Writing on the Wall”; and
a reprise version of “Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead.”)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood opened at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park on August 4, 1985, for
twenty-four performances, and transferred to Broadway later in the year with most of the summer cast intact
(a notable addition to the Broadway production was future film director Rob Marshall).
Charles Dickens never completed his novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and so it isn’t known which
character he intended as the murderer of the title character (or if indeed the title character was murdered).
The musical took place in a British music hall in which the performers present their version of the story, and
toward the end of each performance the audience is asked to decide which one of the seven mostly likely
suspects is the killer. Seven alternate endings were written, and once the audience’s votes were tallied, that
denouement was presented.
The critics liked the show, but some felt the first act was too long. But all agreed the final forty-five
minutes of the second half were entertaining when the audience got into the act, voted on the murderer, and
the performers then enacted the final phases of the whys and wherefores of the crime. Frank Rich in the New
York Times said the musical’s “erratic charms” and somewhat “garbled” plot required a “picnic atmosphere”
to succeed, and to that end director Wilford Leach brought to the production a “rambunctious” and “vaude-
villian” spirit. But some of the jokes fell “flat,” and the music-hall acting troupe didn’t possess the “nutty
awfulness” required of them—too often the performers kidded the material. But nothing in the show matched
“the spontaneous fun” of the resolution of the mystery during which “the atmosphere in the theatre becomes
as merry as that of an unchaperoned auditorium of high school kids.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said “it might not be saying much,” but Drood was so far
the “best” musical he’d seen during the season. Between the show’s “interruptions and striking individual
scenes,” however, he tended “to lose interest” in the mystery itself. But the musical was “an eyeful and an
earful” and Graciela Daniele offered “several exuberant, and one amusingly depraved, dance routines.” Clive
Barnes in the New York Post liked the “enjoyable” and “entertaining” production, and while the score was
“no blockbuster” it was nonetheless “modestly tuneful” with “well-turned” lyrics. Howard Kissel in Wom-
en’s Wear Daily found the production “as pleasurable an evening as Broadway has seen in years.”
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor praised the “rich score,” but said the “anything-for-a-
laugh” direction was now “even broader” than in Central Park. Further, Leach seemed “determined to explore
the lowest depths of low camp” and if not careful he could “give hamminess a bad name.”
Linda Winer in USA Today found the musical a “well-meaning” but “tiresome” affair, and while the
score would make a “rousing” cast album she said the production was “busy with campy, arch, childish
distractions.” But William A. Henry III in Time suggested that “taken on its own terms” the show was “viva-
cious, funny and richly tuneful” (he found half the score “instantly hummable” and he singled out “Perfect
Strangers” and “Don’t Quit While You’re Ahead”).
1985–1986 SEASON 265
For Broadway, four numbers heard during the summer production were dropped (“An English Music
Hall,” “There’ll Be England Again,” “A British Subject,” and “I Wouldn’t Say No”), one (“Evensong”) was cut
during Broadway previews, and one (“There You Are”) was added.
The script was published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday in 1986 and includes some forty-two pages
reflecting the seven alternate endings. The Broadway cast album was released by Polydor Records (LP # 827-
969-1-Y-2) and includes two of the alternate endings. A later CD release by Varese Sarabande Records (# VSD-
5597) includes three alternate conclusions, and another CD release (by PolyGram Records # G-827-969-1-Y-2)
offers all seven. The CD of the Australian production on GEP Records (# GEP-9401) has all seven endings,
and the collection Lost in Boston (I) (Varese Sarabande CD # VSD-5475) includes the cut songs “An English
Music Hall” and “Evensong.”
During the musical’s Broadway run, the title was shortened to Drood, but the subtitle “The Music Hall
Musical” was retained. Jeremy Gerard in the New York Times reported that the producers and the market-
ing representatives wanted the show to have “a whole new crisp, fresh look” and “a nice big title that jumps
off the page.” But one unnamed source close to the musical was afraid the loss of the word “mystery” in the
title would give more prominence to the subtitle and thus potential ticket-buyers might head toward the
neighborhood of Radio City.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (The Mystery of Edwin Drood); Best Leading Actor in a Musi-
cal (George Rose); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Cleo Laine); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (John
Herrera); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Howard McGillin); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Patti
Cohenour); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Jana Schneider); Best Director of a Musical (Wilford Leach);
Best Book (Rupert Holmes); Best Score (lyrics and music by Rupert Holmes); Best Choreographer (Graciela
Daniele)
JERRY’S GIRLS
“A Broadway Entertainment—The Music & Lyrics of Jerry Herman”

Opening Date: December 18, 1985; Closing Date: April 20, 1986
Performances: 139
Direction: Larry Alford; Producers: Zev Bufman and Kenneth-John Productions; Choreography: Wayne Ci-
lento (Sarah Miles, Assistant Choreographer); Scenery: Hal Tine; Costumes: Florence Klotz; Lighting:
Tharon Musser; Musical Direction: Janet Glazener
Cast: Dorothy Loudon, Chita Rivera, Leslie Uggams, Ellyn Arons, Kirsten Childs, Kim Crosby, Anita Ehrler,
Terri Homberg, Robin Kersey, Joni Masella, Deborah Phelan
Musical Numbers
Act One: “It Takes a Woman” (Hello, Dolly!, 1964) (Ellyn Arons, Kirsten Childs, Kim Crosby, Anita Ehrler,
Terri Homberg, Robin Kersey, Joni Masella, Deborah Phelan); “It Takes a Woman” (reprise) (Ensemble);
“Just Leave Everything to Me” (1969 film version of Hello, Dolly!) (Dorothy Loudon); “Put On Your
Sunday Clothes” (Hello, Dolly!) (Dorothy Loudon, Ensemble); “It Only Takes a Moment” (Hello, Dolly!)
(Leslie Uggams); “Wherever He Ain’t” (Mack & Mabel, 1974) (Chita Rivera); “We Need a Little Christ-
mas” (Mame, 1966) (Ellyn Arons, Kirsten Childs, Kim Crosby, Anita Ehrler, Deborah Phelan); “Tap Your
Troubles Away” (Mack & Mabel) (Dorothy Loudon, Chita Rivera, Leslie Uggams, Ensemble); “I Won’t
Send Roses” (Mack & Mabel) (Leslie Uggams); and Vaudeville Medley: “(I Was Born to Do the) Two-a-
Day” (Parade, 1960) (Dorothy Loudon); “Bosom Buddies” (Mame) (Chita Rivera, Leslie Uggams); “The
Man in the Moon” (Mame) (Dorothy Loudon); “So Long, Dearie” (Hello, Dolly!) (Chita Rivera); “Take
It All Off” (new song written for Jerry’s Girls) (Kim Crosby, Terri Homberg, Robin Kersey, Joni Masella,
Dorothy Loudon); and “(I Was Born to Do the) Two-a-Day” (reprise) (Dorothy Loudon, Chita Rivera, En-
semble); “Shalom” (Milk and Honey, 1961) (Leslie Uggams); “Milk and Honey” (Milk and Honey) (Leslie
Uggams, Ellyn Arons, Kirsten Childs, Kim Crosby, Terri Homberg, Robin Kersey, Deborah Phelan); “Be-
fore the Parade Passes By” (Hello, Dolly!) (Chita Rivera); “Have a Nice Day” (dropped from La Cage aux
Folles, 1983) (Dorothy Loudon, Ellyn Arons, Kirsten Childs, Kim Crosby, Terri Homberg, Robin Kersey,
Joni Masella); “Show Tune” (aka “There Is No Tune Like a Show Tune” and “Show Tune in 2/4”; origi-
nally in 1958 Off-Broadway revue Nightcap and then later in Parade) (Chita Rivera, Ensemble); “If He
Walked into My Life” (Mame) (Leslie Uggams); “Hello, Dolly!” (Hello, Dolly!) (Dorothy Loudon, Leslie
Uggams, Chita Rivera, Ensemble)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); Movies Medley: “Just Go to the Movies” (A Day in Hollywood, 1980) (Ellyn
Arons, Kirsten Childs, Kim Crosby, Terri Homberg, Deborah Phelan); “Movies Were Movies” (Mack &
Mabel) (Leslie Uggams); “Look What Happened to Mabel” (Mack & Mabel) (Chita Rivera); “Nelson” (A
Day in Hollywood) (Dorothy Loudon); and “Just Go to the Movies” (reprise) (Unidentified performers);
“I Don’t Want to Know” (Dear World, 1969) (Chita Rivera); “It’s Today” (Mame) (Leslie Uggams, Ellyn
Arons, Kim Crosby, Anita Ehrler, Terri Homberg, Robin Kersey, Joni Masella, Deborah Phelan); “Mame”
(Mame) (Dorothy Loudon, Ellyn Arons, Kim Crosby, Anita Ehrler, Terri Homberg, Robin Kersey, Joni Ma-
sella, Deborah Phalen); “Kiss Her Now” (Dear World) (Leslie Uggams, Kirsten Childs); “The Tea Party”
(Dear World): (1) “Dickie” (Dorothy Loudon); (2) “Voices” (Leslie Uggams); and (3) “Thoughts” (Chita
Rivera); “Time Heals Everything” (Mack & Mabel) (Dorothy Loudon); “That’s How Young I Feel” (Mame)
(Chita Rivera, Anita Ehrler, Joni Masella); “My Type” (Nightcap) (Dorothy Loudon); La Cage aux Folles
Medley: “La Cage aux Folles” (Chita Rivera, Kirsten Childs, Anita Ehrler, Terri Homberg, Robin Kersey,
Joni Masella, Deborah Phalen); “Song on the Sand” (Dorothy Loudon, Kirsten Childs, Terri Homberg,
Robin Kersey, Deborah Phalen); “I Am What I Am” (Leslie Uggams); and “The Best of Times” (Dorothy
Loudon, Chita Rivera, Leslie Uggams, Ensemble)
The Jerry Herman tribute revue Jerry’s Girls should probably have stayed where it started, in an intimate
Off-Off-Broadway venue. Instead, it eventually morphed into a full-fledged Broadway revue and toured the
country before opening in New York for a short run of 139 performances. Herman’s output was generally
small, and his songs were often one-note in their upbeat, seize-the-day philosophy. As a result, the revue
was an overly long evening and soon monotony set in because the songs were so similar. The evening lacked
a point of view, and for a while it seemed as though every song from every Herman show was going to be
shoved into the proceedings. The evening included seven from Hello, Dolly! (1964), seven from Mame (1966),
six from Mack & Mabel (1974), and so on. Wouldn’t it have been simpler and cheaper to just sell the cast
albums of these shows in the lobby and dispense with the revue itself? There was little in the way of trunk
songs; Herman’s Off-Broadway revues Nightcap (1958) and Parade (1960) were barely represented; and com-
pletely overlooked were his Off-Broadway shows I Feel Wonderful (1954) and Madame Aphrodite (1961) and
Broadway musical The Grand Tour (1979).
The revue included a touch of esoteric material, including the cut song about bigotry, “Have a Nice Day”
(La Cage aux Folles), “My Type” (Nightcap), “(I Was Born to Do the) Two-a-Day” (Parade), and “Show Tune”
(aka “There Is No Tune Like a Show Tune” and “Show Tune in 2/4”) (Nightcap and Parade) (the latter was
reworked as “It’s Today” for Mame). Herman also wrote a new song for Jerry’s Girls, “Take It All Off” for
Dorothy Loudon. The latter was criticized for demeaning the performer: Linda Winer in USA Today stated
the number was a “vulgar, sadistic mistake,” and William A. Henry III in Time noted that Loudon’s material
was “almost all based on self-mockery for being plump and presumably over the hill” and this notion soon
became “distasteful.”
If the staging of “Take It All Off” was regrettable, some parts of the show were either obvious or confus-
ing. As an example of the evening’s would-be wit, the chorus girls were seen in bathing suits while they sang
“We Need a Little Christmas,” and the “The Tea Party” sequence (“Dickie,” “Voices,” and “Thoughts”) from
Dear World was meaningless unless one was familiar with the plot of that musical.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said Jerry’s Girls had less in common with the “high spirits” of Hello,
Dolly! and the “opulence” of Mame than with the “screechiness and tackiness” of Peg and Leader of the
Pack. At various times during the title song of “Hello, Dolly!,” the performers announced they hated the
1985–1986 SEASON 267
number; Leslie Uggams sang “I Won’t Send Roses” by impersonating both a man and a woman, “both” of
whom sang the number to a rag doll; the chorus girls performed the title song from La Cage aux Folles as “fe-
male disco dancers in male drag”; and the choreography was in the style of the dances seen on the television
show Hullabaloo. Henry noted the evening lacked “texture, narrative and perception of human nature,” and
suggested the show would most please those “who like Las Vegas spectaculars or TV variety hours.”
But most of the critics were generous in their assessments of the revue. Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street
Journal praised the “splashy, effective treatment” given to the overall evening and said Chita Rivera was
“nothing short of sensational.” Winer found the evening “lively, lavish and dedicated to the eternal verity
in a well-placed bugle bead.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said “this one is fun” and he especially liked the first
act, which was “an honest-to-goodness series of show stoppers” (but he noted the creators made some “bad
choices” in the second act and then “the show really does stop”). Clive Barnes in the New York Post said
the “wild and bounteous compilation” of Herman’s songs could stay at the St. James “forever—at the very
least.” And while Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily found Herman’s songs bound within “conventional
structures and ideas,” he said Dorothy Loudon, Chita Rivera, and Leslie Uggams made the revue worth see-
ing because they were “a reminder of the kind of exuberance, strength and charisma that Broadway used to
have in abundance.”
During Broadway previews, “Gooch’s Song” (Mame) and “I’ll Be Here Tomorrow” (The Grand Tour)
were performed. Earlier versions of the revue included “Chin Up, Ladies” (Milk and Honey),“My Best Girl”
(Mame), three songs from Dear World (“The Spring of Next Year,” “And I Was Beautiful,” and “I Don’t
Want to Know”), three from Mack & Mabel (“When Mabel Comes in the Room,” “I Wanna Make the World
Laugh,” and “Hundreds of Girls”), “Marianne” (The Grand Tour), and “Playin’ the Palace” (the 1977 Off-
Broadway revue Joe Masiell Not at the Palace).
Jerry’s Girls was first presented Off Off Broadway on August 17, 1981, at Ted Hook’s Onstage Theatre for
101 performances with Evalyn Baron, Alexandra (Alix) Korey, Leila Martin, and Pauletta Pearson. The show
was later revised and a national tour with Carol Channing, Leslie Uggams, and Andrea McArdle was produced
during the 1983–1984 season, and the Washington, D.C., engagement was recorded on a two-LP set by Poly-
dor Records (# 820-207-1-Y-2) and includes “(I Was Born to Do the) Two-a-Day,” “Take It All Off,” “Gooch’s
Song,” and “I Don’t Want to Know.” The script was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1988.
Other tributes to Herman were: Off-Off Broadway’s Tune the Grand Up! Words and Music by Jerry Her-
man (given for three free performances at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center on December 18,
1978); Broadway’s An Evening with Jerry Herman (Booth Theatre on July 28, 1998, for twenty-eight perfor-
mances); and Off-Broadway’s Showtune: The Words and Music of Jerry Herman (The Theatre at Saint Peter’s
Church on February 27, 2003, for fifty-three performances).
WIND IN THE WILLOWS

Performances: 4
Book: Jane Iredale
Lyrics: Roger McGough and William Perry
Music: William Perry; dance and incidental music by David Krane
Based on the 1908 book The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.
Direction: Tony Stevens (Steven Zweigbaum, Production Supervisor); Producers: RLM Productions, Inc.,
and Liniva Productions, Inc.; Choreography: Margery Beddow (James Brennan, Associate Choreographer);
Scenery: Sam Kirkpatrick; Costumes: Freddy Wittop; Lighting: Craig Miller; Fight Direction: Conal
O’Brien; Musical Direction: Robert Rogers
Cast: Vicki Lewis (Mole), Nora Mae Lyng (Mother Rabbit, Jailer’s Daughter), John Jellison (Father Rabbit,
Judge), David (James) Carroll (Rat), Nathan Lane (Toad), Donna Drake (Chief Stoat), Irving Barnes (Badger),
P. J. Benjamin (Chief Weasel), Jackie Lowe (Wayfarer Rat), Scott Waara (Police Sergeant), Kenston Ames
(Court Clerk), Michael Byers (Prosecutor, Jailer); Ensemble: Kenston Ames, Shell M. Benjamin, Michael
Byers, Jackie Lowe, Marguerite Lowell, Nora Mae Lyng, Mary C. Robare, Jamie Rocco, Ray Roderick,
Scott Waara

The action takes place over the period of one year (from spring to spring) in Edwardian England.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The World Is Waiting for Me” (Vicki Lewis); “When Springtime Comes to My River” (David Car-
roll); “Messing About in Boats” (David Carroll, Vicki Lewis); “Evil Weasel” (P. J. Benjamin, Donna Drake,
Weasels and Stoats); “That’s What Friends Are For” (Nathan Lane, David Carroll, Vicki Lewis, Rabbits);
“Follow Your Instinct” (Vicki Lewis, Rabbits, Weasels, Stoats); “The Gasoline Can-Can” (Nathan Lane,
Rabbits); “You’ll Love It in Jail” (P. J. Benjamin, Donna Drake, Nathan Lane, Policemen); “Mediterra-
nean” (Jackie Lowe); “The Day You Came into My Life” (Vicki Lewis)
Act Two: “S-S-S-Something Comes Over Me” (Nathan Lane); “I’d Be Attracted” (Vicki Lewis, David Carroll);
“When Springtime Comes to My River” (reprise) (David Carroll); “The Day You Came into My Life”
(reprise) (Vicki Lewis); “Moving Up in the World” (P. J. Benjamin, Donna Drake, Weasels, Stoats); “Brief
Encounter” (Nathan Lane, Nora Mae Lyng); “Where Am I Now?” (Nathan Lane); “The Wind in the Wil-
lows” (Company); “That’s What Friends Are For” (reprise) (Nathan Lane, David Carroll, Irving Barnes,
Rabbits); “Come What May” (Company)
Kenneth Grahame’s classic 1908 children’s novel The Wind in the Willows was given a perfunctory lyric
adaptation that met with poor or indifferent reviews, and along with The News was the season’s shortest-
running musical. Graham’s anthropomorphic view of animals who live in the pastoral English countryside
and who mirror the foibles of human nature resulted in a mild-mannered musical that lacked a compelling
narrative and a strong score. But the evening yielded one treasure, the insinuating ballad “I’d Be Attracted”
for Mole and Rat (for the musical, the novel’s male Mole was now female).
Mel Gussow in the New York Times found the show “errant in concept, design and execution” and noted
that the music was “mellow in a mundane fashion” and the choreography was “bland.” The adaptation often
literalized and vulgarized the novel and he questioned the “dubious choice” of having the performers play the
animals as if they were people. Instead, “a Muppetized” approach might have been more “valid.”
Gussow suggested it was time for a moratorium on shows in which animals were portrayed by actors,
and he cited the recent Off-Broadway musicals Hamelin and Just So (both 1985). Of course, earlier Broadway
shows had presented such musicals (for example, Shinbone Alley in 1957, Rainbow Jones in 1974, and Heart-
aches of a Pussycat), but Cats institutionalized the trend and so besides Hamelin and Just So there were such
Off-Broadway and regional also-rans as Rats (1982), Dogs (1983), Dawgs! (1983), and, much later, Pets! (1995).
Although Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the musical “tastefully” written, composed,
acted, and designed, it had “the personality of a mole.” He praised a comic courtroom scene which included
a Bert Lahr–inspired judge, but otherwise “that wind in the willows is mostly thin air.” Clive Barnes in the
New York Post said the “dismal” and “shallow little musical” was a “travesty” in which the animals had
become “utterly charmless and dreary” and the story “boring.” The lyrics “for one glaring instance” made
“mediocrity awesome” and the music was “drear beyond belief, and without a scintilla of true style or origi-
nal character.” As for Joel Siegel on WABCTV7, he felt that “at its best” the show possessed “a college musi-
cal feel,” but otherwise was “disjointed” and “not up to Broadway.” The musical never took off “on a life of
its own” and it was an “ill wind” that blew through the willows.
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the book offered “funny” moments and the score had “wit
and lovely melodies” (he singled out “The Day You Came into My Life,” “Come What May,” and the title
song), but the evening lacked a “through-line” and he felt the show would have been more effective Off
Broadway.
During New York previews, director Edward Berkeley was succeeded by Tony Stevens, John Carrafa left
the production when his role of Pan was eliminated, and the songs “Prologue” (for Pan and Company) and
“Joy Shall Be Yours in the Morning” (Rabbits) were dropped. “Toad’s Grand Prix” may have been an early
variation of “The Gasoline Can-Can.”
The musical had previously been produced at the Folger Theatre in Washington, D.C., for the period July
26–September 18, 1983, with direction by John Neville-Andrews and choreography by Claudia Neely. The
1985–1986 SEASON 269
lyrics were credited only to Roger McGough, and the cast included Vicki Lewis and P. J. Benjamin, both of
whom appeared in the later Broadway version. Others in the Washington cast were Ken Jennings (Toad) and
Kathleen Mahony-Bennett (Stoat One). Songs heard in Washington but cut for Broadway were: “My First
Spring,” “Bother Spring Cleaning,” “Show Me a Road,” “Billy Badger,” “Wayfarer’s Song,” “A Time for Danc-
ing,” “Show Me a Track,” “I’m Bad,” “Show Me a Jail,” “Large Families,” and “Friendship Song.” “Joy Shall
Be Yours in the Morning” was heard in the Washington run and during New York previews, but was cut from
the show prior to the New York opening. The Washington production seemed uncertain as to how to promote
itself: the artwork for one newspaper advertisement depicted an elegantly dressed turn-of-the-century couple
while another ad showed a couple clad in leather who looked ready to join a motorcycle rally.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Book (Jane Iredale); Best Score (lyrics by Roger McGough and William Perry,
music by William Perry)
THE ROBERT KLEIN SHOW!

Theatre: Circle in the Square
Performances: 16
Material: Robert Klein
Producer: Circle in the Square (Theodore Mann, Artistic Director; Paul Libin, Producing Director); Props:
Frank Hauser; Wardrobe: Claire Libin; Musical Direction: Bob Stein
Cast: Robert Klein, Kenny Rankin; Singers: Betsy Bircher and Catherine Russell; Musicians: Zev Katz (Bass),
Dave Rataczjak (Drums), and Bob Rose (Guitar)
Stand-up comedian Robert Klein bookended his limited-engagement revue with musical segments. The
evening began with guest-star Kenny Rankin, a singer-guitarist who performed a few ballads (including Rich-
ard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s “My Funny Valentine” from the 1937 musical Babes in Arms), and ended with
a musical sequence that included two parodies by Klein: according to Stephen Holden in the New York Times,
one was a “sarcastic all-American travelogue” and the other was “a Jewish blues number.” In between, Klein
looked at the fads and foibles of the day, including such well-worn topics as television advertisements.
The critics liked Klein and noted that as he prowled the stage he voiced his complaints and observations
about everyday life, including the bizarre fact that space aliens invariably choose to appear before unreliable
people and never to someone like Carl Sagan. He also ruminated over the angst of being Jewish when well-
intentioned WASPs serve him their idea of a proper kosher meal.
Clive Barnes in the New York Post found Klein a “very funny” comedian who views his audience “as
both antagonist and ally” and as a result “plays with them and for them. And against them.” Ron Cohen in
Women’s Wear Daily said Klein evoked “a mood of spontaneity that adds to the fun” of the evening, and
noted the comic’s “free-form monolog is basically a whine-cum-explosion” over life’s “irritations and an-
noyances.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor noted that Klein covered a comic terrain “of the
real and surreal, mixing personal history with figments of fantasy.” And Holden hailed the performer as “a
seasoned prizefighter in the world of stand-up comedy” who delivered “vigorous verbal jabs that puncture
little balloons of social hypocrisy, phony conventional wisdom and false advertising.”
Robert Klein had appeared in the 1966 Broadway musical The Apple Tree, was a New Face in the 1968
edition of that venerable series of revues, and starred in the long-running 1979 hit They’re Playing Our Song.
In 1988, he returned to Circle in the Square for another stand-up comedy session in An Evening with Robert
Klein.
JEROME KERN GOES TO HOLLYWOOD

“A New Musical Revue”

Performances: 13
Narration: Dick Vosburgh
Lyrics: See song list for specific credits
Music: Jerome Kern
Direction: David Kernan (Irving Davies, Additional Staging); Producers: Arthur Cantor and Bonnie Nelson
Schwartz by arrangement with Peter Wilson and Showpeople (Harvey Elliott, Associate Producer; Eric
Friedheim, Producing Associate); Scenery: Colin Pigott; Costumes: Christine Robinson; Lighting: Ken
Billington; Musical Direction: Peter Howard
Cast: Elaine Delmar, Scott Holmes, Liz Robertson, Elisabeth Welch
Musical Numbers
Note: The song list in the opening night program didn’t always reflect what was performed on stage; the song
list below is taken from the opening night program as well as a special corrected song-list insert which
was included in that program.
Act One: “The Song Is You” (Music in the Air, 1932; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Ensemble); “I’ve Told
Ev’ry Little Star” (Music in the Air, 1932; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Ensemble); “Let’s Begin”
(Roberta, 1933; lyric by Otto Harbach) (Elaine Delmar); “I Won’t Dance” (1935 film version of Roberta;
lyric by Otto Harbach, Dorothy Fields, and Jimmy McHugh) (Liz Robertson); “Californ-i-ay” (1944 film
Can’t Help Singing; lyric by E. Y. Harburg) (Elaine Delmar, Scott Holmes, Liz Robertson); “I’ll Be Hard to
Handle” (Roberta, 1933; lyric by Bernard Dougall) (Liz Robertson); “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (Roberta,
1933; lyric by Otto Harbach) (Elisabeth Welch); “Yesterdays” (Roberta, 1933; lyric by Otto Harbach) (Scott
Holmes, Liz Robertson); “Bojangles of Harlem” (1936 film Swing Time; lyric by Dorothy Fields) (Elaine
Delmar, Scott Holmes, Liz Robertson); “I’m Old-Fashioned” (1942 film You Were Never Lovelier; lyric by
Johnny Mercer) (Elaine Delmar); “Make Believe” (Show Boat, 1927; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Liz
Robertson); “Why Do I Love You?” (Show Boat, 1927; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Liz Robertson);
“I Have the Room Above Her” (1936 film version of Show Boat; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Scott
Holmes); “I (Ah) Still Suits Me” (1936 film version of Show Boat; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Scott
Holmes, Elisabeth Welch); “Day Dreaming” (1941, source unknown [possibly intended for the 1942 film
You Were Never Lovelier]; lyric by Gus Kahn) (Elaine Delmar, Scott Holmes, Liz Robertson); “I Dream
Too Much” (1935 film I Dream Too Much; lyric by Dorothy Fields) (Elaine Delmar, Scott Holmes, Liz
Robertson); “Can I Forget You?” (1937 film High, Wide and Handsome; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II)
(Elaine Delmar, Scott Holmes, Liz Robertson); “Pick Yourself Up” (1936 film Swing Time; lyric by Doro-
thy Fields) (Elaine Delmar, Liz Robertson); “She Didn’t Say ‘Yes’” (The Cat and the Fiddle, 1931; lyric
by Otto Harbach) (Elisabeth Welch); “The Folks Who Live on the Hill” (1937 film High, Wide and Hand-
some; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Scott Holmes); “Long Ago (and Far Away)” (1944 film Cover Girl;
lyric by Ira Gershwin) (Ensemble)
Act Two: “The Show Must Go On” (1944 film Cover Girl; lyric by Ira Gershwin) (Ensemble); “Don’t Ask
Me Not to Sing” (cut from The Cat and the Fiddle, 1931; and added to Roberta, 1933; lyric by Otto
Harbach) (Scott Holmes); “The Way You Look Tonight” (1936 film Swing Time; lyric by Dorothy Fields)
(Scott Holmes); “A Fine Romance” (1936 film Swing Time; lyric by Dorothy Fields) (Elaine Delmar, Scott
Holmes); “Lovely to Look At” (1935 film version of Roberta; lyric by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh)
(Elisabeth Welch); “Just Let Me Look at You” (1938 film Joy of Living; lyric by Dorothy Fields) (Liz Rob-
ertson); “Who?” (Sunny, 1925; lyric by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II) (Ensemble); “Remind
Me” (1940 film One Night in the Tropics; lyric by Dorothy Fields) (Elaine Delmar); “The Last Time I Saw
Paris” (1941 film Lady Be Good; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Scott Holmes); “Ol’ Man River” (Show
Boat, 1927; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Elaine Delmar, Scott Holmes, Liz Robertson); “Why Was I
1985–1986 SEASON 271
Born?” (Sweet Adeline, 1929; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Elisabeth Welch); “Bill” (Show Boat, 1927;
lyric by P. G. Wodehouse and Oscar Hammerstein II) (Liz Robertson); “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” (Show
Boat, 1927; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Elaine Delmar); “All the Things You Are” (Very Warm for
May, 1939; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Elaine Delmar, Scott Holmes, Liz Robertson); “I’ve Told Ev’ry
Little Star” (reprise) (Music in the Air, 1932; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II) (Elisabeth Welch); “They
Didn’t Believe Me” (The Girl from Utah, 1914; lyric by Herbert Reynolds) (Ensemble); “Till the Clouds
Roll By” (Oh, Boy!, 1917; lyric by P. G. Wodehouse and Jerome Kern) (Ensemble); “Look for the Silver
Lining” (Sally, 1920; lyric by B. G. “Buddy” DeSylva) (Ensemble); “Make Way for Tomorrow” (1944 film
Cover Girl; lyric by Ira Gershwin and E. Y. Harburg) (Ensemble)
The London import Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood was a rather curiously conceived revue that included
only those Kern songs that had been performed in Hollywood films, and not only songs Kern had specifically
written for the movies but also those from Broadway which were eventually performed on screen. Point
taken, but what was the point? “Till the Clouds Roll By” was first introduced in Kern’s 1917 Broadway musi-
cal Oh, Boy!, but the revue’s program ignored this and instead noted that in 1946 the song was first performed
in a Hollywood film.
The song list for the New York program identified the film titles and the years in which Kern’s Broadway
songs were first heard on screen, but the above song list provides the dates in which the songs were first heard
on Broadway (and for those songs that were written for films, the film’s title and year are included).
Not counting one reprise as well as one song of unknown source (“Day Dreaming,” with lyric by Gus
Kahn, may have been intended for the 1942 film You Were Never Lovelier, which otherwise had lyrics by
Johnny Mercer), the revue offered nineteen numbers that had been introduced in Hollywood films (includ-
ing Kern’s two Academy Award–winning songs “The Way You Look Tonight” from Swing Time in 1936 and
“The Last Time I Saw Paris” from Lady Be Good in 1941) and nineteen that had first been introduced on
Broadway but that eventually were included in films.
Despite two negative reviews, the production was generally well received by most of the critics. But per-
haps the evening was too mild for Broadway, and one or two reviewers noted that with its four-member cast
and five musicians, the presentation would probably have best been served in a cabaret setting. At any rate,
the audiences didn’t come and the revue closed after two weeks.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the “bland” evening proved the British had “about as much of a
natural instinct for American musical theatre as the Actors Studio does for Restoration comedy.” The evening
made “perverse” choices, such as presenting “Bill” and “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” in counterpoint, a deci-
sion that “obliterated” both songs. And “Ol’ Man River” was presented in an “upbeat” manner that reminded
him of Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Puff, the Magic Dragon.” But Elisabeth Welch had an “authenticity” that cut
through the show’s “cheesiness” and her “elegant phrasing” suggested the “second coming of Mabel Mercer.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News also found the revue “bland” and suggested Kern would have
been best honored with revivals of Show Boat, The Cat and the Fiddle, and Music in the Air. But the “el-
egant” Welch was heard to “beautiful effect” in “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and she sang an “inspired” ver-
sion of “Why Was I Born?” He also praised the other “engaging” cast members, and noted that Liz Robertson
was “stunning,” Elaine Delmar was “vivacious,” and Scott Holmes was “winning and surprisingly effective.”
David Patrick Stearns in USA Today said the “timelessness” of Kern’s music was “well-matched” by
the “unmannered, full-throated singing”; Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily stated the evening was a
reminder “how much emotional pleasure Broadway music” can offer; and John Beaufort in the Christian Sci-
ence Monitor said Kern’s songs were “agreeably performed” in the “unpretentious little revue.” And while
Clive Barnes in the New York Post commented that the revue was “a cabaret in search of a night club,” the
evening was nonetheless “musically and stylistically” a “gem.” He named Welch the evening’s “standout”;
Delmar and Robertson were “delightful,” and Holmes was “charming, strong-voiced, personable and agree-
ably uncute.”
As Jerome Goes to Hollywood, the revue, which was conceived and directed by David Kernan in honor
of Kern’s centenary, premiered on May 28, 1985, at the Donmar Warehouse, and soon thereafter added the
composer’s last name to the title. The British cast included Kernan as well as Elaine Delmar, Liz Robertson,
and Elisabeth Welch, and except for Kernan the other cast members were seen in the New York production
(Kernan was succeeded by Scott Holmes, but Kernan was still the director of record for the Broadway produc-
tion and was assisted by Irving Davies, who was credited for additional staging).
The British cast album was released on LP by Safari/Jerome 1 Records, and includes twenty-two songs
(one of which wasn’t heard in New York, “Dearly Beloved” from the 1942 film You Were Never Lovelier with
lyric by Johnny Mercer).
“Dearly Beloved” and “Here Comes That Show Boat!” (1929 film version of Show Boat, music by Maceo
Pinkard and lyric by Billy Rose) were heard during New York previews but were dropped prior to opening
night.
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Elisabeth Welch)
UPTOWN . . . IT’S HOT!

Performances: 24
Narration and Sketch Adaptations: Jeffrey V. Thompson and Marion Ramsey
Direction and Choreography: Maurice Hines (Mercedes Ellington, Assistant Choreographer); Producers: Allen
Spivak and Larry Magid (Stanley Kay, Associate Producer); Scenery: Tom McPhillips; Costumes: Ellen
Lee; Lighting: Marc B. Weiss; Musical Direction: Frank Owens
Cast: Maurice Hines, Marion Ramsey, Jeffrey V. Thompson, Lawrence Hamilton, Tommi Johnson, Alisa
Gyse; Ensemble: Sheila D. Barker, Toni-Maria Chalmers, Leon Evans, Michael Franks, Robert H. Fowler,
Lovette George, Ruthanna Graves, Yolanda Graves, Emera Hunt, Leslie Williams-Jenkins, Lisa Ann Mal-
loy, Delphine T. Mantz, Gerry McIntyre, Christopher T. Moore, Elise Neal, Leesa M. Osborn, Marishka
Shanice-Phillips, R. LaChanze Sapp, Cheryl Ann Scott, Darious Keith Williams
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Uptown Orchestra); Prologue (Jeffrey V. Thompson, Alisa Gyse, Lawrence Hamilton,
Tommi Johnson, Marion Ramsey, Maurice Hines, Male Ensemble); 1930s: “Swing That Music” (lyric and
music by Louis Armstrong and H. Gerlach) (Marion Ramsey); “Cotton Club Stomp” (lyric and music by
Duke Ellington) (Marion Ramsey, Ensemble); “Daybreak Express” (lyric and music by Duke Ellington),
“Tap Along with Me” (lyric and music by Frank Owens), and “Dinah” (interpolated into the score of Kid
Boots, 1923; lyric by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young, music by Harry Akst) (The Three Gents: Lawrence
Hamilton, Christopher T. Moore, Robert H. Fowler); “That Shot Got ’Em!” (sketch adaptation by Marion
Ramsey and Jeffrey V. Thompson) (Jeffrey V. Thompson, Marion Ramsey, Tommi Johnson, Robert H.
Fowler); “Stormy Weather” Medley: “When Your Lover Has Gone” (lyric and music by Einar Aaron
Swan), “Ill Wind” (Cotton Club Parade, 1934 [twenty-fourth edition]; lyric by Ted Koehler, music by Har-
old Arlen), “Body and Soul” (Three’s a Crowd, 1930; lyric by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, and Frank Ey-
ton, music by Johnny Green), and “Stormy Weather” (Cotton Club Parade, 1933 [twenty-second edition];
lyric by Ted Koehler, music by Harold Arlen) (Maurice Hines, Alisa Gyse); “Diga, Diga, Doo” (aka “Digga,
Digga, Do”(Blackbirds of 1928; lyric by Dorothy Fields, music by Jimmy McHugh) (Marion Ramsey,
Gerry McIntyre, Delphine T. Mantz, Ensemble); “(Oh,) Lady, Be Good” (Lady, Be Good!, 1924; lyric by Ira
Gershwin, music by George Gershwin) (Maurice Hines); Cab Calloway and The Nicholas Brothers: “Jim
Jam Jumpin’ Jive (Hep Hep)” (lyric and music by Cab Calloway) (Tommi Johnson, Leon Evans, Darius
Keith Williams); 1940s: Big Band Tribute—“Let’s Get Together” (Chick Webb Theme Song) (music by
Chick Webb) (Orchestra); “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (lyric and music by Ella Fitzgerald and V. Alexander)
(Alisa Gyse); “Jitterbuggin’! Jumpin’ at the Woodside” (lyric and music by Count Basie) (Maurice Hines,
Marion Ramsey, Jeffrey V. Thompson, Lawrence Hamilton, Delphine T. Mertz, Sheila Barker, Ensemble)
1985–1986 SEASON 273
Act Two: Doo Woppers: “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” (lyric and music by Frankie Lymon) (Alisa Gyse, Law-
rence Hamilton, Tommi Johnson); The Apollo: Master of Ceremonies: Jeffrey V. Thompson; The Gospel
Caravan: “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” (traditional) (Lawrence Hamilton), “Amazing Grace” (traditional)
(Alisa Gyse), “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” (traditional) (Tommi Johnson), and “Old Landmark” (lyric
and music by M. A. Brunner) (Lawrence Hamilton, Alisa Gyse, Tommi Johnson, R. LaChanze Sapp,
Ensemble); “Good Mornin’, Judge” (sketch adapted by Jeffrey V. Thompson) (Judge Pigmeat: Jeffrey V.
Thompson, De District Attorney: Marion Ramsey, The Defendant: Alisa Gyse, Sonny Rayburn: Maurice
Hines); Rock & Roll Medley: “You Send Me” (lyric and music by Sam Cooke) (Tommi Johnson), “Blue-
berry Hill” (lyric and music by A. Lewis, L. Stock, and V. Rose) (Jeffrey V. Thompson), “Tutti Frutti”
(lyric and music by R. Penniman) (Gerry McIntyre), and “Johnny B. Goode” (lyric and music by Chuck
Berry) (Lawrence Hamilton, Male Ensemble); Battle of the Groups: “Will You Still Love Me Tomor-
row?” (lyric by Gerry Goffin, music by Carole King) (Toni-Maria Chalmers, Leslie Williams-Jenkins,
Delphine T. Mantz, Cheryl Ann Scott), “Be My Baby” (lyric and music by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich,
and Jeff Barry) (Alisa Gyse, Sheila D. Barker, Elise Neal), “Don’t Mess with Bill” (lyric and music by W.
“Smokey” Robinson) (R. LaChanze Sapp, Lisa Ann Mallory, Leesa M. Osborn), “Dancin’ in the Streets”
(lyric and music by Marvin Gaye, I. Hunter, and W. Stevenson) (Yolanda Graves, Lovette George, Emera
Hunt), “Stop! In the Name of Love” (lyric by Eddie Holland, music by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier)
(Marion Ramsey, Ruthanna Graves, Marishka Shanice Phillips), “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” (lyric by Eddie
Holland, music by N. Whitfield) (Lawrence Hamilton, Darius Keith Williams, Leon Evans, Tommi John-
son, Gerry McIntyre), and “Proud Mary” (lyric and music by John Fogarty) (Marion Ramsey, Ruthanna
Graves, Marishka Shanice Phillips, Cheryl Ann Scott); 1970s: “Station WHOT” (Jeffrey V. Thompson);
Stevie Wonder Medley (Stevie Wonder: Leon Evans): “Superstition” (Ensemble Dancers), “Keep On Run-
ning” (Devil: Maurice Hines), “Higher Ground” (Victim: Alisa Gyse), and “Do I Do” (Angel: Lawrence
Hamilton); 1980s: “Radio Playoffs” (Marion Ramsey, Lawrence Hamilton, R. LaChanze Sapp, Leon Evans,
Gerry McIntyre, Maurice Hines), “Express” (lyric and music by B. T. Express) (Marion Ramsey, Jeffrey V.
Thompson, Ensemble Dancers), “Rappers” (Lawrence Hamilton, Jeffrey V. Thompson), “1999” (lyric and
music by Prince) (Company)
The revue Uptown . . . It’s Hot! was another in the seemingly endless series of salutes to black music and
Harlem nightlife. But critics and audiences were becoming tired of these all-too-familiar and predictable trib-
utes and the show closed after three weeks. There were similar Broadway and Off-Broadway revues to come,
including Black and Blue, It Ain’t Nothin’ but the Blues (1999), and Harlem Song (2002), and while one or
two enjoyed healthy runs most were unremarkable and didn’t make much of an impression. There was only
so much to say about the good old days of Harlem nightlife, and without a fresh approach to the subject the
revues could have been mistaken for revivals of earlier tributes. And many of these revues recycled the same
songs, and numbers: “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” “Jim Jam Jumpin’ Jive (Hep Hep),”
and “Stormy Weather” seemed to pop up every season or so.
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor reported that Uptown . . . It’s Hot! began in Heaven where
a quintet of “lesser angels” are sent to Earth to research black music. The show, which was “too frantic and
overreaching for its own good,” definitely needed a “tidier format” and a “clearer sense of direction.” But
happily Maurice Hines offered “dazzling” tap numbers and the “swinging” stage band kept things “moving
at an almost breathless pace.”
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily noted that if Uptown was “an attempt to say something about
black music, it can’t be taken seriously.” The show was a “hodgepodge” with an “amateurish” script, the
musical arrangements had “little sense of period,” and the choreography relied on the “frenetic, meaningless
high-energy dancing of the present.” Richard David Storey in USA Today noted the evening offered “splen-
did” tap dancing and so at times the revue seemed to “have what it takes to send temperatures rising.” But
the production had an “idiotic story line” and the performers weren’t up to impersonating the legends they
attempted to evoke (Lena Horne singing “Stormy Weather” was “one thing,” but watching Alisa Gyse “im-
personating Horne singing ‘Stormy Weather’ is quite another”). Further, the second act devolved into “an
ill-conceived hodgepodge of gospel, rock, doo-wop and rap.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the revue “monotonous” and said a shorter version at
thirty minutes or so might “have kept the old Apollo crowd reasonably entertained.” And he was the third
critic to use the H-word in describing the show, which was “a long, frantic, and finally wearing hodgepodge.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post liked the first act better than the second, and noted that Hines was
a “terrific” tap dancer who was “less eccentrically original” than his brother Gregory but who was “more
classically oriented” in the tap-dance tradition. The revue was “nowhere near as good as it might have been”
and wasn’t “exactly torrid,” but in “today’s cold climate even luke-warm to temperate might serve a turn.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times said that roughly the first half of the revue was a “modest facsimile”
of Sophisticated Ladies, but the second was a “demented amalgam of Leader of the Pack, Dreamgirls, and
The Night of the Living Dead” (the latter because the performers impersonated artists of the past “in an orgy
of grotesque and sometimes necrophiliac mimicry”). Further, Marion Ramsey was too “shrill” and he longed
“for the relative musicality of a fingernail gliding across a blackboard,” and the “dazzling” but “narcissistic”
Hines would “probably stop the show a bit more spontaneously if he didn’t remind us every few minutes that
he intended to stop it.”
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Maurice Hines)
THE AMERICAN DANCE MACHINE

Theatre: City Center Theatre
Performances: 16
Direction: Lee Theodore; Producers: The American DanceMachine, Inc., in association with 55th Street
Dance Theatre Foundation, Inc.; Lighting: Curt Ostermann; Musical Direction: James Raitt
Cast: Dick Cavett (Special Guest Host), Tinka Gutrick, Kelby Kirk, Aja Major, Newton Cole, Joe Deer, Dan
Fletcher, Kim Freshwater, Camille Ross, David Storey, Dannul Dailey, Jennifer Dempster, Brian Duguay,
Diana Losk, Michael Lott, Mark Curtis Smith, Donna Smythe, Lynn Sterling, ’Ali Theodore, Kyle Wil-
liams, Harold Cromer
Act One: “The Whip Dance” (Destry Rides Again, 1959; music by Harold Rome; choreography by Michael
Kidd, reconstructed by Swen Swenson) (Michael Lott, Newton Cole, Mark Curtis Smith); “Popularity”
(George M!, 1968; music by George M. Cohan; choreography by Joe Layton) (Dan Fletcher, Ensemble);
“June Is Bustin’ Out All Over” (Carousel, 1945; lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodg-
ers; choreography by Agnes de Mille, reconstructed by Gemze de Lappe) (Camille Ross, Female Ensemble);
“Shriners’ Ballet” (Bye Bye Birdie, 1960; music by Charles Strouse; choreography by Gower Champion,
reconstructed by Edmond Kresley) (Tinka Gutrick, Male Ensemble); “Won’t You Charleston with Me?”
(The Boy Friend, 1970 revival; music by Sandy Wilson; choreography by Buddy Schwab, reconstructed
by Eleanor Treiber) (Aja Major, Brian Duguay); “The Telephone Dance” (Cabaret, 1966; music by John
Kander; choreography by Ron Field, reconstructed by Marianne Seibert) (Dannul Dailey, Ensemble); “The
Clog Dance” (Walking Happy, 1966; music by Jimmy Van Heusen; choreography by Danny Daniels) (In-
troduction: Joe Deer; Dan Fletcher, Male Ensemble); “Floyd’s Guitar Blues” (from the Katherine Dunham
repertory; music by Floyd Smith; choreography by Katherine Dunham, reconstructed by Glory Van Scott)
(Tinka Gutrick, Joe Deer); “Charlie’s Place” (Over Here!, 1974; lyric and music by Richard Sherman and
Robert Sherman; choreography by Patricia Birch) (Aja Major, David Storey, Ensemble)
Act Two: Note: Intermission dances were performed by Harold Cromer, including “Mr. Bojangles” (lyric and
music by Jerry Jeff Walker).“If the Rain’s Gotta Fall” (Half a Sixpence, 1963 [London]; lyric and music by
David Heneker; choreography by Onna White, reconstructed by Eleanor Treiber and Tom Panko) (Kelby
Kirk, Ensemble); “Satin Doll” (lyric and music by Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, and Johnny Mercer;
danced by Kyle Williams, Camille Ross, and Lynn Sterling) and “For Me and My Gal” (lyric by Edgar Leslie
and E. Ray Goetz, music by George W. Meyer; danced by Tinka Gutrick and ’Ali Theodore) (from a 1962
television episode of The Ed Sullivan Show; choreography by Carol Haney, reconstructed by Buzz Miller);
“Little Old New York” (Tenderloin, 1960; lyric by Sheldon Harnick, music by Jerry Bock; choreography
by Joe Layton, reconstructed by Joe Layton and Lee Theodore) (Aja Major, Kim Freshwater, Ensemble);
“Come to Me, Bend to Me” (lyric by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe) and “The Funeral Dance”
(music by Frederick Loewe) (Brigadoon, 1947; choreography by Agnes De Mille, reconstructed by Gemze
1985–1986 SEASON 275
De Lappe) (danced by Tinka Gutrick, Female Ensemble; sung by Kelby Kirk); “You Can Dance with Any
Girl at All” (1970 revival of No, No, Nanette; lyric by Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach, music by Vincent
Youmans; choreography by Donald Saddler) (Aja Major, Kelby Kirk); “The Aggie Song” (The Best Little
Whorehouse in Texas, 1978; lyric and music by Carol Hall; choreography by Tommy Tune, reconstructed
by Jerry Yoder) (Newton Cole, Male Ensemble)
Thanks to Lee (Becker) Theodore, the visionary founder of The American Dance Machine, a number of
lost Broadway dances were authentically reconstructed for posterity. Scripts and cast albums preserve the
story, dialogue, and songs of Broadway musicals, but once the final curtain falls most choreography disappears
forever. Theodore’s “living archive” will hopefully ensure that many Broadway dances will survive for future
audiences to enjoy.
Theodore was a Broadway dancer who appeared as Anybodys (the tom boy) in the original production
of West Side Story (1957), and was later a Broadway choreographer for such musicals as Baker Street (1965),
Flora, the Red Menace (1965), and The Apple Tree (1966).
The American Dance Machine was first seen in New York on June 14, 1978, where it played at the Cen-
tury Theatre for 199 performances. In 1981, a few of the company’s dances were released on video cassette
(# CV-400056) by MGM/CBS Home Video with Gwen Verdon as host (among the performers were Janet Eil-
ber, Lee Roy Reams, and Wayne Cilento).
Becker’s 1982 dance revue Steps in Time was a sequel of sorts to The American Dance Machine and
played at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. During the 2014–2015 season, The American Dance Machine
for the 21st Century (aka ADM21) presented three different dance programs at the Joyce Theatre for a total
of eight performances during the period November 11–November 16, 2014 (the company is now helmed by
Nikki Feirt Atkins, Artistic Producer, and Margo Sappington, Artistic Director).
The current revival played at City Center for a limited engagement of two weeks.
BRIGADOON
Performances: 40
Direction: Gerald Freedman; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director;
Christopher Keene, Music Director); Choreography: Agnes de Mille (dances re-created by James Jamie-
son); Scenery and Costumes: Desmond Heeley; Lighting: Duane Schuler; Choral Direction: Joseph Cola-
neri; Musical Direction: Paul Gemignani
Cast: Richard White or John Leslie Wolfe (Tommy Albright), Tony Roberts (Jeff Douglas), Tinka Gutrick
(Maggie Anderson), William Ledbetter (Archie Beaton), Don Yule (Angus MacGuffie), Joyce Castle or Mar-
cia Mitzman (Meg Brockie), Robert Brubaker (Stuart Dalrymple), Gregory Moore (Sandy Dean), Luis Perez
(Harry Beaton), David Rae Smith (Andrew MacLaren), Sheryl Woods or Beverly Lambert (Fiona MacLaren),
Camille Ross (Jean MacLaren), Cris Groenendaal or David Eisler (Charlie Dalrymple), Stephanie Godino
(Fish Monger), James Billings (Mr. Lundie), Terry Lacy (Sword Dancer), Joe Deer (Sword Dancer), Stephen
Fox (Bagpiper), Ralph Bassett (Frank), Alison Bevan (Jane Ashton); Townsfolk of Brigadoon: The New York
City Opera Chorus and Dancers
The action takes place in Brigadoon (a village in the Scottish highlands) and in New York City during May
of this year.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Once in the Highlands” (Chorus); “Brigadoon” (Chorus); “Down on MacConnachy Square” (Don
Yule, William Ledbetter, Robert Brubaker, Townsfolk); “Waitin’ for My Dearie” (Sheryl Woods, Girls);
“I’ll Go Home with Bonnie Jean” (Cris Groenendaal, Townsfolk); “Dance” (Tinka Gutrick, Luis Perez,
Dancers); “The Heather on the Hill” (Richard White, Sheryl Woods); “Down on MacConnachy Square”
(reprise) (Townsfolk); “The Love of My Life” (Joyce Castle); “Jeannie’s Packin’ Up” (Girls); “Come to Me,
Bend to Me” (Cris Groenendaal); “Dance” (Camille Ross, Dancers); “Almost Like Being in Love” (Rich-
ard White, Sheryl Woods); “Wedding Dance” (Camille Ross, Cris Groenendaal, Dancers); “Sword Dance”
(Luis Perez, Dancers)
Act Two: “The Chase” (Men of Brigadoon); “There but for You Go I” (Richard White); “My Mother’s Wed-
din’ Day” (Joyce Castle, Townsfolk); “Funeral Dance” (Tinka Gutrick); “From This Day On” (Richard
White, Sheryl Woods); “Brigadoon” (reprise) (Chorus); “Come to Me, Bend to Me” (reprise) (Sheryl Woods);
“The Heather on the Hill” (reprise) (Sheryl Woods); “I’ll Go Home with Bonnie Jean” (reprise) (Cris
Groenendaal, Townsfolk); “From This Day On” (reprise) (Sheryl Woods, Richard White); “Down on Mac-
Connachy Square” (reprise) (Townsfolk); Finale (Company)
With the current revival of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s 1947 musical Brigadoon, The New
York City Opera Company embarked on a new phase in its dedication to include American musicals in its
repertoire. Heretofore, most such productions were given for a few performances in repertory, but Brigadoon
kicked off an experiment that presented a musical during the spring season for a consecutive run of approxi-
mately four or five weeks (during the following years, South Pacific, The Music Man, The Pajama Game, and
The Sound of Music were revived).
For opening night, Richard White, Sheryl Woods, Cris Groenendaal, and Joyce Castle performed the lead-
ing roles of Tommy, Fiona, Charlie, and Meg, and during the run John Leslie Wolfe, Beverly Lambert, David
Eisler, and Marcia Mitzman were alternates.
John Rockwell in the New York Times said the “classic” Brigadoon was a “fine choice” to inaugurate the
City Opera’s musical series, and he noted that Gerald Freedman’s direction seemed “fluent and faithful to
the original.” Richard White sometimes pushed his “sturdy baritone to the limits,” but looked “stalwart, acts
smoothly and sings well enough,” and Sheryl Woods offered a “demure manner and a sweetly full soprano.”
Peter Davis Dibble in Women’s Wear Daily hailed the “splendid surefire winner,” which lifted “Gotham out
of the midwinter doldrums for a breath of early spring,” and he praised the “first class” singing, the “crisp”
direction, and Agnes de Mille’s choreography, which was “lovingly recreated” by James Jamieson.
But Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the score had “dated” and seemed “to lack both identity and
the authenticity of an original voice” and the book was “twee and fey.” He also questioned why City Opera
would revive musicals that belonged on Broadway and not in the opera house. Linda Winer in USA Today
found the revival “pretty dull” and suggested that except for “Almost Like Being in Love,” Lerner and Loewe’s
score lacked “the hit parade of their later My Fair Lady and Camelot.”
For more information about Brigadoon, see entry for the 1980 revival.
JUGGLING AND CHEAP THEATRICS

Theatre: Vivian Beaumont Theatre (during run, the revue transferred to the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre)
Performances: 40
Routines: Created by The Flying Karamazov Brothers
Direction: The Flying Karamazov Brothers; Producer: Lincoln Center Theatre (Gregory Mosher, Director;
Bernard Gersten, Executive Director); Scenery: Seiza de Tarr; Props: Doug Nelson; Wardrobe: A. Devora;
Lighting: Eben Sprinsock
Cast: The Flying Karamazov Brothers: Timothy Daniel Furst (Fyodor), Paul David Magid (Dmitri), Randy
Nelson (Alyosha), Howard Jay Patterson (Ivan), Sam Williams (Smerdyakov)
The Flying Karamazov Brothers returned to Broadway in Juggling and Cheap Theatrics in which they
dazzled their audiences with incredible feats of juggling (which included a mold of Jello, the head of a fish,
a ukulele, an egg, a meat cleaver, a champagne bottle, a partial block of dry ice, and a chocolate cake) and
incredibly bad puns. Yes, they were back again with their bag of tricks, and their Marx Brothers–styled antics
received raves from critics and audiences. The latter were encouraged to bring objects for juggling, and Brother
1985–1986 SEASON 277
Fyodor (Timothy Daniel Furst) promised that if he couldn’t juggle a series of items for the count of ten some
lucky audience member could throw a pie in his face; otherwise, the audience owed him a standing ovation.
And while he got the occasional pie in the face, he also got the ovation.
Mel Gussow in the New York Times said the evening was an “all-out assault on collective sobriety” in
which “nothing is hallowed, not even the art, as it were, of juggling.” The critic noted that even when “grav-
ity wins” and the juggling didn’t go quite as planned, the Brothers were “unabashed recoverers” and “nothing
discourages them, not even their own badinage.” On a somewhat rueful note, Gussow mentioned that the
Brothers had appeared in a recent movie (The Jewel of the Nile) but were “typecast as jugglers.”
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said the Brothers were back “in finer form and fettle
than ever.” The “hilarious” evening was a “mad melee” from “cloud cuckoo land” and was “a triumph of
organized mayhem” that offered “awful gags and awesome jugglery.” He also liked the “jungle jam session”
in which the Brothers “re-dazzle an already dazzled audience” (this was a sequence in which they bounced
tenpins on various musical instruments).
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the boys were “as deft and as daft as ever,” and one of the Broth-
ers defined the evening as “a mixture of sex and violence, without the sex.” Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear
Daily praised the “superlative” juggling, which provided “a sense of wonder and delight.” And Edwin Wilson
in the Wall Street Journal said the Brothers “somehow make a two-hour juggling routine continuously inter-
esting and amusing.”
For more information about the Brothers, see entry for The Flying Karamazov Brothers.
With the booking of the Brothers, the new management team at Lincoln Center brought the Vivian Beau-
mont Theatre back into the theatrical fold after a five-year period in which it was mostly dark. The first half
of the decade had seen just five productions at the venue: four were limited bookings that played for a total
of less than twenty weeks, and one (La tragedie de Carmen/Carmen) enjoyed a run of five months. While
the Brothers held court upstairs at the Beaumont, the downstairs Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre saw a revival of
John Guare’s 1971 Off-Broadway play The House of Blue Leaves, and then about halfway through the Broth-
ers’ run they switched venues with Blue Leaves and played out their engagement at the Newhouse.
BIG DEAL
Performances: 70
Book: Bob Fosse
Lyrics and Music: See song list for credits
Based on the 1958 film Big Deal on Madonna Street (screenplay by Agenore Incrocci and Furio Scarpelli, Suso
Cecchi d’Amico, and Mario Monicelli, and direction by Mario Monicelli).
Direction and Choreography: Bob Fosse (Christopher Chadman, Associate Choreographer; Linda Haberman,
Assistant to the Choreographer); Producers: The Shubert Organization, Roger Berlind, and Jerome Min-
skoff in association with Jonathan Farkas (Jules Fisher, Executive Producer); Scenery: Peter Larkin; Cos-
tumes: Patricia Zipprodt; Lighting: Jules Fisher; Musical Direction: Gordon Lowry Harrell
Cast: Loretta Devine (Lilly), Wayne Cilento (First Narrator), Bruce Anthony Davis (Second Narrator), Gary
Chapman (Kokomo, Dancin’ Dan), Alde Lewis Jr. (Otis), Cleavant Derricks (Charley), Valarie Pettiford
(Pearl, Band Singer, First Shadow), Larry Marshall (Slick), Mel Johnson Jr. (Sunnyboy), Alan Weeks (Wil-
lie), Bernard J. Marsh (Judge, Band Leader), Desiree Coleman (Phoebe), Barbara Yeager (Second Shadow),
Roumel Reaux (Little Willie), Candace Tovar (Announcer); Dancers: Ciscoe Bruton II, Lloyd Culbreath,
Kim Darwin, Cady Huffman, Amelia Marshall, Frank Mastrocola, Stephanie Pope, Roumel Reaux, George
Russell, Candace Tovar; On-Stage Band: Brian Brake (Drums), Leonard Oxley (Piano), William Shadel
(Clarinet), Joe Mosello (Trumpet), Earl May (Bass), Britt Woodman (Trombone); Film Sequence: Bill New-
man (The Clerk), Mennie Nelson (Millie), Emanuel MacDonald (Little Willie)
The action takes place on the South Side of Chicago during the 1930s.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” (lyric by Lew Brown, music by Ray Henderson; George White’s
Scandals, 1931) (Loretta Devine); “For No Good Reason at All” (lyric and music by Abel Baer, Samuel W.
Lewis, and Joseph Young) (Wayne Cilento, Bruce Anthony Davis); “Charley, My Boy” (lyric and music by
Gus Kahn and Ted Fiorito) (Cleavant Derricks); “I’ve (I) Got a Feelin’ You’re Foolin’ (Fooling)” (lyric by
Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb Brown; 1935 film Broadway Melody of 1936) (Gary Chapman, Cleav-
ant Derricks, Bernard J. Marsh, Wayne Cilento, Bruce Anthony Davis); “Ain’t We Got Fun” (lyric by Gus
Kahn and Raymond B. Egan, music by Richard A. Whiting; possibly from nightclub revue titled Satires of
1920) (Prisoners); “For No Good Reason at All” (reprise) (Wayne Cilento, Bruce Anthony Davis, Dancers);
“Chicago” (lyric and music by Fred Fisher) (Wayne Cilento, Bruce Anthony Davis); “Pick Yourself Up”
(1936 film Swing Time; lyric by Dorothy Fields, music by Jerome Kern) (Cleavant Derricks, Alan Weeks,
Larry Marshall, Mel Johnson Jr., Alde Lewis Jr.); “I’m Just Wild about Harry” (lyric by Noble Sissle, music
by Eubie Blake; Shuffle Along, 1921) (Loretta Devine); “Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar” (lyric and music
by Don Raye, Hughie Prince, and Eleanore Sheehy) (Bernard J. Marsh, Band, Dancers); “The Music Goes
’Round and ’Round” (lyric by Ned Hodgson, music by Edward Farley and Michael Riley; popularized in
1936 film The Music Goes ’Round) (Bernard J. Marsh, Band); “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” (reprise)
(Loretta Devine)
Act Two: “Now’s the Time to Fall in Love” (lyric and music by Al Sherman and Al Lewis) (Wayne Cilento,
Bruce Anthony Davis, Dancers); “Ain’t She Sweet” (lyric by Jack Yellen, music by Milton Ager) (Mel
Johnson Jr., Desiree Coleman, Wayne Cilento, Bruce Anthony Davis, Dancers); “Everybody Loves My
Baby” (lyric by Jack Palmer, music by Spencer Williams) (Alan Weeks, Wayne Cilento, Bruce Anthony
Davis); “Me and My Shadow” (lyric by Billy Rose and possibly Al Jolson, music by Dave Dreyer) (Gary
Chapman, Valarie Pettiford, Barbara Yeager); “Love Is Just Around the Corner” (lyric by Leo Robin, music
by Lewis E. Gensler; 1934 film Here Is My Heart) (Wayne Cilento, Bruce Anthony Davis); “Just a Gigolo”
(original lyric by Julius Brammer, English lyric by Irving Caesar, music by Leonello Casucci) (Bernard J.
Marsh, Cleavant Derricks); “Who’s Your Little Who-Zis?” (lyric by Walter Hirsch, music by Hal Goer-
ing and Ben Bernie) (Bernard J. Marsh, Valarie Pettiford); “Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby” (lyric by Gus Kahn,
music by Walter Donaldson) (Cleavant Derricks); “Button Up Your Overcoat” (lyric by B. G. “Buddy”
DeSylva and Lew Brown, music by Ray Henderson; Follow Thru, 1929) (Loretta Devine); “Daddy, You’ve
Been a Mother to Me” (lyric and music by Fred Fisher) (Alan Weeks, Roumel Reaux); “Hold Tight, Hold
Tight (Want Some Sea Food Mama)” (lyric and music by Leonard Ware, Willie Spottswood, Ed [George]
Robinson, Ben Smith, and Sidney Bechet) (Alde Lewis Jr., Ladies); “Happy Days Are Here Again” (lyric
by Jack Yellen, music by Milton Ager; 1930 film Chasing Rainbows) (Larry Marshall, Desiree Coleman,
and Mel Johnson Jr., Company); “I’m Sitting on Top of the World” (lyric by Samuel M. Lewis and Joseph
Young, music by Ray Henderson) (Cleavant Derricks, Company); “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” (reprise)
(Loretta Devine)
The dance-driven Big Deal was the last new musical created by Bob Fosse, and sadly it was a critical and
financial failure which closed after just seventy performances and lost its $5 million investment. But Fosse’s
dances were praised, and he won the Tony Award for Best Choreography. Two weeks after the premiere of
Big Deal, the revival of his hit 1966 musical Sweet Charity opened (directed and choreographed by Fosse, it
played on Broadway for almost a full year and won the Tony Award for Best Revival).
Big Deal was based on the 1958 Italian film Big Deal on Madonna Street, and it dealt with the failed plans
of small-time hood Charley (Cleavant Derricks) and his cronies to rob a pawn shop. Fosse’s book set the show
during the Depression and in his favorite city (and his hometown) of Chicago (besides Chicago [1975], parts
of Little Me [1962] and his 1979 film All That Jazz took place there). Except for a few roles, the entire cast of
Big Deal was black and included two alumni of Dreamgirls, Loretta Devine and Derricks.
The critics complained that Fosse’s book was top-heavy and that he resorted to the use of (singing and
dancing) narrators to move the action along; further, the score consisted of standards that were shoehorned
into the story, and Fosse fell victim to the now-wheezy ploy (à la Barbra Streisand and “Happy Days Are
Here Again”) of using standard evergreens (such as “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” and “Ain’t We Got Fun”)
for would-be ironic effect (and, in fact, “Happy Days Are Here Again” was included in the score). One critic
noted Fosse had been advised to sweeten the musical’s sour ending and to jettison some crude and gratuitous
1985–1986 SEASON 279
sequences (one involving urinals and another oral sex), but he insisted on retaining elements that clearly
worked against the audience’s enjoyment of the show.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said one number (“Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar”) was a genuine
show-stopper that liberated the musical and the audience “from conventional burdens of time, space and
care.” Otherwise, the book was “ponderous and cheerless” and one minor sequence was “dragged out to such
convoluted lengths that the hapless robbery scheme begins to rival the Normandy invasion in heavy logistic
detail.” There were also “crude” and “lame” jokes, some of which were “as discomfortingly patronizing as
Amos ’n’ Andy.”
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily suggested that what might have been “touching” was instead
“simply distasteful,” and the show’s unrelenting cynicism was “so total that the performers seem merely
used and that adds to the ugliness of the evening.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the musical had
“all the éclat of a pickled cucumber in a sandstorm” and he both asked and answered a question (“How bad
is the book?” “Pretty bad”). He also thought the idea of using old standards was a “lousy idea,” and noted the
show was “much ado about nothing” and offered “short change.”
Jack Kroll in Newsweek complained that Fosse’s book clogged the evening with “leaden plot details,” but
noted that “Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar” was a “classic” and “thrilling” number that brought the first
act to “an exultant and hopeful finish.” He also singled out other solid musical sequences, including “Me
and My Shadow,” “Ain’t We Got Fun,” and “Ain’t She Sweet.” Linda Winer in USA Today found the musi-
cal a “mixed blessing” with both Fosse’s “familiar but exhilaratingly sleazy” trademarks and a book that was
a “mess.” And Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal said if “style were everything” Big Deal would be
the season’s “blockbuster,” and although the musical offered “sensational” dance numbers, the production’s
“gloss,” “slickness,” and “virtuosity” had no “substance or heart.”
But Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the “dazzlingly showy” musical represented Fosse at
his “inimitable best” and thus “Broadway is Broadway again.” The choreography was “so supreme” that with
“tightening” it could take its place in the dance repertoire along with George Balanchine’s “Who Cares?” And
“Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar” was “the absolutely sensational, almost hair-raising peak” of the show.
During the tryout, two songs were cut: “’Tain’t What You Do” (lyric and music by Sy Oliver and James
Young) and “I Found a Million Dollar Baby” (lyric by Billy Rose and Mort Dixon, music by Harry Warren).
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Big Deal); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Cleavant Derricks);
Best Director (Bob Fosse); Best Book (Bob Fosse); Best Choreographer (Bob Fosse)
SWEET CHARITY
“The Musical Comedy”

Opening Date: April 27, 1986; Closing Date: March 15, 1987
Performances: 368
Book: Neil Simon
Lyrics: Dorothy Fields
Music: Cy Coleman
Based on the 1957 film Nights of Cabiria (screenplay by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, and Ennio Flaiano,
and direction by Federico Fellini).
Direction and Choreography: Bob Fosse; Producers: Jerome Minskoff, James M. Nederlander, Arthur Rubin,
and Joseph Harris; Scenery and Lighting: Robert Randolph; Costumes: Patricia Zipprodt; Musical Direc-
tion: Fred Werner
Cast: Debbie Allen (Charity), David Warren Gibson (Dark Glasses), Quin Baird and Jan Horvath (Married
Couple), Jeff Shade (First Young Man), Celia Tackaberry (Woman with Hat, Panhandler, Receptionist,
Good Fairy), Kelly Patterson (Ice Cream Vendor), Adrian Rosario (Young Spanish Man), Tanis Michaels
(Cop, Brother Harold), Allison Michaels (Helene), Bebe Neuwirth (Nickie), Mimi Quillin (Mimi), Lee
Wilkof (Herman), Tom Wierney (Doorman, Waiter), Carrie Nygren (Ursula), Mark Jacoby (Vittorio Vidal),
Fred C. Mann III (Manfred), Jan Horvath (Old Maid), Michael Rupert (Oscar), Irving Allen Lee (Daddy Jones
Sebastian Brubeck), Stanley Wesley Perryman (Brother Ray), Dana Moore (Rosie); Singers and Dancers
of Times Square: Quinn Baird, Christine Colby, Alice Everett Cox, David Warren Gibson, Kim Morgan
Greene, Jan Horvath, Jane Lanier, Fred C. Mann III, Allison Renee Manson, Tanis Michaels, Dana Moore,
Michelle O’Steen, Kelly Patterson, Stanley Wesley Perryman, Mimi Quillin, Adrian Rosario, Jeff Shade,
Tom Wierney
The action takes place in New York City during the mid-1960s.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “You Should See Yourself” (Debbie Allen, David Warren Gibson); “The Rescue” (Passers-by); “Big
Spender” (Bebe Neuwirth, Allison Williams, The Fan-Dango Girls); “Rich Man’s Frug” (Dana Moore,
Kelly Patterson, Adrian Rosario, Patrons); “If My Friends Could See Me Now” (Debbie Allen); “Too Many
Tomorrows” (Mark Jacoby); “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This” (Debbie Allen, Bebe Neu-
wirth, Allison Williams); “I’m the Bravest Individual” (Debbie Allen, Michael Rupert)
Act Two: “Rhythm of Life” (Irving Allen Lee, Tanis Michaels, Stanley Wesley Perryman, Worshippers); “Baby,
Dream Your Dream” (Bebe Neuwirth, Allison Williams); “Sweet Charity” (Michael Rupert); “Where Am I
Going?” (Debbie Allen); “I’m a Brass Band” (Debbie Allen, Brass Band); “I Love to Cry at Weddings” (Lee
Wilkof, Tom Wierney, Bebe Neuwirth, Allison Williams, Girls, Patrons)
Two weeks after the opening of his Big Deal, Bob Fosse returned to Broadway with the revival of the 1966
musical Sweet Charity; he had directed and choreographed the original production and did the same for the
popular revival, which enjoyed a pre-Broadway tour, ran on Broadway for almost a year, and then resumed
touring after the New York production closed. The revival won four Tony Awards, including Best Revival,
Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Michael Rupert), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Bebe Neuwirth), and
Best Costume Designer (Patricia Zipprodt). But the production sadly marked the end of Bob Fosse’s brilliant
career. A few months after it closed, he was in Washington, D.C., to supervise the continuation of the national
tour, and after a rehearsal he and Gwen Verdon left the National Theatre to walk back to their hotel. On a
street corner half a block from the theatre, Fosse suffered a massive heart attack and died a few hours later.
Neil Simon’s book was a series of vignettes that followed the hapless adventures of luckless dance hall
hostess Charity in 1960s Manhattan, from the opening scene when her boyfriend robs her and pushes her
into Central Park Lake to the final scene when she’s dumped by her fiancé Oscar. As the curtain fell, a sign
proclaimed that Charity “lived hopefully ever after.” But that appeared unlikely because poor sweet Charity
seemed destined to be an eternal doormat.
The musical was so upbeat with Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields’s lively score and Fosse’s show-stopping
staging and choreography that its harsh ending seemed unnecessarily unfair to both Charity and the audience.
Was there a reason why such a traditional musical comedy had to go out of its way to offer a sour and off-
putting conclusion? The denouement may have been artistically honest, but it went against the grain of the
sassy score and the slinky dances.
The score was a delightful blend of catchy, spirited music and witty lyrics, with just one clinker, the
forced and tiresome “Charity’s Soliloquy” (which was mercifully cut from the current revival). Three stan-
dards emerged from the score, “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” “Big Spender,” and “Where Am I Going?”
but in the original production Verdon unaccountably dropped the latter during the run and thus deprived her
audience of the show’s most popular number (if she’d really wanted to do the audience a favor, she’d have
scratched the soliloquy, which was pure musical water torture). The revival also dropped the title song heard
in the original production and instead substituted a different title number that had been introduced in the
show’s 1969 film version.
Besides the three popular songs, the score yielded the cynical “Baby, Dream Your Dream” (a kind of
latter-day cousin to “Makin’ Whoopee”), the sardonic trio “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This,”
the jolly, tongue-in-cheek “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” and the Sousa-on-steroids march “I’m a Brass Band.”
Above all else, Sweet Charity was a dance show, and Fosse rolled out one show-stopping routine after
another: “Big Spender” was a stylized come-on for the girls at the dance hall, and the sight of the “hostesses”
1985–1986 SEASON 281
strung out along the brass rail at the ballroom provided one of the most iconic images in all musical theatre;
“The Rich Man’s Frug” was another stylized piece for the chicer-than-thou in-crowd at the Pompeii Club;
“If My Friends Could See Me Now” was a salute to old-time top-hat-and-cane vaudeville; “There’s Gotta Be
Something Better Than This” was a wild fandango for Charity and her girlfriends; “The Religion of Life” was
a jittery, staccato-driven dance for the followers of a trendy church; “I’m a Brass Band” was a sizzling eleven
o’clock march-like number for Charity and her Brass Band from limbo; and “I Love to Cry at Weddings” was
a soft-shoe delight.
Most of the critics gave the revival favorable notices, but some were disappointed with how poorly the
book held up. Although Debbie Allen was praised for her performance, one or two reviewers felt her Charity
was too tough and resilient and thus missed the vulnerability of the character.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the “dreary” book was rescued by Debbie Allen’s “dynamic”
and “sizzling” performance, Fosse’s “knockout” dance routines, and the “galvanizing” dancers and music.
He noted that during the years since the original 1966 production, the Broadway musical had “deteriorated,”
and while Sweet Charity might have been “an average musical in its day,” it now had “appreciated in value.”
Thanks to Fosse’s dazzling choreography, John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor found the show “du-
rable,” and he noted that while the “first-rate” Allen may have lacked “vulnerability” she more than made
up for it with her “innocent spunkiness.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News welcomed back the “ebullient” musical which offered Cole-
man’s “most exuberant” score, Dorothy Fields’s “smart” lyrics, and Fosse’s dances (“some of the finest work
he has done”), and he said Allen was “a joy forever.”
Watt found Bebe Neuwirth “entertaining” as Charity’s “brassy, wise-cracking” sidekick, and the revival
marked one of a number of Neuwirth’s appearances in Fosse-related productions. She had been in the chorus
of the 1982 revival of Little Me; after winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for
Charity, she appeared as Lola in the long-running 1994 revival of Damn Yankees; and her Velma won the
Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for the 1996 revival of Chicago, which as of this writing is
still playing in New York and is the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. She was also a
replacement dancer in the original Broadway productions of Dancin’ (1978) and Fosse (1999), and during the
marathon run of the Chicago revival she has made occasional returns to the musical in the roles of Roxie
Hart and Matron Mama Morton.
Clive Barnes in the New York Post felt the revival was built around the memory of Gwen Verdon’s perfor-
mance, and he suggested the evening would have been stronger had Fosse reconceived and reshaped the role
for Allen. But the show was still “lively” and offered “some of the most riveting dance images the Broadway
musical has ever achieved.” Barnes noted that set designer Robert Randolph utilized the same décor he had
created for the original production, but now Irene Sharaff’s costumes had been replaced by Patricia Zipprodt’s
“handsomely flamboyant” new ones.
Jack Kroll in Newsweek hailed the “brilliant revival,” and commented that Allen exploded “with the
sheer joy of performing” and Fosse’s dances were “among the wittiest, sexiest, most sheerly pleasurable
creations in musical history”; Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 had reservations about the book, but said Allen was
“dynamite” and Fosse’s choreographic inspirations were “the big deal of Broadway dance”; and while Edwin
Wilson in the Wall Street Journal commented that the show ranked “just below the best” of American musi-
cals, the revival’s creators “pretended [Charity] had never been done before and approached their tasks with
the enthusiasm and creative energy usually found in a production mounted for the first time.”
William A. Henry III in Time said the musical was “no masterpiece” and stated Simon’s book was “more
often predictable than funny,” Coleman’s score was “so-so” (but included two “rousing” standards), Fields’s
lyrics were “much too witty to come from the dim characters,” and Allen “capably” adapted to Fosse’s
“jagged, staccato movements” but “utterly” lacked Charity’s “doormat vulnerability.” Linda Winer in USA
Today said the script was one of Simon’s “unfunniest” but offered some of Fosse’s “wittiest” and “slinki-
est” choreography. But the “smart” and “gifted” Allen came on with “the comic subtlety of Jerry Lewis”
and lacked the raw qualities of a “hostess” with “eight years in the trenches.” Winer also noted that for the
revival’s pre-Broadway run Gwen Verdon had been credited with most of the staging, but for Broadway her
name had been omitted from the credits. (The program of the San Francisco engagement indicated the cho-
reography was “reproduced” by Verdon, the direction was by John Bowab, and the overall production was
“supervised” by Fosse.)
The script was published in hardback by Random House in 1966.
The Broadway cast album was released by Columbia Records (LP # KOS-2900 and KOL-6500). The CD
was issued by Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy Records (# SK-60960) and includes a number of extras: the
first release of an extended version of “The Rich Man’s Frug”; a previously unreleased take of the original
cast performing “I Love to Cry at Weddings” (with an alternate ending as well as extended vocals and instru-
mentals); three songs performed by Cy Coleman (“Where Am I Going?,” “If My Friends Could See Me Now,”
and the cut “You Wanna Bet,” which had been recycled for the musical’s title song); and various tracks from
the opening-night party, including interviews with Gwen Verdon, Helen Gallagher, Neil Simon, and Ethel
Merman.
For its early advertisements, the musical’s book was credited to “Bert Frank,” a pseudonym for Bob Fosse.
Ultimately, Neil Simon was credited for the libretto.
Songs written for the musical but cut during preproduction, rehearsals, or on the road were: “Gimme
(Give Me) a Rain Check,” “Big Fat Heart,” “Pink Taffeta Sample Size 10,” “I Can’t Let You Go,” “Keep It in
the Family,” “Poor Everybody Else,” “You Wanna Bet,” and “When Did You Know?” “Keep It in the Family”
was later heard in the 1967 drama Keep It in the Family (for London, the play had been titled All in Good
Time); “Poor Everybody Else” was used in Seesaw (1973); “When Did You Know?” was rewritten as “Love
Makes Such Fools of Us All” for Barnum (1980); and as mentioned “You Wanna Bet” was rewritten and be-
came Sweet Charity’s title song.
The London production opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on October 11, 1967, for 476 performances
and the cast included Juliet Prowse (Charity), Ron McLennan (Oscar), and Josephine Blake (Nickie). The cast
album was released by CBS Records (LP # BRG/SBRG-700350).
The faithful 1969 Universal film version starred Shirley MacLaine in one of her finest roles, and Fosse
directed and choreographed. Other cast members included John McMartin (in a reprise of his original stage
role of Oscar), Chita Rivera, Ricardo Montalban, Sammy Davis Jr., and Ben Vereen (who can be seen in a
prominent dancing role). The film included three new songs, “My Personal Property,” “It’s a Nice Face,” and
a new title song. The film has aged well, and looks better now than when first released. Two endings were
filmed, one used the downbeat stage ending and the other was an optimistic one in which Charity and Oscar
are reunited. The release print offered the former ending, but the DVD (issued by Universal # 22616) includes
both; the soundtrack was released by Decca Records (LP # DL-71520).
The cast recording of the current revival was released by EMI America Records (LP # SV-17196); EMI/
DRG Records (# 19077) issued the CD, which includes two sequences from “The Rich Man’s Frug” (“The
Aloof” and “Big Finish”); “Charity’s Theme” (“And She Lived Hopefully Ever After”); and two tracks of Cy
Coleman performing “The Rhythm of Life” and “Big Spender.”
A second revival opened on May 4, 2005, at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre for 279 performances with Chris-
tina Applegate and Denis O’Hare and included a new song, “A Good Impression.” The cast recording was
released by DRG Records (CD # 94777) and includes the entr’acte and six bonus tracks: the verse version of
“Where Am I Going” for Applegate; and five numbers performed by Coleman (“Baby, Dream Your Dream,”
“I’m the Bravest Individual,” “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This,” “Big Spender,” and the cut
“Gimme a Rain Check”).
Other recordings of the score include a two-CD studio cast version released by Jay Records (# CD-
JAY2-1284) with Jacqueline Dankworth, Josephine Blake, Shezwae Powell, and Gregg Edelman; the recording
includes “The Rescue” sequence as well as the entr’acte, finale, bows, and exit music and bonus tracks of the
three songs written for the film version. Another interesting recording is the 1989 Rotterdam cast released by
Disky Records (# DCD-5126) with Simone Kleinsma in the title role; the album includes “Er moet toch iets
beters wezen” and “’K ben een brass band.” The Paris cast recording with Magali Noel and Sydney Chaplin
was released by CBS Records (LP # S-70084) and includes “My Personal Property.” Skitch Henderson and
His Orchestra Play Music from “Sweet Charity” (Columbia Records LP # CL-2471) includes “When Did You
Know?” and “You Wanna Bet,” and Sweet Charity (Tifton Records LP # 78001) with vocals by Susan Lloyd
and the Michaels Brothers with the “Uptown” Dance Hall Orchestra includes “You Wanna Bet.”
“Pink Taffeta Sample Size 10” can be heard in two collections, Mimi Hines Sings (Decca Records LP #
DL-4709) and Lost in Boston III (Varese Sarabande Records CD # VSD-5563), and “Gimme a Rain Check” is
included in Lost in Boston IV (Varese Sarabande Records CD # VSD-5768).
1985–1986 SEASON 283
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Revival (Sweet Charity); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Debbie
Allen); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Michael Rupert); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Bebe Neu-
wirth); Best Costume Designer (Patricia Zipprodt).
MY THREE ANGELS
“A New Musical”
The musical opened on December 2, 1985, at the St. Lawrence Center for the Arts’ Bluma Appel Theatre in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and permanently closed there on December 28, 1985.
Book, Lyrics, and Music: David Warrack
Based on the play La cuisine des anges by Albert Husson and its 1953 American adaptation My Three Angels
by Sam and Bella Spewack.
Direction: Heinar Piller; Producer: Warrack Productions (David Warrack, Producer); Choreography: Ken
Walsh; Scenery: Lawrence Schafer; Costumes: Rita Brown; Lighting: Stephen Ross; Musical Direction:
Stephen Woodjetts
Cast: Douglas Chamberlain (Felix Ducotel), Sharry Flett (Emilie Ducotel), Sharon Dyer (Mme. Parole), Cyn-
thia Dale (Marie Louise Ducotel), Eric House (Joseph), Tony Van Bridge (Jules), Gerry Salsberg (Alfred),
Larry Solway (Henri Trochard), Kevin Hicks (Paul Trochard), Wayne Welter (Lieutenant)
The action takes place at Christmas time in 1910 in Cayenne, French Guiana, near Devil’s Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “It Doesn’t Seem a Lot Like Christmas” (Sharry Flett, Douglas Chamberlain,
Sharon Dyer); “Was I Blind” (Cynthia Dale); “Three Angels Theme” (Orchestra); “We Got Caught” (Eric
House, Tony Van Bridge, Gerry Salsberg); “It’s So Clear” (Gerry Salsberg, Cynthia Dale); “Christmas Eve”
(Sharry Flett, Company)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “Introductions” (Tony Van Bridge, Eric House, Gerry Salsberg, Larry Solway,
Douglas Chamberlain, Kevin Hicks); “The Old Book Cooker” (Eric House, Douglas Chamberlain); “An
Honest Man” (Douglas Chamberlain); “Where Does One Begin?” (Kevin Hicks, Cynthia Dale); “Be Young,
Young Man” (Tony Van Bridge, Eric House, Gerry Salsberg); “You’ve Been Bitten” (Gerry Salsberg, Eric
House, Tony Van Bridge)
Act Three: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “He’s Dead” (Sharon Dyer, Eric House, Tony Van Bridge, Gerry Salsberg);
“If Only Someone Like You” (Tony Van Bridge, Sharry Flett); “He’s Dead” (reprise) (Tony Van Bridge,
Eric House, Gerry Salsberg); “Christmas Is Over” and “St. Anthony” (Tony Van Bridge, Eric House, Gerry
Salsberg, Cynthia Dale); “Missa Solemnis” (Company)
My Three Angels was based on the Broadway play of the same name by Sam and Bella Spewack (which
they had adapted from the French comedy La cuisine des anges by Albert Husson). The New York production
opened on March 11, 1953, at the Morosco Theatre, and despite a run of almost one year (342 performances)
it didn’t recoup its investment (but its subsequent film sale probably put it in the black).
The charming fable-like story took place early in the twentieth century on Christmas Eve and Christ-
mas Day and dealt with the Ducotels, an honest grocer and his family who live in French Guiana, where
the authorities provide them with household help in the form of three wise men—that is, three angels, that
is, three prisoners—from nearby Devil’s Island (for Broadway, Walter Slezak, Darren McGavin, and Jerome
Cowan portrayed the threesome). When the trio discovers that the Ducotels’ financial records are in disarray,
they cook the books so that the store’s ledgers are in the black, and when the convicts realize that two of the
Ducotels’ relatives are out to sabotage their store, the guardian angels ensure that their pet snake takes care
of the villains.
The play was filmed twice by Paramount, in 1955 with Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, and Aldo Ray,
and then in a radically revised adaptation in 1989 which starred Robert De Niro and Sean Penn. The London
production premiered in 1955 with George Rose and played for 128 performances.
Although Devo in Variety found the musical “appealing but largely uninspired,” he noted the evening
managed “to work” and to retain one’s interest. The score was “fluffy and forgettable, albeit entertaining,”
and he singled out four songs (“We Got Caught,” “It’s So Clear,” “Where Does One Begin?,” and “If Only
Someone Like You”). Ultimately, the musical was “a diverting exercise in just desserts, but one longs for the
meal to be more substantial.”
PIECES OF EIGHT
The musical opened on November 27, 1985, at the Citadel Theatre on the Shoctor Stage in Edmonton, Al-
berta, Canada, and permanently closed there on January 5, 1986.
Book: Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble
Lyrics: Susan Birkenhead
Music: Jule Styne
Based on the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (serialized during 1881–1882 and published in
book format in 1883).
Direction and Choreography: Joe Layton (Dennis Hassell, Assistant Director); Producers: The Citadel Theatre
(Joseph H. Shoctor, Executive Producer; Gordon McDougall, Artistic Director; Wayne C. Fipke, General
Manager) and the Edmonton Journal; Scenery, Costumes, and Lighting: Neil Peter Jampolis (Julia Tribe,
Costume Design Assistant; and Kirk Bookman, Lighting Design Assistant); Fight Direction: Jean-Pierre
Fournier (Eric Kramer, Co-Fight Director); Musical Direction: Eric Stern
Cast: Ian Deakin (Pew), George Hearn (Long John Silver), George Lee Andrews (Billy Bones, Captain Smollett),
Jonathan Ross (Jim Hawkins), Karen Trott (Mrs. Hawkins), Richard March (Inn Guest, Redruth), Richard
Patterson (Inn Guest, Watts), Todd Postlethwaite (Inn Guest, Quinn), Jim White (Inn Guest, Dick Steeps,
Sutter), Brian McKay (Doctor Livesey), Ted Pearson (Black Dog), Alex Daniels (Pirate, Dead Eye), Craig
Gardner (Pirate, George Merry), David Dunbar (Squire Trelawney), J. Gordon Masten (Tom Stepney), Ken-
neth Eiland (Mr. Okashiba aka Snake), Graeme Campbell (Israel Hands), Ian Deakin (John Steeps, Squales),
Lyonell Gregory (Doyle), Robert Fitch (Ben Gunn); Note: The role of Captain Flint was performed by Bojo
Tofu, a blue-fronted Amazon parrot.
The action takes place during 1764 and 1765 on the high seas, in England, and on Treasure Island.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “My Last Strike” (George Hearn); “Beyond My Wildest Dreams” (Jonathan Ross); “Secret” (Jona-
than Ross, David Dunbar, Brian McKay); “Keep Me Close to You” (Karen Trott); “One Leg Is Better Than
Two” (George Hearn, Jonathan Ross, Sailors); “The Sea” (George Hearn, Company); “Sailor Talk” (George
Hearn, Jonathan Ross, Sailors); “If I Were Your Son” (Jonathan Ross); “Apples” (George Hearn, Graeme
Campbell, Sailors); “My Treasure Island” (George Hearn, Company)
Act Two: “Whatever Became of Jenny?” (George Hearn, Graeme Campbell, Pirates); “Six Bells” (Robert Fitch);
“A Bit of Home” (George Lee Andrews, David Dunbar, Brian McKay, Sailors, Pirates); “Six Bells” (reprise)
(Robert Fitch); “There Are No Heroes” (Jonathan Ross); “Luxury Lane” (George Hearn, Jonathan Ross,
Sailors); “Mountains of Gold” (Pirates); “Rainbows End” (George Hearn); “If You Were My Son” (George
Hearn); “Beyond My Wildest Dreams” (reprise) (Jonathan Ross)
Jule Styne’s Pieces of Eight was based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. A Broadway musical
version based on the story of an English boy’s adventures on the high seas must have seemed like sure-fire,
family-friendly material with its colorful setting and almost iconic character of the pirate Long John Silver
and his band of cutthroats in search of treasure.
1985–1986 SEASON 285
Despite a score by Styne and direction and choreography by Joe Layton, and with George Hearn as Long
John Silver, the musical permanently closed in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, without risking Broadway. Prior
to the opening of the Canadian production, Variety reported that later in the season Hearn was committed
to perform in the London edition of La Cage aux Folles, but had an option to appear in Pieces of Eight if and
when it moved to Broadway, an option that became moot once Pieces of Eight shuttered for good after its
Canadian run.
An earlier lyric version of Treasure Island opened in London at the Mermaid Theatre on December 17,
1973, and played there for three seasons prior to transferring to the New London Theatre on December 18,
1975. A later Australian production opened at the Brisbane Arts Theatre on November 20, 1980, but a pro-
jected 1983 Broadway engagement never materialized. The book was by Bernard Miles and Josephine Wilson,
the lyrics by Hal Shaper, and the music by Cyril Ornadel, and the London cast album was issued by That’s
Entertainment Records (LP # TER-1008) and later on CD by Prestige Records (# CDSGP-9801).
SING, MAHALIA, SING!

The musical opened on March 26, 1985, at the Warner Theatre, Washington, D.C., and closed at the Para-
mount Theatre, Oakland, California, on September 1, 1985.
Book: George Faison
Lyrics and Music: New songs by Richard Smallwood, George Faison, and Wayne Davis; other musical num-
bers were traditional gospel songs.
Direction and Choreography: George Faison (Martin Worman, Assistant Director); Producers: Louis G. Bond,
Marty Bronson, Robert E. Laune, and Tad Schnugg; Scenery: Tom McPhillips; Costumes: Nancy Potts;
Lighting: Thomas Skelton; Musical Direction: Michael Powell
Cast: Carolene Adams-Evans (Miss Ruth, Sister Russell, Ensemble), Sarita Allen (Rita, Mourning Woman,
Ensemble), Lisa Burroughs (Aunt Hannah, Sister Thomas, Ensemble), Felicia Y. Coleman (Louise Lemon,
Rosa Parks, Ensemble), Wayne Davis (Eddie Robinson, Ensemble), Germaine Edwards (Redcap, Reporter,
Ensemble), Marva Hicks (Young Mahalia, Ensemble), Jennifer Holliday (Mahalia Jackson), Queen Esther
Morrow (Mahalia Jackson for certain performances), Stephanie James-Rainey (Eastern Star Member, Wait-
ress, Ensemble), James Arthur Johnson (Chafalaya, Ensemble), Tyrone Jolivet (Angel of God, Ensemble),
Dottie Jones (Sue, Ensemble), Glenn Jones (Reverend Jenkins, Prince Johnson, Reverend Jameson, En-
semble), Garry Q. Lewis (Master of Ceremonies, Floor Manager, Film Director, Reporter, Policeman,
Ensemble), Michelle Rene-Lovett (Mildred Falls, Ensemble), Joe Lynn (Ike Hunkenhull, Ensemble), Mil-
ton Craig Nealy (Ensemble), Stanley Wesley Perryman (Radio Listener, Reporter, Policeman, Ensemble),
Jackie Ruffin (Aunt Duke, Ensemble), Brother John Sellers (Grandpa, Ensemble), KiKi Shepard (Sister
Willis, Ensemble), Lynette Hawkins Stephens (Mother Weeks, Ensemble), Paul W. Weeden Jr. (Doctor
Martin Luther King, Jr., Ensemble), Allison M. Williams (Sister Smith, Ensemble); Ensemble: The Richard
Smallwood Singers
The action takes place throughout the United States during the period 1911–1963.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Glorify the Lord” (Church Members, Choir); “Sing, Mahalia, Sing” (Glenn Jones); “Come On, Chil-
dren, Let’s Sing” (Jennifer Holliday, Church Members, Choir); “Precious Lord” (Jennifer Holliday); “How
I Got Over” (Jennifer Holliday, Church Members, Choir); “Louisiana” (James Arthur Johnson, Carolene
Adams-Evans, Miss Ruth’s Girls, Customers); “It Don’t Cost Very Much” (Jackie Ruffin, Marva Hicks);
“Going to Chicago” (James Arthur Johnson, Jackie Ruffin, Marva Hicks); “Handwriting on the Wall”
(Sanctified Church Member); “Handwriting on the Wall” (reprise) (Baptists); “I Surrender All” (Marva
Hicks); “Baptismal” (Baptists, Baptismal Candidates); “Down by the Riverside” (Marva Hicks, Baptists);
“Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee” (Jackie Ruffin, Marva Hicks, Mourners); “Just a Closer Walk with
Thee” (Marva Hicks, Mourners); “Shake Your Ashes” (Redcaps, Travellers, Garry Q. Lewis, Chorines,
Club Patrons); “Wait on the Lord” (Unidentified performer); “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” (Jennifer Holli-
day); “What You Gonna Do” (Joe Lynn); “I’m Gonna Live the Life I Sing about in My Songs” (Jennifer Hol-
liday); “Be Faithful” (Tyrone Jolivet, Angel Chorus); “God Will Take Care of You” (Felicia Y. Coleman,
The Johnson Singers); “God Will Take Care of You” (reprise) (Jennifer Holliday, Felicia Y. Coleman, The
Johnson Singers); “Dig a Little Deeper” (Jennifer Holliday, Felicia Y. Coleman, The Johnson Singers); “Not
Up Here in This Pulpit” (Lynette Hawkins Stephens, Daughters of the Eastern Star); “Plead My Cause”
(Jennifer Holliday, Tyrone Jolivet); “Lord, Search Her Heart” (Lynette Hawkins Stephens, Unidentified
performer); “God’s Gonna Separate the Wheat from the Tares” (Jennifer Holliday, Ensemble); “Didn’t It
Rain?” (Jennifer Holliday, Ensemble)
Act Two: “So Glad I’m Here” (Women of the Convention); “Call the Lord” (Delegate Ministers); “Sho Been
Good to Me” (Conventioneers); “Benediction” and “Closing Remarks” (Secretary of the Convention);
“Elijah Rock” (Jennifer Holliday); “When I Been Drinking” (Joe Lynn); “I’ve Got Something” (Jennifer
Holliday); “Working on a Building” (Beauty Operators, Patrons); “He Won’t Leave You” (Dottie Jones,
Beauty Operators, Patrons); “Move On Up a Little Closer” (Jennifer Holliday); “Carolina Rice” (Golden
Gate Quartet); “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” (reprise) (Golden Gate Quartet); “Dig a Little Deeper” (Jennifer
Holliday); “Soon I Will Be Done” (Jennifer Holliday); “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” (Jennifer
Holliday); “Come Over Here Where the Table Is Spread” (Party Guests); “I’ve Been Buked” (Party Guests);
“Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody” (Demonstrators); “Motherless Child” (Felicia Y. Coleman); “Lord, Come By
Here” (Demonstrators); “We Shall Overcome” (Paul W. Weeden Jr.); “I Have a Dream” (Ensemble); “The
Lord’s Prayer” (Jennifer Holliday); “Sing, Mahalia, Sing” (reprise) (Ensemble)
Sing, Mahalia, Sing! was a biographical musical that looked at the life and career of gospel singer Ma-
halia Jackson (1911–1972), who was played by Jennifer Holliday. The musical included both original songs
and traditional gospel numbers. The production toured for five months and then closed without opening on
Broadway.
Queen Esther Marrow played the title role at certain performances, and five years later she starred as Ma-
halia Jackson in a different musical about the performer. Truly Blessed: A Musical Celebration of Mahalia
Jackson was written and conceived by Marrow, who also wrote the lyrics and music for some of the songs
(other songs were written by Reginald Royal, and the musical also included traditional gospel numbers). The
show opened at the Longacre Theatre on April 22, 1990, for thirty-three performances.
1986–1987 Season
CANDIDE
Performances: 8
(Note: Four months later, the production reopened on November 11, 1986, and closed on November 16, 1986,
for eight more performances.)
Book: Hugh Wheeler
(Beverly Sills, General Manager); Choreography: Patricia Birch; Scenery: Clarke Dunham; Costumes: Ju-
dith Dolan; Lighting: Ken Billington; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Scott Berge-
son
Cast: (Note: For those roles that had alternating performers, the first name listed denotes who played the role
on opening night.) John Lankston (Voltaire, Doctor Pangloss, Businessman, Governor, Second Gambler
aka Police Chief, Sage), David Eisler/Cris Groenendaal/Robert Tate (Candide), Don Yule (Huntsman,
Bulgarian Soldier, Don), Deborah Darr (Paquette), Ruth Golden (Baroness, Calliope Player), Jack Harrold
(Baron, Grand Inquistor, Slave Driver, Pasha-Prefect), Erie Mills/Leigh Munro/Claudette Peterson (Cune-
gonde), Scott Reeve (Maximilian), James Billings (Maximilian’s Servant, Bulgarian Soldier, Don Isaachar,
Judge, Father Bernard, First Gambler), William Ledbetter (Westphalian Soldier, Don, Pirate), Andy Roth
(Westphalian Soldier, Governor’s Aide, Sailor), Ralph Bassett (Heresy Agent, Don), Gary Dietrich (Inquisi-
tion Agent, Sailor), Douglas Hamilton (Inquisition Agent, Sailor), Muriel Costa-Greenspon/Brooks Almy
(Old Lady), Vasilis Iracledes (Don), Scott Evans (Don, Sailor), Richard Smith (Don), John Henry Thomas
(Pirate), Ivy Austin (Pink Sheep), Rhoda Butler (Pink Sheep), Robert Brubaker (Lion); Ensemble: The New
York City Opera Chorus and Dancers
The New York City Opera Company’s 1986 revival of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide was its fourth of
seven; for more information about the operetta, see entry for the 1982 production (which also includes a list
of musical numbers and a general history of the musical). For information about the 1983, 1984, and 1989
revivals, see specific entries. The work was also revived by the company in 2005 and 2008.
John Rockwell in the New York Times noted that Harold Prince’s original staging for the 1973 Off-
Broadway and 1974 Broadway productions was often “too jokey and cartoonish.” Now, within the confines of
the huge New York State Theatre and with a larger orchestra (fifty-two musicians for the current production
287
as opposed to thirteen in the 1970s), Prince’s fast-paced direction seemed “forced” and the staging became
“mannered” with the shtick of actors appearing in the auditorium itself and with crowds of choristers and
supernumeraries “cluttering up” every scene. As for Erie Mills’s Cunegonde, here was a “star” performer who
was “triumphantly secure.” He praised her “bright, brilliant soprano” and found her a “confident comedian.”
David Eisler’s Candide didn’t possess a “similarly brilliant tenor” but nonetheless he had “a soft, ingratiating
sound” and his “boyish innocence” was “perfect.”
In the same newspaper, Bernard Holland reviewed an alternate cast. In the title role, Cris Groenendaal
was “amiable” and “smooth,” and Leigh Munro gave Cunegonde “a chirping, slightly brassy Jean Harlowish
tinge.” The production itself was “a nice, fast-moving, chrome-plated entertainment machine.” Tim Page
reviewed a third cast for the newspaper, and reported that Robert Tate’s Candide was “sweet-voiced” and
“appropriately guileless”; Claudette Peterson’s Cunegonde gave a “winning performance” even though she
was sometimes “shrill” with a pitch that “was not always impeccable”; and Brooks Almy’s Old Lady was a
“vivid characterization” that “fit right into the stylized madness” of the production.
KISMET
Performances: 8
Book: Charles Lederer and Luther Davis
Lyrics and Music: Robert Wright and George Forrest (music adapted from themes by Alexander Borodin)
Based on the 1911 play Kismet by Edward Knoblock (aka Knoblauch)
Direction: Frank Corsaro; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director);
Choreography: Randolyn Zinn; Scenery and Costumes: Lawrence Miller; Lighting: Mark W. Stanley; Cho-
ral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Paul Gemignani
Cast: James Clark (Imam of the Mosque, Bangle Man, Prosecutor), Ashley Janeway (Silk Dancer, Slave Girl),
Jean Barber (Silk Dancer, Slave Girl), Terry Lacy (Silk Dancer, Swain), Fritz Masten (Silk Dancer, Swain),
Louis Perry (Muezzin, Silk Merchant, Guest), Frank Ream (Muezzin, Silk Merchant), Glenn Rowen (Mu-
ezzin), George Wyman (Muezzin), Don Yule (Beggar, Chief of Police), Robert Brubaker (Beggar, Policeman,
Spy), Vasilis Iracledes (Dervish), Richard Smith (Dervish), James Billings (Omar), Timothy Nolen (Hajj),
Diana Walker (Marsinah), William Ledbetter (Businessman, Pearl Merchant, Informer, Spy), Ralph Bassett
(Hassan-Ben, Policeman, Spy), John Lankston (Jawan), Harris Davis (Brave Merchant), Madeleine Mines
(Young Woman), Mary Ann Rydzeski (Young Woman, Ayah to Lalume), Mervin Crook (Slave Merchant),
Jack Harrold (Wazir of Police), Jeff Davis (Wazir’s Guard), Eric Miller (Wazir’s Guard), Donald R. Rich-
ardson (Wazir’s Guard), Elliot Santiago (Wazir’s Guard), Frank Sollito (Wazir’s Guard), Savia Berger (Slave
Girl), Rebecca Rosales (Harem Girl), Susanne Marsee (Lalume), Stephanie Godino (Princess of Ababu),
Joan Mirabella (Princess of Ababu), Victoria Rinaldi (Princess of Ababu), Cris Groenendaal (The Caliph),
Rebecca Russell (Widow Yussef, Ayah to Zubbediya), Esperanza Galan (Princess Zubbediya of Damascus),
Candace Itow (Princess Samaris of Bangalore); Ensemble: The New York City Opera Chorus and Dancers
The action takes place in Old Baghdad during one day (“from dawn to dusk” and “from dusk to dawn”).
The New York City Opera Company had revived Kismet the previous fall, and the current production
marked the company’s second and final presentation of the 1953 musical.
Allen Hughes in the New York Times said there was “so much color and swirling design per inch” in the
“exotic” show that “one would need several pairs of eyes to absorb it all completely.” Timothy Nolen’s Hajj
was a “vivid personality” and the singer invested his acting and “vibrant” singing “with sly wit,” and Cris
Groenendaal’s Caliph had a “strong, clear tenor” with “a slight show-biz tinge” which was “a delight for the
ear.” Hughes noted that Diane Walker’s Marsinah seemed uncomfortable in the lower middle range of her
soprano, but did better when higher singing was required.
During the run, Tim Page in the same newspaper reviewed the alternate cast. Theodore Baerg was a
“charming and slippery” Hajj; Mark Thomsen was a “handsome” but “rather subdued” Caliph; and Jean
Glennon’s “often winning” Marsinah had a “sweet, smallish” voice which was “amplified to Wagnerian pro-
1986–1987 SEASON 289
portions.” As for Janis Eckhart’s Lalume, her stage personality was a cross “between Bette Midler and Mae
West.”
For more information about the musical and City Opera’s first production, see entry for the 1985 revival,
which also includes a list of musical numbers.
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Opening Date: July 18, 1986; Closing Date: November 8, 1986
Direction: Gerald Freedman (Christian Smith, Stage Director); Producer: The New York City Opera Company
(Beverly Sills, General Manager); Choreography: Thomas Andrew; Scenery: Lloyd Evans; Costumes: Thi-
erry Bosquet; Lighting: Hans Sondheimer; Musical Direction: Imre Pallo
Cast: Michael Cousins (Alfred), Claudette Peterson (Adele), Leigh Munro (Rosalinda von Eisenstein), Theo-
dore Baerg (Gabriel von Eisenstein), Jerold Siena (Doctor Blind), William Parcher (Doctor Falke), Richard
McKee (Frank), Alison Bevan (Sally), Larry Becker (Ivan), James Billings (Prince Orlofsky), Patricia Mc-
Bride (Guest Artist), Esperanza Galan (Solo Dancer), Jack Harrold (Frosh); Ensemble: The New York City
Opera Singers and Dancers
The New York City Opera Company’s current production of Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus (The Bat)
was the company’s fourth of five revivals of the operetta during the decade (for more information about the
operetta, see entry for the February 1980 production; also see entries for the September 1980, 1981, and 1987
revivals). The work was also heard in German by the Vienna Volksoper in 1984 (see entry).
Will Crutchfield in the New York Times complained that the production lacked comic know-how, and
as a result “the plot perambulated idly by while the cast occupied itself with a halfhearted overlay of broad
jokes” (including the addition of a Steve Martin impersonation). In the same newspaper, Tim Page suggested
that with supertitles it was no longer necessary to perform non-English operas in English because such a
translation “distorts the composer’s original phonic conception of the vocal line.”
HONKY TONK NIGHTS


Performances: 4
Book and Lyrics: Ralph Allen and David Campbell
Music: Michael Valenti
Direction and Choreography: Ernest O. Flatt (Toni Kaye, Associate Choreographer); Producers: Edward H.
Davis and Allen M. Shore in association with Marty Feinberg and Schellie Archbold; Scenery: Robert
Cothran; Costumes: Mardi Philips; Lighting: Natasha Katz; Musical Direction: George Broderick
Cast: Joe Morton (Barney Walker), Ira Hawkins (Billy Sampson), Danny Strayhorn (Armistead Sampson),
Teresa Burrell (Lily Meadows), Reginald Veljohnson (George Gooseberry), Yolanda Graves (Ruby Bush),
Kyme (Ivy Vine), Susan Beaubian (Countess Aida), Robin Kersey (Kitty Stark), M. Demby Cain (Mont-
gomery Boyd), Keith Rozie (Winston Grey), Lloyd Culbreath (Sparks Roberts), Charles Bernard Murray
(Patron); The Sampson Philharmonia: George Broderick, Kaman Adilifu, Robert Keller, Gregory Maker,
Andrew Stein, John Gale, David Krane, James Sedlar, Quinten White
The action for the first act takes place in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen during Winter 1912, and the second
act in Harlem during Summer 1922.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Overture” or “The Honky Tonk Nights Rag” or “Professor Walker and His Solo Symphony” (The
Sampson Philharmonia); “Honky Tonk Nights” (Ira Hawkins, Company); “Hot and Bothered” (Teresa
Burrell), “Roll with the Punches” (Joe Morton, Danny Strayhorn, Susan Beaubian, Kyme, Robin Kersey,
Yolanda Graves); “Lily of the Alley” (Ira Hawkins, Keith Rozie, M. Demby Cain, Lloyd Culbreath,
Joe Morton, Teresa Burrell); “Choosing a Husband’s a Delicate Thing” (Danny Strayhorn, Joe Morton,
Reginald Veljohnson); “Little Dark Bird” (Teresa Burrell); “Withered Irish Rose” (Joe Morton, Danny
Strayhorn, Reginald Veljohnson, M. Demby Cain, Teresa Burrell); “Tapaholics” (Lloyd Culbreath, Kyme,
M. Demby Cain); “Eggs” (Joe Morton, Teresa Burrell); “A Ticket to the Promised Land” (The Sampson
Company)
Act Two: Overture: “The Promised Land” (The Pyromaniacs); “Stomp the Blues Away” (The Sampson Com-
pany); “I’ve Had It” (Joe Morton, Teresa Burrell); “The Sampson Beauties” (Kyme, Robin Kersey, Yolanda
Graves); “The Reform Song” (Joe Morton, Reginald Veljohnson, Danny Strayhorn); “I Took My Time”
(Teresa Burrell); “The Brothers Vendetto” (Joe Morton, Reginald Veljohnson, Danny Strayhorn); “A Man
of Many Parts” (Joe Morton); Finale (The Sampson Company)
The loosely-structured revue-like book musical Honky Tonk Nights (its full title was Honky Tonk Nights,
or How Billy Sampson and Company Left Hell’s Kitchen for the Promised Land and What They Found There)
looked at vaudeville from the perspective of two black performers from early in the twentieth century, Barney
Walker (Joe Morton, playing a character modeled after Bert Williams) and Lily Meadows (Teresa Burrell).
Ralph Allen was the book’s cowriter and the songs’ co-lyricist, and his intention was to provide a nostal-
gic look at the early years of black vaudeville in much the same way as his Sugar Babies (1979) had saluted
the era of white vaudeville and burlesque. Unfortunately, this time around the material wasn’t strong enough
to sustain the evening and the burden of the flimsy plot got in the way. The production might have been
successful had the book scenes and characters been excised in favor of presentational black songs and skits
from the early years of the century, and it appears the musical underwent last-minute rewrites in an attempt
to streamline the weak story line. But it was too little, too late, and as a result Honky Tonk Nights and Rags
tied at four performances apiece as the season’s shortest-running musicals.
The first act took place during 1912 in New York City’s Tenderloin at Sampson’s Music Hall where
Walker and Lily are performers and where black vaudevillians don “Irish face” for the number “Withered Irish
Rose” (and for the second act’s “The Vendetto Brothers,” there was a touch of “Italian face”).
Despite steady work on the vaudeville circuit of the ragtime years, Walker hopes to reach the promised
land, that is, the Promised Land Saloon in Harlem, and ten years later he makes it. And national stardom
seems assured when he’s signed to star in the Ziegfeld Follies, but his happiness is tempered when he realizes
he’s expected to don blackface as part of his routines.
It’s unclear how Walker’s ambitious eleven o’clock number “A Man of Many Parts” was performed on
Broadway, but for a backers’ audition of Honky Tonk Nights the rousing song was described as a solo in
which the character (with the help of pull-away costumes) was to undergo nine costume changes as he muses
over his career choices (or lack thereof). His father shines shoes for a profession, something Walker never
even considered. As the song progresses, off goes one costume and he’s suddenly transformed into a jockey,
and his other changes reflect other careers. But when he reaches headliner status in the Follies, he ironically
notes that he’s not all that removed from his father, because for his numbers he too slaps on black polish, in
this case for his black-face routines. Other songs in the show were equally impressive: the catchy title song;
“Withered Irish Rose,” a comedy number (which for Broadway was performed in “Irish face”); the beautiful
ballad “I Took My Time”; and “I’ve Had It,” a blues with a clever lyric. The workshop also included “Vampin’
Jane” (best-guess title), which was reminiscent of “Flaming Agnes” (I Do! I Do!, 1966).
Mel Gussow in the New York Times said the “pallid” musical offered a “bare” plot and “bland” songs,
and sometimes resorted to audience-participation sequences for a Bingo game and a clothing auction (the lat-
ter in order for the characters to make a down-payment on a Harlem saloon). Gussow and three other critics
1986–1987 SEASON 291
singled out Burrell’s haunting torch song “I Took My Time,” a sweeping number with a long melodic line,
and Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said it was a “splendid” song. But otherwise he felt the material
was “not terribly interesting” and he noted that no effort had been made to give the book and sketches “any
edge” and thus they came across as “silly.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the ”well-intentioned” musical was “modest” and “terminally
depressed,” and it lacked the star presence of a Mickey Rooney, who had of course contributed so much to
the success of Sugar Babies. Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News stated the “flashy and insubstantial”
show was “a mostly empty entertainment” and an “unconvincing hodgepodge.” Despite some “peppy” dance
numbers, the show always seemed to be “standing still.” But Ernest O. Flatt’s direction was “sharp,” the pit
music was “lively,” and the “pretty” ballad “I Took My Time” was “beautifully sung” by Burrell.
Linda Winer in USA Today felt the evening was “mild,” “pretty,” and “unexceptionable.” But there
were two “wicked” numbers (the Irish and Italian sequences), and one tap sequence (“Tapaholics”) was “daz-
zling.” Allan Wallach in New York Newsday said there was much “pointless business” in the plot, and he
assumed a good deal of the book had “been whittled away during rewrites.” But Burrell was “especially ef-
fective” with her “sweet” ballad “I Took My Time.” Otherwise, Morton’s blackface scene lacked the drama
of a similar moment in the Off-Broadway musical Williams & Walker, which had opened earlier in the year.
Because Morton’s character was “barely established,” the scene had “no impact,” but in the earlier musical
the sequence was “heartbreaking.”
During previews, “A Lush Ballad” was cut.
The collection Unsung Musicals II (Varese Sarabande CD # VSD-5564) includes “Stomp the Blues Away”
and “I Took My Time.”
ME AND MY GIRL
Theatre: Marquis Theatre
Opening Date: August 10, 1986; Closing Date: December 31, 1989
Performances: 1,420
Book: L. Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber (book revisions by Stephen Fry; contributions to revisions by Mike
Ockrent)
Lyrics: L. Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber
Music: Noel Gay
Direction: Mike Ockrent; Producers: Richard Armitage, Terry Allen Kramer, James M. Nederlander, and
Stage Promotions Limited & Co.; Choreography: Gillian Gregory; Scenery: Martin Johns; Costumes: Ann
Curtis; Lighting: Chris Ellis and Roger Morgan; Musical Direction: Stanley Lebowsky
Cast: Jane Summerhays (Lady Jacqueline Carstone), Nick Ullett (The Honorable Gerald Bolingbroke), Eric
Hutson (Lord Battersby), Justine Johnston (Lady Battersby), Timothy Jerome (Herbert Parchester), Leo Ley-
den (Sir Jasper Tring), Jane Connell (Maria [The Duchess of Dene]), George S. Irving (Sir John Tremayne),
Thomas Toner (Charles Heathersett), Robert Lindsay (Bill Snibson), Maryann Plunkett (Sally Smith), John
Spalla (Pub Pianist), Gloria Hodes (Mrs. Worthington-Worthington), Elizabeth Larner (Lady Diss, Mrs.
Brown), Susan Cella (Lady Brighten), Kenneth H. Waller (Bob Barking), Bill Brassea (Telegraph Boy), Eric
Johnson (Constable); Ensemble: Cleve Asbury, Bill Brassea, Jonathan Brody, Frankie Cassady, Susan Cella,
Sheri Cowart, Bob Freschi, Ann-Marie Gerard, Larry Hansen, Ida Henry, Randy Hills, Gloria Hodes, K.
Craig Innes, Eric Johnson, Michael Hayward-Jones, Barry McNabb, Donna Monroe, Barbara Moroz, Cindy
Oakes, William Ryall, John Spalla, Cynthia Thole, Mike Turner, Kenneth H. Waller
The action takes place during the late 1930s in and around Hareford Hall, Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “A Weekend at Hareford” (Ensemble); “Thinking of No-One but Me” (Jane Summerhays, Nick Ul-
lett); “The Family Solicitor” (Timothy Jerome, The Family); “Me and My Girl” (Robert Lindsay, Maryann
Plunkett); “An English Gentleman” (Thomas Toner, Staff); “You Would If You Could” (Jane Summerhays,
Robert Lindsay); “Hold My Hand” (Robert Lindsay, Maryann Plunkett, Dancers); “Once You Lose Your
Heart” (Maryann Plunkett); “Preparation Fugue” (Company); “The Lambeth Walk” (Robert Lindsay,
Maryann Plunkett, Company)
Act Two: “The Sun Has Got His Hat On” (Nick Ullett, Jane Summerhays, Ensemble); “Take It on the Chin”
(Maryann Plunkett); “Once You Lose Your Heart” (reprise) (Maryann Plunkett); “Song of Hareford” (Jane
Connell, Robert Lindsay, Ensemble); “Love Makes the World Go Round” (Robert Lindsay, George S. Ir-
ving); “Leaning on a Lamp Post” (Robert Lindsay, Ensemble); Finale (Company)
The so-called British invasion of Broadway continued during the 1986–1987 season with Me and My
Girl, Les Miserables, and Starlight Express. All three enjoyed long runs in New York, and the first two were
popular and financial hits. And Me and My Girl was certainly the most entertaining of them all, with its
unpretentious old-fashioned story and its star turn by Robert Lindsay, who here reprised his London role. Set
in the England of the 1930s, the Cinderella story by way of Pygmalion was a carefree lark about Cockney
Bill Snibson (Lindsay), who discovers he’s the long-lost fourteenth Earl of Hareford and as the sole heir will
inherit a vast fortune, the family manor house, and, of course, the attendant title. But there’s one stipulation:
the will insists that before Bill can inherit he must become a proper English gentleman, and so his aunt The
Duchess (Jane Connell) takes on the task of ensuring that he’ll pass the test. And she also hopes he’ll marry
a suitable society girl rather than his Cockney girlfriend Sally (Maryann Plunkett). And along for the ride are
his encouraging uncle Sir John (George S. Irving), the family solicitor Herbert Parchester (Timothy Jerome),
the proper butler Heathersett (Thomas Toner), and royal vamp and gold digger Lady Jacqueline (Jane Sum-
merhays), who sets her sights on Bill and wrongly assumes he’ll be putty in her hands.
The score included songs heard in the original 1937 London production as well as interpolations from
other musicals by Noel Gay. The big number was of course the irresistible “The Lambeth Walk,” which wore
out the cast and the audience with its joyous staging, and other show-stoppers were “Leaning on a Lampost”
and the title song. The interpolations were “Hold My Hand” (from the 1931 London musical of the same title;
lyric by Desmond Carter); “Love Makes the World Go Round” (the 1938 London revue These Foolish Things;
lyricist unknown); and “Leaning on a Lamp Post” (1937 film Feather Your Nest; lyric by Gay).
One of the evening’s many comic peaks was a limb-entwining drawing-room confrontation between Bill
and Lady Jacqueline in which a heretofore placid sofa became a battlefield. This was one of the great farcical
sequences in musical theatre and one which Lindsay proved himself a master clown in the tradition of Bobby
Clark, Bert Lahr, and Zero Mostel. His vocal and physical tics defined comic nirvana, and he received some
of the best notices of the era. Frank Rich in the New York Times said the “extraordinary” performer made “a
nonstop charade of intricate vocal and physical details look relaxed” and he compelled the audience “to cher-
ish his every syllable, wink and step.” Further, his performance boasted “more funny walks and quicksilver
flashes of mimicry than some whole farces.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post praised the “terrific” musical and said he “loved it immoderately and
totally, without reservation.” Here was an “imaginative reconstruction” somewhat in the manner of the 1971
Broadway revival of No, No, Nanette, and he enjoyed the “unaffectedly delightful” score, the “corny, yet
oddly clever” jokes, the “confidently ingenious, pratfalling” staging, the “insouciance” of the dancing, and
of course he was impressed with Lindsay, who was “a master comic craftsman” with “immaculate” timing,
“unbounded” confidence, and “unforced” charm.
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor liked the “silly, funny, sweet, and charming” musical and
said the “nostalgic fairy tale” enjoyed “a brilliant central performance” by Lindsay “in consummate musical-
comedy style”; Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal said Lindsay was “a supple performer who projects
charm with every tip of his derby hat”; and Allan Wallach in New York Newsday noted that Lindsay “waggles
his derby” at the gentry, “salts his Cockney rhyming slang with double-entendres,” undertakes a “mocking
ape walk,” tap dances “on a table as long as a runway,” and, if all that weren’t enough, he became tangled in
an ermine cape and undertook pratfalls “like a music-hall veteran.”
William A. Henry III in Time liked the “jubilant romp” with its quirky humor, including a staid suit of
armor which suddenly walks offstage, and portraits of ancestors which come to life and go into a tap-dance
routine. He noted that Lindsay brought “vitality” to otherwise “shopworn” routines, and his performance
“practically shouts, ‘Look at me!’ and thoroughly rewards the attention.” Laura Shapiro in Newsweek said
the “brilliant” Lindsay was “a comic master not only of slapstick but of the debonair tradition as well,” and
she noted “The Lambeth Walk” was a “glorious spectacle” in which the Cockney Lambeth crowd and the
1986–1987 SEASON 293
aristocrats are found “prancing and kicking and singing in hilarious fellowship” as they “sashay gleefully
down the theatre aisles.”
Linda Winer in USA Today felt the musical “would be more amusing if everyone didn’t push quite so
much,” but it was nonetheless a “fancy diversion” which was “stylishly staged.” Douglas Watt in the New
York Daily News suggested that without the “slight, attractive, airborne and astonishingly versatile” Lindsay,
the show was “worthless” And despite the large cast, the critic nonetheless viewed the evening “as a one-man
show.” Lindsay was “immense” and “remarkable” and he kept the musical “aloft most of the time with the
awesome finesse of a master juggler.”
When Lindsay left the Broadway production, he was followed by Jim Dale. Rich noted that succeeding
“the human firecracker” and “red-hot comet” Lindsay was “a task roughly as enviable” as following Fiorello
H. LaGuardia into City Hall, but Dale was “almost always equal to the role’s demands.” Rich also noted that
the musical’s “landscape” was now “more tranquil” because “the tornado has come and gone.”
Although Me and My Girl premiered in London on December 16, 1937, the current presentation marked
its first Broadway production (and hence it was Tony Award-eligible for Best Musical, Best Book, and Best
Score). The original West End production opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre for 1,646 performances and
was produced, directed, and performed by Lupino Lane (father of actress Ida Lupino), who starred in the 1939
film version (distributed by MGM and released as The Lambeth Walk). The film, which was assumed lost,
has resurfaced, and one hopes a DVD will eventually be released. Further, the May 1, 1939, performance of
the original production was the first of three live broadcasts of the musical presented by BBC television over
a seventeen-year period (a second was shown later in 1939, and a third was telecast in 1956). Among the songs
in the original London version which weren’t heard in the revival are: “A Bright Little Girl Like Me,” “The
Girl I Left Behind Me,” and “Don’t Be Silly, Sally.”
The musical was revived in London in 1941, 1945, 1949, and 1985, and it was the latter revised revival
which led to the New York production. The 1985 version opened at the Adelphi Theatre on February 12, 1985,
for 3,303 performances and starred Lindsay as well as Emma Thompson. This revival included the song “If
Only You Had Cared for Me,” which wasn’t heard in the New York production.
The cast album of the 1985 West End revival was released by Manhattan Records (LP # PV-53030; CD #
CDP-746393), and the cast recording of the Broadway production was issued by MCA Records (LP # MCA-
6196) and later on CD by That’s Entertainment Records (# TER-1145). Other recordings of the score are the
1987 Mexico City cast album (Yo y mi chica) (LP; the album didn’t provide the name of the record company
and the label number) and the 1988 Hungarian cast (Qualiton LP # SLPM-16775). A 1995 production by Ja-
pan’s Takarazuka Moon Troupe was released on CD, and later a two-DVD set (# TCAD-213) was issued. Four
songs by the original 1937 cast were recorded: “The Lambeth Walk,” “The Family Solicitor,” “Take It on the
Chin,” and the title song.
The original 1937 script was revised in the late 1940s and was published in paperback by Samuel French
(London) in 1954. The script includes the songs “Keep Away from the Town If You Can” and “This Is the
Night of the Year.”
Me and My Girl was for all purposes the inaugural production of the Marquis Theatre (a month before
the musical’s premiere, Shirley Bassey performed in concert for one week), and some thirty years and thirty
productions later it holds the record as the theatre’s longest-running tenant. But the theatre didn’t receive the
raves enjoyed by the musical. Beaufort said the auditorium itself was “well-appointed” but had to be reached
“by an obstacle course of corridors, escalators and lobbies,” all of which “scarcely encourages playgoing” (but
he admitted that Me and My Girl “more than repays the effort of getting to the auditorium”). Barnes said
the Marquis was a “sad-sack replacement” for the theatres that used to be located on the site (the Morosco,
the Helen Hayes, and the “not particularly lamented” Bijou), and said to reach the “clinically institutional”
theatre one had to “pass though the bowels of what is conceivably the world’s ugliest hotel.”
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Me and My Girl); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Rob-
ert Lindsay); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Maryann Plunkett); Best Featured Actor in a Musical
(George S. Irving); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Timothy Jerome); Best Featured Actress in a Musical
(Jane Connell); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Jane Summerhays); Best Director of a Musical (Mike
Ockrent); Best Book (L. Arthur Rose, Douglas Furber, Stephen Fry, and Mike Ockrent); Best Score (lyrics
by L. Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber, music by Noel Gay); Best Scenic Designer (Martin Johns); Best
Costume Designer (Ann Curtis); Best Choreographer (Gillian Gregory)
RAGS
“The New American Musical”

Performances: 4
Book: Joseph Stein
Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz
Direction: Gene Saks; Producers: Lee Guber, Martin Heinfling, and Marvin A. Krauss (Madeline Lee Gilford,
Associate Producer); Choreography: Ron Field; Scenery: Beni Montresor; Costumes: Florence Klotz; Light-
ing: Jules Fisher; Musical Direction: Eric Stern
Cast: Andy Gale (Homesick Immigrant, Recruiter, Thug, Italian Tenor), Teresa Stratas (Rebecca Hersh-
kowitz), Josh Blake (David Hershkowitz), John Aller (Guard, Mr. Rosen, Herschel Cohen), Peter Samuel
(Guard, Cigar Boss, Hamlet, Thug), Michael Cone (American, Rosencrantz, Irish Tenor on Recording, Rag-
man, Frankie), Michael Davis (American, Mike), Judy Kuhn (Bella Cohen), Dick Latessa (Avram Cohen),
Lonny Price (Ben), Stan Rubin (Recruiter, Newspaper Editor, Mr. Bronstein, A Passerby), Evalyn Baron
(Anna Cohen), Mordecai Lawner (Jack Cohen), Irma Rogers (Nathan’s Landlady, Gertrude, Violinist’s
Mother), Bonnie Schon (Millie, Morris’s Mother, Mrs. Sullivan), Joanna Glushak (Social Worker, An Avid
Shopper, Ophelia, Italian Tenor’s Mother); Klezmorim: Teddy Bragin (Tuba), Sean Mahony (Trombone),
Bruce Engel (Trumpet), Harold Seletsky (Clarinet), and Marshall Coid (Violin); Marcia Lewis (Rachel
Halpern), Audrey Lavine (Rosa, Irish Girl’s Mother), Joan Finkelstein (Esther), Gabriel Barre (Sam, Laertes,
Man on Stilts), Terrence Mann (Saul); Wealthy New Yorkers: Bill Hastings, John Aller, Michael Davis,
Joan Finkelstein, Joanna Glushak, Wendy Kimball, Robert Radford, Peter Samuel, and Catherine Ulissey;
Rex Everhart (“Big Tim” Sullivan), Larry Kert (Nathan Hershkowitz), Devon Michaels (Morris), Wendy
Kimball (Irish Girl)
The action takes place on the Lower East Side of New York City in 1910.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “I Remember” (Andy Gale); “Greenhorns” (Americans, New Immigrants); “Brand New World”
(Teresa Stratas, Josh Blake); “Children of the Wind” (Teresa Stratas, Dick Latessa, Josh Blake); “Penny a
Tune” (Teresa Stratas, Klezmorim, Peddlers, Workers); “Easy for You” (Terrence Mann, Teresa Stratas,
Josh Blake); “Hard to Be a Prince” (Peter Samuel, Joanna Glushak, Irma Rogers, Michael Cone, Gabriel
Barre); “Blame It on the Summer Night” (Teresa Stratas, with Clarinetist [Harold Seletsky]); “For My
Mary” (Michael Cone, Lonny Price); “Rags” (Judy Kuhn, Dick Latessa); ‘What’s Wrong with That?” (Mi-
chael Cone, Michael Davis, Rex Everhart, Larry Kert); “On the Fourth Day of July” (Picnickers, Band); “In
America” (Teresa Stratas, Larry Kert)
Act Two: “Yankee Boy” (Larry Kert, Neighbors); “Uptown” (Larry Kert, Teresa Stratas); “Wanting” (Teresa
Stratas, Terrence Mann); “Three Sunny Rooms” (Marcia Lewis, Dick Latessa); “The Sound of Love”
(Lonny Price, Josh Blake, Shoppers); “For My Mary” (reprise) (Judy Kuhn, Lonny Price); “Democratic
Club Dance” (Teresa Stratas, Rex Everhart, Larry Kert, Michael Davis, Bonnie Schon, Democrats, Band);
“Prayer” (Dick Latessa, Teresa Stratas, Men); “Bread and Freedom” (Audrey Lavine, Teresa Stratas, Joan
Finkelstein, Gabriel Barre); “Dancing with the Fools” (Teresa Stratas, Terrence Mann, Strikers); Finale
(Teresa Stratas, Josh Blake, Americans, New Immigrants)
1986–1987 SEASON 295
In the final poignant moments of Joseph Stein’s book for Fiddler on the Roof, the persecuted Jewish vil-
lagers of Anatevka are forced to leave their homeland to seek protection from religious persecution by the
ongoing pogroms. Stein’s book for Rags was a sequel of sorts in its depiction of Jewish immigrants in the
New York City of 1910 who search for a better life. But his book was too plot-heavy in its attempt to cover
every facet of the immigrant experience and it turned somewhat negative and sour in its view of the American
Dream. As a result, the production closed after four performances, and the New York Times reported it lost
$5.25 million. Along with Honky Tonk Nights, which also looked at the lives of minorities in New York at
the beginning of the twentieth century, Rags was the shortest-running musical of the season.
The story centered on newly arrived immigrant Rebecca (opera star Teresa Stratas in her first and only
Broadway musical), who searches throughout the city for her husband Nathan (Larry Kert) who arrived in
New York some time before. Despite the formidable obstacles she encounters, Rebecca tries to adapt to life in
her newly adopted country, but in Stein’s book she soon becomes representative of every immigrant who ever
passed through Ellis Island. Further, she sees nothing but corruption and tragedy, and the musical’s political
prism supported the highly questionable thesis that immigrants were short-changed by coming to America.
As a result, the evening was (according to Linda Winer in USA Today) an “ultimately undramatic” and
“gigantic patchwork” that was “clichéd” and “long” and “ludicrously inflated with crises.” Rebecca is forced
to live in a tenement, must work in a sweatshop, and of course there’s always prejudice, corrupt politicians,
and street thugs to contend with during those times when she’s not meeting pushcar peddlers in the street
markets or attending a dance at the local Democratic Club. But within the context of the musical’s narrow
political views, Rebecca is at least spared the horror of encountering a Republican.
Rebecca’s best friend Bella (Judy Kuhn) dies in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, and there was some business
about strikes, Union Square protests, and the beginnings of Yiddish theatre (including a lampoon of Hamlet).
There was also a salute to middle-aged romance (“Three Sunny Rooms”) for two older characters who seem
to have dropped in from Fiddler on the Roof by way of Cabaret. But at least Rebecca doesn’t lose Nathan to
another woman: instead, his mistress is Tammany Hall, where he finds his niche as a cynical if pragmatic
politician. However, the ending offered the kind of liberal fantasy that only an Emma Goldman or a John Reed
could love: Rebecca finds romance with a Socialist union organizer! And she becomes an enlightened femi-
nist. (Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the musical merged Fiddler on the Roof with Warren Beatty’s
1981 film Reds and then stuck them together with Pins and Needles.)
In many respects, Rags resembled E. L. Doctorow’s wildly over-praised 1975 novel Ragtime, which be-
came the basis for the appalling 1998 musical adaptation, even down to the supposedly inspirational finale
where the leading characters face the future with their delicately wrought bleeding-heart values smugly in-
tact.
Charles Strouse’s music and Steven Schwartz’s lyrics were ambitious but generally unsatisfying. Songs
such as “Yankee Boy” and “Three Sunny Rooms” were reminiscent of numbers from earlier musicals, and
while some made a case for the title song, it was in fact overwrought and preachy. However, Rebecca’s lush
and haunting “Blame It on the Summer Night” was one of the finest Broadway musical moments of the de-
cade, and her “Children of the Wind” was also impressive.
The headline of Douglas Watt’s review in the New York Daily News said “These New Rags Don’t Wear
Well.” He found the evening “disappointing” and suggested Stein was more at home in Anatevka than on
the Lower East Side. Further, Strouse’s “workmanlike” score and Schwartz’s “well-turned” lyrics seemed
“constrained” by the work’s “heavy approach,” and their and Stein’s contributions were “so deadly serious”
it appeared the creators hadn’t “derived any enjoyment” from writing the show. Jack Kroll in Newsweek said
the musical was “inert” and “joyless,” and noted that its serious moments appeared “from out of left field”
and its lighter ones were “more a tissue of Broadway clichés.” The early years of immigrant life were “com-
plex,” but were here reduced “to a bundle of rags.” Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal complained that
the plot “covered too much ground,” and with “so many twists and turns it became unconvincing” and the
characters were no more than “cut-out figures.”
Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said Rags was a “cynical, mean-spirited” musical that scoffed at the idea of
America as the land of “hope” for immigrants. The “ragged” evening’s “basic premise” was “painfully
wrong” and had the real immigrant experience been as “joyless and mean” as the one depicted on the Mark
Hellinger’s stage no immigrants would ever have come and the Statue of Liberty “would have been facing the
other way.”
Winer noted that Strouse had composed “an unusually complex blend of ethnic and Broadway inspira-
tion,” but otherwise the musical was a “jumble” that was more in the nature of an “immigrant Classic
Comic” than a “Broadway classic.” But John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor felt that despite its
short run the musical was “a major event of the season” and he praised the “ambitiously expansive entertain-
ment.” Barnes said the book’s “faded patchwork-quilt nature” brought a “manufactured air” to the proceed-
ings and thus the work was “forever teetering on the edge of banality and pretentiousness.” But nonetheless
there was a “grand and epic quality” to the musical and the “superb” cast “thrillingly” made the show a
“hard-won triumph.”
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily felt there were “so many events” in the story that few were
“treated in any depth.” Although he found the production “fragmented,” he couldn’t help but “surrender” to
the feelings tapped by the story. Further, Strouse’s score was “richer” and “more pungent than anything” he
had composed since Golden Boy (1964). Allan Wallach in New York Newsday said the musical’s ambitions
were “commendable” but the evening unfortunately became “something of a musical history lesson.” Fur-
ther, the immigrant experience had been well delineated in such films as Hester Street (1975) and the New
York revues Tintypes (Off Broadway and Broadway, 1980) and The Golden Land (Off Off Broadway, 1984; Off
Broadway, 1985). But many songs had “lilting” melodies and when Strouse and Schwartz “aspire to operatic
passion they come close to realizing their ambitions.”
Frank Rich said the book covered so much territory it was impossible for the “archetypal” characters to
“pull their thematic weight,” and although the work looked at “melting-pot” America the evening’s “multi-
tudinous ingredients” resulted in a “stewpot.” But the “soaring” music offered “fragrant” songs like “Blame
It on the Summer Night,” and with the score Strouse had “really stretched himself.”
Stratas received mostly glowing notices. Barnes said the show “belongs to La Stratas” and that from “her
unobtrusively star-strewn entry to her final, Callas-style curtain calls, the woman commands the night”;
Wallach noted she gave the musical its “underpinning of passion” and her voice and acting provided “the
dimension missing in the writing”; Beaufort stated that she “fulfilled in every respect the demands of her vo-
cally and histrionically demanding role”; Winer found her “brilliant” and a “marvel” and with “a voice like
nobody else”; Rich said she was an “unexpected and highly welcome immigrant to the popular stage”; and
Wilson said she “unleashed a voice of richness and depth rarely heard on the musical stage.” Kissel praised
her “shimmering” voice and found her “too big for the material”; but he quickly noted “this is hardly reason
for complaint” because “size is something we used to take for granted on Broadway. Too much of it is not
a bad thing.” Although Watt said her voice was “splendid,” he felt she struck “an uneasy balance between
operatic and show music” and suggested she was “not very well suited” to her role and “never appears com-
fortable in it.”
During rehearsals, Joan Micklin Silver, who had helmed Hester Street, was the director, but when she
left the production there was no director of credit for most if not all of the Boston tryout (ultimately, Gene
Saks joined the production in that capacity). Kenneth Rinker was the choreographer during the tryout, and
was succeeded by Ron Field, and Beni Montresor designed the sets and lighting (but by New York Jules Fisher
was credited for the latter). The songs “Nothing Will Hurt Us Again” and “The Cherry Street Café” were
dropped. The music for “Brand New World” was adapted from the song “Just You and Me” from Strouse’s
1972 London musical I and Albert.
A recording of Rags was released by Sony Masterworks (CD # SK-42657) and includes most of the origi-
nal Broadway cast members (with the notable exception of Stratas, whose role was sung by Julia Migenes).
“Blame It on the Summer Night” is included in the collections The Musicality of Strouse (Jay Records CD #
CDJAZ-9014), Charles Strouse, Arthur Schwartz, Stephen Schwartz (Kritzerland Records two-CD set # KR-
20010-6), and The Stephen Schwartz Album (Varese Sarabande Records CD # VSD-6045).
As Rags: Children of the Wind, a revised version of the musical was revived Off Off Broadway on De-
cember 2, 1991, by the American Jewish Theatre for fifty-nine performances; the cast included Ann Crumb
(Rebecca) and Crista Moore (Bella). Added to the production were “If We Never Meet Again” and “The
Cherry Street Café” (which had been cut during the original’s tryout), and “Hamlet” was probably a new
title for “Hard to Be a Prince.” Songs from the Broadway version which were deleted for the revival were: “I
Remember,” “On the Fourth Day of July,” “In America,” “Democratic Club Dance,” “Prayer,” and “Bread
and Freedom.”
1986–1987 SEASON 297
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Musical (Rags); Best Actress (Teresa Stratas); Best Book (Joseph Stein); Best
Score (lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, music by Charles Strouse); Best Choreographer (Ron Field)
THE NEW MOON

Performances: 16
Book: Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab; new book adaptation by Robert Johanson
Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II; some lyrics revised by Robert Johanson
Direction and Choreography: Robert Johanson; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills,
General Director); Scenery: Michael Anania; Costumes: Andrew Marlay; Lighting: Mark W. Stanley; Cho-
ral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Jim Coleman
Cast: (Note: For those roles which had alternating performers, the first name listed denotes the opening-night
cast member.) Joyce Campana (Julie), Gerald Issac (Alexander), Jack Harrold (M. Beaunoir), Joseph McKee
(Captain Duval, Besac), David Rae Smith (Vicomte Ribaud), Allen Riberdy (Fouchette), Richard White/
Davis Gaines (Robert Mission), Michael Brown (Jacques), Leigh Munro/Maryanne Talese (Marianne Beau-
noir), Harris Davis (Proprietor), Terry Lacy (Spaniard), Esperanza Galan (Flower Dancer), Michael Cousins/
Mark Thomsen (Philippe Dupres), Muriel Costa-Greenspon (Clotilde Lombaste), John Lankston (Admiral
de Jean); Servants, Courtiers, Ladies, Sailors, Pirates, Tavern Wenches, Brides, French Soldiers, and Danc-
ers: The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers
The action takes place during 1792 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and on the Isle of Pines.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t list individual song titles.
The New York City Opera Company’s revival of Sigmund Romberg’s operetta The New Moon was its first
of two mountings. The original Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on September 19, 1928,
for 509 performances. Its chaotic tryout began in December 1927 as Marianne (not to be confused with the
1929 film musical Marianne or with the 1944 stage musical Marianne, which closed during its pre-Broadway
tryout). The operetta closed in January 1928, underwent drastic rewriting and recasting, and resumed its try-
out the following August.
Set in the New Orleans of 1792, the story took place over the period of one year and focused on French-
man Robert Mission, who has been accused by his home country of killing a member of royalty in a revolu-
tionary fracas. He’s captured by the French, who plan to take him to Europe for trial, and when the New Moon
sets sail he discovers that his love Marianne Beaunoir is also aboard. She, Robert, and his followers escape to
an island where they establish a colony for all those who seek liberty.
Although the program didn’t list song numbers, the reviews mentioned that the revival included the
operetta’s evergreens “Stouthearted Men,” “One Kiss,” “Lover, Come Back to Me,” “Softly, as in a Morning
Sunrise,” and “Wanting You.” Because director and choreographer Robert Johanson had staged the work for a
recent production at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey, it’s likely the revival also included such
numbers as “The Girl on the Prow,” “Marianne,” “Tavern Song,” “Funny Little Sailor Man,” and “Love Is
Quite a Simple Thing” (but the lyrics for some of these were revised because Johanson was credited for ad-
ditional lyrics).
Allen Hughes in the New York Times reported that the production was the most expensive ever mounted
by City Opera and the revival proved that the work was a “viable” operetta. However, he suggested that
Johanson’s direction needed to “tame down” the overly “frantic goings-on” during the first scene, and he
noted that while Leigh Munro acted “nicely” and looked “absolutely enchanting” in her “ravishing” gowns,
her singing turned “unsteady” and “edgy or shrill.” But the “handsome” and “dashing” Richard White “was
much better cast vocally” (although at the beginning of the operetta he “seemed to be pushing his voice un-
necessarily”).
In the same newspaper, Tim Page decided the score’s “important” music could be relegated to a record
album because everything else was “filler and repetition.” As drama, the operetta “creaked” with “cardboard”
characters and situations. But City Opera had “done well” by Romberg, and he praised the alternate perform-
ers: Maryanne Telese was a “fetching” Marianne who sang with “grace and agility,” and Davis Gaines, whose
singing voice was “suave and carefully shepherded,” was more in the style of Errol Flynn than Nelson Eddy.
After its original 1928 production, the operetta was first revived in New York on August 18, 1942, for
twenty-four performances in a scaled-down concert-styled version at Carnegie Hall; was then performed at
City Center on May 17, 1944, for a limited-run of fifty-three showings by the Belmont Operetta Company; and
then was presented twice by City Opera, the current production in 1986 and then a second one in 1988 (see
entry for the latter mounting). Encores! revived the work in concert on March 27, 2003, for five performances,
and the cast album of that production by Ghostlight Records (CD # 4403-2) is the most complete recording of
the score. The London premiere took place at the Drury Lane on April 4, 1930, for 147 performances.
MGM released two film versions. The 1930 adaptation, which starred Grace Moore and Lawrence Tib-
bett, dropped the plot of the stage version and created an entirely new one set in Russia, and the 1940 release
with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy was more in keeping with the plot of the original. City Opera’s
production was seen on public television’s Great Performances on April 8, 1989, with most of the current cast
(including Richard White, Leigh Munro, and Muriel Costa-Greenspon).
The script was published in paperback by Chappell & Co. Ltd. (London) in 1935, and the lyrics are in-
cluded in The Complete Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
ROWAN ATKINSON AT THE ATKINSON

“An Evening of Comedy”
Theatre: Brooks Atkinson Theatre

Performances: 6
Monologues: Richard Curtis, Rowan Atkinson, and Ben Elton
Music: Howard Goodall
Direction: Mike Ockrent (Mitchell Erickson, Production Supervisor; Peter Fulbright, Technical Supervisor);
Producers: Arthur Cantor in association with Caroline Hirsch, Peter Wilson, and Tony Aljoe; Design: Will
Bowen; Lighting: Mark Henderson; Musical Direction: Steven Margoshes
Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Angus Deayton
The comedy revue was presented in two acts.
Monologues
Note: The program didn’t list individual monologues or the names of the satiric topics discussed during the
evening; however, the program noted that the “Schoolmaster” monologue was written by Richard Sparks.
The appropriate and completely truthful title Rowan Atkinson at the Atkinson opened at the Brooks
Atkinson Theatre and starred the British stand-up comic Rowan Atkinson, who failed to charm most of the
critics and to attract the ticket-buyers. As a result, the comedy revue lasted less than a week. But two months
later at the same theatre another one-man comedy show became one of the season’s biggest draws (see Jackie
Mason’s “The World According to Me!”).
Atkinson was best known in Britain for his comic performances on the BBC television series “Not the
Nine O’Clock News” (and he later enjoyed success in the British television series Mr. Bean and Blackadder).
The New York critics seemed compelled to “explain” Atkinson in terms of which celebrities he resembled
physically or comically, and so in one way or another he was compared to Dudley Moore (three critics), Jerry
1986–1987 SEASON 299
Lewis, Richard Benjamin, John Cleese, Marcel Marceau, a Doonesbury character, and even an Alexander
Calder sculpture. The critics also noted that Atkinson failed to measure up to a number of comedians: Lily
Tomlin (two critics), Lenny Bruce (two critics), John Cleese (and the other Monty Pythons), Johnny Carson,
Charles Ludlam and Everett Quinton, Hal Holbrook, Victor Borge, and the Forbidden Broadway parodists.
Most of the critics were turned off by Atkinson’s obsession with scatological humor. Frank Rich in the
New York Times noted that as long as the British enjoyed this kind of thing “the melding of American and
English cultures is not yet complete.” Rich also felt that the sketches were “stunningly predictable” and thus
“redundancy and overkill” set in early and some sequences went on far too long. Rich remarked that Atkin-
son’s straight man Angus Deayton was “so flat as to be nearly invisible” and that director Mike Ockrent was
much better represented by Me and My Girl.
Linda Winer in USA Today said Atkinson was “one of those British cultural objects that don’t travel
well,” and while a few monologues were entertaining, many were “soft-edged and feeble”; Edwin Wilson in
the Wall Street Journal felt that some routines were “deft and amusing” but “the lavatory humor that the
British never get enough of rarely seems to cross the Atlantic successfully”; and Douglas Watt in the New
York Daily News decided the evening offered only about “fifteen minutes of material worth savoring” and
suggested Atkinson was best enjoyed as a segment on a television talk show.
But Allan Wallach in New York Newsday said the “droll” Atkinson showed why he was one of Britain’s
“best” comedians. Like most of the critics, Wallach singled out a sketch in which Atkinson portrayed a
fully dressed man at the beach who tries to put on a bathing suit without removing his clothes; and another
amusing sketch depicted a furious performer who accepts an acting award for his costar, all the while seeth-
ing because he didn’t win. Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily found Atkinson “funny” and “gifted,” and
particularly enjoyed his impersonation of a “supremely smug” singer who announces, “I’d like to sing a song
about all I believe in.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post enjoyed the “genuinely zany” comic who was “a master of bad man-
ners, good jokes and the wildest grimaces,” and Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News liked Atkinson’s
ribbing of such celebrities as Liberace and Andrew Lloyd Webber, and enjoyed the sketch in which Atkinson’s
Devil is “like the suave host of some posh club” when he welcomes newcomers to Hell.
Howard Goodall composed the incidental music for the evening. He had earlier written the lyrics and
music for the London musical The Hired Man which opened at the Astoria Theatre on October 31, 1984, and
played for 164 performances. The cast album and a 1992 concert version were recorded, and the work was
produced Off-Broadway in 1988 and 2008.
RAGGEDY ANN
“The Musical Adventure”

Performances: 5
Book: William Gibson
Lyrics and Music: Joe Raposo
Based on the characters created and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle (the first in his series was the 1918 collec-
tion Raggedy Ann Stories).
Direction and Choreography: Patricia Birch (Helena Andreyko, Assistant Choreographer); Producers: Joe
Silverman Associates Ltd, The Kennedy Center, The Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts, and
Donald K. Donald in association with CBS; Scenery: Gerry Hariton and Vicki Baral; Costumes: Carrie
Robbins; Lighting: Marc B. Weiss; Musical Direction: Ross Allen
Cast: Dick Decareau (Doctor), Joe Barrett (Doctor), Richard Ryder (Doctor), Bob Morrisey (Poppa), Lisa Rief-
fel (Marcella), Ivy Austin (Raggedy Ann), Scott Schafer (Raggedy Andy), Carolyn Marble (Baby Doll), Mi-
chelan Sisti (Panda), Leo Burmester (General D.), Gail Benedict (Bat), Gordon Weiss (Wolf), Joel Aroeste
(Camel), Elizabeth Austin (Mommy); Company: Melinda Buckley, Gregory Butler, Anny De Gange, Su-
sann Fletcher, Michaela Hughes, Steve Owsley, Andrea Wright
The action takes place on a New York riverfront sometime in the early twentieth century.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Gingham and Yarn” (Company); “Carry On” (Bob Morrisey); “Diagnosis”
(Dick Decareau, Joe Barrett, Richard Ryder); “The Light” (Dolls, Lisa Rieffel); “Make Believe” (Ivy Austin,
Leo Burmester); “Blue” (Joel Aroeste, Ivy Austin); “Make Believe” (reprise) (Scott Schafer, Lisa Rieffel,
Dolls, Company); “Make Believe” (reprise) (Ivy Austin, Lisa Rieffel); “Something in the Air” (Company);
“Delighted” (Clouds); “So Beautiful” (Ivy Austin, Lisa Rieffel, Clouds); “A Heavenly Chorus” (Unidenti-
fied Performer); “The Shooting Star” (Elizabeth Austin, Bob Morrisey, Rat); “The Wedding” (Company);
“Rag Dolly” (Ivy Austin)
Act Two: “Gingham and Yarn” (reprise) (Company); “You’ll Love It” (Gail Benedict, Scott Schafer, Batettes);
“A Little Music” (Lisa Rieffel, Ivy Austin, Dolls); “Gone” (Dolls, Company); “Why Not” (Elizabeth
Austin); “What Did I Lose” (Elizabeth Austin); “Somewhere” (Ivy Austin); “Welcome to L.A.” (Nurses);
“Diagnosis” (reprise) (Dick Decareau, Joe Barrett, Richard Ryder); “I Come Riding” (Leo Burmester);
“Gingham and Yarn” (reprise) (Company); “Rag Dolly” (Company)
Based on the characters created and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle, the musical Raggedy Ann began life as
Rag Dolly when it premiered at the Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts in Albany, New York, on
October 25, 1985, and then in early 1986 enjoyed a successful reception in Moscow as the first entertainment
in a new cultural exchange program between the United States and the Soviet Union. As Raggedy Ann, the
musical played at the Opera House at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in September 1986, and then
moved to Broadway where it collapsed after five performances. Most of the critical notices were merciless,
and the headline of Howard Kissel’s review in the New York Daily News said to “Throw It Back into the Rag
Bag.”
The book never seemed to decide if it was a fairy tale for children or a cautionary fable for adults. If the
former, it was too dark and frightening, and if the latter it was too obvious and simplistic. The story dealt with
a dying little girl named Marcella (Lisa Rieffel) who is caught in a tug-of-war between good and evil. Good
is personified by her doll Raggedy Ann (Ivy Austin) and evil by General D. (Leo Burmester). Raggedy Ann
hopes to instill within Marcella the will to live (her empty advice includes such gems as “Dreams can change
things”), but General D. (as in Doom, but he also explains his initial stands for “darkness, decay, dissolution,
and death”) hopes Marcella will die and join his army of the dead so that he can marry her.
Marcella travels to a doll hospital in hope of a cure, but Allan Wallach in New York Newsday reported
this didn’t make much sense because the general runs the hospital. To further complicate matters, Marcella’s
mother (Elizabeth Austin) abandoned her family years earlier (in a second act number, the mother asks in
song, “What Did I Lose?”) and the girl is raised by her father (Bob Morrisey), who has become an alcoholic.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Raggedy Ann gets a doll’s-heart transplant which for some reason Marcella
eats. But the general takes the doll in place of Marcella and presumably the little girl lives happily ever after.
Or something.
Most of the critics were stunned, and two pounced on a trio (“Diagnosis”) for three doctors in which they
gleefully tell Marcella “You’re sick, sick, sick, and we know you’re gonna die.” What with the heartless docs
and the general’s evil designs, Marcella was definitely in need of an advocate to protect her from child abuse.
With Rags and now Raggedy Ann, Frank Rich in the New York Times said the theatre scene was “fast
becoming the most ragged Broadway musical season in memory.” William Gibson’s book clearly tried for the
mood of Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz, but the hodgepodge was “loaded with psychological subtext—sex,
death and even a holocaustal mass grave.” The “incomprehensible” and “depressing” evening suggested what
might have happened had L. Frank Baum “undergone Jungian analysis.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the show was “determinedly well-intentioned and thoroughly
professional” but nonetheless “really rather awful.” The show’s concept was “mawkish,” the book was “un-
naturally simple, as if it were a patronizing children’s text,” Joe Raposo’s score was “absolutely painless,
tuneful but totally forgettable,” and the special effects were “moderately low-tech.” Kissel found the evening
“disjointed and distasteful.” Wallach said the best special effect was a huge bloodshot eye, but admitted “it
was a struggle to keep my own bloodshot eyes from closing” (he also recalled that a year earlier the Ned-
erlander Theatre had hosted Wind in the Willows, another “misconceived” children’s musical). And Linda
Winer in USA Today found the musical “grim,” “morbid,” and “tacky,” and said the “strange business” was
“terrifying about death, demeaning to medicine, and not at all good for the theatre.”
1986–1987 SEASON 301
Although Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal had reservations about the musical (General D.’s wish
to marry the little girl was “a bit sick”), he said the evening offered “memorable moments” along with a score
of “appealing ragtime tunes,” and Christopher Sharp in Women’s Wear Daily praised the “good, virtuosic
music” and said the show “does a delightful job of rendering the genius of a child’s imagination.”
During the tryout, the songs “Mexico” and “Never Get Away” were dropped.
In 1977, Raposo had contributed songs for another version of the Raggedy Ann stories. The score for the
film Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure included two numbers which were recycled for the cur-
rent musical, “(I’m Just a) Rag Dolly” and “Blue.” The film was distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox, the
videocassette was released by Fox Home Entertainment, and the soundtrack was released on LP by Columbia.
The film also included the song “No Girl’s Toy,” which as “No One’s Toy” was included in Phyllis New-
man’s 1978 one-woman show My Mother Was a Fortune-Teller and its revised 1979 version The Madwoman
of Central Park West.
FLAMENCO PURO
Performances: 40
Direction and Décor: Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli; Producers: Mel Howard and Donald K. Donald
Cast: Bailores (Dancers)—Manuela Carrasco, Jose Cortes (aka El Biencasao), Antonio Montoya (aka El Far-
ruco), Pilar Montoya (aka La Faraona), Rosario Montoya (aka La Farruquita), Eduardo Serrano (aka El
Guito), Angelita Vargas; Canatores (Singers)—Juan Jose Amador, Diego Camacho (aka El Boqueron), Ad-
ela Chaqueta, Enrique (aka El Extremeno), Fernanda de Utrera, Juan Fernandez (aka El Moreno), Antonio
Nunez (aka El Chocolate); Guitarristas (Guitarists)—Joaquin Amador, Ramon Amador, Agustin Carbonell
(aka El Bola), Juan Carmona Carmona (aka El Habichuela), Jose Miguel Carmona (Nino)
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Bulerias” (Entire Company); “Martinete” (Antonio Nunez aka El Chocolate); “Toque” (Pilar Mon-
toya aka La Faraona, Pepe Habichuela [latter not named in cast list]); “Cana” (Dancers: Manuela Carrasco,
Pilar Montoya aka La Faraona, Rosario Montoya aka La Farruquita, Angelita Vargas; Singers: Enrique
aka El Extremeno, Diego Camacho aka El Boqueron, Juan Fernandez aka El Moreno; Guitarists: Agustin
Carbonell aka El Bola, Juan Carmona Carmona aka El Habichuela, Joaquin Amador); Café Cantante—
“Alegrias” (Adela Chaqueta); “Romeras” (Jose Cortes aka El Biencasao); “Garrotin” (Angelita Vargas);
“Romance” (Manuela Carrasco); “Farruca” (Eduardo Serrano aka El Guito); “Alegrias” (Rosario Montoya
aka La Farruquita; Singers: Diego Camacho aka El Boqueron, Enrique aka El Extremeno, Juan Jose Ama-
dor, Juan Fernandez aka El Moreno; Guitarists: Joaquin Amador, Ramon Amador, Agustin Carbonell aka
El Bola, Jose Miguel Carmona); “Fandangos” (Fernanda de Utrera, Antonio Nunez aka El Chocolate, Juan
Carmona Carmona aka El Habichuela, Pepe Habichuela); and “Tarantos” (Entire Company)
Act Two: “Tangos” (Dancers: Adela Chaqueta, Rosario Montoya aka La Farruquita, Pilar Montoya aka La
Faraona; Singers: Enrique aka El Extremeno, Juan Fernandez aka El Moreno, Juan Jose Amador; Guitarists:
Agustin Carbonell aka El Bola, Jose Miguel Carmona); “Tientos” (Angelita Vargas; Guitarists: Pepe Habi-
chuela, Juan Carmona Carmona aka El Habichuela; Singer: Diego Camacho aka El Boqueron); “Soleares”
(Dancer: Fernanda de Utrera; Guitarist: Pepe Habichuela; Dancer: Eduardo Serrano aka El Guito; Guitar-
ists: Agustin Carbonell aka El Bola, Juan Carmona Carmona aka El Habichuela; Singers: Enrique aka El
Extremeno, Juan Jose Amador; Dancer: Manuela Carrasco; Guitarists: Joaquin Amador, Ramon Amador);
“Seguiriya” (Antonio Montoya aka El Farruco, Antonio Nunez aka El Chocolate; Guitarists: Pepe Habi-
chuela, Ramon Amador; Singer: Juan Fernandez aka El Moreno); “Bulerias” (Entire Company)
Flamenco puro premiered in Seville in 1980, in 1984 a revised version opened in Paris at the Festival
d’Automne, and prior to the Broadway production the work was presented at the Gusman Center in Miami,
Florida. Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli’s Tango Argentino had been popular in New York and on the
road, and now their Flamenco puro introduced authentic flamenco dancing to Broadway for a limited engage-
ment of five weeks. The Spanish performers were twenty in number: seven dancers (bailores), seven singers
(canatores), and six guitarists (guitarristas).
Anna Kisselgoff in the New York Times praised the “simply sensational show” with its “100 percent
terrific” Spanish gypsy artists. She noted that the performers were less a company than a group of “distinct”
personalities who offered a “striking number of individual styles” of flamenco, and, true to the “tenets” of
gypsy flamenco dancing, “there is not a castanet to be seen or heard.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the production “stepped beyond the frontiers of showbiz and
cabaret” and instead showed the world of flamenco “as it really is, in the cafés, caves, and dusty side streets
of Seville.” For the uninitiated, seeing Flamenco puro was “like going to a bull-fight for the first time. You
may think you know what it is going to be like, but you don’t.”
Howard Kissel in Women’s Wear Daily said the evening was “a powerful introduction to a haunting art”;
Joseph H. Mazo hailed the work as “magnificent, moving theatre”; and Gerald Clarke in Time noted the eve-
ning “astonished as much as it entertained.”
Marcia B. Siegel in the Christian Science Monitor remarked that the show didn’t offer “recognizably fixed
choreography.” The dancers knew the basic steps and techniques, but they experimented and stretched the
rules, and their improvisations resulted from “spontaneous interaction with the song and the audience of the
moment.”
INTO THE LIGHT

Theatre: Neil Simon Theatre
Performances: 6
Book: Jeff Tambornino
Lyrics: John Forster
Music: Lee Holdridge
Direction: Michael Maurer; Producers: Joseph Z. Nederlander, Richard Kughn, and Jerrold Perenchio; Chore-
ography: Mary Jane Houdina; Scenery and Projections: Neil Peter Jampolis and Hervig Libowitzky; Laser
Design: Marilyn Lowey; Special Laser Effects: Laser Media, Inc.; Costumes: Karen Roston; Lighting: Neil
Peter Jampolis; Musical Direction: Peter Howard
Cast: Alan Mintz (Friend), Danny Gerard (Mathew Prescott), Susan Bigelow (Kate Prescott), Dean Jones (James
Prescott), Ted Forlow (Colonel), David Young (Major), William Parry (Father Frank Girella), Lenny Wolpe
(Peter Vonn), Peter Walker (Nathan Gelb), Mitchell Greenberg (Vijay Bannerjee), Kathryn McAteer (Phyl-
lis Terwilliger), Alan Brasington (Paul Cooper), Casper Roos (Don Cesare), Thomas Batten (Archbishop
Parisi), Gordon Stanley (Signor Bocciarelli); Ensemble: Michael Duran, David Young, Deborah Carlson,
Terri Homberg, Valerie DePena
The action takes place during late summer in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and in Turin, Italy.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Poltergeists” (Danny Gerard, Susan Bigelow); “Neat/Not Neat” (Dean Jones, William Parry, Su-
san Bigelow); “It Can All Be Explained” (Dean Jones, William Parry); “The Data” (Dean Jones, Team);
“A Talk about Time” (Dean Jones, Susan Bigelow); “Trading Solos” (William Parry, Danny Gerard, Alan
Mintz); “Let There Be Light” (Dean Jones, Casper Roos, William Parry, Gordon Stanley, Thomas Batten);
“Wishes” (Danny Gerard); “The Three of Us” (Susan Bigelow, Dean Jones); “Rainbow Logic” (Dean Jones)
Act Two: “Fede, Fede” (Casper Roos, Thomas Batten, Team); “To Measure the Darkness” (Dean Jones, Susan
Bigelow); “The Testing” (Dean Jones, Team); “The Rose and I” (Susan Bigelow); “The Testing” (reprise)
1986–1987 SEASON 303
(Dean Jones, Team); “Measure (Measuring) the Darkness” (reprise) (Dean Jones); “Be There” (Dean Jones,
Danny Gerard); “Into the Light” (reprise) (Company)
Yes, there really was a Shroud of Turin musical, and Into the Light was it. But you had to be fast: the deba-
cle disappeared after six performances and seems unlikely to appear on the Encores! schedule any time soon.
The story looked at scientist James Prescott (Dean Jones), who ignores his wife Kate (Susan Bigelow) and
young son Mathew (Danny Gerard) in his relentless drive to examine and disprove the authenticity of the
relic (yes, he’s lost his faith, but we know by evening’s end he will have found it). The critics were aghast,
and hardly knew where to begin. Perhaps with the lyrics? The reviewers quoted such choice bits as “Science
without data / Will not get you from alpha to beta” (and its variant “Science without data / Is like gazpacho
without tomatah”) and “To measure the darkness / You must stand in the dark / But when you stand in the
dark / You cannot see a thing” (Frank Rich in the New York Times noted that “songs like these are not cre-
ated to set an audience dancing in the aisles”). And then there were the so-called jokes (“Why did God cre-
ate anchovies if everyone hates them?”) and the mind-boggling dialogue (“The Shroud team’s in town” and
“I’ve waited four years to get my hands on that rag”). And how about the tarantella for the nuns, priests, and
archbishop? Or the number which gave the scientists a chance to strut their stuff in the style of vaudeville
performers?
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said Susan Bigelow’s Kate didn’t have much to do except go around
looking “merely unhappily distraught.” But poor little neglected Mathew was forced to create a fantasy friend
whom only he can see. Unfortunately, this was an insufferable conceit in which Alan Mintz played “Friend,”
and Rich noted the performer enacted the role with “excessive zeal” as a “prancing, eye-rolling mime” which
brought to mind “Pinky Lee reincarnated as a chorus boy from Godspell.” Marilyn Stasio in USA Today said
“Friend” was played by “an excruciating, mugging mime,” and Allan Wallach in New York Newsday wished
that the invisible “Friend” had been truly invisible like Harvey “instead of a mime who strikes a lot of arty
poses.”
Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily said Into the Light was “dim entertainment,” and the “scramble of
religiosity and musical comedy cutes” had an inane script, clunky lyrics, and an “intermittent goofiness” that
permeated the production. But Lee Holdridge’s music “sometimes swells to surprising richness, particularly
in its pastiches of Italian opera.” Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News found the rhymes in the lyrics
“a little too cute,” but said the music was “full of ingenuity” and “technically skilful” but often “mechani-
cal.” The musical utilized lasers, and these were the “best thing” in the show’s physical production; but if
someone wanted a laser show, “Why not go to the Hayden Planetarium?”
Wallach said the work was “well-intentioned” but “boring,” and said the laser show “upstaged” the
performers. In this case, the “light of technology” trumped the “light of faith,” but “to update that old show-
business saying, you can’t go out humming the laser beams.” Stasio said that “of all the unlikely subjects”
for a musical, nothing was “weirder” than the plot of Into the Light, and so at least the show couldn’t be
called a “cliché.” But the subjects of “work vs. faith, science vs. religion, [and] hypocrisy vs. real faith” were
“inhospitable subjects” for a musical (but even so this “effort was remarkably amiable”).
Barnes said the “mindlessly mundane” evening “truly needed a miracle to save it.” The “plainsong melo-
dies of a liturgical bent and pseudo-Italianate operatic spoofs” made Andrew Lloyd Webber sound like George
Gershwin, and the “saccharine” lyrics “only have to be heard not to be believed.” Most of the performances
were “terrible,” and he commented that Dean Jones “acts as if he were in a wind-tunnel, and is too wooden
to portray a cigar-store Indian in a coma.” He concluded by asking his readers to “light candles for this one.”
Rich said the musical’s creative team tried and failed “to conquer the meaning of the universe with es-
thetic means that would be a tad light-weight for The Tap Dance Kid” and the green laser show seemed left
over from Sunday in the Park with George. The score was “monotonous and insistent in the style of loud
wallpaper,” and most of the performances were “as solid as the quicksand of their material allows.” While
Dean Jones was as “relaxed, ingratiating and nearly as boyish” as when he had appeared on the same stage six-
teen years earlier as Bobby in Company, Rich quickly noted that “no star can carry a show that asks whether
God is dead in a manner that’s likely to bore Him to death if He’s not.”
During the tryout, “I Married a Student” was cut.
For fifty-six years, the Neil Simon Theatre had been known as the Alvin, which was commissioned by
producers Alex Aarons and Vinton Freedley. The theatre took its name from the first syllables of the two
men’s first names, and opened its doors in 1927 with George and Ira Gershwin’s hit musical Funny Face. In
June 1983, during the run of Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, the venue’s name was changed to its current
one, and Into the Light was the first musical to play there under the new name.
A LITTLE LIKE MAGIC

Theatre: Lyceum Theatre
Opening Date: October 26, 1986; Closing Date: December 7, 1986
Performances: 49
Text: Diane Lynn Dupuy
Music: Original music by Victor Davies; see list of musical numbers for specific credits
Direction: Diane Lynn Dupuy; Producer: Famous People Players; Visual Art Effects: Mary C. Thornton; Light-
ing: Ken Billington
Cast: Darlene Arsenault, Michelle Busby, Sandra Ciccone, Charlene Clarke, Annastasia Danyliw, Benny
D’Onofrio, Any Fitzpatrick, Kim Hansen, Greg Kozak, Debbie Lim, Renato Marulli, Debbie Rosen, Mary
Thompson, Neil Thompson, Lenny Turner
Musical Numbers
Note: The cast members manipulated life-size puppets, many of which represented celebrities; when appli-
cable, the celebrity’s name is given in quotation marks.
Act One: “A Little Like Magic” (lyric and music by Victor Davies) (Singer: Gord Masten); “Aruba Liberace”
(“Liberace”); “Aquarium” (music by Camille Saint-Saens); “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (music by Paul
Dukas); “The Bear and Bee” (music by Victor Davies) (sound effects by James Macdonald, Walt Disney
Studios); “Concertina for Carignan” (music by Andre Gagnon); “Viva Las Vegas” (“Elvis Presley”); “The
Gambler” (music by Kenny Rogers); “Theme from Superman” (1978 film Superman; music by John Wil-
liams) (Voices: Cal Dodd, Philip Williams); “Music of 007” (music by John Barry); “The Battle Hymn of
the Republic” (Edrich Siebert [whose arrangement of the song may have been used]) (Voices: Philip Wil-
liams)
Act Two: “Divertissement” (music by Jacques Ibert); “Night on Bald Mountain” (music by Modeste Mus-
sorgsky); “Fossils” (music by Camille Saint-Saens); “The Swan” (music by Camille Saint-Saens); “Billie
Jean” (“Michael Jackson”); “Part-Time Lovers” (“Stevie Wonder”); Entertainment and Broadway Medley:
“That’s Entertainment” (1953 film The Band Wagon; lyric by Howard Dietz, music by Arthur Schwartz);
“New York, New York” (“Liza Minnelli”) (1977 film New York, New York; lyric by Fred Ebb, music by
John Kander); “42nd Street” (1933 film 42nd Street; lyric by Al Dubin, music by Harry Warren); “Ease on
Down the Road” (The Wiz, 1975; lyric and music by Charlie Smalls); “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (“Barbra
Streisand”) (Funny Girl, 1964; lyric by Bob Merrill, music by Jule Styne); “Send in the Clowns” (A Little
Night Music, 1973; lyric and music by Stephen Sondheim); “The Night They Invented Champagne” (1958
film Gigi; lyric by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe) (Singer: Cal Dodd); “Get Me to the Church
on Time” (My Fair Lady, 1956; lyric by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe) (Singer: Neil Thomp-
son); “Oklahoma!” (Oklahoma!, 1943; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodgers) (Singer:
Kim Hansen); “Can-Can” (Can-Can, 1953; lyric and music by Cole Porter); “Lullaby of Broadway” (1935
film Gold Diggers of 1935; lyric by Al Dubin, music by Harry Warren); “A Little Like Magic” (reprise);
“Give My Regards to Broadway” (Little Johnny Jones, 1904; lyric and music by George M. Cohan) (Singer:
Cal Dodd)
The Canadian import A Little Like Magic was performed by the Famous People Players, a company based
in Toronto that was founded in 1974 by Diane Lynn Dupuy. The program notes indicated the company spe-
cialized in “black light” techniques in which life-sized fluorescent puppets and props were manipulated by
company members (who wore black robes, hoods, and masks in order to render themselves invisible to the
audience) under the illumination of ultraviolet light. The program stated the company was registered as a
charitable organization, but didn’t indicate much beyond that. But in their reviews, a few critics explained.
1986–1987 SEASON 305
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor wrote that some of the puppeteers were “developmentally
handicapped” and Linda Winer in USA Today said some were “mentally or physically handicapped.”
The evening consisted of musical sequences in which an assortment of puppets “performed” against
colorful backgrounds, and one section was a tribute to Broadway and Hollywood songs. The highlights of
the evening were the “famous people” of the company’s name, that is, an assortment of life-sized puppets
resembling such celebrities as Liberace, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Liza Minnelli, and
Barbra Streisand.
Richard F. Shepard in the New York Times praised the “viewer-friendly, iridescent spectacle that drenches
the senses in sight and sound.” The evening was “clever, colorful and cute” and had “a kind of Technicolor
brightness,” and occasionally he felt he was witnessing “some gigantic music video.” Ron Cohen in Women’s
Wear Daily said the proceedings sometimes seemed “like an overextended revue in one of those high-tech
amusement parks,” and he commented that he liked the “amiable caricatures” of celebrity puppets “cavort-
ing” to their recordings.
Bill Kaufman in New York Newsday praised the “perfect family entertainment” and its “eye-popping
effects,” and noted that at the end of the evening the cast revealed how the magic effects were done. How-
ard Kissel in the New York Daily News said the revue was “rather like being Alice in her first few minutes
in Wonderland, when everything before her eyes seemed like a hallucination” (he also reported that in one
sequence a stripper performs her act, and as she removes an article of clothing, that part of her body com-
pletely vanishes). In the same newspaper, Douglas Watt complained that the production seemed out of place
in a Broadway theatre, and he assumed the show’s “most responsive audience” would be “among the very
young.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post suggested the show was a “one-joke” affair and might “wear thin”
for some audience members, but there was “no praise too high for the visual art effects” and “the dazzling
expertise of the unseen performers.”
Beaufort praised the “dazzling extravaganza,” and Winer stated the show’s “enchantment eventually
triumphs over the junk” of some of its Las Vegas-styled moments. She wasn’t impressed by the “charmless
imitations” of celebrities, and said the company’s technique was “way beyond this schlock” and deserved
stories accompanied by live music instead of tapes. But considering that Broadway had recently endured Rag-
gedy Ann and Into the Light, the show was a “little winner” (it returned to Broadway in 1994 as A Little
More Magic).
OH COWARD!
Performances: 56
Commentary: Roderick Cook (Note: Most commentary material was taken from various writings by Noel
Coward.)
Lyrics and Music: Noel Coward
Direction: Roderick Cook; Producer: Raymond J. Greenwald (Richard Seader, Executive Producer); Scenery:
Helen Pond and Herbert Senn; Costumes: David Toser; Lighting: F. Mitchell Dana; Musical Direction:
Dennis Buck
Cast: Roderick Cook, Catherine Cox, Patrick Quinn
Musical Numbers
Note: Sequences below without lyric and music credits are commentaries taken from Noel Coward’s writings.
Act One: Introduction: “The Boy Actor” (Catherine Cox, Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook); Oh Coward!:
“Something to Do with Spring” (Words and Music, 1932 [London]; opened in New York in 1938 as Set
to Music); “Bright Young People” (Cochran’s 1931 Revue, London); “Poor Little Rich Girl” (On with the
Dance, 1925; London); “Zigeuner” (Bitter Sweet; London and New York, both 1929); “Let’s Say Goodbye”
(Words and Music, 1932 [London]; opened in New York in 1938 as Set to Music); “This Is a Changing
World” (Pacific 1860, 1946; London); “We Were Dancing” (To-Night at 8:30/We Were Dancing; London
and New York, both 1936); “Dance, Little Lady” (This Year of Grace!; London and New York, both 1928);
“A Room with a View” (This Year of Grace!; London and New York, both 1928); and “Sail Away” (first
heard in Ace of Clubs; 1950 [London] and then later in Sail Away, 1961 [New York] and 1962 [London])
(Catherine Cox, Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook); England: “London Is a Little Bit of All Right” (The Girl
Who Came to Supper, 1963; New York) (Patrick Quinn); “The End of the News” (Sigh No More, 1945;
London) (Catherine Cox, Roderick Cook); “The Stately Homes of England” (Operette, 1938; London)
(Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook); and “London Pride” (Second Edition of Up and Doing, 1941; London)
(Catherine Cox); Family Album: “Auntie Jessie” (possibly a revision of “Jessie Hooper” from Charlot’s
Revue, 1924; produced on Broadway as Charlot’s Revue of 1926) (Roderick Cook) and “Uncle Harry” (in-
dependent song, 1944; later added to Pacific 1860; 1946 [London]) (Catherine Cox, Patrick Quinn); Music
Hall: Introduction: Roderick Cook; “Chase Me, Charlie” (Ace of Clubs, 1950; London) (Catherine Cox);
“Saturday Night at the Rose and Crown” (The Girl Who Came to Supper, 1963; New York) (Catherine
Cox, Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook); “Island of Bolamazoo” (Operette, 1938; London) (Patrick Quinn);
“What Ho, Mrs. Brisket!” (The Girl Who Came to Supper, 1963; New York) (Roderick Cook); “Has Any-
body Seen Our Ship?” (To-Night at 8:30/Red Peppers; London and New York, both 1936) (Catherine Cox,
Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook); and “Men about Town” (To-Night at 8:30/Red Peppers; London and New
York, both 1936) (Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook); “If Love Were All” (Bitter Sweet; London and New
York, both 1929) (Catherine Cox); Travel: “Too Early or Too Late” (Roderick Cook); “Why Do the Wrong
People Travel?” (Sail Away; 1961 [New York] and 1962 [London]) (Catherine Cox, Patrick Quinn); and
“The Passenger’s Always Right” (Sail Away; 1961 [New York] and 1962 [London]) (Catherine Cox, Patrick
Quinn, Roderick Cook); Mrs. Worthington: “Don’t Put Your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs. Worthington”
(independent song, 1936) (Catherine Cox, Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook)
Act Two: “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” (The Third Little Show, 1931 [New York]; later heard in 1932 London
revue Words and Music which opened in New York in 1938 as Set to Music) (Catherine Cox, Patrick
Quinn, Roderick Cook); A Marvelous Party: “The Party’s Over Now” (Words and Music, 1932 [London];
opened in New York in 1938 as Set to Music) (Roderick Cook); Design for Dancing: “Dance, Little Lady”
(reprise) (Catherine Cox, Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook); “You Were There” (To-Night at 8:30/Shadow
Play; London and New York, both 1936) (Patrick Quinn); Theatre: “Three White Feathers” (Words and
Music, 1932; London; opened in New York in 1938 as Set to Music) (Catherine Cox, Roderick Cook);
“The Star” (Patrick Quinn); “The Critic” (Roderick Cook); and “The Elderly Actress” (Catherine Cox);
Love: “Gertie” (Roderick Cook); “Loving” (Patrick Quinn); “I Am No Good at Love” (dropped during
pre-Broadway tryout of Sail Away, 1961; London, 1962) (Roderick Cook); “Sex Talk” (Patrick Quinn);
“A Question of Lighting” (Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook); and “Mad about the Boy” (Words and Music,
1932; opened in New York in 1938 as Set to Music) (Catherine Cox); Women: Introduction: Roderick
Cook; “Nina” (independent song, early 1940s; later used in Sign No More, 1946 [London]) (Patrick Quinn);
“Mrs. Wentworth-Brewster” (Roderick Cook); “World Weary” (introduced in the New York production of
This Year of Grace!, 1928; the revue had been produced earlier in the year in London) (Catherine Cox, Pat-
rick Quinn, Roderick Cook); “Let’s Do It” (a 1940s parody lyric by Coward of the Cole Porter song which
had originally been introduced in Paris, 1928 [New York] and later used in 1929 London revue Wake Up
and Dream) (Catherine Cox, Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook); Finale: “Where Are the Songs We Sung?”
(Operette; 1938; London) (Patrick Quinn); “Someday I’ll Find You” (Private Lives, 1930 [London] and 1931
[New York]) (Roderick Cook); “I’ll Follow My Secret Heart” (Conversation Piece; London and New York,
both 1934) (Catherine Cox); “If Love Were All” (reprise) (Catherine Cox, Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook);
“Play, Orchestra, Play” (To-Night at 8:30/Shadow Play; London and New York, both 1936) (Catherine
Cox, Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook); and “I’ll See You Again” (Bitter Sweet; London and New York, both
1929) (Catherine Cox, Patrick Quinn, Roderick Cook)
Oh Coward! was a tribute revue to lyricist and composer Noel Coward, and was the season’s first of two
such tributes (Stardust saluted lyricist Mitchell Parish). As And Now, Noel Coward . . . , Roderick Cook’s
early version of the material had been produced in 1968 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with Doro-
thy Loudon. Later during the same year, Cook and Lee Becker Theodore assembled Coward’s material for Noel
Coward’s Sweet Potato, which opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on September 29 (and
then later at the Booth Theatre) for two slightly separated engagements which played for a total of forty-four
1986–1987 SEASON 307
performances (Loudon appeared in the first Broadway engagement). Later, Cook’s A Noel Coward Revue, or
To Sir, with Love opened at the Theatre-in-the-Dell on May 19, 1970, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Oh Coward! opened Off Broadway on October 4, 1972, at the New Theatre for 294 performances, and
was devised and directed by Cook, who also appeared in the revue with Barbara Cason and Jamie Ross. The
cast album was released by Bell Records on a two-LP set (# BELL-9001), and in 1974 the script was published
in hardback by Doubleday & Company. A television version produced by Columbia Pictures was shown in
March 1980.
During the run of the 1972 production, a special gala performance was held on January 14, 1973, in honor
of Coward, who attended the performance with Marlene Dietrich. According to the program notes of the later
1981 Off-Off-Broadway revival (see below), this was Coward’s last public appearance and consequently the
last show he ever saw; he died a few weeks later, on March 26, 1973.
A cabaret version of the revue was presented Off Off Broadway in June 1981 at Ted Hook’s On Stage with
Terri Klausner, Russ Thacker, and Dalton Cathey; and after the current Broadway engagement the revue re-
turned on February 16, 1999, where it opened Off Off Broadway at the Irish Repertory Theatre for forty-two
showings.
Mel Gussow in the New York Times noted that the evening was essentially a cabaret entertainment of
“incidental pleasures” which fell into two categories, music-hall (songs such as “Don’t Put Your Daughter
on the Stage, Mrs. Worthington”) and high society (a world “of snobbery and ennui, a feeling of deadpan déjà
vu”). Gussow mentioned that despite material that covered five decades, the revue never provided a sense of
“evolution” or “a mellowing with age.” Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News found the production
“stiff” and regretted that Cook, who had previously brought “vivacity and charm” to the revue, now seemed
“like a parody of a parody” and offered “merely a set of mannerisms.” In the same newspaper, Douglas Watt
felt the current version lacked the “sprightliness” and “sharpness” of the 1972 production.
But Linda Winer in USA Today said Oh Coward! was a reminder of the “kind of tasty” and “literate”
revues that used to flourish in New York; the “wicked” evening seemed “fresher” than many of the current
Broadway offerings and the cast exuded “gleefully world-weary attitude.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post
said the revue brought “much needed fun, wit, sophistication, and chic back to Broadway”; Edwin Wilson
in the Wall Street Journal praised the “witty, intelligent and entertaining” production; and Ron Cohen in
Women’s Wear Daily noted that with “elan” Cook “dispensed the Coward canon with the authority of a
certified keeper of the flame.”
Allan Wallach in New York Newsday said Catherine Cox “expertly cut across all categories” in her de-
pictions of a Cockney, a music-hall soubrette, and a bored society woman, and noted she brought “a world of
feeling” into such songs as “If Love Were All” and “Mad about the Boy”; and John Beaufort in the Christian
Science Monitor said the darkness of the current Broadway scene was considerably brightened by Oh Coward!
The nonmusical sequences in the revue were compiled by Roderick Cook from Coward’s writings, includ-
ing his plays The Young Idea (1923 [London]); Private Lives (1930 [London] and 1931 [New York]); Shadow
Play (which was a short play in the series To-Night at 8:30; London and New York, both 1936); and Present
Laughter (1939 [London] and 1946 [New York]); his 1967 book of poetry Not Yet the Dodo and Other Verses;
one of his autobiographies (Present Indicative, 1937); and various excerpts from his short stories.
Other Coward tributes include the London revue Cowardy Custard, which opened at the Mermaid The-
atre on July 10, 1972, for 405 performances with a cast that included Patricia Routledge (the cast album was
released on a two-LP set by RCA Records # LSO-6010) and the Off-Broadway revue If Love Were All, which
starred Twiggy (as Gertrude Lawrence) and Harry Groener (Coward) and opened at the Lucille Lortel Theatre
on June 10, 1999, for 101 showings (the cast album was issued by Varese Sarabande CD # 302-066-083-2).
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Roderick Cook); Best Leading Actress in a Musi-
cal (Catherine Cox)
SMILE
“The Musical”

Performances: 48
Based on the 1975 film Smile (direction by Michael Ritchie and screenplay by Jerry Belson).
Book and Lyrics: Howard Ashman
Music: Marvin Hamlisch
Direction: Howard Ashman; Producers: Lawrence Gordon, Richard M. Kagan, and Sidney L. Shlenker (Barbara
Livitz, Associate Producer); Choreography: Mary Kyte; Scenery: Douglas W. Schmidt; Costumes: William
Ivey Long; Lighting: Paul Gallo; Musical Direction: Paul Gemignani
Cast: Contestants—Anne Marie Bobby (Robin Gibson), Jodi Benson (Doria Hudson), Veanne Cox (Sandra-
Kay Macaffee), Cheryl-Ann Rossi (Maria Gonzalez), Tia Riebling (Shawn Christianson), Lauren Goler
(Valerie Sherman), Deanna D. Wells (Heidi Anderson), Mana Allen (Patti-Lynn Bird), Andrea Leigh-Smith
(Debralee Davis), Mia Malm (Kate Gardner, Joanne Marshall), Valerie Lau-Kee (Linda Lee), Julie Tussey
(Kimberly Lyons), Donna Marie Elio (Gina Minelli), Renee Veneziale (Dana Simpson), Cindy Oakes (Con-
nie-Sue Whipple), Nikki Rene (Cookie Wilson); Adults—Marsha Waterbury (Brenda DiCarlo Freelander),
Jeff McCarthy (Big Bob Freelander), Michael O’Gorman (Tommy French), Richard Woods (Dale Wilson-
Shears), Dick Patterson (Ted Farley), Ruth Williamson (Carol), Jeffrey Wilkins (Tony), Laura Gardner
(Robin’s Mom, Judge, Volunteer), K. C. Wilson (Photographer, Judge, Volunteer); Kids—Tommy Daggett
(Little Bob Freelander), Andrew Cassese (Freddy)
The action takes place at Santa Rosa Junior College during three days last summer.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Prologue” (“She’s a typical high school senior”) (Contestants); “Orientation” (“The very best week
of your lives”) (Marsha Waterbury) and “Postcard # 1” (Anne Marie Bobby); “Disneyland” (Jodi Benson);
“Shine” (Contestants, Michael O’Gorman, Marsha Waterbury); “Postcard # 2” (Anne Marie Bobby);
“Nerves” (Contestants); “Young and American” (Preliminary Night) (Contestants); “Until Tomorrow
Night” (Contestants, Marsha Waterbury, Jeff McCarthy)
Act Two: “Postcard # 3” (Anne Marie Bobby) and “Dressing Room Scene” (“Oh, God, I’m shaking”) (Anne
Marie Bobby, Jodi Benson, Dick Patterson, Contestants); “Smile” (Dick Patterson, Contestants); “In Our
Hands” (Contestants); “Pretty as a Picture” (Dick Patterson, Jeff McCarthy, Anne Marie Bobby, Contes-
tants)
The 1975 film Smile was a would-be satiric look at the world of teen-queen beauty pageants. Many made
a case for the film, and for a while it appeared on the verge of becoming a cult movie. But the subdued film
was mostly memorable because of its performances by Michael Kidd and Maria O’Brien. He played a one-
time Broadway choreographer who is now reduced to staging musical numbers for local teen pageants, and
she played a Mexican-American contestant who woos the judges with her guacamole dip (O’Brien was the
daughter of Academy Award-winning actor Edmond O’Brien and actress-singer Olga San Juan, who was one
of the leads in Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s 1951 Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon).
But the musical adaptation of Smile was much too weak and obvious, and Howard Ashman’s book mean-
dered along with too many plot lines and ideas. There was the spoof of teen pageants; there was the growing
contention between pageant judge Big Bob Freelander (Jeff McCarthy) and his pageant-organizer wife (and
former beauty queen) Brenda (Marsha Waterbury) because he sees the pageant as an earnest depiction of solid
American values and she is cynically pragmatic in her willingness to undermine the pageant for her own per-
sonal ambitions; there was some unpleasant business concerning their peeping-Tom ten-year-old son Little
Bob (Tommy Daggett); and professional contestant Doria (Jodi Benson) floats from one contest to another as a
means to escape from her unhappy home life and to seek a Disneyland where the world is always perfect. The
1986–1987 SEASON 309
various tones didn’t jell, and the musical never found its through-line. As a result, the $4 million production
lasted just six weeks on Broadway.
Except for the title song, Ashman’s lyrics and Marvin Hamlisch’s score never hit the bull’s-eye and was
instead a mild-mannered collection of pleasant if unexciting numbers. But the title song was a rouser in the
tradition of old-time Broadway with its vampy melodic line, and was in fact a musical cousin to Hamlisch’s
“One” from A Chorus Line (1975). Smile of course mirrored its predecessor in its contrast of girls who hope
to be crowned Young American Miss beauty queen and Line’s dancers who vie for a part in a new Broadway
musical. While one cared about the characters in A Chorus Line and the outcomes of their auditions, one
never felt any urgency about the pageant and most of the girls remained anonymous and failed to arouse much
in the way of interest.
Frank Rich in the New York Times noted that Smile sought to capture the mood of the “stylistic period”
of such early 1960s hit musicals as Bye Bye Birdie (1960), How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying
(1961), and Hello, Dolly! (1964), but it only measured up to the era’s also-rans (All American and Mr. Presi-
dent, both 1962). The musical was “schizoid in tone,” was “dramatically diffuse,” and “undistinguished” in
the areas of music, dance, and humor.
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News found the lyrics “largely uninspired” and the music “disap-
pointing,” and although “blandness” might describe the typical beauty contest, “blandness” was “not what
you pay Broadway prices to see”; in the same newspaper, Douglas Watt said the “bland and dull” show had
“thin” and “mechanical” music, “perfunctory” lyrics, and a “trifling” book. Linda Winer in USA Today
noted that the evening was “slick and professional” and yet “shiny, simple and insipid” with “jauntily un-
memorable” music. John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said Smile “was nothing to cheer about”
because it alternated “between satire and soap opera” and beauty pageants were “too self-parodying to stand
further lampoon.” Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal stated the production lacked “a clear edge or point
of view” and thus it moved “uncertainly between satire and celebration to the point where it’s impossible for
the audience to have a clear picture of what it sees.” And Alan Wallach in New York Newsday said Ashman
had softened the satire “to the consistency of oatmeal” and didn’t provide “an overarching viewpoint that
would make the pageant a microcosm of larger value conflicts.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post noted the musical’s creators couldn’t decide “to grin or to sneer” at its
subject and thus “unsmilingly” wanted to have it both ways. The show attempted to be “a corrosively witty
indictment” of the pageant’s false values and at the same time hoped to charm the audience “with precisely
the kind of spectacle it is supposedly making fun of.” Barnes found Hamlisch’s score “unmemorably cheer-
ful,” but he praised the “terrific” performance by Michael O’Gorman as the embittered choreographer.
But William A. Henry III in Time liked the “swift-paced, skillfully performed and thoroughly professional
entertainment,” and while it was no “landmark” it was nonetheless a “pleasure.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7
felt the evening had “too many subplots” and sometimes lost its focus, but was otherwise “real theatre, with
a good cast and a great score.” And although Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily had some quibbles with
the musical, he still felt it was a “good-looking show” with “a lot to like” and a score that was “excitingly
rhythmic and bright.”
The slightly revised script was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1988. The score was recorded
with a combination of Broadway and studio cast members, but was never released (though it has made the
rounds of theatre-music collectors). The collection Howard Sings Ashman (PS Classics CD # PS-869) includes
the complete score as well as the unused “Big Bob’s Song” (which is part of the published script). The collec-
tions Unsung Musicals (Varese Sarabande CD # VSD-5462, which was the first of three in the series) includes
“Smile,” “In Our Hands,” and “Disneyland” (the last performed by original cast member Jodi Benson) and
Unsung Musicals III (Varese Sarabande CD # VSD-5769) includes “Maria’s Song,” which was part of the
“Young and American” sequence.
The musical was the subject of two in-depth magazine articles. One was the cover story by Alice M. Hale
for the January 1987 issue of Theatre Crafts. Her lengthy article “Bringing a Smile to Broadway” included
thirteen color and black-and-white photos and costume sketches from the production as well as two pages of
the show’s lighting plot by Paul Gallo. The article notes that “the colors of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics—
hot blues, greens, pinks and oranges” inspired the look of the show’s décor and costumes. The Smithsonian
article “The Stage Manager: Off-Broadway or On, the Buck Stops Here” by Richard Conniff included a number
of production photos from the musical as well as many taken backstage. (A segment about the musical was
also featured on the television show 60 Minutes.)
Besides Smile, the era offered three other beauty-pageant musicals: Pageant (Off Off Broadway, 1986; Off-
Broadway, 1991; Off-Broadway revival, 2014) dealt with a group of hopefuls (all played by men in drag) vying
for the title of “Miss Glamouresse” (in an interview, one contestant proudly informs us that she “personally
attended” Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade); Pretty Faces (Off Broadway, 1990) looked at finalists hoping to
win the crown of “Miss Global Glamour Girl”; and Prom Queens Unchained (Off Broadway, 1991) viewed
four high school girls who will stop at nothing to achieve prom-queen immortality (by the way, the prom’s
theme is “Alaska—Our Frozen Friend”).
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Book (Howard Ashman)
JACKIE MASON’S “THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ME!”

Performances: 367
Comic Monologues: Jackie Mason
Direction: “Original production supervised by” Ron Clark; Producers: Nick Vanoff (Jyll Rosenfeld, Associate
Producer); Scenery and Lighting: Neil Peter Jampolis; Wardrobe: Uncredited
Cast: Jackie Mason
The one-man comedy revue was presented in two acts.
Monologues
The program noted that Jackie Mason’s material would be selected from the following subjects: U.S. Politics,
World Affairs, Hollywood Producers and Celebrities, Dating, Communism, Sex Education, Psychiatry,
Hookers, Health Hazards, The Army, The Weather, “and, of course, the ever-popular Gentiles and Jews.”
Stand-up comedian Jackie Mason’s revue “The World According to Me!” had played in Los Angeles prior
to the New York engagement. The “Rambo of Repartee” wryly joked about almost everything, from poli-
tics to sex education, from hookers to the weather, and, as noted in the program, the “ever-popular” subject
of “Gentiles and Jews.” The show played for a year on Broadway and ushered in a series of visits from the
comedian (see below), including a return engagement of the current production five months after it closed.
The second engagement also played at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre where it opened on May 3, 1988, for an
additional 203 performances.
Richard F. Shepard in the New York Times said Mason “gives hilarious testimony to the art of the stand-
up comic.” The comedian moved the mountains in the “old resort-riddled Catskills” to Manhattan with his
“flawless” timing and “clever” material, and besides his litany of topical subjects ripe for ridicule, he found
time to “mildly” insult a few audience members as well as to impersonate James Cagney, Henry A. Kissinger,
and both pop and folk singers. Warner Brothers issued the cast album (LP # WI-25603), and White Star issued
the DVD.
Following the first two engagements of “The World According to Me!”, Mason returned in the following
one-man comedy revues: Jackie Mason: Brand New (1990), Jackie Mason: Politically Incorrect (1994), Love
Thy Neighbor (1996), Much Ado about Everything (1999), Prune Danish (2002), and Jackie Mason: Freshly
Squeezed (2005). He both cowrote (with Mike Mortman) and starred in his first Broadway show, the 1969
comedy A Teaspoon Every Four Hours, which closed after one performance (after playing for a then record-
breaking ninety-seven previews), and in 2003 he starred in (and wrote additional material for) the intimate
revue Laughing Room Only, with lyrics and music by Doug Katsaros.
1986–1987 SEASON 311
Awards
Tony Award: Jackie Mason was presented with a special Tony Award for “The World According to Me!”
STARDUST
“The Mitchell Parish Musical”

Opening Date: February 19, 1987; Closing Date: May 17, 1987
Performances: 102
Lyrics: Mitchell Parish
Music: See song list for specific credits
Direction: Albert Harris; Producers: Burton L. Litwin, Howard Rose, Martin I. Rein, and Louise Westergaard
in association with Paula Hutter Gilliam (A Theatre Off Park Production) (Richard Jay Smith, Associate
Producer); Choreography: Patrice Soriero; Scenery: David Jenkins; Costumes: Mardi Philips; Lighting: Ken
Billington; Musical Direction: James Raitt
Cast: Michele Bautier, Maureen Brennan, Kim Criswell, André De Shields, Jason Graae, Jim Walton
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Carolina Rolling Stone” (music by Eleanor Young and Harry D. Squires) (Jason Graae, Company);
“Riverboat Shuffle” (music by Hoagy Carmichael, Dick Voynow, and Irving Mills) (André De Shields,
Company); “One Morning in May” (music by Hoagy Carmichael) (Maureen Brennan); “Sweet Lorraine”
(music by Cliff Burwell) (Jim Walton); “Sentimental Gentleman from Georgia” (music by Frank Perkins)
(Michele Bautier, Maureen Brennan, Kim Criswell); “Sophisticated Lady” (music by Duke Ellington
and Irving Mills) (Michele Bautier); “Dixie after Dark” (music by Ben Oakland and Irving Mills) (André
De Shields, Jim Walton); “Stairway to the Stars” (music by Matt Malnick and Frank Signorelli) (Kim
Criswell); “Wealthy, Schmelthy, as Long as You’re Healthy” (music by Sammy Fain) (Jason Graae); The
1930s Unrequited Love Montage: “Hands Across the Table” (Continental Varieties of 1936; music by
Jean Delettre) (Michele Bautier); “You’re So Indiff’rent” (music by Sammy Fain) (Jason Graae); “It Happens
to the Best of Friends” (music by Rube Bloom) (Kim Criswell); and “I Would If I Could but I Can’t” (music
by Bing Crosby and Alan Grey) (Jim Walton); “The Scat Song” (music by Frank Perkins and Cab Calloway)
(André De Shields, Maureen Brennan); “Sidewalks of Cuba” (Cotton Club Parade of 1931; music by Ben
Oakland and Irving Mills) (Kim Criswell, Jason Graae); “Evenin’” (music by Harry White) (Michele Bau-
tier); “Deep Purple” (music by Peter DeRose) (André De Shields, Company)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “Sophisticated Swing” (music by Will Hudson) (Kim Criswell, Maureen Bren-
nan, Jim Walton); “Midnight at the Onyx” (music by Will Hudson) (André De Shields, Maureen Brennan,
Jim Walton); “Tell Me Why” (music by Michael Edwards and Sigmund Spaeth) and “Does Your Heart
Beat for Me?” (music by Russ Morgan and Arnold Johnson) (Jason Graae); “Stars Fell on Alabama” (music
by Frank Perkins) (Jim Walton, Maureen Brennan); “Don’t Be That Way” (music by Benny Goodman and
Edgar Sampson) (André De Shields, Michele Bautier); “Organ Grinder’s Swing” (music by Irving Mills
and Will Hudson) (André De Shields, Jason Graae, Jim Walton); “Moonlight Serenade” (music by Glenn
Miller) (Company); “Star Dust” (music by Hoagy Carmichael) (Michele Bautier); Your Cavalcade of Hits
(Host: André De Shields): “Belle of the Ball” (music by Leroy Anderson) (Jason Graae, Maureen Brennan);
“The Syncopated Clock” (music by Leroy Anderson) (Maureen Brennan, Jason Graae, Kim Criswell, Jim
Walton); “Take Me in Your Arms” (music by Fred Markush) (Maureen Brennan); “Ciao, Ciao, Bambino”
(music by Domenico Modugno; English lyric by Parish) (Kim Criswell); “Sleigh Ride” (music by Leroy
Anderson) (Maureen Brennan, Jason Graae, Kim Criswell, Jim Walton); “Volare” (music by Domenico
Modugno; English lyric by Parish) (Jim Walton, Company) (“Your Cavalcade of Hits” Theme: lyric by Jay
Jeffries, music by James Raitt; “Happy Cigarettes” Theme: lyric by Peter Joblonski, music by James Raitt);
“Ruby” (1952 film Ruby Gentry; music by Heinz Roemheld) (André De Shields); “Forgotten Dreams”
(music by Leroy Anderson) (Company); “Star Dust” (reprise) (Company)
Stardust was a tribute revue to lyricist Mitchell Parish (1900–1993), whose song catalog includes “Deep
Purple,” “Moonlight Serenade,” “Don’t Be That Way,” “Volare,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “Sweet Lorraine,”
“Stairway to the Stars,” “Ruby,” “Stars Fell on Alabama,” “Sleigh Ride,” and, of course, the title song, one
of the most popular and most recorded in the American Songbook (the song’s title is “Star Dust,” and the
revue’s title was given as Stardust).
The revue originated Off Off Broadway at the Theatre Off Park where it opened on November 11, 1986,
for fifty-nine performances; the production moved to Broadway with the original cast intact, and two songs
were cut for the transfer: “My Topic of Conversation Is You” (music by J. Fred Coots) and “The Lamp Is Low”
(music by Peter DeRose and Bert Shefter) (the latter was reinstated into the score during the Broadway run).
Although the evening’s commentary wasn’t acknowledged in the programs and published script, it is probably
by director Albert Harris, who with Burton L. Litwin was credited with the “idea” of the production.
Stardust received somewhat indifferent reviews but managed a three-month run on Broadway. Howard
Kissel in the New York Daily News said the production was “like a TV special—bright, engaging, informa-
tive, but basically two-dimensional.” He noted that Parish was “an extremely able lyricist,” but felt his songs
weren’t “really” theatre numbers. In the same newspaper, Douglas Watt said the title song was “beautiful”
but he wished the evening had instead emphasized the song’s composer Hoagy Carmichael rather than Parish
(he also commented that the lyric of “Sophisticated Lady” was “extravagantly romantic” and could “actually
make one wince”). Jack Curry in USA Today felt the “earthbound” Stardust was “mundane and uninspired
stuff” because the songs were given “flat and cutesy” renditions which were turned into “pop mush” by
“talented but misdirected” singers. Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal had “mixed” feelings about the
production: it was “sparkling and amply rewarding” but it lost its intimacy in a large Broadway house and the
show lacked the “added fillip” which made Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Sophisticated Ladies special (specifically
the “inimitable” Nell Carter for the former and the “striking” tap routines for the latter).
In reviewing the Off-Broadway production, Stephen Holden in the New York Times found the evening
“a gentle, easy-to-like, nostalgic tonic” and noted “Sophisticated Lady” was Parish’s “most refined lyric”;
he also commented that many of Parish’s lyrics were “celestially minded” (“Stairway to the Stars,” “Deep
Purple,” “Stars Fell on Alabama,” “Moonlight Serenade,” and the title song). Allan Wallach in New York
Newsday praised Parish as an “outstanding” wordsmith whose work adapted “to changing times” and who
was “far from being a one-note lyricist,” and John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor liked the “af-
fectionate tribute” and its “first-rate” cast.
During the Broadway run, the songs “One Morning in May” and “Evenin’” were dropped, and as noted
above “The Lamp Is Low” was reinstated from the revue’s Off-Broadway production.
The revue was revived for a brief national tour during the 1989–1990 season; Albert Harris again directed,
and this time around the choreography was by Donald McKayle. The sets and costumes were designed by
Erté, and the cast members were Betty Buckley, Christine Andreas, Michael Scott Gregory, Kevin Ligon,
Karen Ziemba, and Hinton Battle. This production reinstated “My Topic of Conversation Is You” and added
“A Little Bit Older, a Little Bit Wiser” (music by Joe Harnell). For at least one performance during the tour’s
run at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre, Parish made an appearance, chatted with the audience, and
recited the lyric of the title song.
The script was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1988.
SOUTH PACIFIC
Theatre: The New York State Theatre
Opening Date: February 27, 1987; Closing Date: April 26, 1987
Performances: 68
Book: Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan
Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
Based on James A. Michener’s 1947 collection of short stories, Tales of the South Pacific; two of the stories
(“Our Heroine” and “Fo’ Dolla’”) were the main basis for the musical.
1986–1987 SEASON 313
Direction: Gerald Freedman (Raymond Menard and Christian Smith, Assistant Stage Directors); Producer:
The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director; Sergiu Comissiona, Music Director);
Choreography: Janet Watson; Scenery and Costumes: Desmond Heeley; Lighting: Duane Schuler; Musical
Direction: Paul Gemignani
Cast: (Note: For those roles which had alternating performers, the first name listed denotes the opening-night
cast member.) Lynn Chen/Allegra Forste (Ngana), Robin Ria/Peter Yarin (Jerome), Thomas Ikeda (Henry),
Susan Bigelow/Marcia Mitzman (Ensign Nellie Forbush), Justino Diaz/Stanley Wexler (Emile de Becque),
Muriel Costa-Greenspon/Camille Saviola (Bloody Mary), Raven Wilkinson (Bloody Mary’s Assistant),
Tony Roberts (Luther Billis), Richard White/Cris Groenendaal (Lieutenant Joseph Cable, U.S.M.C.), James
Billings (Captain George Brackett, U.S.N.), Daren Kelly/Joseph Culliton (Commander William Harbison,
U.S.N.), Ralph Bassett (Lieutenant Buzz Adams), Terry Lacy (Seabee Tom O’Brien), Ron Hilley (Marine
Corporal Hamilton Steeves), Charles Mandracchia (Abner), Gregory Moore (Sergeant Kenneth Johnson),
Jonathan Guss (Radio Operator Bob McCaffrey), John Welch (Stewpot), Jeff Blumenkrantz (Professor), An-
drew Cuk (Private Victor Jerome), Edward Zimmerman (Private Sven Larsen), Frank Ream (Yeoman Her-
bert Quale), Louis Perry (Sergeant Jack Waters), Robert Brubaker (Seabee Richard West), William Dyszel
(Seabee Morton Wise), David Frye (Staff-Sergeant Thomas Hassinger), Don Yule (Seabee Joseph Grant),
Michele McBride (Lieutenant Genevieve Marshall), Ivy Austin (Ensign Liza Minelli), Deborah Darr (En-
sign Connie Walewska), Janet Villas (Ensign Janet McGregor), Paula Hostetter (Ensign Bessie Noonan),
Mary Ann Rydzeski (Ensign Pamela Whitmore), Deanna Wells (Ensign Rita Adams), Tina Johnson (En-
sign Sue Yeager), Beth Pensiero (Ensign Betty Pitt), Sylvia Rhyne (Ensign Cora MacRae), Kay Schoenfeld
(Ensign Dinah Murphy), Ann Yen/Adrienne Telemaque (Liat), Henry Ravelo (Marcel); Islanders, Sailors,
Marines, and Officers: The New York City Opera Chorus
The action takes place on two islands in the South Pacific during World War II.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Dites-moi pourquoi” (Lynn Chen, Robin Ria); “A Cockeyed Optimist”
(Susan Bigelow); “Twin Soliloquies” (Susan Bigelow, Justino Diaz); “Some Enchanted Evening” (Justino
Diaz); “Dites-moi pourquoi” (reprise) (Lynn Chen, Robin Ria, Justino Diaz); “Bloody Mary” (Boys); “There
Is Nothin’ Like a Dame” (Boys); “Bali Ha’i” (Muriel Costa-Greenspon, Tony Roberts, Richard White);
“I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair” (Susan Bigelow, Girls); “Some Enchanted Evening”
(reprise) (Justino Diaz, Susan Bigelow); “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy” (Susan Bigelow); “Bali Ha’i”
(reprise) (Girls); “Younger Than Springtime” (Richard White); “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy” (re-
prise) (Susan Bigelow, Justino Diaz); “This Is How It Feels” (Justino Diaz, Susan Bigelow); “I’m Gonna
Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair” (reprise) (Justino Diaz)
Act Two: “Happy Talk” (Muriel Costa-Greeenspon); “Honey Bun” (Susan Bigelow, Tony Roberts, Ensemble);
“You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” (Richard White, Justino Diaz); “This Nearly Was Mine” (Justino
Diaz); Finale (Susan Bigelow, Lynn Chen, Robin Ria, Justino Diaz)
The New York City Opera Company’s revival of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s South Pa-
cific was another in its annual series that presented a Broadway musical for a lengthy run of up to two months
instead of a few scattered performances in repertory with other musicals or operettas.
John Rockwell in the New York Times found the revival a “successful, intelligently intended reproduc-
tion” which “on its own terms” is a “perfectly satisfactory, good-faith” presentation. But the work seemed
somewhat “dated,” and he noted early musicals by Jerome Kern and George Gershwin were now “charming”
because their “anachronisms have been elevated by distance into nostalgia,” and he suspected this would
eventually happen to South Pacific. As for the leads, Susan Bigelow was “perky but mousy and small-scaled”
when compared to Mary Martin, and Justino Diaz lacked Ezio Pinza’s “organ-like sonority of tone.”
While Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the work was not “old-fashioned” and was “still younger
than springtime,” the headline of David Patrick Stearns’s review in USA Today stated “South Pacific, Older
Than Springtime” (Gerald Freedman’s direction needed “imagination” rather than “competence” and the
scenic design was in the nature of “tacky post cards,” but despite the “wobbly” production” he concluded
that “one could do worse than a little summer stock in the middle of the winter”).
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News found the book “creaky and obvious” and noted that even the
original 1949 production had seemed “a bit unwieldy.” In the same newspaper Bill Zakariasen said Bigelow
sang and acted with “verve” and Diaz was “splendid,” but said Freedman “was as usual more of a summer
stock-level traffic cop than an imaginative stage director.”
Thor Eckert Jr., in the Christian Science Monitor felt the musical didn’t quite “overcome the somewhat
dated treatment” of interracial relationships, but he nonetheless praised the “unfussy, candid, communica-
tive” book and the “melodic riches” of Rodgers’s score. And Peter Goodman in New York Newsday said
the work was presented as a “museum piece,” the first act seemed as long as Parsifal, Freedman’s direction
was too “conscientious,” and except for “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught,” the evening was “rather soft-
headed” and needed “a little pepper to knock out the saccharin.”
The original production of South Pacific opened on April 7, 1949, at the Majestic Theatre for 1,925 perfor-
mances, and as of this writing the musical has been revived in New York seven times. The original production
closed on January 24, 1954, and on May 7 of the following year it was presented by the New York City Center
Light Opera Company at City Center for fifteen performances; the company revived the work there three
more times, on April 24, 1957 (twenty-three performances), on April 26, 1961 (twenty-three performances),
and on June 3, 1965 (fifteen performances). The next revival was seen at Lincoln Center in a production by
the Music Theatre of Lincoln Center at the New York State Theatre on June 12, 1967 (104 performances), and
following the current revival the musical was again seen at Lincoln Center, this time at the Vivian Beaumont
Theatre where it opened on April 3, 2008, for 996 performances.
The London premiere took place at the Drury Lane on November 1, 1951, for 802 performances, and the
1958 film version by Twentieth Century-Fox included “My Girl Back Home,” which had been dropped during
the tryout of the original production. A television adaptation was presented by CBS in 2003, and a concert
version was given at Carnegie Hall in 2005.
The script was published in hardback by Random House in 1949, and there are three books about the
musical: The Tale of South Pacific, edited by Thana Skouras and designed by John De Cuir and Dale Hennesy
(Lehmann Books, 1958), about the film adaptation; The South Pacific Companion by Laurence Maslon (Fire-
side Books, 2008); and South Pacific: Paradise Rewritten by Jim Lovenshemer (Oxford University Press, 2010).
There are numerous recordings of the score, but the essential one is the original cast album with Ezio
Pinza and Mary Martin, released by Columbia Records (LP # ML/OL-4180) and on CD by Sony Classical/
Columbia/Legacy Records (# SK-60722); the latter includes bonus tracks (among them Martin performing the
deleted songs “My Girl Back Home” and “Loneliness of Evening” and Pinza singing “Bali Ha’i”).
LES MISERABLES
“A Musical”
Theatre: Broadway Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Imperial Theatre)
Performances: 6,680
Book: Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg (adapted from the original French text by Alain Boublil
and Jean-Marc Natel; additional material by James Fenton; adaptation by Trevor Nunn and John Caird)
Lyrics: Herbert Kretzmer
Music: Claude-Michel Schonberg
Based on the 1862 novel Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.
Direction: Trevor Nunn and John Caird; Producers: Cameron Mackintosh in association with The John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Roger L. Stevens, Chairman) (Martin McCallum and Richard Jay-
Alexander, Executive Producers); Scenery: John Napier; Costumes: Andreane Neofitou; Lighting: David
Hersey; Musical Direction: Robert Billig
Cast: Colm Wilkinson (Jean Valjean), Terrence Mann (Javert), Kevin Marcum (Member of Chain Gang, Sailor,
Another Drinker, Brujon), Paul Harman (Member of Chain Gang, Foreman, Traveler, Combeferre), An-
thony Crivello (Member of Chain Gang, Bamatabois, Another Drinker, Grantaire), John Dewar (Mem-
ber of Chain Gang, Worker, Sailor, Joly), Joseph Kolinski (Member of Chain Gang, Sailor, Young Man,
Feuilly), Leo Burmester (Member of Chain Gang, Thenardier), David Bryant (Member of Chain Gang,
1986–1987 SEASON 315
Marius), Alex Santoriello (Member of Chain Gang, Labourer, Montparnasse), Michael Maguire (Member
of Chain Gang, Enjolras), Jesse Corti (Farmer, Worker, Drinker, Courfeyrac), Susan Goodman (Innkeeper’s
Wife, Whore, Another Drinker, Old Beggar Woman), John Norman (Innkeeper, Drunk, Pimp, Jean Prou-
vaire), Norman Large (The Bishop of Digne, Diner, Lesgles), Marcus Lovett (Constable, Traveler, Babet),
Steve Shocket (Constable, Pimp, Fauchelevent, Another Drinker, Claquesous), Randy Graff (Fantine),
Cindy Benson (Woman Worker, Old Woman), Marcie Shaw (Woman Worker, Crone), Jane Bodle (Woman
Worker, Whore, Young Girl), Joanna Glushak (Woman Worker, Whore, Diner), Ann Crumb (Factory Girl,
Whore, Another Drinker, Young Prostitute), Kelli James (Whore, Young Girl), Frances Ruffelle (Whore,
Eponine), Judy Kuhn (Whore, Cosette), Gretchen Kingsley-Weihe (Whore), Donna Vivino (Young Cosette),
Jennifer Butt (Madame Thenardier), Chrissie McDonald (Young Eponine), Alex Santoriello and Gretchen
Kingsley-Weihe (Young Couple), Marcie Shaw and John Dewar (Old Couple), Braden Danner (Gavroche)
The action takes place in France during the period 1815–1832.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Prologue (Company); “Soliloquy” (Colm Wilkinson); “At the End of the Day” (Unemployed and
Factory Workers); “I Dreamed a Dream” (Randy Graff); “Lovely Ladies” (Ladies, Clients); “Who Am I?”
(Colm Wilkinson); “Come to Me” (Randy Graff, Colm Wilkinson); “Castle on a Cloud” (Donna Vivino);
“Master of the House” (Leo Burmester, Jennifer Butt, Customers); “Thenardier Waltz” (Leo Burmester,
Jennifer Butt, Colm Wilkinson); “Look Down” (Braden Danner, Beggars); “Stars” (Terrence Mann); “Red
and Black” (Michael Maguire, David Bryant, Students); “Do You Hear the People Sing?” (Michael Ma-
guire, Students, Citizens); “In My Life” (Judy Kuhn, Colm Wilkinson, David Bryant, Frances Ruffelle); “A
Heart Full of Love” (Judy Kuhn, David Bryant, Frances Ruffelle); “One Day More” (Company)
Act Two: “On My Own” (Frances Ruffelle); “A Little Fall of Rain” (Frances Ruffelle, David Bryant); “Drink
with Me to Days Gone By” (Anthony Crivello, Students, Women); “Bring Him Home” (Colm Wilkinson);
“Dog Eats Dog” (Leo Burmester); “Soliloquy” (Terrence Mann); “Turning” (Women); “Empty Chairs at
Empty Tables” (David Bryant); “Wedding Chorale” (Guests); “Beggars at the Feast” (Leo Burmester, Jen-
nifer Butt); Finale (Company)
The import Les Miserables was an earnest if tiresome Classic Comics version of Victor Hugo’s novel.
Despite occasionally weak and obvious attempts at humor, it was a mostly lugubrious evening that wore its
heart on its sleeve in its presentation of an endless array of either self-important, weight-of-the-world-on-
my-shoulder characters who bellowed Euro-pop power ballads or delicate waif-like victims who were equally
annoying with their more-sensitive-than-thou weepiness. It was a musical pity party like nothing the stage
had ever seen, and many of the characters met death in a variety of dramatic ways; in fact, it seemed that
half of them didn’t make it to the finale. No wonder the musical was known as The Glums. But there were
those who were impressed by it all, and some were even astounded by the décor: the barricade wowed ’em,
as if they’d never seen the junk heap in Cats. But no matter: most of the critics gushed, and audiences made
the musical one of the most successful in theatre history.
The plot dealt with the decades-long pursuit by the obsessed Inspector Javert (Terrence Mann) who is fix-
ated on capturing escaped convict Jean Valjean (Colm Wilkinson), whose crime was stealing a loaf of bread
for his starving niece. The personal story of Valjean’s persecution was mirrored by his countrymen’s fight for
freedom during the French Revolution.
Frank Rich in the New York Times praised the production’s “electrifying showmanship” and how its
“actors and music and staging meld with each other and with the soul of its source.” Clive Barnes in the
New York Post said the “simply smashing” work was “magnificent, red-blooded, two-fisted theatre,” but
noted the music was “background wallpaper to all the stirring theatrics” and was “somewhat monotonously
patterned.” Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News felt the evening was most successful for its “the-
atrical inventiveness” but otherwise the score was “drivel—singsong, repetitious, emotionally dead.” Allan
Wallach in New York Newsday said some songs soared “majestically” but others had a “bland sameness,”
and overall the script encompassed “too much” of Hugo’s “sprawling” novel. John Beaufort in the Christian
Science Monitor noted that for “imaginative scope and magnitude” the musical fulfilled its “long-building
expectations.” And John Curry in USA Today said “this time the hype was right” because the musical was
a “phenomenon.”
Jack Kroll in Newsweek felt the adaptors did “a remarkably intelligent job” of turning Hugo’s one-thou-
sand-plus-page novel into “three hours of shrewdly modulated musical theatre”; William A. Henry III in Time
suggested the evening succeeded “not so much for its artistry as for its heart,” and “more than an entertain-
ment” it was “a thrilling emotional experience”; and Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the musical wasn’t “great
drama” but was “a triumph of great theatre.”
David Lida in Women’s Wear Daily said the script lacked “historical context or social consciousness” and
as a result “rousing songs about comradeship fall completely apart.” The stage was filled with “every imagin-
able cliché,” the music was “pretty” but “unmemorable,” and the lyrics were “rudimentary and plodding.”
He mentioned that the musical offered the most heroic deaths “since World War II” and there were so many
“noble souls” that he began to wish for some “treachery and deceit.” The musical was “a very long and dull
three hours” and was “tepid, watered-down stuff.”
The work was first produced in Paris at the Palais des Sports in 1980. A revised version premiered in
London at the Barbican Center on October 8, 1985, and as of this writing is still playing. The original West
End cast included Wilkinson and Frances Ruffelle, both of whom reprised their roles for Broadway, and Patti
LuPone was Fantine and Michael Ball was Marius. The original New York production is currently the fifth-
longest-running musical in Broadway history, and has been revived there twice. The first opened at the Broad-
hurst Theatre on November 9, 2006, for 463 performances, and the second at the Imperial Theatre on March
23, 2014, where as of this writing it is still playing.
The 2012 film version was released by Universal; directed by Tom Hooper, the cast included Hugh Jack-
man (Valjean), Russell Crowe (Javert), and Anne Hathaway (Fantine).
There are over twenty recordings of the score, including the original French concept album (Relativity Re-
cords CD # 8247), the London cast album (Relatively Records two-CD set # 8140), and the original Broadway
cast recording (Geffen Records two-CD set # 24151). Edward Behr’s The Complete Book of “Les Miserables”
was published in hardback and paperback by Little Brown & Company in 1989 and includes the complete
script. Another book about the musical is The Musical World of Boublil and Schonberg: The Creators of “Les
Miserables,” “Miss Saigon,” “Martin Guerre,” and “The Pirate Queen” by Margaret Vermette, which was
published by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books in paperback in 2007.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Les Miserables); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Terrence
Mann); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Colm Wilkinson); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Michael
Maguire); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Judy Kuhn); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Frances
Ruffelle); Best Book (Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg); Best Score (lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer
and Alain Boublil, music by Claude-Michel Schonberg); Best Scenic Designer (John Napier); Best Costume
Designer (Andreane Neofitou); Best Lighting Designer (David Hersey)
New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award: Best Musical 1986–1987 (Les Miserables)
STARLIGHT EXPRESS
Opening Date: March 15, 1987; Closing Date: January 8, 1989
Performances: 761
Lyrics: Richard Stilgoe
Direction: Trevor Nunn; Producers: Martin Starger and Lord Grade and produced in association with MCA
Music Entertainment Group, Stage Promotions (Four)/Strada Holdings, and Weintraub Entertainment
Group, Inc.; Choreography: Arlene Phillips; Scenery and Costumes: John Napier; Lighting: David Hersey;
Musical Direction: Paul Bogaev
Cast: A. C. Ciulla (Bobo), Philip Clayton (Espresso), Michael Berglund (Weltschaft), William Frey (Turnov),
D. Michael Heath (Hashamoto), Sean McDermott (Prince of Wales), Robert Torti (Greaseball), Todd
1986–1987 SEASON 317
Lester (Greaseball Gang Member, Flat-Top), Sean Grant (Greaseball Gang Member, Rocky II), Ronald
Garza (Greaseball Gang Member, Rocky III), Angel Vargas (Greaseball Gang Member, Rocky IV), Joey
McKneely (Greaseball Gang Member, Krupp), Gordon Owens (Greaseball Gang Member, Purse), Greg
Mowry (Rusty), Reva Rice (Pearl), Jane Krakowski (Dinah), Andrea McArdle (Ashley), Jamie Beth Chandler
(Buffy), Frank Mastrocola (Rocky I), Michael Scott Gregory (Dustin), Barry K. Bernal (Red Caboose), Chris-
tina Youngman (Wrench), Nicole Picard (Joule), Mary Ann Lamb (Volta), Ken Ard (Electra), Steve Fowler
(Poppa), Janet Williams Adderley (Belle), Braden Danner (Voice of the Boy), Melanie Vaughan (Voice of the
Mother); Chorus: Paul Binotto, Lon Hoyt, Melanie Vaughan, Mary Windholtz
The action takes place in the present time across the United States.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Rolling Stock” (Robert Torti, Todd Lester, Sean Grant, Ronald Garza, Angel
Vargas, Joey McKneely, Gordon Owens); “Engine of Love” (words derived from an original lyric by Peter
Reeves) (Greg Mowry, Reva Rice, Jane Krakowski, Andrea McArdle, Jamie Beth Chandler); “Lotta Loco-
motion” (Jane Krakowski, Andrea McArdle, Jamie Beth Chandler, Greg Mowry); “Freight” (Company);
“AC/DC” (Ken Ard, Joey McKneely, Christina Youngman, Nicole Picard, Mary Ann Lamb, Gordon Ow-
ens, Company); “Pumping Iron” (Robert Torti, Reva Rice, Andrea McArdle, Jane Krakowski, Jamie Beth
Chandler, Nicole Picard, Mary Ann Lamb); “Freight” (reprise) (Company); “Make Up My Heart” (Reva
Rice); “Race One” (Robert Torti and Jane Krakowski, Michael Berglund and Nicole Picard, William Frey
and Barry K. Bernal, Ken Ard and Riva Rice); “There’s Me” (Barry K. Bernal, Jane Krakowski); “Poppa’s
Blues” (Steve Fowler, Frank Mastrocola, Sean Grant, Ronald Garza, Angel Vargas, Robert Torti); “Belle”
(Janet Williams Adderley, Steve Fowler, Frank Mastrocola, Sean Grant, Ronald Garza, Angel Vargas, Rob-
ert Torti, Michael Scott Gregory, Todd Lester); “Race Two” (A. C. Ciulla and Jamie Beth Chandler, D.
Michael Heath and Mary Ann Lamb, Philip Clayton and Andrea McArdle, Steve Fowler and Michael Scott
Gregory); “Laughing Stock” (Company); “Starlight Express” (Greg Mowry)
Act Two: Silver Dollar” (Company); “U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D.” (Jane Krakowski, Andrea McArdle, Jamie Beth
Chandler); “Rolling Stock” (reprise) (Jane Krakowski, Andrea McArdle, Jamie Beth Chandler); “Wide
Smile, High Style, That’s Me” (Barry K. Bernal, Ken Ard, Joey McKneely, Christina Youngman, Nicole
Picard, Mary Ann Lamb, Gordon Owens); “First Final” (Robert Torti and Reva Rice, Ken Ard and Jane
Krakowski, D. Michael Heath and Mary Ann Lamb, Greg Mowry and Barry K. Bernal); “Right Time, Right
Place” (Frank Mastrocola, Sean Grant, Ronald Garza, Angel Vargas); “I Am the Starlight” (Greg Mowry,
Steve Fowler); “Final Selection” (Greg Mowry, Michael Scott Gregory, Jane Krakowski, Ken Ard, Reva
Rice, Robert Torti, Barry K. Bernal); “Only You” (Reva Rice, Greg Mowry); “Chase” (Company); “One
Rock and Roll Too Many” (Robert Torti, Ken Ard, Barry K. Bernal); “Light at the End of the Tunnel”
(Company)
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express was a theme park plunked down in a Broadway theatre, or
maybe it was just an interminable video game come to life. Whatever it was, it lacked memorable music,
lyrics (“Starlight express, answer me yes,” anyone?), story, and characters, and instead offered high-tech gad-
getry which provided the most spectacular and expensive production design in Broadway history at a reputed
investment of $8 million. But beyond the scenic effects there was nothing, and about fifteen minutes was
more than enough time to sample and appreciate the scenic wizardry. Otherwise, the show was repetitious
and had nowhere to go with its endless roller-skating sequences and wispy story. The prerecorded voice of
child actor Braden Danner provided a narration of sorts, while in person the young actor could be seen in Les
Miserables, which had opened on Broadway three days earlier.
The story was about a train race in which three engines, the upstart and untrustworthy American diesel
Greaseball (Robert Torti), the ultra-modern electric Electra (Ken Ard), and the old-fashioned steam engine
Rusty (Greg Mowry) enter in competition for a championship that will yield the prize of a whole silver dol-
lar. Of course, the underdog wins. The three engines engage in test runs before the big race, and along for the
ride are the sleeping-car-with-a-heart-of-gold Belle (Janet Williams Adderley), the dining car Dinah (Jane Kra-
kowski) who was no doubt related to a car from Chattanooga which famously offered “dinner in the diner,”
and the duplicitous Red Caboose (Barry A. Bernal).
The cast members performed on skates, and the three-tiered set was a whirligig of moving ramps, plat-
forms, and bridges, all of which were anchored to and surrounded by what looked like gobs of melted Plexi-
glas. It was all very impressive from a technological point of view, and the game cast zoomed all over the stage
without missing a beat. For the London production, skate ways were constructed throughout the auditorium
in order to bring the audience into the action, but for New York most of the show took place on the stage (but
race tracks surrounded two pools of seats in the front orchestra section, and the skaters reached these tracks
though underground tunnels). As for the two dozen musicians, a program note stated they played “live” but
were located in “a specially designed acoustical ‘orchestra room’ off stage.”
The musical had premiered in London three years earlier on March 27, 1984, at the Apollo Victoria The-
atre, and at the time of the New York opening the show was beginning its fourth sold-out year in London
where it eventually played for a total of 7,406 performances. The Broadway production ran for just a tenth
of that number, and lost money. A few years into the London run, the musical was radically revised, and for
Broadway more than just the physical production was changed. A few songs were cut for New York, a num-
ber of lyrics underwent revision, and the show now took place in the United States and the scenery provided
visual landmarks to denote the areas of the country where the action occurred. During the New York run and
the national tour, further changes were made to the songs and the show’s overall structure, and it seems there
isn’t quite a “final” version of the material because most productions are adapted for the particular venue in
which they are playing.
The headline in William A. Henry III’s review in Time read “Toward the Freight Yards of Fiasco.” He
noted the production was “one of the most astonishing spectacles in the annals of the stage” but would
“baffle and frustrate regular theatergoers” even as it would “enthrall brand-new audiences, especially those
under the age of reason.” Henry also noted that the staging of the races seemed “contrived” because when one
contender passed another there was “no burst of athletic elan” to justify the surge, and sometimes the team
that was “fated” to lose reined “itself in short of the finish line.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times reported that Andrew Lloyd Webber said the musical was for children
who loved trains, and “two numbing hours later” the critic wondered “whose” children he had in mind, be-
cause the show was “the perfect gift for the kid who has everything except parents.” In scope, the gargantuan
set recalled the one designed for Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (which had also played at
the Gershwin), but in this case the set had “been dipped in pink and purple bubble gum.” And because of the
musical arrangements and amplification, the production seemed to have been “piped in from a Far Rockaway
junior prom.” Further, the evening was “chaotically choreographed,” the lyricist was “not to be confused with
T. S. Eliot,” and the music was “sadder still.”
The headline in Howard Kissel’s review in the New York Daily News said the express was “Heading No-
where” and the one for John Curry’s notice in USA Today stated “Starlight Express Going Nowhere Fast.”
Kissel said the music was Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “usual characterless mush,” and the technology owed
“more to disco than to Disney” and at times recalled “Studio 54 rather than the Magic Kingdom.” And Curry
said “this simplest of plots is crushed beneath the Express excess” and “for all its breathtaking movement”
the musical moved him not “one iota.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the show was a rock concert, not the-
atre, with “particularly loud” and “surprisingly bad” music. As a result, the evening “was Hell on wheels.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the “totally uninvolving” musical was “intended as a theatri-
cal night on the town of technical wizardry—and as simply such, it succeeds.” While he predicted the show
would be a “big fat hit,” he nonetheless found the music “undistinguished,” the lyrics “simplistic” and
“nearly childish,” and overall the show was “more silly than bad.” Allan Wallach in New York Newsday indi-
cated the musical was “a triumph of technology” but otherwise “left behind at the station is the exhilarating
fusion of music, dance and charm we get from the best musicals.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal said the show’s attempts “at telling a story and plumbing emo-
tional depths” were “pathetic” and the skating and visual effects were the only reasons to see the production.
But he cautioned that “spectacular” effects could soon grow “monotonous.”
In early examples of political correctness, a few critics seemed to go overboard in their analysis of the train
characters and their music. The obnoxious Greaseball was an American, and so was this a comment on the
United States? (And, if so, what were we to make of the “Red” Caboose?) Further, there was some grousing
that the female trains were victims of sexism. And one or two critics even complained that Lloyd Webber ap-
propriated black music styles: but pastiche of one kind or another is the lifeblood of many a musical score, and
it seemed pedantic to accuse the composer of ripping off one type of music (would these critics have groaned
if he had fashioned his score after Irish-styled jigs, airs, and folk songs?).
1986–1987 SEASON 319
Songs included in the London production but either cut or revised for New York were: “Call Me Rusty,”
“Hitching and Switching,” “He Whistled at Me,” “The Blues,” “The Rap,” “No Comeback,” and “Only He.”
The original London cast album was recorded by Polydor Records and was released on a two-CD set
(# 821597); as The New Starlight Express, the cast recording of the revised London production was also re-
leased on Polydor (CD # 519-041-2) (the new songs included “Entry of National Trains,” “Crazy,” and “Next
Time You Fall in Love,” the latter with lyric by Don Black). There was no Broadway cast recording, but New
York original cast member Andrea McArdle recorded the title song for her collection Andrea McArdle on
Broadway (released on CD by Original Cast Records).
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Starlight Express); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Robert
Torti); Best Director of a Musical (Trevor Nunn); Best Score (lyrics by Richard Stilgoe, music by Andrew
Lloyd Webber); Best Costume Designer (John Napier); Best Lighting Designer (David Hersey); Best Cho-
reographer (Arlene Phillips)
BARBARA COOK / A CONCERT FOR THE THEATRE

Performances: 13
Producers: Jerry Kravat, The Shubert Organization, and Emanuel Azenberg (Perry B. Granoff, Associate Pro-
ducer); Scenery: John Falabella; Costumes: Joseph G. Aulisi; Lighting: Richard Winkler; Musical Direc-
tion: Wally Harper
Cast: Barbara Cook; Musicians: Wally Harper (Musical Director, Piano), John Beal (Bass), Charles Loeb
(Guitar), John Redsecker (Drums), David Carey (Percussion), Mark Schlefer (Keyboard), John Clifton (Key-
board), Lawrence Feldman (Reeds)
Musical Numbers
Note: All songs were performed by Barbara Cook. The program didn’t list individual musical numbers, and
the alphabetical list below is taken from various reference sources and newspaper reviews.
“Carolina in the Morning” (The Passing Show of 1922; lyric by Gus Kahn, music by Walter Donaldson);
“Change Partners” (1938 film Carefree; lyric and music by Irving Berlin); “Come Rain or Come Shine” (St.
Louis Woman, 1946; lyric by Johnny Mercer, music by Harold Arlen); “Dear Friend” (She Loves Me, 1963;
lyric by Sheldon Harnick, music by Jerry Bock); “A Foggy Day (in London Town)” (1937 film A Damsel
in Distress; lyric by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin); “He Was Too Good to Me” (dropped from
Simple Simon, 1930; lyric by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers); “I Can Cook, Too” (On the Town,
1944; lyric by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Leonard Bernstein, music by Leonard Bernstein); “I
Love a Piano” (Stop! Look! Listen!, 1915; lyric and music by Irving Berlin); “I See Your Face Before Me”
(Between the Devil, 1937; lyric by Howard Dietz, music by Arthur Schwartz); “Ice Cream” (She Loves
Me, 1963; lyric by Sheldon Harnick, music by Jerry Bock); “If Love Were All” (Bittersweet, London and
New York, 1929; lyric and music by Noel Coward); “The Ingenue” (lyric by David Zippel, music by Wally
Harper); “In Between Goodbyes” (lyric by David Zippel, music by Wally Harper); “Losing My Mind”
(Follies, 1971; lyric and music by Stephen Sondheim); “The Man I Love” (dropped during the tryout of
Lady, Be Good!, 1924; later included in the 1927 version of Strike Up the Band, which closed during its
pre-Broadway tryout; and considered for, but not used in, Rosalie, 1928; lyric by Ira Gershwin, music by
George Gershwin); “Mr. Snow” (Carousel, 1945; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodg-
ers); “Let Me Sing and I’m Happy” (1930 film Mammy; lyric and music by Irving Berlin); “Sing a Song
with Me” (lyric by Paul Zakrzewski, music by Wally Harper); “Stars” (lyric and music by Laura Nyro);
“Sweet Georgia Brown” (lyric and music by Maceo Pinkard, Ben Bernie, and Kenneth Casey); “Them
There Eyes” (lyric and music by Maceo Pinkard, Doris Tauber, and William Tracey); “Till There Was
You” (The Music Man, 1957; lyric and music by Meredith Willson); “Wait Till You See Him” (dropped
from By Jupiter, 1942; lyric by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers); “Why Did I Choose You?” (The
Yearling, 1965; lyric by Herbert Martin, music by Michael Leonard); “Widescreen” (lyric and music by
Rupert Holmes)
Barbara Cook’s A Concert for the Theatre (which had first been produced in London) would probably
have been more effective in a cabaret or nightclub setting, but any excuse was a good one for listening to
the legendary performer who created roles in eight Broadway musicals between 1951 and 1971 (Flahooley,
1951; Plain and Fancy, 1954; Candide, 1956; The Music Man, 1957; The Gay Life, 1961; She Loves Me, 1963;
Something More!, 1964; and The Grass Harp, 1971) and introduced such songs as “Glitter and Be Gay,” “Till
There Was You,” and “Ice Cream.” In the mid-1970s, Cook switched careers and began a successful second
act as a cabaret singer. For much of her cabaret and recording years, Cook’s pianist and arranger was Wally
Harper, who served as musical director for the current production.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said when Cook’s “creamy soprano” and “eternally youthful voice”
connected “with the eternal old songs” the years fell away. Unfortunately, she didn’t always perform num-
bers associated with her years on Broadway and her new and “generally innocuous comic songs” fell into
the category of what might be termed Las Vegas “special material” and should have been dropped in favor
of “Goodnight, My Someone” and other songs she introduced (the evening didn’t include any numbers from
Flahooley, Plain and Fancy, Candide, The Gay Life, Something More!, and The Grass Harp). Further, the pro-
gram didn’t credit a director or writer, and both were “clearly needed” because Cook spent valuable stage time
in “tedious chat” with “unfailingly pointless anecdotes about backstage encounters with show-biz royalty.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the evening offered the “same songs” and the “same in-
terpretations” that Cook had been performing for years in supper clubs, and her “random showbiz reflections”
were of “so little interest” that he was tempted “to shout ‘Sing, dammit, sing!’” when she started to chatter.
Ultimately, the evening lacked “the polish that an astute stage director might have lent it.”
Allan Wallach in New York Newsday hailed Cook as “the consummate theatre singer,” but noted her
commentary didn’t “touch the deep chords that helped make” Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music so
memorable; David Lida in Women’s Wear Daily said Cook had “one of the most beautiful, theatrical sopra-
nos around”; John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said “nothing could be more felicitous on a fine
spring evening” than to attend Cook’s “amply satisfying stage entertainment”; Jack Curry in USA Today said
that with the concert “Broadway is reclaiming its superstar”; and Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal
noted that “the richness, the clarity, the range of her voice, together with her vocal interpretations, are all
one could ask for.”
Cook was backed by eight musicians, including John Clifton at the keyboards. Like Wally Harper, Clifton
was also a composer and his score for the 1966 Off-Broadway musical Man with a Load of Mischief includes
“Masquerade,” one of the loveliest and most haunting theatre ballads of that era.
1987–1988 Season
DREAMGIRLS
Opening Date: June 28, 1987; Closing Date: November 29, 1987
Performances: 168
Direction and Choreography: Michael Bennett (production supervised by Bob Avian; Michael Peters, Co-
Choreographer); Producers: Marvin A. Krauss and Irving Siders (A Michael Bennett Production); Scenery:
Robin Wagner; Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge; Lighting: Tharon Musser; Musical Direction: Marc Falcone
Cast: The Stepp Sisters: Susan Beaubian, Rhetta Hughes, R. LaChanze Sapp, and Lorraine Velez; Yvette Louise
Cason (Charlene), Lynda McConnell (Joanne), Roy L. Jones (Marty), Weyman Thompson (Curtis Taylor
Jr.), Alisa Gaye (Deena Jones), Vernon Spencer (The M.C., Mr. Morgan), Leonard Piggee (Tiny Joe Dixon,
Jerry, Security Guard), Arnetia Walker (Lorrell Robinson), Kevyn Morrow (C. C. White), Lillias White (Ef-
fie Melody White); Little Albert and the Tru-Tones: Bobby Daye, Matthew Dickens, Germaine Edwards,
Robert Fowler, and Harold Perrineau; Herbert L. Rawlings Jr. (James aka Jimmy Thunder Early), Fuschia
Walker (Edna Burke); The James Early Band: Bobby Daye, Matthew Dickens, Germaine Edwards, Robert
Fowler, Harold Perrineau, and Stephen Terrell; Milton Craig Nealy (Wayne); Dave and the Sweethearts:
Stephen Bourneuf, Shirley Tripp, and Lorraine Velez; Tim Cassidy (Frank), Stephen Terrell (Dwight), Ste-
phen Bourneuf (T.V. Stage Manager), Susan Beaubian (Michelle Morris), Robert Fowler (Carl); The Five
Tuxedos: Bobby Daye, Matthew Dickens, Germaine Edwards, Robert Fowler, and Harold Perrineau; Les
Style: Yvette Louise Cason, Rhetta Hughes, Lynda McConnell, and R. LaChanze Sapp; Film Executives:
Matthew Dickens, Robert Fowler, and Stephen Terrell; Announcers, Reporters, Stagehands, Party Guests,
and Photographers: Stephen Bourneuf, Yvette Louise Cason, Tim Cassidy, Bobby Daye, Matthew Dick-
ens, Germaine Edwards, Robert Fowler, Rhetta Hughes, Lynda McConnell, Milton Craig Nealy, Harold
Perrineau, Leonard Piggee, R. LaChanze Sapp, Vernon Spencer, Stephen Terrell, Shirley Tripp, Lorraine
Velez, Fuschia Walker
The action takes place in the early 1960s (in New York City, on the road, in limbo, St. Louis, Miami, Cleve-
land, San Francisco, and Las Vegas) and in the early 1970s (in Las Vegas, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New
York City).
Musical Numbers
Note: The Dreamettes and The Dreams were portrayed and sung by Lillias White, Arnetia Walker, and Alisa
Gaye until the last number in the first act [“Love Love Love You Baby”] when The Dreams were portrayed
by Alisa Gaye, Arnetia Walker, and Susan Beaubian; beginning with the reprise version of “One Night
321
Only” late in the second act, the group is known as Deena Jones and The Dreams and the group members
are portrayed by Alisa Gaye with Arnetia Walker and Susan Beaubian.
Act One: “I’m Looking for Something” (The Stepp Sisters: Susan Beaubian, Rhetta Hughes, R. LaChanze Sapp,
and Lorraine Velez); “Goin’ Downtown” (Little Albert and the Tru-Tones: Bobby Daye, Matthew Dick-
ens, Germaine Edwards, Robert Fowler, and Harold Perrineau); “Takin’ the Long Way Home” (Leonard
Piggee); “Move” (“You’re Steppin’ on My Heart”) (The Dreamettes: Lillias White, Arnetia Walker, and
Alisa Gaye); “Fake Your Way to the Top” (Herbert L. Rawlings Jr.; The James Early Band: Bobby Daye,
Matthew Dickens, Germaine Edwards, Robert Fowler, Harold Perrineau, and Stephen Terrell; The Dream-
ettes: Lillias White, Arnetia Walker, and Alisa Gaye); “Cadillac Car” (Weyman Thompson, Herbert L.
Rawlings Jr., Kevyn Morrow, Roy L. Jones, Company); “Cadillac Car” (reprise) (Company); “Cadillac Car”
(second reprise) (Company); “Cadillac Car” (third reprise) (Dave and The Sweethearts: Stephen Bourneuf,
Shirley Tripp, and Lorraine Velez); “Steppin’ to the Bad Side” (Weyman Thompson, Kevyn Morrow, Her-
bert L. Rawlings Jr., Milton Craig Nealy; The Dreamettes: Lillias White, Arnetia Walker, and Alisa Gaye;
Company); “Party, Party” (Company); “I Want You Baby” (Herbert L. Rawlings Jr.; The Dreamettes: Lil-
lias White, Arnetia Walker, and Alisa Gaye); “Family” (Kevyn Morrow, Weyman Thompson, Herbert L.
Rawlings Jr., Alisa Gaye, Arnetia Walker); “Dreamgirls” (The Dreams: Lillias White, Arnetia Walker, and
Alisa Gaye); “Press Conference” (Company); “Only the Beginning” (Weyman Thompson, Alisa Gaye, Lil-
lias White); “Heavy” (The Dreams: Lillias White, Arnetia Walker, and Alisa Gaye); “Heavy” (reprise) (The
Dreams: Lillias White, Arnetia Walker, and Alisa Gaye; Weyman Thompson); “It’s All Over” (Weyman
Thompson, Lillias White, Alisa Gaye, Arnetia Walker, Kevyn Morrow, Susan Beaubian, Herbert L. Rawl-
ings Jr.); “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” (Lillias White); “Love Love You Baby” (The Dreams:
Alisa Gaye, Arnetia Walker, and Susan Beaubian)
Act Two: “Dreamgirls” (The Dreams: Alisa Gaye, Arnetia Walker, and Susan Beaubian; Company); “I Am
Changing” (Lillias White); “One More Picture Please” (Company); “When I First Saw You” (Weyman
Thompson, Alisa Gaye); “Got to Be Good Times” (The Five Tuxedos: Bobby Daye, Matthew Dickens,
Germaine Edwards, Robert Fowler, and Harold Perrineau); “Ain’t No Party” (Arnetia Walker, Herbert L.
Rawlings Jr.); “I Meant You No Harm” (Herbert L. Rawlings Jr.); “Quintette” (Alisa Gaye, Arnetia Walker,
Kevyn Morrow, Susan Beaubian, Herbert L. Rawlings, Jr.); “The Rap” (Herbert L. Rawlings Jr., Kevyn
Morrow, Roy L. Jones, Weyman Thompson, Tim Cassidy, Arnetia Walker, Company); “I Miss You Old
Friend” (Lillias White, Roy L. Jones, Kevyn Morrow; Les Styles: Yvette Louise Cason, Rhetta Hughes,
Lynda McConnel, and R. LaChanze Sapp); “One Night Only” (Lillias White); “One Night Only” (reprise)
(Deena Jones and The Dreams: Alisa Gaye with Arnetia Walker and Susan Beaubian; Company); “I’m
Somebody” (Deena Jones and The Dreams: Alisa Gaye with Arnetia Walker and Susan Beaubian); “Faith
in Myself” (Lillias White); “Hard to Say Goodbye, My Love” (Deena Jones and The Dreams: Alisa Gaye
with Arnetia Walker and Susan Beaubian) (Note: Although not listed in the program, the finale was a
reprise of “Dreamgirls,” and was sung by Lillias White, Alisa Gay, Arnetia Walker, and Susan Beaubian.)
The revival of Dreamgirls was a touring version that opened on Broadway as the first production of the
new season, and most of the critics gushed all over again and threw hyperbolic bouquets at a musical that at
best is only average. The plot was still a tired showbiz saga gussied up with modern staging techniques, and
its book refused to peel away its prettified sheen and tackle the harsh and ruthless story underneath. Fur-
ther, the original production was burdened by a foolish design scheme in which moving pylons dominated
the stage in narcissistic look-at-me displays. And a virtually all-sung evening demanded a strong score, but
the one for Dreamgirls offered generic music that occasionally aspired to Broadway opera but fell flat with
its pretentiousness. A few critics complained that the revival’s touring roots were all too evident, and some
wished Michael Bennett had spruced it up. But at least one or two reviewers acknowledged that the director
and choreographer was ill (in fact, Bennett died five days after the Broadway opening). Despite good notices,
the production managed just five months of performances.
Frank Rich in the New York Times continued his love affair with the musical. At first, he was somewhat
dismayed by the lean look of the bus-and-truck production, but soon he was “knocked out all over again by
what is the most exciting staging of a Broadway musical in this decade.” Howard Kissel in the New York
Daily News said the scaled-down production was “much more satisfying and entertaining than the Broadway
original”; in the same newspaper, Douglas Watt said he preferred the current cast to the original, and said Jen-
nifer Holiday’s “extreme grimacing” was “less affecting than the equally aggrieved delivery” of Lillias White.
1987–1988 SEASON 323
Jack Curry in USA Today said White’s “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” was “more heartbreaking” be-
cause it was more touching than overwhelming; Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily praised the “immensely
entertaining” revival as “the real thing”; and Allan Wallach in New York Newsday said the “diminished”
physical design was “surprisingly unimportant” because it revealed the show “in new and surprising ways.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post found the revival “a lot less slick” than the original, but for all pur-
poses the musical was “no worse, and no better.” He thought the original production with its “crass” story,
“feebly imitative” music (“about as memorable as light elevator disco”), and “trivial” lyrics had been “the
most over-hyped show ever to hit town.” He noted that the story dealt with black performers who make it
“in the white world, but at some grievous loss to their pure black souls” (indeed, showbiz sagas of this nature
always weep over the noble artiste who sells his soul to the marketplace and lives to regret it, with Clifford
Odets’s 1949 play The Big Knife perhaps the most obvious example of the genre).
Note that performer R. LaChanze Sapp was later known as LaChanze.
For more information about the musical, see entry for the original 1981 production.
THE STUDENT PRINCE

Opening Date: July 7, 1987; Closing Date: November 8, 1987
Direction: Jack Hofsiss (Christian Smith, Stage Director); Producer: The New York City Opera Company
(Beverly Sills, General Director; Sergiu Comissiona, Music Director); Choreography: Donald Saddler
(choreography restaged by Jessica Redel); Scenery: David Jenkins; Costumes: Patton Campbell; Lighting:
Gilbert V. Hemsley Jr.; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Jim Coleman
Cast: (Note: Some roles were cast with performers who alternated during the run; both names are given, and
the first one denotes the performer who sang on opening night.) Edward Zimmerman (Lackey, Huzzar),
Louis Perry (Lackey, Freshman, Huzzar), George Wyman (Lackey, Huzzar), Neil Eddinger (Lackey, Huz-
zar), Glenn Rowen (Lackey, Secretary, Huzzar), Gregory Moore (Lackey, Huzzar), Brian Steele/Chester
Ludgin (Doctor Engel), David Rae Smith (Count von Mark), Jonathan Guss (Secretary), Jon Garrison/John
Stewart (Prince Karl Franz), James Billings/Jack Harrold (Lutz), Susanne Marsee (Gretchen), Joseph McKee
(Ruder), Douglas Hamilton (Nicholas), Jack Harrold/James Billings (Toni), William Ledbetter (Hubert),
Stanley Cornett (Detlef), Robert Brubaker (von Asterberg), Robert Ferrier (Lucas), Leigh Munro/Claudette
Peterson (Kathie), Madeleine Mines (Girl, Friend of Huzzars), Paula Hostetter (Girl, Friend of Huzzars),
Beth Pensiero (Girl, Friend of Huzzars), Jill Bosworth (Girl, Friend of Huzzars), Muriel Costa-Greenspon
(Grand Duchess Anastasia), Lisbeth Lloyd/Cynthia Rose (Princess Margaret), Cris Groenendaal (Captain
Tarnitz), Rebecca Russell (Countess Leydon); Ensemble: The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers
The New York City Opera Company’s current revival of Sigmund Romberg’s The Student Prince was its
second of five mountings of the bittersweet operetta. The first had opened a year earlier (for more information
as well as a list of musical numbers, see entry for the 1980 presentation), and it was followed by productions
in 1981, 1985, 1987, and 1993 (for information about the 1981 and 1985 revivals, see specific entries).
Will Crutchfield in the New York Times noted that The Student Prince was “insufferable” as drama. But
its “handful of beautiful tunes” probed what the book ignored and enacted what the book only indicated.
Although he had some quibbles with the singing of Leigh Munro and Jon Garrison, he stated that she “shaped
the melodies with affection” and Garrison’s tenor was “firm and ringing.” In the same newspaper, Bernard
Holland reviewed the alternate cast and said John Stewart was “reasonably imposing” with “the kind of light
voice” which was “about right” for the part but perhaps “not quite strong enough” for the large theatre. Clau-
dette Peterson’s soprano offered “more carrying power” but had a tendency “towards coarseness.” During
the latter performances during the fall, Mark Beudert assumed the title role, and in his review for the Times
Michael Kimmelman said the tenor “acquitted himself better than most” but tended to “overshadow” some
of the other singers “in terms of volume.”

Opening Date: July 29, 1987; Closing Date: October 4, 1987
Book: Hugh Wheeler
Based on the 1970 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond.
(Beverly Sills, General Director; Sergiu Comissiona, Music Director); Choreography: Larry Fuller (Chore-
ography re-created by William Kirk); Scenery: Eugene Lee; Costumes: Franne Lee; Lighting: Ken Billing-
ton; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Paul Gemignani
Cast: (Note: Some roles were cast with performers who alternated during the run; both names are given,
and the first one denotes the performer who sang on opening night.) Cris Groenendaal (Anthony Hope),
Timothy Nolen/Stanley Wexler (Sweeney Todd), Brooks Almy/Ivy Austin (Beggar Woman), Joyce Castle/
Marcia Mitzman (Mrs. Lovett), Will Roy/Joseph McKee (Judge Turpin), John Lankston (The Beadle), Leigh
Munro/Susan Powell (Johanna), Robert Johanson (Tobias Ragg), Jerold Siena (Pirelli), William Ledbetter
(Jonas Fogg); The New York Opera Chorus and Dancers
The New York City Opera Company’s presentation of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, the Demon
Barber of Fleet Street was its second of three revivals (for more information about the work as well as a list
of musical numbers, see entry for the 1984 production).
John Rockwell in the New York Times noted the score was “the finest example of the current Broadway-
operatic hybrid style” with its “abruptly juxtaposed” and “continuous pastiche of Broadway idioms in an
essentially tonal harmonic idiom.” No one did this “better” than Sondheim, and in fact he “invented” it.
Timothy Nolen’s Sweeney Todd was not quite as “chilling” as Len Cariou’s interpretation, but he was none-
theless “intense and dedicated,” and Joyce Castle was “really delightful” as Mrs. Lovett.
For the same newspaper, Bernard Holland later reviewed the alternate cast, and noted that Stanley Wexler
was never “terribly sinister” but “still very pleasant to listen to” and Marcia Mitzman had “a clear cutting
voice, alloyed liberally with brass.”
THE DESERT SONG

Performances: 16
Book: Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Frank Mandel; new book adaptation by Robert Johanson
Lyrics: Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II; some lyrics revised by Robert Johanson
Direction and Choreography: Robert Johanson; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills,
General Director; Sergiu Comissiona, Music Director); Scenery: Michael Anania; Costumes: Suzanne
Mess; Lighting: Mark W. Stanley; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Jim Coleman
Cast: (Note: For those roles that had alternating performers, the first name listed denotes the opening-night
cast member.) Michael Cousins/John Stewart (Sid El Kar), Kenneth Kantor (Hassi), William Ledbetter
(Hadji), Joyce Campana (Neri, Clementina), Richard White/William Parcher (Pierre Birabeau alias The
Red Shadow), Philip William McKinley (Benjamin Kidd), Louise Hickey (Azuri), Theodore Baerg/Cris
Groenendaal (Captain Paul Fontaine), David Frye (Sergeant LaVergne), Lillian Graff (Susan), Paula Hostet-
ter (Edith), David Rae Smith (General Birabeau), Linda Michele/Jane Thorngren (Margot Bonvalet), Ray-
mond Bazemore (Ali Ben Ali), Robert Brubaker (Nogi); Ensemble: The New York City Opera Singers and
Dancers
The action takes place during the 1930s in Morocco.
1987–1988 SEASON 325
Musical Numbers
In his review of the New York City Opera Company’s revival of Sigmund Romberg’s 1926 operetta The
Desert Song, Donal Henahan in the New York Times said the production was “a remarkably faithful recon-
struction of the Broadway operetta style of half a century ago.” As the alternately nerdy and “sissified” Pierre
and the virile and dashing Red Shadow, Henahan noted that Richard White “could scarcely be improved
upon” with his suggestions of both Clark Kent and Superman, not to mention Zorro, the Lone Ranger, and
Lawrence of Arabia. The critic also reported that White was something of a horseman because in “a single
bound” he leapt upon a prancing horse, and when the animal became nervous White showed “enough horse-
manship” to ensure that the horse didn’t gallop directly into the orchestra pit. Linda Michele’s Margot was
“lissome” and appropriately “dizzy” but “tended to brassy shrillness”; Philip William McKinley’s Benjamin
was a mix of Jerry Lewis and Pee-wee Herman; and Lillian Graff’s Susan was “frenetic” and “raucous” in the
“style of Nancy Walker trying to outmug Judy Canova.”
In the same newspaper, Michael Kimmelman said that as Pierre and the Red Shadow, William Parcher
sang in “fittingly handsome, heated fashion” and his “finest” moment was when he appeared bare-chested in
the final scene. Kimmelman noted that The Desert Song was the kind of operetta in which the masked hero
dressed all in red appears before the heroine, who then exclaims, “Why, you’re the Red Shadow!”
Although the program didn’t list song numbers, the reviews mentioned that the revival included “The
Riff Song” (aka “Ho!”), “Romance,” “One Alone,” “The Sabre Song,” “It,” and the title song. Because director
and choreographer Robert Johanson had staged the work for a recent production at the Paper Mill Playhouse
in Millburn, New Jersey, it’s likely the revival also included such numbers as “Let Love Go,” “One Flower
Grows Alone in Your Garden,” “The French Military Marching Song,” “I Want a Kiss,” “Then You Will
Know,” and “Song of the Brass Key” (but the lyrics for some of these were no doubt revised because Johanson
was credited with additional lyrics).
During the operetta’s tryout it was titled Lady Fair, and Robert Halliday and Vivienne Segal were the first
Red Shadow/Pierre and Margot. The production premiered in New York at the Casino Theatre on November
30, 1926, for 471 performances, and at the time the work was actually a contemporary piece because it was
loosely based on then-current political events in North Africa.
The story centered on the mysterious Red Shadow (Richard White), described as a “Riff Robin Hood” who
leads the rebellious Riff tribes against the Europeans in Morocco. The Red Shadow is actually Pierre Birabeau,
the son of the Governor-General Birabeau, and Pierre poses as a meek and mild-mannered introvert in order to
protect his identity as the Red Shadow. As Pierre, his attempts to court the beautiful Margot Bonvalet (Linda
Michele) are doomed because she wants to escape from her “humdrum world” and find a “rough and ready”
man who will “master” her, not some nerdy bookworm like Pierre.
As the Red Shadow, Pierre abducts Margot and thus fulfills her fantasies of romantic adventure. But when
his father wants to duel the Red Shadow, Pierre of course can’t agree to it and thus disappears, much to the
chagrin of Margot, who now believes her hero has turned coward. Later, Pierre “kills” the Red Shadow, and
when he brings the Red Shadow’s clothes to the French headquarters he’s considered a hero. Pierre’s father
realizes his son is the Red Shadow and comes to understand that with Pierre’s help the Moroccans and the
Europeans can peaceably coexist. And when Pierre is alone with Margot he dons the Red Shadow’s mask and
cape, and she realizes the seemingly wimpy Pierre is indeed the “rough and ready” man of her dreams.
The musical was revived on Broadway at City Center on January 8, 1946, for forty-five performances with
Walter Cassel and Dorothy Sandlin, and then at the Uris (now Gershwin) Theatre on September 5, 1973, for
fifteen performances with David Cryer and Chris Callan. After the current City Opera production, the com-
pany revived the work on August 29, 1989, for seven showings (see entry). The original London production
opened on April 7, 1927, at the Drury Lane for 432 performances and starred Harry Welchman and Edith Day.
The musical has been filmed three times (in 1929 with John Boles and Carlotta King; in 1943 with Den-
nis Morgan and Irene Manning; and in 1953 with Gordon MacRae and Kathryn Grayson). The 1943 and 1953
versions are available on DVD by the Warner Brothers Archive Collection. The 1943 film was an updated
adaptation which included Nazis in North Africa, and in his review for the New York Times Bosley Crowther
described the movie as a “sheik-and-shimmy romance”; and perhaps as a nod to the era’s political climate,
the 1953 version called Pierre’s alter ego El Khobar instead of the Red Shadow. An NBC television adaptation
was aired on May 7, 1955, with Nelson Eddy and Gale Sherwood, and the teleplay was written by William
Friedberg, Neil Simon, and Will Glickman; the DVD was released by Video Artists International.
The script was published in softcover by Samuel French in 1954, and the lyrics are included in The Com-
plete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II. There are numerous recordings of the score, including a studio cast
released by RCA Victor Records (and issued on CD by ArkivMusic/RCA Masterworks Broadway # 88725-
42771-2) with Giorgio Tozzi, Kathy Barr, and Peter Palmer. Another worthwhile studio cast recording (with
Mario Lanza and Judith Raskin) was also released by RCA (LP # LM-2440).
DIE FLEDERMAUS
Direction: Gerald Freedman (Christian Smith, Stage Director); Producer: The New York City Opera Company
(Beverly Sills, General Director; Sergiu Comissiona, Music Director); Choreography: Thomas Andrew;
Scenery: Lloyd Evans; Costumes: Thierry Bosquet; Lighting: Hans Sondheimer; Choral Direction: Joseph
Colaneri; Musical Direction: Imre Pallo
Cast: Michael Cousins (Alfred), Claudette Peterson (Adele), Leigh Munro (Rosalinda von Eisenstein), Theo-
dore Baerg (Gabriel von Eisenstein), Jonathan Green (Doctor Blind), William Parcher (Doctor Falke), Jo-
seph McKee (Frank), Alison Bevan (Sally), Larry Becker (Ivan), James Billings (Prince Orlofsky), Patricia
McBride (Guest Dancer), Esperanza Galan (Solo Dancer), Jack Harrold (Frosch); The New York City Opera
Singers and Dancers
The New York City Opera Company’s current production of Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus (The Bat)
was the company’s fifth of five revivals of the operetta during the decade (for more information about the op-
eretta, see entry for the February 1980 production; also see entries for September 1980, 1981, and 1986). The
work was also heard in German by the Vienna Volksoper in 1984 (see entry).
Bernard Holland in the New York Times complained that director Gerald Freedman viewed the operetta
through the prism of a television situation comedy. Each character had a “little laugh trigger for the audience
to pull” and there were one-liners and sight gags; as a result, everything moved so “swiftly” that “the perils
of reflection” were “avoided.” James Billings’s Prince Orlovsky showed “vestiges of irony and human dimen-
sion,” but Jack Harrold’s Frosch was a “near out-of-control mélange of Milton Berle and the Three Stooges.”
Leigh Munro “sang well” as Rosalinda, but Claudette Peterson’s Adele came across as “vocally distressed.”
ROZA
“A New Musical”

Performances: 12
Book and Lyrics: Julian More
Music: Gilbert Becaud
Based on the 1975 novel La vie devant soi (The Life Before Us) by Emile Ajar (pseudonym for Romain Gary),
and published in English as Momo.
Direction: Harold Prince; Producers: The Producer Circle Company (Mary Lea Johnson, Martin Richards, and
Sam Crothers) and The Shubert Organization by arrangement with Les Editions Musicales et Artistiques
(EMA) (Ruth Mitchell, Executive Producer); Choreography: Patricia Birch; Scenery: Alexander Okun; Cos-
tumes: Florence Klotz; Lighting: Ken Billington; Musical Direction: Louis St. Louis
1987–1988 SEASON 327
Cast: Georgia Brown (Madame Roza), Al DeCristo (Max), Ira Hawkins (Raoul), Michele Mais (Madame
Bouaffa), Yamil Borges (Jasmine), Neal Ben-Ari (Hamil, Yussef Kadir), Jerry Matz (Doctor Katz), Marcia
Lewis (Mme. Katz), David Shoiche Chan (Michel), Mandla Msomi (Banania), Monique Cintron (Salima),
Max Loving (Young Momo), Bob Gunton (Lola), Stephen Rosenberg (Young Moise), Thuli Dumakude
(Woman), Richard Frisch (Man), Joey McKneely (Moise), Alex Paez (Momo)
The action takes place in Paris in 1970 and in 1974.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Happiness” (Georgia Brown); “Max’s Visit” (Al DeCristo, Georgia Brown); “Different” (Bob Gun-
ton, Georgia Brown, Marcia Lewis, Michele Mais, Yamil Borges); “Is Me” (Max Loving, Stephen Rosen-
berg, Monique Cintron, David Shoiche Chan, Mandla Msomi, Michele Mais, Yamil Borges); “Get the
Lady Dressed” (Georgia Brown, Bob Gunton, Max Loving, Stephen Rosenberg, Monique Cintron, David
Shoiche Chan, Mandla Msomi); “Hamil’s Birthday” (Company); “Bravo Bravo” (Georgia Brown); “Moon
Like a Silver Window” (Max Loving, Alex Paez, Company)
Act Two: “Merci” (Alex Paez, Joey McKneely); “House in Algiers” (Georgia Brown); “Yussef’s Visit” (Neal
Ben-Ari, Georgia Brown, Alex Paez, Joey McKneely, Bob Gunton); “Life Is Ahead of Me” (Alex Paez);
“Sweet Seventeen” (Michele Mais, Yamil Borges, Alex Paez, Joey McKneely); “Lola’s Ceremony” (Bob
Gunton, Company); “Don’t Make Me Laugh” (Georgia Brown, Bob Gunton); “Live a Little” (Georgia
Brown); Finale (Company)
Roza was a short-lived failure and one of a string of disappointments during the era from director Harold
Prince. His most recent success had been almost ten years earlier with Evita in 1979, and since then he had
helmed nothing but short-running musicals, revues, and plays: Merrily We Roll Along (1981; sixteen perfor-
mances); A Doll’s Life (1981, five performances); Play Memory (1984; five performances); End of the World
(1984; thirty-three performances); Diamonds (1984; 122 performances); and Grind (1985; seventy-nine perfor-
mances). But later during the 1987–1988 season he rebounded with The Phantom of the Opera, which as of
this writing is the longest-running musical to open on Broadway.
The wispy plot dealt with the self-described “one-woman UNICEF” Roza (Georgia Brown), a former Jew-
ish concentration-camp prisoner and one-time prostitute who now runs what is essentially a day-care center
in her Paris apartment for prostitutes’ children, a diverse nursery mix of Jewish, Arab, Asian, black, and white
kids. Besides her charges, her world is filled with hangers-on, including the drag queen Lola (Bob Gunton),
a character type without whom no respectable theatre season would be quite complete, and happy hookers,
their johns, and caring neighbors (in regard to the latter, Allan Wallach in New York Newsday commented
that many of them were “from nations that are the Jews’ sworn enemies”).
But there is nothing bad in Roza’s world, and everyone is naive and loving. Roza even keeps a photograph
of Hitler around, to remind herself that she’s alive and he’s not. However, Roza the character coughs a lot,
and that’s a signal that Georgia Brown the star will soon have a lengthy death scene (Matt Roush in USA To-
day noted it was more than a death scene, it was “an act-long death scene”). But since this is a life-affirming
musical and because Roza is a theatrical cousin to that carpe-diem windbag Zorba, her final song encourages
everyone around her to “Live a Little.” (Frank Rich in the New York Times wryly noted that the song’s “pro-
found message” made him “eagerly await” the final curtain so that he could “allow the directive to be put
into practice.”)
Roush found the musical “very self-satisfied,” “shameless in its sentimentality,” and “trite” in its direc-
tion, book, and songs. Further, Brown was “grotesque” in a “rust-colored fright wig” and “gaudy” clothes,
and her “raspy, cigarette-stained singing voice” reminded him of Harvey Fierstein. In fact, both Brown and
Gunton provided “a double drag show” of sorts. Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News suggested
Brown looked “like some overweight female impersonator imitating Bette Midler”; Rich said she seemed like
“Tevye and Zorba in drag”; Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 felt the second act played like Zorba the Kvetch; and
Clive Barnes in the New York Post suggested that lyricist Julian More (who was one of the co-adaptors for the
English book and lyrics of Irma La Douce) and composer Gilbert Becaud had provided a score which sounded
“suspiciously like Irma on the Roof.”
Rich said the musical’s “gooey humanity” gave him the urge “to find and kick a very small dog.” The
“almost plotless” book exuded such pearls of wisdom as “You can’t leave home until you know where you
came from,” and despite the evening’s ecumenical bent, “ethnic and sexual stereotyping” filled the evening
and the black and Asian children were “so patronizingly presented” they weren’t even given dialogue. The
lyrics were “tortured,” the music was “Europop schlock,” and a dance for the hookers and one of Roza’s
seventeen-year-old male charges had “all the Gallic flavor of a Pepsi commercial.”
Kissel said Prince “lost no opportunity to coarsen the material” and ultimately the show gave “vulgarity a
bad name.” Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News stated the new Broadway season began on the “wrong
note”; Wallach indicated the musical-theatre season stumbled with a “shaky start”; and Siegel commented
that “if this is the overture to the ’87–’88 season, I pray the title isn’t ‘Everything’s Coming Up Rozas.’”
But Barnes saw an entirely different show. He suggested that with Roza the new season began with “a
fine walking start” and Brown had “the role of a lifetime” with a character who shouts, screams, suffers, and
loves because “she is alive, yes, flamboyantly, crazily, dangerously alive” (just imagine the horror if Zorba and
Roza were seatmates on your next flight). Although the score was more in the style of cabaret than theatre
music, it nonetheless was “passionate” and “essentially intimate,” and while the story lacked “coherence”
and “continuity,” Prince made a “virtue” of these faults by making the show “seem like page-episodes from
a secret diary.”
Prior to the New York opening, the following songs were cut: “Bouillabaisse People,” “N’Da’s Letter,”
“N’Da’s Salespitch,” “Roza’s Yiddish High,” “On the Stairway,” and “Don’t Even Think about Tomorrow.”
A film version of Romain Gary’s novel was filmed in 1977 as Madame Rosa with Simone Signoret in the
title role, and it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.
MORT SAHL ON BROADWAY!

Theatre: Neil Simon Theatre
Performances: 25
Cast: Mort Sahl
Producers: James L. Nederlander and Arthur Rubin (Marvin A. Krauss, Executive Producer); Lighting: Roger
Morgan
The comedy revue was presented in one act.
Political humorist and stand-up comic Mort Sahl’s previous Broadway appearance had been in the inti-
mate 1958 revue The Next President, which besides Sahl’s routines included folk singers, a musical combo,
and an interpretive dancer (as Bette Midler might have exclaimed, How very 1958 of you!); the self-described
“musical salmagundi” opened at the Bijou Theatre and played for thirteen performances, and Sahl offered
skewed looks at politics (the perfect Cold War missile is the one which destroys itself) and personalities (in
his new movie The Young Lions, Marlon Brando plays a “confused” Nazi).
After the current production, Sahl appeared Off Broadway in Mort Sahl’s America, which opened at The-
atre Four on April 4, 1994, for seventy-three showings. During the decades following his Broadway debut, Sahl
was an occasional political speechwriter (for John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Alexander Haig) and there
was no political party that was safe from Sahl’s skewers.
In reviewing the current engagement, Mel Gussow in the New York Times noted that Sahl was one of the
“most acerbic commentators” and he refused “to talk down to his audience or to be pigeonholed.” His targets
ranged from Ted Kennedy to Vanessa Redgrave to Sylvester Stallone, and he imagined a meeting between the
latter two. Although Redgrave had never seen a Rambo movie, Sahl was confident Stallone had never heard
of Wetherby. For all that, Sahl stated it was actually possible “to dislike Ms. Redgrave for herself.”
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News also liked the Redgrave joke, and noted that sometimes Sahl
let celebrities speak for themselves, such as when “$5 million-a-picture Dustin Hoffman” states that “I’m a
real liberal; the others are mock-liberals—they’re materialistic.” And Allan Wallach in New York Newsday
noted that Sahl threw darts at Jessie Jackson (“I have a scheme”) and Alexander Haig (who “threw his helmet
into the [presidential] ring”).
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said Sahl was “the funniest guy in town” with his appreciation for the
ridiculous, the “quickness of his mind,” and “his wonderful sense of nonsense.” Sahl stated he was “allergic
1987–1988 SEASON 329
to majorities” but in truth Barnes thought the comedian was allergic to “any kind of cant or pomposity.”
The critic also suggested that after the show Sahl would, in Dorothy Parker’s words, have to “find himself ‘a
whole new set of old best friends.’”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal commented that Sahl was a “fiercely nonpartisan” and “astute”
humorist who was “as tough on the left as the right”; but for some reason Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 wasn’t
able to approve of Sahl’s using the word “liberal” in a pejorative manner (but he noted the comedian “hit a few
targets” and was sometimes funny, as when the comedian told President Reagan it took twenty-eight days
for his White House dinner invitation to be delivered, and Reagan said he’d get even by “mailing” the postal
employees their paychecks); and David Sterritt in the Christian Science Monitor indicated that liberals and
conservatives “will long debate which camp suffers the most losses” when Sahl got through with them (but
the critic predicted both groups would be “reeling” by the end of the performance).
LATE NITE COMIC

“A New American Musical” / “A Love Story . . . with a Punch Line”

Performances: 4
Book: Allan Knee
Lyrics and Music: Brian Gari
Direction: Uncredited (see below); Producer: Rory Rosegarten; Choreography: Dennis Dennehy; Scenery:
Clarke Dunham; Costumes: Gail Cooper-Hecht; Lighting: Ken Billington; Musical Direction: Gregory J.
Dlugos
Cast: Robert LuPone (David Ackerman), Teresa Tracy (Gabrielle), Pamela Blasetti (Ensemble, Susan, Hooker),
Kim Freshwater (Ensemble, Club Owner, Hooker), Lauren Goler (Ensemble, Jenny, Hooker), Patrick
Hamilton (Ensemble, Cecil, Club Owner, Voice of God, Krazy Korn Emcee), Judine Hawkins (Ensemble,
Hooker), Aja Major (Ensemble, Tanya, Delilah), Michael McAssey (Ensemble, Club Owner, Mike, Las
Vegas Emcee), Sharon Moore (Ensemble, Hooker, Metropolitan Ballerina), Mason Roberts (Ensemble, Nat,
Bartender, David’s Alter Ego, Metropolitan Male Dancer), Susan Santoro (Ensemble, Clara, Hooker), Don
Stitt (Ensemble, Club Owner, Bartender, Busboy)
The action takes place during the present time in New York City and Las Vegas.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Gabrielle” (Robert LuPone); “The Best in the Business” (Robert LuPone, Kim Freshwater, Patrick
Hamilton, Michael McAssey, Don Stitt); “Clara’s Dancing School” (Teresa Tracy, Susan Santoro); “This
Lady Isn’t Right for Me” (Robert LuPone, Aja Major, Lauren Goler, Pamela Blasetti, Teresa Tracy); “Hav-
ing Someone” (Robert LuPone, Kim Freshwater, Patrick Hamilton, Michael McAssey, Don Stitt); “Stand-
Up” (Robert LuPone); “The Best in the Business” (reprise) (Robert LuPone); “Late Nite Comic” (Robert
LuPone); “Stand-Up” (reprise) (Robert LuPone); “It Had to Happen Sometime” (Robert LuPone, Teresa
Tracy); “When I Am Movin’” (Teresa Tracy); “Think Big” (Robert LuPone, Mason Roberts)
Act Two: “Relax with Me, Baby” (Robert Lupone, Don Stitt, Pamela Blasetti, Kim Freshwater, Lauren Goler,
Judine Hawkins, Sharon Moore, Susan Santoro); “Dance” (Robert LuPone, Teresa Tracy, Ensemble);
“Late Nite Comic” (reprise) (Robert LuPone); “It’s Such a Different World” (Robert LuPone, Vegas
Girls, Vegas Guys); “It Had to Happen Sometime” (reprise) (Robert LuPone, Teresa Tracy); “Gabrielle”
(reprise)/“Yvonne” (Robert LuPone)
Although later in the week his sister Patti enjoyed a huge success with the hit revival of Anything Goes,
Robert LuPone had no such luck with the four-performances-and-out Late Nite Comic, which had the distinc-
tion of being the season’s shortest-running musical (even Carrie ran longer, with five showings) and which
closed two days before the opening of the Cole Porter musical. But through perseverance of one form or
another, the show has lived on, including a book about the making of the musical and a studio cast recording
(see below).
Late Nite Comic was about stand-up comic David Ackerman (Robert LuPone) who works his way through
small-time clubs in the New York City area (with names like the Krazy Korn Klub) until he hits it big in Las
Vegas. And throughout the evening he has an on-and-off-again romance with Gabrielle (Teresa Tracy), whose
showbiz dream is to dance at the Metropolitan Opera (as one or two critics noted, her ambition didn’t quite
ring true: aspiring ballet dancers would surely look to careers with Ballet Theatre or the New York City Ballet,
but to pine for a spot among the dancing ensemble at the Met didn’t seem likely or realistic).
The critics were merciless, and were especially unforgiving because the show about a stand-up comedian
lacked even one funny joke. Further, the talented LuPone wasn’t an inherently comic actor, and so many felt
he was miscast. A few critics also unfavorably compared the evening to another one about stand-up comics,
the 1985 Off-Broadway musical 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down.
Mel Gussow in the New York Times noted that director Philip Rose was no longer associated with the
production but mentioned this was comparable to the Titanic’s captain removing his name from the ship’s log
when the vessel hit the iceberg. If there was “no sense of direction,” there was “no sense of book or score,”
either. Further, David’s jokes were just as “dreadful” at the end of the evening as they had been at the begin-
ning, and if Brian Gari’s score was “pedestrian,” Allan Knee’s book was a “jaywalker.” As for LuPone, he
just didn’t “have the soul of a stand-up.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post said Late Nite Comic was the
kind of show that popped up “every season” as one in a “gobbling, dispirited parade of withered old turkeys
meekly lining up for profitless slaughter.” The music was “pitched” between “a jingle and a trickle,” the
lyrics “between banality and stupidity,” and the book was “just pitched.” But Barnes felt LuPone was “quite
wonderful” given the limitations of his material.
Allan Wallach in New York Newsday got tired of the romantic plot in which Gabrielle is constantly mov-
ing either in or out of David’s life, and the critic noted this revolving-door romance was more “boomerang”
than “plot.” And while the show needed a director, it first needed “something worth directing.” As for Gari’s
score, his music offered some “listenable melodies” along with a few “routine” ones and the lyrics while not
“clever” were “serviceable.” LuPone was “pleasant” but Tracy’s “little-girl-lost manner” became tiresome
and her big second-act dance number (unimaginatively titled “Dance”) suggested “that a star is not about to
be born.”
The headline of Howard Kissel’s review in the New York Daily News announced that “This Comedy’s a
Tragedy,” and he suggested the “appalling” musical “be put out of its misery at once”; Edwin Wilson in the
Wall Street Journal said the “implausible” show centered on an “unfunny” comedian and a “dippy” dancer,
but he noted the evening was consistent because “the book, the music, the lyrics and the scenery were all
persistently mediocre”; and Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said the script, songs, and scenery weren’t “good enough
for a college musical” and he felt LuPone and Tracy were incapable of “rising above” their material.
The musical had been previously presented at the American Musical Theatre, Inc., in New London, Con-
necticut. During Broadway previews, director Philip Rose left the production. While his name remained on
the title page of the opening-night program (although apparently on some programs his name was blacked
out), there was no program biography and a special program insert stated “Philip Rose voluntarily withdrew
as director of Late Nite Comic as of October 4, 1987.”
As noted, some twenty years after the Broadway production, the show rebounded with a studio cast re-
cording as well as a book about the making of the musical. Gari’s We Bombed in New London: The Inside
Story of the Broadway Musical was released by BearManor Media and is a vastly entertaining one about the
show; the section that discusses the release and marketing of the studio cast album is especially interesting.
The studio cast album of the “20th Anniversary Edition” of the score was released by Original Cast Re-
cords (CD # OC0315) with such singers as Liz Callaway, Mario Cantone, Jason Graae, Rupert Holmes, Brian
D’Arcy James, Liz Larsen, Howard McGillin, Daniel Reichard, Tony Roberts, Mary Testa, Martin Vidnovic,
Sal Viviano, Karen Ziemba, Chip Zien, and Gari himself. The recording includes three songs cut prior to the
Broadway production (“Nothing’s Changing This Love, “They Live in L.A.,” and “Obsessed”) and one (“Late
Nite Saga”) was written after the show closed and was a tribute to musicals that don’t succeed on Broadway.
The recording includes virtually all the musical sequences heard in the Broadway production, including the
overture, entr’acte, and “Dance.”
Incidentally, Gari is the grandson of Broadway legend Eddie Cantor.
1987–1988 SEASON 331
ANYTHING GOES
Performances: 804
Book: Original book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, and Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse; new book
by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman
Lyrics and Music: Cole Porter
Direction: Jerry Zaks; Producer: Lincoln Center Theatre (Greogry Mosher, Director; Bernard Gersten, Ex-
ecutive Producer); Choreography: Michael Smuin (Kirk Peterson, Choreographic Assistant); Scenery and
Costumes: Tony Walton; Lighting: Paul Gallo; Musical Direction: Joshua Rosenblum
Cast: Eric Y. L. Chan (Louie), Rex Everhart (Elisha Whitney), Steve Steiner (Fred), Howard McGillin (Billy
Crocker), Patti LuPone (Reno Sweeney), Michele Pigliavento (Young Girl), Alec Timerman (Sailor), David
Pursley (Captain), Gerry Vichi (Purser), Robert Kellett (Reporter # 1), Gerry McIntyre (Photographer), Larry
Cahn (Reporter # 2), Karen E. Fraction (Purity), Michaela Hughes (Chastity), Maryellen Scilla (Charity),
Kim Darwin (Virtue), Richard Korthaze (Minister), Stanford Egi (Luke), Toshi Toda (John), Kathleen Ma-
hony-Bennett (Hope Harcourt), Anne Francine (Mrs. Evangeline Harcourt), Anthony Heald (Lord Evelyn
Oakleigh), Dale Hensley (G-Man # 1), Leslie Feagan (G-Man # 2), Linda Hart (Erma), Bill McCutcheon
(Moonface Martin), Jane Seaman (Woman in Bathchair), Alice Anne Oakes (Niece of Woman in Bathchair),
Pat Gorman (Countess), Mark Chmiel (Thuggish Sailor), Lloyd Culbreath (Thuggish Sailor), Dan Fletcher
(Thuggish Sailor); Dancing Ensemble, Ship’s Crew, and Ship’s Passengers: Eric Y. L. Chan, Michele Piglia-
vento, Alec Timerman, Robert Kellett, Gerry McIntyre, Karen E. Fraction, Michaela Hughes, Maryellen
Scilla, Kim Darwin, Alice Anne Oakes, Mark Chmiel, Dan Fletcher
The action takes place aboard a passenger liner in the 1930s.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “I Get a Kick Out of You” (Patti LuPone); “(There’s) No Cure Like Travel” (Alec Timerman, Michele
Pigliavento, Ship’s Crew); “Bon Voyage” (Company); “You’re the Top” (Patti LuPone, Howard McGillin);
“Easy to Love” (Howard McGillin); “I Want to Row on the Crew” (Rex Everhart); “Sailors’ Chanty” (aka
“There’ll Always Be a Lady Fair”) (Steve Steiner, Larry Cahn, Dale Hensley, Leslie Feagan); “Friendship”
(Patti LuPone, Bill McCutcheon); “It’s De-Lovely” (Howard McGillin, Nancy Opel); “Anything Goes”
(Patti LuPone, Company)
Act Two: “Public Enemy Number One” (Company); “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” (Patti LuPone, Company); “Good-
bye, Little Dream, Goodbye” (Kathleen Mahony-Bennett); “Be Like the Bluebird” (Bill McCutcheon); “All
Through the Night” (Howard McGillin, Kathleen Mahony-Bennett, Men); “The Gypsy in Me” (Anthony
Heald); “Buddie, Beware” (Linda Hart, Sailors); “I Get a Kick Out of You” (reprise) (Company)
The revival of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes was one of the hits of the season and almost doubled the run
of the original 1934 production. The critics praised the revised version, which had a new book adaptation by
Timothy Crouse (the son of Russell Crouse, one of the coauthors of the original book) and John Weidman, and
the new production all but replaced the one that had been written for the 1962 Off-Broadway revival, which
had become the standard acting version of the show.
The lighthearted plot took place during the 1930s on a luxurious ocean liner with a motley crew of
colorful types: Reno Sweeney (Patti LuPone) is a nightclub entertainer and former evangelist; her old friend
Billy Crocker (Howard McGillin) is a stowaway in pursuit of society girl Hope Harcourt (Kathleen Mahony-
Bennett); and gangster Moonface Martin (Bill McCutcheon) is on the lam disguised as a minister. Moonface
is Public Enemy Number 13 on the FBI’s most-wanted list, and his dream is to make the Top Twelve. And
when the ship’s passengers discover they have a celebrity gangster on board, they sing a mock-solemn hymn
in his praise (“Public Enemy Number One”).
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor liked Crouse and Weidman’s adaptation, stating they
treated the “zany lampoon” with “the insouciance it deserves.” And Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal
said the “triumph” of the “joyous” revival was that the entire production was “all of a piece and all quite
wonderful” with a book full of “zany humor” that included “shameless puns and rapid-fire entrances and
exits.”
As for Porter’s standard-filled score (from which emerged five evergreens, “I Get a Kick Out of You,”
“You’re the Top,” “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” “All Through the Night,” and the title song), Wilson noted they re-
ally don’t write songs like this anymore, and William A. Henry III in Time said “the difference between Porter
and other composers remains—well, night and day.” Ron Cohen in Women’s Wear Daily praised Porter’s “el-
egant” songs, David Patrick Stearns in USA Today said they were “timeless,” and Joel Siegel on WABCTV7
reported that hearing the “great” songs in context sent “honest-to-gosh chills” up his spine.
As for LuPone, Frank Rich in the New York Times said “with her burst of Lucille Ball red hair, a trum-
pet’s blare in her voice and lips so insinuatingly protruded they could make the Pledge of Allegiance sound
lewd,” the star had her first “sensational” Broadway role since Evita. Her Reno was “a mature, uninhibited
jazz dame” who was “loose, trashy, funny and sexy,” and for the first-act curtain she had the “audacity” to
“upstage” the entire company with a “broad wink” aimed at the audience, at which point the crowd was
ready to take her home (“and not necessarily to mother”).
Henry said she rivaled Merman’s voice in “volume and clarity” and outdid her “in intelligence and heart.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the “sensational” performer was the “icing on the cake” of “the best
musical in town,” and he noted she dominated the stage with her “sort of soprano-like baritone” and danced
and acted “with supreme authority.” And Stearns said she “vanquished” Merman by turning Reno “into a
Latin bombshell.”
The original production of Anything Goes opened at the Alvin (now Neil Simon) Theatre on November
21, 1934, for 420 performances with Merman (Reno Sweeney), William Gaxton (Billy Crocker), and Victor
Moore (Reverend Dr. Moon [aka Moonface Martin and Moon]). The Prism Leisure recording of Anything Goes
(CD # PLATCD-938) includes three songs from the score performed by Merman (“I Get a Kick Out of You,”
“You’re the Top,” and “Blow, Gabriel, Blow”); one number by Gaxton (“You’re the Top”); and three with
vocals and piano by Cole Porter (“You’re the Top,” “Anything Goes,” and “Be Like the Bluebird”).
Archival recordings heard in the Smithsonian Collection’s Anything Goes (LP # DPM10284/R-007),
which sometimes duplicate the ones in the Prism Leisure release, are: “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the
Top,” and “Blow, Gabriel, Blow” (all performed by Merman); “You’re the Top,” “Anything Goes,” and “Be
Like the Bluebird” (vocals and piano by Porter); “Sailors’ Chanty” aka “There’ll Always Be a Lady Fair” and
“The Gypsy in Me” (both by The Foursome [Marshall Smith, Ray Johnston, Dwight Snyder, and Del Porter],
who were in the original Broadway production); and four selections from the 1935 London production: “All
Through the Night,” “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” “Be Like the Bluebird” (which includes a dialogue scene in the
ship’s brig), and “You’re the Top.”
During the run of the 1934 production, “Buddie, Beware” was dropped in favor of a reprise of “I Get a
Kick Out of You,” and cut in preproduction or during the tryout were: “What a Joy to Be Young” (during
the tryout, the song was titled “To Be in Love and Young”), “Kate the Great” (which Merman refused to
perform because she objected to the racy lyric), and “Waltz Down the Aisle” (which Porter later reworked as
“Wunderbar” for Kiss Me, Kate). “There’s No Cure Like Travel” and “Bon Voyage” were two separate songs
performed together, sometimes under the first title and sometimes under the second (in the case of the 1962
Off-Broadway production, only “Bon Voyage” was performed).
The musical’s first New York revival opened Off Broadway on May 15, 1962, at the Orpheum Theatre for
239 performances; the book was revised by Guy Bolton, the cast included Eileen Rodgers (Reno), Hal Linden
(Billy), and Mickey Deems (Moon), and the choreography was by Ron Field. The revival cut five songs from
the original Broadway production (“There’s No Cure Like Travel,” “Sailors’ Chanty” aka “There’ll Always
Be a Lady Fair,” “Where Are the Men?,” “The Gypsy in Me,” and “Buddie, Beware”) and added six from other
Porter musicals: “It’s De-Lovely” (Red Hot and Blue!, 1936), “The Heaven Hop” (Paris, 1928), “Friendship”
(DuBarry Was a Lady, 1939), “Let’s Step Out” (added to 1929 musical Fifty Million Frenchmen during its
Broadway run), “Let’s Misbehave” (cut from Paris, 1928; in 1927, the song had been heard in a nightclub per-
formance at the Ambassadeurs Café in Paris [not to be confused with Porter’s 1928 Paris revue La Revue des
Ambassadeurs]), and “Take Me Back to Manhattan” (The New Yorkers, 1930). The cast album was released
by Epic Records (LP # FLM-13100). The revised 1962 version was twice produced Off Off Broadway during
the 1980–1981 season, first during November 1980 at St. Bart’s Playhouse and then on March 12, 1981, at the
Equity Library’s Master Theatre for thirty performances.
1987–1988 SEASON 333
The current production was recorded by RCA Victor Records (LP # 7769-1-RC and CD # 7769-2-RC), and
won the Tony Award for Best Revival. One song was cut from the original production (“Where Are the Men?”)
and five were added, “Friendship” (DuBarry Was a Lady, 1939), “I Want to Row on the Crew” (Paranoia,
1914), “It’s De-Lovely” (Red Hot and Blue!, 1936), “Goodbye, Little Dream, Goodbye” (intended for but not
used in 1936 film Born to Dance; later cut from Red Hot and Blue!, 1936; and then introduced in the late 1936
London production O Mistress Mine [not related to the 1944 play of the same name by Terence Rattigan]),
and “Easy to Love” (which had been written for, but not used in, the original production of Anything Goes
and was later introduced by James Stewart in the 1936 film Born to Dance).
After the current production, the musical was next revived on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim (previ-
ously Henry Miller’s) Theatre on April 7, 2011, for 521 performances, and was based on the 1987 version. It
too won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical; the cast included Sutton Foster (Reno), Colin Donnell
(Billy), and Joel Grey (Moon), and the cast album was released by Ghostlight Records.
The original London production opened on June 14, 1935, at the Palace Theatre for 261 performances
with Jeanne Aubert (Reno), Jack Whiting (Billy), and Sydney Howard (Moon). They and other cast members
recorded eight songs from the production: “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “All Through the Night,” “Sailors’
Chanty” aka “There’ll Always Be a Lady Fair,” “You’re the Top,” “Anything Goes,” “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,”
“Be Like the Bluebird” (including a dialogue scene in the ship’s brig), and “The Gypsy in Me.” These num-
bers are included on the above-referenced Prism Leisure recording. The script of the London production was
published in paperback by Samuel French (London) in 1936.
A London revival at the Seville Theatre on November 18, 1969, was based on the 1962 Off-Broadway
production and was recorded by Decca Records (and later issued by That’s Entertainment Records LP # TER-
1080). A July 1989 London revival opened at the Prince Edward Theatre and was based on the current New
York production; it starred Elaine Paige (Reno), Bernard Cribbins (Moon), and, reprising his role of Billy from
the New York production, Howard McGillin. The cast album was issued by First Night Records (LP # CAST-
18). Another production of the 1987 adaptation was produced in Sydney, Australia, with Geraldine Turner
and was recorded by EMI Records (LP # EMC-792103 and CD # CDP-792103). There was also a 1984 Mexico
City production that was recorded by Producciones Teatro San Rafael (unnumbered LP); titled Todo se vale,
the score includes “Tu era mas,” “Buen viaje,” “Amigo,” “Que delicia,” and “Noche y dia.”
Two film versions of the musical were released by Paramount in 1936 and 1956, both with Bing Crosby.
The 1936 version was a loose adaptation of the stage production, but it included Merman, who reprised her
role of Reno, and besides Crosby (who played Billy), Charles Ruggles was Moon. Four songs were retained
from the original production (“I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Sailors’ Chanty” aka “There’ll Always Be a Lady
Fair,” “You’re the Top,” and a snippet of the title song). The film also included a number of songs by other
writers, including “Moonburn” (lyric by Edward Heyman, music by Hoagy Carmichael) and two, “Sailor Be-
ware” and “My Heart and I,” both with lyrics by Leo Robin and music by Frederick Hollander. These three
non-Porter songs are included as bonus tracks on the soundtrack album of the 1956 film (Decca Broadway
CD # B0001933-02). When the 1936 film was made available for television showings, its title was changed to
Tops Is the Limit.
The 1956 film was an in-name-only adaptation but utilized the setting of a passenger ship and retained
five songs from the original Broadway production (“Anything Goes,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the
Top,” “All Through the Night,” and “Blow, Gabriel, Blow”) and an interpolation of “It’s De-Lovely.” The
film’s “Dream Ballet” was comprised of the music from “All Through the Night” and “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall
in Love” (Paris, 1928), and the score was rounded out by three new songs with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and
music by Jimmy Van Heusen (“Ya Gotta Give the People Hoke,” “A Second-Hand Turban and a Crystal Ball,”
and “You Can Bounce Right Back”). Besides Crosby, the film starred Donald O’Connor, Zizi Jeanmarie, and
Mitzi Gaynor. The DVD was released by the Warner Brothers Archive Collection.
On February 28, 1954, a television version was shown on The Colgate Comedy Hour; the cast included
Merman (Reno), Frank Sinatra (Billy), and Bert Lahr (Moon); songs retained from the original production were
“I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top,” “Blow, Gabriel, Blow,” and the title song; and there were three
interpolations from other Porter musicals, “You Do Something to Me” (Fifty Million Frenchmen, 1929), “Just
One of Those Things” (Jubilee, 1935), and “Friendship” (DuBarry Was a Lady, 1939; this number was origi-
nally performed by Merman and Lahr in DuBarry, and here they reprised it fifteen years later). The DVD was
released by Entertainment One.
The most complete recording of the score is by EMI Records (LP # EL-7-49848-1 and CD # 7-49848-2); con-
ducted by John McGlinn, the studio cast includes Kim Criswell (Reno), Cris Groenendaal (Billy), and Jack Gil-
ford (Moon); the recording includes “Where Are the Men?” as well as the three songs cut prior to the opening
of the original 1934 production (“What a Joy to Be Young,” “Kate the Great,” and “Waltz Down the Aisle”).
Another recording of the score includes vocals by Mary Martin (with chorus and orchestra conducted by
Lehman Engel) which was released by Columbia Records (LP # CL-2582); DRG Records issued the CD, which
is paired with Mary Martin’s recording of songs from The Band Wagon.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Revival (Anything Goes); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Howard
McGillin); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Patti LuPone); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Anthony
Heald); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Bill McCutcheon); Best Director of a Musical (Jerry Zaks); Best
Scenic Designer (Tony Walton); Best Costume Designer (Tony Walton); Best Lighting Designer (Paul
Gallo); Best Choreographer (Michael Smuin)
CABARET
Theatre: Imperial Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Minskoff Theatre)
Opening Date: October 22, 1987; Closing Date: June 4, 1988
Performances: 262
Book: Joe Masteroff
Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Music: John Kander
Based on Christopher Isherwood’s 1935 novella Mr. Norris Changes Trains (published in the United States
as The Last of Mr. Norris) and his 1939 novella Goodbye to Berlin; both were later published in the 1945
collection The Berlin Stories (reissued in 1975 as The Berlin of Sally Bowles); the musical is also based
upon the stage adaptation of The Berlin Stories, the 1951 play I Am a Camera by John van Druten.
Direction: Harold Prince (Ruth Mitchell, Assistant Director); Producers: Barry and Fran Weissler (Alecia
Parker, Associate Producer, in association with Phil Witt); Choreography: Ron Field (Bonnie Walker, As-
sistant); Scenery: David Chapman (based on the original set designs by Boris Aronson); Costumes: Patricia
Zipprodt; Lighting: Marc B. Weiss; Musical Direction: Donald Chan
Cast: Joel Grey (The Emcee), Gregg Edelman (Clifford Bradshaw), David Staller (Ernst Ludwig), David Vos-
burgh (Customs Officer, Maitre D’), Regina Resnik (Fraulein Schneider), Nora Mae Lyng (Fraulein Kost),
Werner Klemperer (Herr Schultz), Ruth Gottschall (Telephone Girl), Alyson Reed (Sally Bowles); Girl
Orchestra: Sheila Cooper (Tenor Sax), Barbara Merjan (Drums), Panchali Null (Trombone), and Eve Pot-
fora (Piano); Two Ladies: Ruth Gottschall and Sharon Lawrence; Jon Vandertholen (Max); Kissing Couple:
Mark Dovey and Sharon Lawrence; Jim Wolfe (German Sailor), Mark Dovey (German Sailor), Gregory
Schanuel (German Sailor); Kit Kat Girls: Laurie Crochet, Noreen Evans, Caitlin Larsen, Sharon Lawrence,
and Mary Rotella; Stan Chandler (Waiter), Michelan Sisti (Bobby), Lars Rosager (Victor); Ensemble: Stan
Chandler, Laurie Crochet, Bill Derifield, Mark Dovey, Noreen Evans, Karen Fraction, Laurie Franks, Ruth
Gottschall, Caitlin Larsen, Sharon Lawrence, Mary Munger, Panchali Null, Steve Potfora, Lars Rosager,
Mary Rotella, Gregory Schanuel, Michelan Sisti, John Vandertholen, David Vosburgh, Jim Wolfe
The action takes place in Berlin, Germany, in 1929 and 1930, before the start of the Third Reich.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Willkommen” (Joel Grey, Company); “So What?” (Regina Resnik); “Don’t Tell Mama” (Alyson
Reed, Kit Kat Girls); “Telephone Song” (also “Telephone Dance”) (Company); “Perfectly Marvelous”
(Alyson Reed, Gregg Edelman); “Two Ladies” (Joel Grey, Ruth Gottschall, Sharon Lawrence); “It Couldn’t
1987–1988 SEASON 335
Please Me More” (aka “The Pineapple Song”) (Regina Resnik, Werner Klemperer); “Tomorrow Belongs to
Me” (Joel Grey, Stan Chandler, Waiters); “Don’t Go” (Gregg Edelman); “The Money Song” (“My father
needs money”) (aka “Sitting Pretty”) (Joel Grey, Kit Kat Girls, Fat Bankers); “Married” (Regina Resnik,
Werner Klemperer); “Fruit Shop Dance” (Regina Resnik and Sailor, Kit Kat Girls and Sailors); “Tomorrow
Belongs to Me” (reprise) (Nora Mae Lyng, David Staller, Guests)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Girl Orchestra); “Kick Line” (dance) (Joel Grey, Kit Kat Girls); “If You Could See Her”
(aka “The Gorilla Song”) (Kit Kat Girls); “Married” (reprise) (Werner Klemperer); “If You Could See Her”
(reprise) (Joel Grey, Michelan Sisti); “What Would You Do?” (Regina Resnik); “I Don’t Care Much” (Joel
Grey); “Cabaret” (Alyson Reed); Finale (Gregg Edelman, Alyson Reed, Regina Resnik, Werner Klemperer,
Joel Grey, Company)
The revival of John Kander and Fred Ebb’s Cabaret ran out the season but was nonetheless a disappoint-
ment. Joel Grey returned in his original role of the Emcee (a supporting role in the original 1966 production
that was now relegated to star billing), and although the program credited the original director Hal Prince and
original choreographer Ron Field for the revival’s direction and choreography, the program’s fine print cited
Ruth Mitchell as “Assistant Director” and Bonnie Walker (who was one of the Kit Kat Girls in the original
production) as Field’s “assistant.” So who knows who did what. And while the set designs were credited to
David Chapman, a program note indicated the designs were based on the originals created by Boris Aronson.
The book and score were revised, and so while Cliff was heterosexual in the original version, he was now
openly bisexual (his character was also depicted as bisexual in Bob Fosse’s 1972 film version of the musi-
cal). Cliff’s “Why Should I Wake Up?” was cut and he was given a new song, “Don’t Go”; Herr Schultz’s
“Meeskite” was dropped; and “I Don’t Care Much,” which had been sung by Sally for a few performances
during the original production’s New York previews, was reinstated for the revival (but was assigned to the
Emcee). Further, the revival emphasized the anti-Semitic atmosphere of Berlin and restored Grey’s punch line
for “If You Could See Her” (aka “The Gorilla Song”); in the original, Grey said the gorilla didn’t look like a
meeskite, but for the 1972 film and now the current revival, Grey said she didn’t “look Jewish at all.”
But the production never quite jelled into a satisfying evening; it lacked the necessary edge and wasn’t
compelling, and at best was like a good solid touring version rather than a first-class Broadway revival. Unlike
the film version, it wasn’t bold enough to ditch the Fraulein Schneider and Herr Shultz subplot; it didn’t use
the songs as presentational numbers (as did the movie) and instead retained them as a mix of both presenta-
tional and narrative songs; and the production wasn’t gritty enough for the material (on the other hand, the
1998 revival was laughable in its desperate attempt to be edgy and shocking, and the performers looked like
little kids all dressed up in S&M party clothes).
Frank Rich in the New York Times said it was unfair to expect Grey to carry the musical as if it were a
“star vehicle,” and he noted this would be akin to reviving Oklahoma! and making Jud the star. So instead of
a “perfectly marvelous” revival, this was a “perfectly mediocre” one. The décor looked like “tacky, stripped-
down cannibalizations” of Aronson’s original creations; costume designer Patricia Zipprodt, who had dressed
the original production, was “at less than her brilliant best”; Alyson Reed’s Sally “never remotely” suggested
her fascinating character; and Gregg Edelman’s Cliff was “so mild” that one was somewhat shocked to dis-
cover he’s supposed to be “the toast of two sexes in at least that many nations.” The headline of Douglas
Watt’s review in the New York Daily News said he was “Not ‘Bowled’ Over.” William A. Henry III in Time,
who praised the “entertainment of shocking power and perverse pleasure,” felt that by making Cliff “unmis-
takably homosexual” there was no chemistry and tension in his relationship with Sally.
Allan Wallach in New York Newsday said Cabaret was “still streaked with brilliance,” but felt the revival
hadn’t gone “far enough” in making the production as daring as Fosse’s film version; John Beaufort in the
Christian Science Monitor praised Grey’s “maturely bravura performance” and noted the performer was now
“more grotesquely sinister” than in 1966. Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News said the cast was “sen-
sational” and Reed and Edelman were “more persuasive” than their counterparts in the original production.
The musical first opened on November 20, 1966, at the Broadhurst Theatre for 1,165 performances and
won eight Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Director of a Musical, Best Composer and Lyricist, Best Chore-
ographer, Best Scenic Designer, Best Costume Designer, Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Grey), and Best
Featured Actress in a Musical (Peg Murray, in the role of Fraulein Kost).
With a screenplay by Jay Presson Allen, Fosse’s 1972 film cleared away the book’s deadwood (including
the Schneider and Schultz subplot) and focused on Sally and Cliff’s affair, but with a difference because they
both shared a male lover (Max, a character not in the stage musical). The film also added two doomed charac-
ters (the young Jewish lovers Natalia Landauer and Fritz Wendel), who were part of Christopher Isherwood’s
original stories and their stage adaptation, I Am a Camera. Most importantly, all the songs in the film were
presentational rather than narrative and thus were heard in the cabaret, in a beer garden, on the radio, or by
someone playing a piano in a boarding house. The film added two new songs by Kander and Ebb, “Mein Herr”
and a new money song, “Money, Money, Money” (“Money makes the world go around”), and a third, “Maybe
This Time,” was interpolated into the score (it had originally been recorded by Liza Minnelli in 1964). The
film retained “Willkommen,” “Two Ladies,” “If You Could See Her,” “Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” “Kick
Line,” and the title song, and “Heiraten” (“Married”) and “It Couldn’t Please Me More” were briefly heard in
radio and piano interludes. The film won eight Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Actress (Min-
nelli), Best Supporting Actor (Grey), and Best Scoring (Ralph Burns).
Following the current 1987 revival, a wildly overrated one opened on March 19, 1998, at Henry Miller’s
Theatre (then temporarily named the Kit Kat Klub, and now the Stephen Sondheim Theatre) for 2,377 perfor-
mances; it won four Tony Awards, for Best Musical Revival, Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Alan Cumming,
as the Emcee), Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Natasha Richardson), and Best Featured Actor in a Musical
(Ron Rifkin, as Herr Schultz). The production dropped three numbers (“Telephone Song,” “Meeskite,” and
“Why Should I Wake Up?”), added two from the film (“Mein Herr” and “Maybe This Time”), and reinstated
“I Don’t Care Much.” The 1998 revival was itself revived on April 24, 2014, at Studio 54 for 388 performances
(Alan Cummings was again the Emcee, and Michelle Williams was Sally).
The first London production opened on February 28, 1968, at the Palace Theatre for 336 performances, and
the cast included Judi Dench (Sally), Kevin Colson (Cliff), Barry Dennen (The Emcee), Lila Kedrova (Fraulein
Schneider), and Peter Sallis (Herr Schultz).
The script was published in hardback by Random House in 1967, and the revised script for the 1998 pro-
duction was published in a hardback edition by Newmarket Press in 1999. The Making of “Cabaret” by Keith
Garebian was published by Mosaic Press in 1999, and a second edition was republished by Oxford University
Press in 2011. Another book about the musical is Stephen Tropiano’s “Cabaret”: Music on Film, published
by Limelight in 2011.
The original Broadway cast album was released by Columbia Records (LP # KOS-3040 and # KOL-6640)
and was issued on CD by Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy Records (SK # 60533) with bonus tracks of Kander
and Ebb performing “I Don’t Care Much” and the unused songs “Roommates,” “Good Time Charlie,” and
“It’ll All Blow Over.” There are many recordings of the score, including cast albums from London, Germany,
the Netherlands, Italy, and Mexico City. Particularly noteworthy is a studio cast recording by That’s Enter-
tainment Records (# CDTER2-1210) that includes the “Fruit Shop Dance” and the finale, curtain call, and
exit music; and bonus tracks include “Don’t Go,” “I Don’t Care Much,” “Mein Herr,” “Maybe This Time,”
and “Money, Money” (which was a combination of both the stage and film “money” songs). The recording’s
cast includes Maria Friedman (Sally), Gregg Edelman (here reprising his Cliff from the 1987 Broadway revival),
Judi Dench (here Fraulein Schneider), Fred Ebb (Herr Schultz), and Jonathan Pryce (The Emcee). A 1977 Los
Angeles Harbor College production was released on a two-LP set (Audio Engineering Associates Records LP #
AEA-1160-2) and includes the complete “Telephone Song” and “Telephone Dance” sequences as well as the
“Fruit Shop Dance.”
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Revival (Cabaret); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Werner Klemperer); Best
Featured Actress in a Musical (Alyson Reed); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Regina Resnik)
DON’T GET GOD STARTED

Theatre: Longacre Theatre
Performances: 86
Book: Ron Milner (“story and idea development by” Barry Hankerson and Ron Milner)
Lyrics and Music: Marvin Winans
1987–1988 SEASON 337
Direction: Ron Milner (additional staging by Conni Marie Brazelton); Producers: Barry Hankerson and Jeffrey
Day Sharp (Reuben Cannon and Bernard Parker, Associate Producers); Scenery: Llewellen Harrison; Cos-
tumes: Victoria Shaffer; Lighting: Shirley Prendergast; Musical Direction: Steven Ford
Cast: Vanessa Bell Armstrong (Female Lead Vocalist), Ernie Banks (Wise Old Man, The Reverend), Conni Ma-
rie Brazelton (Claudette, Sister Needlove), Marilyn Coleman (Wise Old Woman), Giancarlo Esposito (Jack,
Silk), Chip Fields (Sylvia, Barbara Ann), Be Be Winans (Male Lead Vocalist), Marvin Wright-Bey (Robert,
Lawrence, Buzz); Choir: Donald Albert, Margaret Bell, Susan Dawn Carson, Victor Trent Cook, Starletta
DuPois, Patty Heaton, Keith Laws, Andrea McClurkin, Donnie McClurkin, Nadine Middlebrooks Nor-
wood, Stefone Pet’tis, Sylvia Simmons, Monique Williams, Angie Winans, Debbie Winans, Ronald Wyche
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Cry Loud (Lift Your Voice Like a Trumpet)” (Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Be Be Winans); “Slipping
Away from You” (Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Be Be Winans); “After Looking for Love” (Vanessa Bell Arm-
strong); “Change Your Nature” (Be Be Winans); “What’s Wrong with Our Love” (Vanessa Bell Armstrong,
Be Be Winans); “Don’t Turn Your Back” (Vanessa Bell Armstrong); “Turn Us Again” (Vanessa Bell Arm-
strong, Be Be Winans)
Act Two: “Abide with Me” (Hymn) (Be Be Winans); “Let the Healing Begin” (Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Be Be
Winans, Choir); “Renew My Mind” (Choir); “(The) Denied Stone” (Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Be Be Wi-
nans); “He’ll Make It Alright” (Choir); “Can I Build My Home in You”/“Bring Back the Days of Yea and
Nay” (Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Be Be Winans); “Always” (Vanessa Bell Armstrong); “I Made It” (Vanessa
Bell Armstrong, Be Be Winans); “Still in Love with You” (Be Be Winans); “It’s Alright Now” (Choir)
The revue Don’t Get God Started consisted of five sketches along with sermon-like commentary and
gospel-styled music. The sketches were cautionary in nature, and depicted sinners addicted to alcohol, co-
caine, and sex (those who repent are saved, but according to Allan Wallach in New York Newsday, a sex addict
who rejects religion “becomes a twitching lunatic in a straitjacket”). These skits were interspersed with what
Stephen Holden in the New York Times called “smugly simplistic sermonettes” by Marilyn Coleman and
Ernie Banks as an elderly pair named Wise Old Woman and Wise Old Man, who spoke to the audience about
the nature of the sinners depicted in the sketches. The sketches and the sermons were in turn peppered with
gospel songs performed by Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Be Be Winans, and a choir.
The critics felt the evening was too simplistic, but noted that unlike the gospel musical Your Arms Too
Short to Box with God the evening wasn’t a combination of a church service and a rendering of the gospel
but was instead a combination of stories and songs that focused on modern-day men and women, their bouts
with the Devil and, for some, their redemption. The production played for two-and-a-half months.
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News said the vignettes were “a series of naïve morality plays”
wedded to a “rousing, infectious score”; John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor noted that the eve-
ning was about “spiritual enlightenment” with “dramatic or broadly comic” sequences and “highly stylized”
vocalism; and Wallach noted the songs were performed with a “fervor” lacking in the “didactic” book in
which those characters who reject religion “come to a bad end” while those who accept God “find that even
their business is growing more profitable.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post indicated the stories were as “naïve and simplistic” as the episodes in
medieval miracle and morality plays but as staged “they made their point” and were “vigorously acted.” He
noted that the vignettes showed the world’s “decadence” as well as the “rising black middle class” who “it
seems are not all like that nice, wise old Mr. Cosby.”
Holden complained that the evening offered a parade of individuals beset by troubles that can easily be
cured “by a quick fix of religion” and thus the vignettes had “the depth of children’s Sunday school pageants
and the dramatic subtlety of burlesque show sketches.” As a result, the “fearful, self-righteous tone” offset
the “jubilance” of the score and he concluded that the production was “designed to appeal only to the con-
verted.”
For her album Vanessa Bell Armstrong (York Records LP # 1074; later issued on CD by Sony), the per-
former recorded three songs from Don’t Get God Started: “The Denied Stone,” “Don’t Turn Your Back,” and
“Always.”
INTO THE WOODS

“A New Musical”

Opening Date: November 5, 1987; Closing Date: September 3, 1989
Performances: 765
Book: James Lapine
Direction: James Lapine; Producers: Heidi Landesman, Rocco Landesman, Rick Steiner, M. Anthony Fisher,
Frederic H. Mayerson, Jujamcyn Theatres (Michael David, Executive Producer; Greg C. Mosher, Paula
Fisher, David B. Brode, and The Mutual Benefit Companies/Fifth Avenue Productions, Associate Produc-
ers); Choreography: Lars Lubovitch; Scenery: Tony Straiges; Costumes: Ann Hould-Ward (based on “origi-
nal concepts” by Patricia Zipprodt and Ann Hould-Ward); Lighting: Richard Nelson; Musical Direction:
Paul Gemignani
Cast: Tom Aldredge (Narrator, Mysterious Man), Kim Crosby (Cinderella), Ben Wright (Jack), Chip Zien
(Baker), Joanna Gleason (Baker’s Wife), Joy Franz (Cinderella’s Stepmother), Kay McClelland (Florinda),
Lauren Mitchell (Lucinda), Barbara Byrne (Jack’s Mother), Danielle Ferland (Little Red Riding Hood),
Bernadette Peters (Witch), Edmund Lyndeck (Cinderella’s Father), Merle Louise (Cinderella’s Mother,
Grandmother, Giant), Robert Westenberg (Wolf, Cinderella’s Prince), Pamela Winslow (Rapunzel), Chuck
Wagner (Rapunzel’s Prince), Philip Hoffman (Steward), Jean Kelly (Snow White), Maureen Davis (Sleeping
Beauty)
The action takes place “in a kingdom long ago.”
Musical Numbers
Act One: Prologue: “Into the Woods” (Company); “Cinderella at the Grave” (Kim Crosby); “Hello, Little
Girl” (Robert Westenberg, Danielle Ferland); “I Guess This Is Goodbye” (Ben Wright); “Maybe They’re
Magic” (Joanna Gleason); “I Know Things Now” (Danielle Ferland); “A Very Nice Prince” (Kim Crosby,
Joanna Gleason); “First Midnight” (Chip Zien, Tom Aldredge, Bernadette Peters, Robert Westenberg,
Chuck Wagner, Kay McClelland, Lauren Mitchell, Joy Franz, Ben Wright, Barbara Byrne, Danielle Ferland,
Edmund Lyndeck, Pamela Winslow, Merle Louise, Philip Hoffman, Joanna Gleason); “Giants in the Sky”
(Ben Wright); “Agony” (Robert Westenberg, Chuck Wagner); “It Takes Two” (Chip Zien, Joanna Gleason);
“Second Midnight” (Merle Louise, Barbara Byrne, Joanna Gleason, Parents, Children); “Stay with Me”
(Bernadette Peters); “On the Steps of the Palace” (Kim Crosby); “Ever After” (Tom Aldredge, Company)
Act Two: Prologue: “So Happy” (Company); “Into the Woods” (reprise) (Chip Zien, Joanna Gleason, Ben
Wright, Danielle Ferland, Kim Crosby); “Agony” (reprise) (Robert Westenberg, Chuck Wagner); “Lament”
(Bernadette Peters); “Any Moment” (Robert Westenberg, Joanna Gleason); “Moments in the Woods”
(Joanna Gleason); “Your Fault” (Ben Wright, Chip Zien, Bernadette Peters, Danielle Ferland); “Last Mid-
night” (Bernadette Peters); “ No More” (Chip Zien, Tom Aldredge); “No One Is Alone” (Kim Crosby,
Danielle Ferland, Chip Zien, Ben Wright); Finale: “Children Will Listen” (Bernadette Peters, Company)
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical Into the Woods was somewhat similar to their earlier
collaboration Sunday in the Park with George because its strong first act was followed by a disappointing
second one. The musical’s skewed look at fairy tales included such familiar characters as Little Red Riding
Hood (Danielle Ferland) and the Wolf (Robert Westenberg), Cinderella (Kim Crosby), Rapunzel (Pamela Win-
slow), and Jack (Ben Wright) of the giant-and-the-beanstalk incident. Added to the mix were Cinderella and
Rapunzel’s princes (Robert Westenberg and Chuck Wagner), and Snow White (Jean Kelly) and the Sleeping
Beauty (Maureen Davis) also came along for the ride.
But the musical made the huge mistake of introducing newly created fairy-tale characters, a tiresome
baker (Chip Zien), his equally tiresome wife (Joanna Gleason), and an even more tiresome (and ugly) witch
(Bernadette Peters) who just wants to be beautiful. They were shoehorned into the story as the ballast for
the framework that pulled together the traditional stories, but unfortunately the mix of familiar and newly
1987–1988 SEASON 339
created characters didn’t quite work out. The musical also trudged out the tired device of a narrator (Tom
Aldredge, who also played the role of Mysterious Man).
Everyone in the plot is looking for happiness of one sort or another, and all have familiar fairy-tale goals.
Cinderella pursues her prince, and Jack hopes to steal the beans from the local neighborhood giant. But the
baker and his wife have a more clinical problem, and perhaps would have been more at home in Baby: because
of the witch’s curse they’re unable to conceive a child, but the witch agrees to remove the curse if the baker
brings her various magical items she needs in order to become beautiful.
The show’s amusing conceit is that when the characters get what they want, they realize they aren’t all
that happy with what they got. And many of them had quirky traits, and so Little Red Riding Hood is a rather
unpleasant brat, the gloating Wolf sings of the peculiar joy of talking to someone who will soon become his
food, and Cinderella’s prince admonishes her with the fact that he was born to be charming, not sincere. De-
spite the intrusion of the new fairy-tale characters, the musical nonetheless had a witty point of view with its
somewhat selfish characters and their eventual disillusionment when dreams come true but don’t necessarily
guarantee happy-ending relief.
Unfortunately, the second half of the evening took on a dark tone that was hopelessly contrived and pre-
tentious. This half attempted to make important statements, but these were crushingly obvious and seemed
grafted into the plot to give it gravitas. Despite the loveliness of Sondheim’s concluding songs “No One Is
Alone” and “Children Will Listen,” the numbers were intrusive in the otherwise tongue-in-cheek musical.
If the book had made a convincing argument for its second-act seriousness, these songs and the somber tone
would have been organic to the evening’s structure. But the characters were instead given doses of instant
wisdom and insight in order to bring down the curtain on a solemn, smug, and slightly preachy note.
The production was further hampered by rather bland and shallow performances, and only Ferland, West-
enberg, and Wagner managed to provide spark to their songs and scenes. Otherwise, some in the cast were
either up to their old shticks or came across like refugees from a bus-and-truck tour that had been on the road
and into the woods far too long.
But Sondheim’s songs were among his best, and his second-act contributions helped make palatable the
solemnity and pretentiousness of Lapine’s book. Here was a score that was far more satisfying as a cast album,
and among the highlights were the title song, an expansive mini-opera-like piece which introduced the char-
acters and set the story in motion; “On the Steps of the Palace,” a dazzling introspective piece for Cinderella;
“Agony,” a comic duet of one-upmanship for the two princes in which each asserts that his emotions are
deeper than the other’s; “It Takes Two,” a take-home ballad for the baker and his wife; and the accusatory
quartet “Your Fault.”
With a clutch of favorable notices, the musical managed to run for almost two years, and when it closed
was Sondheim’s second-longest-running musical (after A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum).
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor praised the “enchanted evening,” which was “a triumph of
witty verse, intricate harmonies, and lilting melodies,” and the headline of William A. Henry III’s review in
Time called the musical “Some Enchanted Evening,” and the critic felt the work was Sondheim’s “best show
yet” with its “sophisticated artistic ambition and its deep political purpose.” Howard Kissel in the New York
Daily News said Into the Woods was “genuine musical theatre” and “an evening of total enchantment.”
Allan Wallach in New York Newsday said the “frothier” first act was too “meandering,” but he liked the
second because it was “richer and darker” with its message about people who “outgrow self-involvement”
when they “recognize their need for others.” And David Patrick Stearns in USA Today said the show was a
“near-perfect wedding of speech and singing” and he liked how the show “preaches responsibility, maturity
and brotherhood.”
David Lida in Women’s Wear Daily praised the “dazzling” production but said its “threadbare center”
led him to wonder just what the show was really about because the message was “slight and tacked on.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the “unworkable” musical was “lost and never recovers in
spite of a moral tacked onto the finish.” Lapine’s “concept” was the show’s “chief obstacle,” the second act
was “forlorn,” and Sondheim’s score was “surprisingly weak,” and “for the first time” in the critic’s experi-
ence he found himself becoming weary “of the almost compulsive rhyming.” Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street
Journal noted that the performances sent “mixed signals” because Wright (Jack) and Barbara Byrne (Jack’s
mother) were “played straight” while others were “pure camp” and Peters utilized her “trademark cutesy-poo
gestures.” Ultimately, Lapine had “led [Sondheim] into the woods, and Mr. Sondheim has let himself be taken
there. For everyone’s sake, he should get out. Quick.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times said Lapine’s book was “as wildly overgrown” as the musical’s forest
setting because the “confusion” of the story lines had to “be patched together to achieve a measure of coher-
ence.” Occasionally Sondheim’s “truncated” songs were “chopped off just when they got going” and many
brought “the action to a halt” when the characters “didactically” announced their “dawning self-knowledge.”
But Rich noted that the musical’s “dark thematic underside” was nonetheless “accessible,” and he speculated
that the work just might be “the tempting, unthreatening show to lead new audiences to an artist who usually
lures theatergoers far deeper, and far more dangerously, into the woods.”
The musical’s world premiere took place on December 4, 1986, at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego,
California, where the production played for fifty performances. The cast included Kim Crosby, Ben Wright,
Chip Zien, Joanna Gleason, Joy Franz, Chuck Wagner, and Merle Louise, all of whom appeared in the Broad-
way production, and others in the tryout were John Cunningham (in the roles of Narrator, Wolf, and Steward),
Ellen Foley (Witch), and Kenneth Marshall (Cinderella’s Prince). Among the songs that were cut prior to the
New York opening were “(Just Like) Last Night,” “Back to the Palace” (which was later revised as “On the
Steps of the Palace”), “Interesting Questions,” “Ready for the Woods” (possibly an early title for “Moments in
the Woods”), and “Boom Crunch!” (the latter was also performed during part of the New York preview period
and is arguably the score’s finest song; like Company’s “Another Hundred People” and Pacific Overture’s “A
Bowler Hat,” the song is the musical’s “précis” number, one that sums up the entire philosophy of the show).
Songs written for but not used in the production were “Have to Give Her Someone” and “The Plan.”
The script was published in both paperback and hardback editions by Theatre Communications Group in
1987, and an illustrated adaptation of the story by Hudson Talbott was published in paperback and hardback
editions by Crown Publishers in 1988 (a later paperback edition was issued by Scribner Paperback Fiction in
2002). The lyrics for the used, cut, and unused songs are included in Stephen Sondheim’s collection Look, I
Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981–2011) with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues,
Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany.
The original Broadway cast album was released by RCA Victor Records (LP # 6796-1-RC and CD # 6796-
2-RC), and a later CD release by Sony BMG Music Entertainment/Masterworks Broadway (# 82876-68636-2)
includes bonus tracks of songs reworked for a video adaptation for children (“Giants in the Sky,” sung by John
Cameron Mitchell; “Back to the Palace” by Kim Crosby; and “Boom Crunch!” by Maureen Moore). (There
are also demo recordings of the score which include “Boom Crunch!,” “Back to the Palace,” “Interesting
Questions,” “The Plan,” and two songs for a proposed early 1990s film version, “I Wish” and “Rainbows.”)
The original London production opened at the Phoenix Theatre on September 25, 1990, for 197 perfor-
mances and included the new song “Our Little World” (for Witch and Rapunzel); among the cast members
were Julia McKenzie (Witch), Imelda Staunton (Baker’s Wife), and Jacqueline Dankworth (Cinderella). The
cast album was issued by RCA Victor/BMG Classics Records (CD # 60752-2-RC).
The musical was revived on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 30, 2002, for 279 performances,
and the cast included Vanessa Williams (Witch), John McMartin (Narrator), Laura Benanti (Cinderella), Gregg
Edelman (Cinderella’s Prince), and Pamela Myers (Cinderella’s Stepmother). The production included “Our
Little World,” which had been written for the London production, and the cast recording was released on a
two-CD set by Nonesuch Records (# 79686-2). The show won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.
The musical was presented on public television’s American Playhouse with the original Broadway cast
and was released on DVD by Image Entertainment (# ID5967MBDVD); the DVD is also included in the six-
DVD boxed set The Stephen Sondheim Collection (# ID1753IMDVD).
The 2014 film version produced by Walt Disney was directed by Rob Marshall, and the cast included
Meryl Streep (Witch), Emily Blunt (Baker’s Wife), James Corden (Baker), Anna Kendrick (Cinderella), Chris
Pine (Cinderella’s Prince), Johnny Depp (Wolf), Tracey Ullman (Jack’s Mother), and Christine Baranski (Step-
mother). The DVD was released by Disney (# 126361), and the two-CD soundtrack was also issued by the
company (# D002076392). The film omitted a number of songs (“I Guess This Is Goodbye,” “Maybe They’re
Magic,” “First Midnight,” “Second Midnight,” “So Happy,” and “No More”) and a new one (“She’ll Be Back”)
was cut prior to release but is included as an extra on the DVD.
Other recordings of the score include a Barcelona production (Boscos Endins) which opened on Novem-
ber 22, 2007, and was released by TempsRecords (CD # TR-1113-GE08) and an “accompaniment CD” that
includes tracks with and without guide vocals (Stage Stars Records # RPT-508).
1987–1988 SEASON 341
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Into the Woods); Best Actress in a Musical (Joanna Gleason);
Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Robert Westenberg); Best Director of a Musical (James Lapine); Best
Book (James Lapine); Best Score (lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim); Best Scenic Designer (Tony
Straiges); Best Costume Designer (Ann Hould-Ward); Best Lighting Designer (Richard Nelson); Best Cho-
reographer (Lars Lubovitch)
New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award: Best Musical (1987–1988) (Into the Woods)
TEDDY & ALICE

Performances: 77
Book: Jerome Alden
Lyrics: Hal Hackady
Music: John Philip Sousa; musical adaptation and original music by Richard Kapp
Direction: John Driver; Producers: Hinks Shimberg (Glen Cross, Clarice Swan Fitzgerald, and Wilmor Four in
association with John Cutler); Choreography: Donald Saddler (additional musical staging by D. J. Giagni);
Scenery: Robin Wagner; Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge; Lighting: Tharon Musser; Musical Direction:
Larry Blank
Cast: Tony Floyd (James Amos), Karen Ziemba (Belle Hagner), David Green (J. P. Morgan, Admiral Murphy),
John Witham (Harriman, Samuel Gompers), Raymond Thorne (Henry Cabot Lodge), Gordon Stanley
(Elihu Root), Michael McCarty (William Howard Taft), Len Cariou (Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt), Beth
Fowler (Edith Roosevelt), Robert D. Cavanaugh (Ted Roosevelt, Jr.), Seth Granger (Kermit Roosevelt),
Sarah Reynolds (Ethel Roosevelt), Richard H. Blake (Archie Roosevelt), John Daman (Quentin Roosevelt),
Mary Jay (Ida Tarbell), John Remme (Wheeler), Christopher Wells (Officer O’Malley), Nancy Hume (Alice
Roosevelt), Nancy Opel (Eleanor Roosevelt), Ron Raines (Nick Longworth), Alex Kramarevsky (Franklin
Roosevelt), Ken Hilliard (Elliot Roosevelt), Pamela McLernon (Ghost); Servants, Reporters, Tea Party
Ladies, Marines, and Ambassadors: Ellyn Arons, Ruth Bormann, Kathleen Gray, Ken Hilliard, Alex Kra-
marevsky, Mark Lazore, Keith Locke, Pamela McLernon, Elizabeth Mozer, Keith Savage, Jeff Shade
The action takes place in Washington, D.C., during the years 1901–1904.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Prelude: “The Thunderer” (Orchestra); “This House” (Len Cariou, Family, Friends, Staff, Reporters);
“But Not Right Now” (Nancy Hume); “She’s Got to Go” (Michael McCarty, Gordon Stanley, Raymond
Thorne); “The Fourth of July” (Nancy Hume, Nancy Opel); “Charge” (Len Cariou, Beth Fowler, Rob-
ert D. Cavanaugh, Seth Granger, Sarah Reynolds, Richard H. Blake, John Daman); “Battle Lines” (Beth
Fowler); “The Coming-Out Party Dance” (Len Cariou, Nancy Hume, Ron Raines, Beth Fowler, Guests);
“Leg-O-Mutton” (Nancy Hume, Ron Raines, Guests); “Her Father’s Daughter” (Len Cariou); “Perfect for
Each Other” (Ron Raines); “He’s Got to Go” (Michael McCarty, Gordon Stanley, Raymond Thorne, Ron
Raines); “Wave the Flag” (Len Cariou, Beth Fowler, Nancy Opel, Robert D. Cavanaugh, Seth Granger,
Sarah Reynolds, Richard H. Blake, John Daman, John Witham, David Green, Hecklers, Supporters)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “Fourth of July” (reprise) (Len Cariou); “Fourth of July” (second reprise)
(Nancy Hume, Nancy Opel, Beth Fowler, Ladies); “(You’ve) Nothing to Lose (but Me)” (Ron Raines,
Nancy Hume); “Election Eve” (Michael McCarty, Gordon Stanley, Raymond Thorne, John Witham,
David Green, Reporters); “Perfect for Each Other” (reprise) (Nancy Hume); “Can I Let Her Go?” (Len
Cariou); “Private Thoughts” (Michael McCarty, Gordon Stanley, Raymond Thorne, Beth Fowler, Robert
D. Cavanaugh, Sarah Reynolds, Seth Granger, Richard H. Blake, John Daman, Servants, Staff, Reporters);
“This House” (reprise) (Len Cariou, Beth Fowler, Guests)
Teddy & Alice was a well-meaning attempt to create an old-time, feel-good musical with patriotic fervor
and historical incident, but it floundered badly in conception and lasted just two months on Broadway. It was
an extended look at the relationship between President Theodore Roosevelt (Len Cariou) and his daughter
Alice (Nancy Hume), but their histories and personalities were well known and unfortunately the musical
had nothing new to say about them.
The evening was devoid of suspense and surprise as it dutifully plodded its way through two acts without
ever coming to life. Yes, Teddy dotes on the supposedly irrepressible Alice (a purported madcap who offstage
propels a Stanley Steamer into a tree because she drove fifteen miles per hour in a ten-mile zone), and Jerome
Alden’s book depicted her as the typical musical-comedy soubrette, one who seems kissing cousin to Ado
Annie and Carrie Pipperidge rather than Eleanor Roosevelt (Nancy Opel). Yes, Teddy dotes on Alice a bit too
much, but any potential dark side to his paternal flutterings was neatly sidestepped (and, if developed, would
have been a very different musical). And, yes, Teddy opposes Alice’s romantic involvement with Nick Long-
worth (Ron Raines), but again history told us how that turned out, although according to the musical Teddy
gives his blessing to the nuptials only because the spirit of Alice’s mother (Pamela McLernon) encourages him
to untie the umbilical knot and let Alice be Alice.
The two title characters were essentially colorless, and they weren’t helped by Cariou and Hume’s pro-
fessional but uninspired performances, the bland choreography, and the celebrity name-dropping, a hallowed
cliché of 1940s operettas (besides Eleanor and Franklin, we also meet J. P. Morgan, Henry Cabot Lodge, and
William Howard Taft). The tiresome and almost sit-com-like story meandered along through familiar musical
comedy territory with its brood of Roosevelt children who seemed to have arrived from a bus-and-truck tour
of The Sound of Music (and hadn’t we already seen another busload of other Roosevelt children in Sunrise
at Campobello?), and Alice’s naughty-naughty-Nancy indomitability is shown when she introduces a new
dance-step (“Leg-O-Mutton”) to White House party guests (life in the old White House doesn’t get any edgier
than this!).
The score was based on music by John Philip Sousa (as adapted by Richard Kapp, who also composed at
least four uncredited songs for the production), and because Roosevelt and Sousa both lived during the same
era in Washington, D.C., the idea probably seemed like a good one during the early-conception stages of the
musical. Although Sousa’s music was always pleasant, it wasn’t quite comfortable within the context of the
show and one felt that the words of the lyrics outnumbered the notes of the music. One wished that instead
of Teddy and Alice the creators had revived one of Sousa’s operettas, such as El Capitan or The Free-Lance.
After seeing Teddy & Alice, Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News said “Bring back 1600 Pennsyl-
vania Avenue!” and Frank Rich in the New York Times exclaimed that Teddy and Alice made 1600 Penn-
sylvania Avenue look like My Fair Lady. Kissel said the lyrics were “breathtakingly inane,” and listening to
Sousa’s music set to “jabbery” lyrics was “about as pleasurable as hearing a Shakespeare sonnet being tapped
out in Morse code.” And the scene in which Alice teaches Eleanor to hula made “Annie look like a work of
serious political theatre.” Rich stated the evening “combines the educational mission of My Weekly Reader
with the entertainment agenda of a halftime show at a high-school football game,” and he noted the produc-
tion seemed to mimic the “mild” but “far superior” Mr. President by including a flag-waving finale and a First
Daughter who introduces the latest dance craze (for Irving Berlin’s 1962 musical, the finale was the patriotic
“This Is a Great Country” and the dance was “The Washington Twist”). Rich also noted that Alice’s decision
to wear a blue gown instead of a white one or a red one to her coming-out party accounted “for a good half-
hour of nail-biting dramatic suspense.”
Like his colleague Kissel, Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News was unhappy with the “yawningly
bad” Teddy & Alice, and for all its energy it had “so little to show for it!” Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street
Journal said “nothing can save the show from the simplistic story,” and Allan Wallach in New York Newsday
stated the “insistently simple” story wasn’t “especially interesting” and the music was damaged by “lack of
variety” and “trite” lyrics.
But John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor liked the “amiable musical extravaganza” with its
“rompingly choreographed” dance numbers and its “old-fashioned Broadway showmanship.” While Brian
Donlon in USA Today found the two “love stories” of Teddy and Alice and Alice and Nick “a ball of confu-
sion,” he nonetheless praised the “top-notch, bang-up” musical numbers and said the evening was “sprinkled
with a few lessons in history and some sharp, pointed political humor.” And Clive Barnes in the New York
Post said the “unexpectedly charming musical” offered “bright, nimble and witty” lyrics, direction that had
“pace and a certain elegance,” and an overall “barrel-load of fun and sentiment.”
1987–1988 SEASON 343
Barnes said Cariou brought “a dimension to his performance that is not often encountered in musical
theatre,” and Rich said the performer gave “dignity and honest enthusiasm” to his role. Wallach said the “lik-
able” Hume sang and moved “attractively,” but Rich was unhappy with her “fussy singing diction” which
“reeked” of the classroom, and he suggested her “phony ear-to-ear smiles” were “more curdled than creamy.”
During the tryout, Gordon Stanley succeeded Paul-David Richards in the role of Elihu Root, and the fol-
lowing songs were cut: “Welcome, Mr. President,” “Don’t Be Mad at Our Dad,” “Point-to-Point March,” and
“I Told You So.”
The collection Sousa for Orchestra (Essay Records CD # 1003) includes six songs from the musical: “But
Not Right Now,” “Can I Let Her Go?,” “Fourth of July,” “(You’ve) Nothing to Lose (but Me),” “Wave the
Flag,” and “Make This a House” (the latter probably a variation of “This House”).
Prior to writing the book of Teddy & Alice, Alden had written the one-man show Bully in which James
Whitmore played Teddy Roosevelt. It opened at the 46th Street (now Richard Rodgers) Theatre on November
1, 1977, and played for eight performances.
On October 19, 1996, a revised version of Teddy & Alice opened at the Seven Angels Theatre in Water-
bury, Connecticut, with John Davidson and Jennifer Lee Andrews in the title roles. Three songs were added
to the production (“A Girl Made of Lace” “Cronies’ Conspiracy,” and “I Told You So,” which had been cut
from the Broadway version); four dropped (“The Thunderer,” “Charge,” “The Coming-Out Party Dance,”
“Election Eve”); and one new song (“You Must Let Her Go”) may have been based on “Can I Let Her Go?”
PENN & TELLER

Opening Date: December 1, 1987; Closing Date: March 20, 1988
Performances: 130
Direction: Art Wolff; Director of Covert Activities: Marc Garland; Producers: Richard Frankel, Thomas Vier-
tel, and Steven Baruch; Scenery: John Lee Beatty; Lighting: Dennis Parichy
Cast: Penn Jillette, Teller
Magic and Comedy Sequences

Note: All sequences performed by Penn Jillette and Teller.
Act One: “Casey at the Bat”; “A Card Trick”; “Cups and Balls”; “Suspension”; “Domestication of Animals”;
“East Indian Needle Mystery”; “Quote of the Day”
Act Two: “Another Card Trick”; “MOFO The Psychic Gorilla”; “How We Met”; “Shadows”; “10 in 1”
Magicians and comics Penn Jillette and Teller’s previous New York revue (also titled Penn & Teller)
opened Off Broadway at the Westside Arts Theatre/Downstairs on April 18, 1985, for 666 performances. Af-
ter their current Broadway engagement, they returned on April 3, 1991, for Penn & Teller: The Refrigerator
Tour, which played at the Eugene O’Neill Theater for 103 performances, and then appeared in Penn & Teller
at the Beacon Theatre for eight showings beginning on June 6, 2000. For one week late in the run of the 2000
Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show they appeared as the narrators, and Penn & Teller on Broadway
opened at the Marquis Theatre on July 12, 2015, for a six-week limited engagement.
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News reported that Penn Jillette informed the opening-nighters that
the word “magician” usually conjured up “some greasy guy in a tuxedo” or “an aging hippy stuffing women
into boxes.” But the “tall and stocky” and “gangly farm boy” Penn and his “elfish” and “nearly silent” partner
Teller didn’t fit into the “conventional” image of magicians. In fact, they were “so funny they could succeed
as standup comics,” but magicians they were, and even to “simple card tricks” they brought a sense of “dark,
hip humor”; Marilyn Stasio in the New York Post liked the “quirky” evening, and John Beaufort in the Chris-
tian Science Monitor praised “the thinking man’s performance-art magicians,” including the sight of Teller
swallowing needles and Penn eating fire (he also reported that Penn announced the team would soon make
their first movie, Penn and Teller Get Killed, and Penn promised “We won’t let you down”).
Allan Wallach in New York Newsday said the “wildly anarchic” and “still hilarious” team was “scorn-
ful” of “wimpy” card tricks in their “demystification of magic and puncturing of everything that smacks
of theatrical pretention”; an unsigned article in Time noted that for a scene in which Teller is completely
immersed in a tank filled with water, Penn leisurely takes questions from the audience and, referring to the
now purple-faced Teller, informs the audience that “If you desperately want to be in show business, this is
what you end up doing”; and Joel Siegel on ABCTV7 exclaimed that the show was “mad, malicious, mania-
cal—but it’s magic.”
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Opening Date: January 26, 1988; Closing Date: (As of this writing, the production is still running.)
Performances: (As of this writing, the musical has played over 11,600 performances.)
Book: Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: Charles Hart; additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe
Based on the novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (book published in serial format in 1909 and
1910, and published in book form in 1910).
Direction: Harold Prince; Producers: Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Theatre Company, Inc.;
Choreography: Gillian Lynne; Scenery and Costumes: Maria Bjornson; Lighting: Andrew Bridge; Musical
Direction: David Caddick
Cast: Michael Crawford (The Phantom of the Opera), Sarah Brightman (Christine Daae), Patti Cohenour
(Christine Daae for Thursday evenings and Saturday matinees), Steve Barton (Raoul [The Vicomte de Cha-
gny]), Judy Kaye (Carlotta Giudicelli), Cris Groenendaal (Monsieur Andre), Nicholas Wyman (Monsieur
Firmin), Leila Martin (Madame Giry), David Romano (Ubaldo Piangi), Elisa Heinsohn (Meg Giry), Peter
Kevoian (Monsieur Reyer), Richard Warren Pugh (Auctioneer), Jeff Keller (Porter, Marksman), Kenneth
Waller (Monsieur Lefevre), Philip Steele (Joseph Buquet), George Lee Andrews (Don Attilio in Il Muto,
Passarino), Luis Perez (Slave Master in Hannibal), Barry McNabb (Flunky, Stagehand), Charles Rule (Po-
liceman), Olga Talyn (Page in Don Juan Triumphant), William Scott Brown (Porter, Fireman), Candace
Rogers-Adler (Page in Don Juan Triumphant), Mary Leigh Stahl (Wardrobe Mistress, Confidante in Il
Muto), Rebecca Luker (Princess in Hannibal), Beth McVey (Madame Firmin), Jan Horvath (Innkeeper’s
Wife in Don Juan Triumphant); The Ballet Chorus of the Opera Populaire: Irene Cho, Nicole Fosse, Lisa
Lockwood, Lori MacPherson, Dodie Pettit, Catherine Ulissey, and Denny Berry
Most of the action takes place in Paris at the Paris Opera House in 1881; the prologue takes place in 1911,
and one scene takes place in Peros.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Think of Me” (Judy Kaye, Sarah Brightman, Steve Barton); “Angel of Music” (Sarah Brightman,
Elisa Heinsohn); “Little Lotte” and “The Mirror” (“Angel of Music”) (Steve Barton, Sarah Brightman,
Michael Crawford); “The Phantom of the Opera” (Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman); “The Music of
the Night” (Michael Crawford); “I Remember” and “Stranger Than You Dreamt It” (Sarah Brightman,
Michael Crawford); “Magical Lasso” (Philip Steele, Elisa Heinsohn, Leila Martin, Irene Cho, Nicole Fosse,
Lisa Lockwood, Lori MacPherson, Dodie Pettit, Catherine Ulissey, Denny Berry); “Notes” and “Prima
Donna” (Nicholas Wyman, Cris Groenendaal, Steve Barton, Judy Kaye, Leila Martin, Elisa Heinsohn,
David Romano, Michael Crawford); “Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh” (Judy Kaye, Company); “Why Have
You Brought Me Here?” and “Raoul, I’ve Been There” (Steve Barton, Sarah Brightman); “All I Ask of You”
(Steve Barton, Sarah Brightman); “All I Ask of You” (reprise) (Michael Crawford)
Act Two: “Masquerade” and “Why So Silent?” (Full Company); “Notes” and “Twisted in Every Way” (Cris
Groenendaal, Nicholas Wyman, Judy Kaye, David Romano, Steve Barton, Sarah Brightman, Leila Martin,
Michael Crawford); “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” (Sarah Brightman); “Wandering Child”
1987–1988 SEASON 345
and “Bravo, Bravo” (Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman); “Don Juan Triumphant” and “The Point of No
Return” (Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman); “Down Once More” and “Track Down This Murderer”
(Full Company)
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera quickly became an unstoppable force as one of the
most popular and longest-running musicals in London and the longest-running musical in the history of
Broadway. It was an audience-pleaser of the first order, and although it had a simplistic plot, ordinary lyrics,
and a generally uninteresting score it nonetheless brought in the crowds. Perhaps it was the chandelier that
did the trick.
Based on Gaston Leroux’s novel, the story dealt with the deformed Phantom (Michael Crawford), who
haunts the Paris Opera House and lives in its subterranean labyrinth of lakes and catacombs. He falls in love
with young opera singer Christine Daae (Sarah Brightman), and is determined that the opera company will
produce his opera Don Juan Triumphant for her, but complications arise because she and Raoul (Steve Barton)
are in love. The Phantom causes havoc throughout the theatre, but ultimately realizes he must let Christine
go and resume his lonely existence in the dark, gothic world beneath the sparkling and sumptuous splendor
of the opera house.
The skeletal Beauty-and-the-Beast plot was consumed with filler material in which there was far too
much in the way of silly-twit business for the opera house managers Andre (Cris Groenendaal) and Firmin
(Nicholas Wyman), weak opera parodies for the theatre’s reigning diva Carlotta (Judy Kaye), and extraneous
numbers such as Christine’s graveyard lament to her late father (“Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again”).
The Phantom’s “big” ballad “Music of the Night” was a ponderous and lugubrious one, and at least two crit-
ics (Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News and William A. Henry III in Time) said the first notes of the
song reminded them of Frederick Loewe’s music for “Come to Me, Bend to Me” from Brigadoon (1947). But
the ominous organ music gave the title song a nice touch of mysterioso, and the second-act opening “Mas-
querade” offered a prancing opera-bouffe choral moment. By far the finest number was “All I Ask of You,” a
lush ballad with a long sweeping melodic line.
The true star of the musical was Maria Bjornson, whose lavish sets and costumes perfectly matched the
over-the-top histrionics of the melodramatic plot. “Masquerade” was performed on the grand staircase of
the opera house, and it wittily combined performers and mannequins in a show of color and cloth, and the
Phantom’s underground lair included fog and the twinkling glow from what seemed like hundreds of candles
as his gondola glided along the lake. And, of course, it was de rigueur for every show in the British Invasion
to offer a memorable scenic device or two (the junk heap and heavenly flying saucer for Cats, the skate-ways
for Starlight Express, the barricade of junk for Les Miserables, and later the helicopter for Miss Saigon), and
so Phantom had its underwhelming chandelier, which “crashed” onto the stage in slow motion as it leisurely
glided above the audience from the theatre’s ceiling to the stage itself (its journey from ceiling to stage took
so long that any opera house performer who had his wits about him would have had time to pour a cup of tea
and then move out of the way).
The musical received mostly raves from the New York critics, who seemed to go out of their way to
praise a show that was at best pleasant but no masterpiece; and they unaccountably swooned over Crawford’s
perfectly professional performance.
Frank Rich in the New York Times praised director Harold Prince and designer Bjornson for the “electrify-
ing showmanship” of their respective skills, and described the show as being “as much a victory of dynamic
stagecraft over musical kitsch as it is a triumph of merchandising uber alles.” He noted the lyrics sometimes
had “tepid greeting-card sentiments,” the choreography was “repetitive” and “presumably satirical,” and the
score contained “tiresome collegiate jokes” at the expense “of such less than riotous targets as Meyerbeer.”
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News found the evening a “spectacular entertainment,” but said if the
score was Lloyd Webber’s “best” that was “not saying a great deal.” However, the music had “an undeni-
able romantic surge,” and in regard to “All I Ask of You,” he asked, “When was the last time you heard an
unabashed love duet on Broadway?”
David Lida in Women’s Wear Daily suggested that those who wanted “spectacular imagery, exquisite
design, and special effects” would love the musical. Otherwise, the story was “barely explored,” the lyrics
were “plodding and workmanlike,” and he couldn’t recall a single lyric or note of music in the “dull mish-
mash of serious opera, opera parody and rock ’n’ roll riffs,” and “ponderous and repetitive love ballads.” But
Clive Barnes in the New York Post was beside himself in praise of the “piece of impeccably crafted musical
theatre” and he showered what he termed “extravagant praise” on Lloyd Webber’s score. For Barnes, the show
was “phantastic” and “terrific” and he said the musical flitted into New York “with effortless superiority.”
Rich predicted audiences would “be stunned by the force” of Crawford’s performance; Jack Kroll in News-
week said he was “greatly compelling” with “passionate sincerity and courageous emotional abandonment”;
and Alan Wallach in New York Newsday predicted Crawford’s “extraordinary” performance would no doubt
“be remembered for decades” and it would be hard “to imagine the musical without his magnetic presence
and eerie tenor.” But Brightman (who at the time was married to Lloyd Webber and who performed for just six
performances a week) came in for a great deal of criticism. Lida said she had a “pleasant” voice but “almost
no stage personality” and conveyed “a sort of chipmunk eagerness” throughout the evening. Rich said de-
spite her “lush” soprano she had “little competence” as an actress and simulated “fear and affection alike by
screwing her face into bug-eyed, chipmunk-cheeked poses.” Henry said she lacked “stage presence” and “star
quality” with a “vocabulary of gesture” that was “limited to a flutter of hands and a gape of astonishment,”
all of which wasn’t helped by the accent of “huge black circles of makeup around her eyes that cause her to
resemble a raccoon.” But Kissel said she was “fine” with a “cultivated” soprano that was “a bit coy-sounding
at times,” and Kroll said her interpretation of Christine had “courage” and her voice offered “a purity, focus
and sweet strength we haven’t heard on Broadway since the young Julie Andrews.”
The musical was first produced in London at Her Majesty’s Theatre on October 9, 1986, with Crawford,
Brightman, and Barton in the leads, and as of this writing is still playing there. Besides the London and Broad-
way productions, the show has played all over the world and has inspired almost twenty recordings. Because
the London principals reprised their performances for New York, there was no Broadway cast album; the
London cast album was released on a two-LP set by Polydor Records (# 8312734) and on a two-CD set by the
same company (# 831273).
The 2004 film version was released by Warner Brothers in association with Odyssey Entertainment (A
Really Useful Films/Scion Films Production); it was directed by Joel Schumacher, and the leads were Gerald
Butler (The Phantom), Emmy Rossum (Christine), and Patrick Wilson (Raoul); the soundtrack was issued by
Sony Classical and the two-DVD set by Warner Brothers (# 70299). The film included three new songs (“Learn
to Be Lonely,” “Wandering Child,” and “We Have All Been Blind”), and the DVD includes a deleted scene
(titled “No One Would Listen”).
Lloyd Webber later wrote a sequel, Love Never Dies, which opened in London at the Adelphi Theatre on
March 9, 2010, for an eighteen-month run; the book was by Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton, with additional
material by Glenn Slater and Frederick Forsyth, and the lyrics were by Slater with additional ones by Charles
Hart. The story takes place years after the events depicted in The Phantom of the Opera. Christine is married
to Raoul, and receives an offer by a mysterious impresario to appear at Coney Island’s music-hall Phantasma;
little does she know that the Phantom now lives on the grounds of the summer playground, owns the music
hall, and has lured her there. The two-CD London cast album was released by Verve Records, and a perfor-
mance filmed at Australia’s Regent Theatre in Melbourne was released on DVD by Universal (# 61121300).
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (The Phantom of the Opera); Best Actor in a Musical (Michael
Crawford); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Judy Kaye); Best Director of a Musical (Harold Prince);
Best Book (The Phantom of the Opera); Best Score (lyrics by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, music by
Andrew Lloyd Webber); Best Scenic Designer (Maria Bjornson); Best Costume Designer (Maria Bjornson);
Best Lighting Designer (Andrew Bridge); Best Choreographer (Gillian Lynne)
SARAFINA!
Theatre: Cort Theatre
Opening Date: January 28, 1988; Closing Date: July 2, 1989
Performances: 597
Book: Mbongeni Ngema
Lyrics and Music: Mbongeni Ngema and Hugh Masekela
1987–1988 SEASON 347
Direction: Mbongeni Ngema; Producers: Lincoln Center Theatre (Gregory Mosher, Director; Bernard Gersten,
Executive Producer) in association with Lucille Lortel and The Shubert Organization (The Committed
Artists Production); Choreography: Mbongeni Ngema (Ndaba Mhlongo, Additional Choreography); Scen-
ery and Costumes: Sarah Roberts; Lighting: Mannie Manim; Musical Direction: Ndaba Mhlongo
Cast: Ntomb’khona Dlamini (Magundane), Khumbuzile Dlamini (Scabha), Pat Mlaba (Colgate), Lindiwe
Dlamini (Teaspoon), Dumisani Dlamini (Crocodile), Congo Hadebe (Silence), Nhlanhla Ngema (Stimela
Sase-Zola), Mhlathi Khuzwayo (S’ginci), Leleti Khumalo (Sarafina), Baby Cele (Mistress It’s a Pity),
Nonhlanhla Mbambo (Dumadu), Linda Mchunu (China), Lindiwe Hlengwa (Lindiwe), Zandile Hlengwa
(Zandile), Siboniso Khumalo (Siboniso), Cosmas Sithole (Policeman), Thandani Mavimbela (Priest), Char-
nele Dozier-Brown (Charnele), Mubi Mofokeng (Mubi), Nandi Ndlovu (Nandi), Thandekile Nhlanhla
(Thandekile), Pumi Shelembe (Police Lieutenant), Kipizane Skweyiya (Kipizane), Regina Taylor (Regina),
Thandi Zulu (Thandi)
The action takes place in the present time at the Morris Isaacson High School in the Soweto district of Johan-
nesburg, South Africa.
Musical Numbers
Note: * = lyric and music by Mbongeni Ngema; ** = lyric and music by Hugh Masekela; *** = lyric and music
by Hugh Masekela and Mbongeni Ngema; songs without asterisks weren’t credited in the program.
Act One: Overture (*) (Band); “Zibuyile emasisweni” (“It’s finally happening”) (*) (Company); “Niyay-
ibona lento engiybonayo” (“Do you see what I see?”) (Company); “Sarafina” (**) (Mhlathi Khuzwayo,
Nhlanla Ngema); “The Lord’s Prayer” (Baby Cele, Company); “Yes! Mistress It’s a Pity” (***) (Baby Cele.
Company); “Give Us Power” (*) (Thandi Zulu, Ntomb’khona Dlamini, Baby Cele, Company); “Afunani
amaphoyisa eSoweto” (“What is the army doing in Soweto?”) (*) (Company); “Nkosi sikeleli’Afrika”
(Company); “Freedom Is Coming Tomorrow” (*) (Company)
Act Two: Entr’acte: “Excuse Me Baby, Please If You Don’t Mind Baby, Thank You” (**) (Band); “Talking
about Love” (***) (Ntomb’khona Dlamini, Kipizane Skweyiya, Baby Cele, Lindiwe Hlengwa, Company);
“Meeting Tonight” (**) (Thandekile Nhlanla, Company); “We Are Guerrillas” (Thankekile Nhlanla,
Company); “Uyamemeza ungoma” (*) (Thandi Zulu); “We Will Fight for Our Land” (*) (Thandani Ma-
vimbela, Thandi Zulu, Dumisani Dlamini, Company); “Mama” (*) (Mtomb’khona Dlamini, Thandekile
Nhlanhla, Baby Cele, Company); “Sechaba” (**) (Company); “Isizwe” (“The nation is dying”) (*)
(Thandekile Nhlanhla); “Kilimanjaro” (*) (Company); “Africa Burning in the Sun” (**) (Company);
“Stimela saseola” (*) (Nhlanhla Ngema, Company); “Olayithi” (“It’s all right”) (*) (Company); “Bring
Back Nelson Mandela” (**) (Leleti Khumalo, Company); “Wololo!” (Company)
The import Sarafina! had first been produced in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the Market Theatre in
June 1987, and its first New York production opened at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre at the Lincoln Center
Theatre on October 25, 1987, for eighty-one performances. From there, the musical transferred to Broadway
where it ran for almost six-hundred showings.
The production’s framework utilized a group of South African high school students in the present time
who perform a musical that depicts racial issues in their country, including the topics of apartheid, Nelson
Mandela’s imprisonment, and the Soweto uprising. The latter occurred when high school students boycotted
their classes in order to protest the country’s educational system and the tyrannies of racial inequality, and
the uprising led to the eventual massacre of hundreds of students.
In reviewing the Off-Broadway production, Frank Rich in the New York Times said the evening’s political
message overcame the work’s inherent structural weaknesses. The musical was a “well-meaning grab bag”
in which the dramatic events were depicted “in the manner of high-school dramatics” with “an unspecific,
generic, playacting feel that blunts their immediacy.” Further, the evening was far too long by at least thirty
minutes, but the ingratiating cast nonetheless kept “winning back the audience’s good will.” Douglas Watt in
the New York Daily News liked the “spiritedness” of the cast, but noted “the coiling and uncoiling evening
runs on much too long” and he suggested the show’s book, which was “poorly grasped through the accents,”
should “have been trimmed.”
Allan Wallach in New York Newsday stated the work was a “distillation” of both the story of political
oppression and the celebration of native music (called Mbaqanga), and he felt the music made the “greater
impact” because it was “rousing and sometimes moving” while the show itself didn’t “achieve the power of
the best South African plays.” Further, the “cheerful” music contradicted the serious events depicted in the
story. He also noted the plot was “confusing” with “narration in heavily accented English.”
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said the musical “throbs with an energy that reinforces
the urgency of its message,” but noted “the text is sometimes difficult to follow.” David Lida in Women’s
Wear Daily stated the musical was “a triumph of the spirit” with “celebratory” dances, “spine-tingling” mu-
sic, and a cast that exuded “infectious energy and good humor.”
For Clive Barnes in the New York Post, the “terrific” show sent him “whirling out into the street in a
state of dizzy exhilaration.” The musical was “alive with triumph,” the score was “glorious,” and the “vi-
brant” and “enormously talented” performers were “razor sharp” and “each and every one of them emerges,
most exceptionally, as a distinct personality.”
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News wondered how “someone who doesn’t have the correct po-
litical opinions” would react to Sarafina!, and he chose the fictional character Archie Bunker (from the CBS
television show All in the Family) as his example. In fact, Archie Bunker dominated the review and Kissel
decided that Archie would “surely” be “moved” by the musical’s “atrocity stories” and the “irresistible” cast
members. Kissel concluded his review with the curious comment that if the audience’s “earnest, frenzied
liberals” didn’t “worry” about the show’s “meaning and coherence,” then “why should Archie?”
Two songs were dropped during Off-Broadway previews, “Love Thy Neighbor” and “Market Place.”
The original South African cast album was released by Sandy Hook Records (CD # 43052), and the New
York cast album was released by RCA Victor Records (LP # 9307-1-RC and CD # 9307). The 1992 film ver-
sion was released by Miramax and was titled Sarafina! The Sound of Freedom; the soundtrack was issued by
Qwest/Warner Brothers Records (CD # 9-45060-2) and the DVD by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Musical (Sarafina!); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Leleti Khumalo); Best
Director of a Musical (Mbongeni Ngema); Best Score (lyrics and music by Mbongeni Ngema and Hugh
Masakela); Best Choreographer (Ndaba Mhlongo and Mbongeni Ngema)
RODNEY DANGERFIELD ON BROADWAY!

Performances: 6
Cast: Rodney Dangerfield, Bob Nelson
Producer: James M. Nederlander; Scenery: Steven A. Cohen
Comedian Rodney Dangerfield was of the take-my-wife-please school of stand-up comedians, and despite
his popularity with older audiences who knew him from television and Las Vegas, Stephen Holden in the New
York Times reported that many of the ticket-buyers were less than half his age because they knew Dangerfield
from recent film appearances in such comedies as Caddyshack and Back to School.
Dangerfield’s I-Don’t-Get-No-Respect routines were immensely popular and he was “the godfather of
the cutting-edge of comedy.” Further, there was “something liberating” about his “free-floating hostility.”
But his television fans might have been shocked with his raw humor, which sometimes dealt with sex, or,
as Holden reported, with “sex, physical ugliness, more sex, old age, still more sex, drugs and alcohol and yet
again more sex.”
The evening’s opening act was stand-up comedian Bob Nelson, one of Dangerfield’s protégés. Holden
noted Nelson was a “deft” sound-effects man and pantomimist and that unlike many of his ilk he worked
with props.
The concert was booked for two weeks but closed after the first.
1987–1988 SEASON 349
THE MUSIC MAN

Opening Date: February 26, 1988; Closing Date: April 10, 1988
Performances: 51
Book: Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey
Lyrics and Music: Meredith Willson
Based on an unpublished story by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey.
Direction: Arthur Masella (Claudia Zahn and James Furlong, Assistant Directors); Producer: The New York
City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General Director; Sergiu Comissiona, Music Director); Choreog-
raphy: Marcia Milgrom Dodge; Scenery: David Jenkins; Costumes: Andrew Marlay; Lighting: Duane
Schuler; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Donald Pippin
Cast: William Ledbetter (Travelling Salesman, Constable Locke), Stanley Wexler (Travelling Salesman),
Robert Brubaker (Travelling Salesman, Oliver Hix), James Clark (Travelling Salesman, Ewart Dunlop),
Jonathan Green (Travelling Salesman, Jacey Squires), Louis Perry (Newspaper Reader), Neil Eddinger
(Newspaper Reader), Rex Hays (Charlie Cowell), John Henry Thomas (Conductor), Bob Gunton (Harold
Hill), Richard McKee (Mayor Shinn), Muriel Costa-Greenspon (Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn), Jill Powell
(Zaneeta Shinn), Alexandra Steinberg (Gracie Shinn), Bridget Ramos (Alma Hix), Ivy Austin (Ethel Tof-
felmier), Lee Bellaver (Maud Dunlop), Rita Metzger (Mrs. Squires), James Billings (Marcellus Washburn),
Don Yule (Olin Britt), Leigh Munro (Marian Paroo), Brooks Almy (Mrs. Paroo), Allegra Victoria Forste
(Amaryllis), Joel Chaiken (Winthrop Paroo), Steven M. Schultz (Tommy Djilas); Ensemble: The New York
City Opera Singers and Dancers
The action takes place in River City, Iowa, during July 1912.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Rock Island” (William Ledbetter, Stanley Wexler, Robert Brubaker, James
Clark, Jonathan Green, Louis Perry, Neil Eddinger, Rex Hays, Bob Gunton); “Iowa Stubborn” (Towns-
people); “Ya Got Trouble” (Bob Gunton, Townspeople); “Piano Lesson” and “If You Don’t Mind My Say-
ing So” (Leigh Munro, Brooks Almy, Allegra Victoria Forste); “Goodnight, My Someone” (Leigh Munro,
Allegra Victoria Forste); “Columbia, Gem of the Ocean” (Townspeople); “Seventy-Six Trombones” (Bob
Gunton, Townspeople); “Sincere” (Don Yule, Robert Brubaker, James Clark, Jonathan Green); “The Sad-
der-but-Wiser Girl” (Bob Gunton, James Billings); “Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little” (Muriel Costa-Greenspon,
Ladies) and “Goodnight Ladies” (Don Yule, Robert Brubaker, James Clark, Jonathan Green); “Marian the
Librarian” (Bob Gunton, Leigh Munro, Ladies); “My White Knight” (Leigh Munro); “The Wells Fargo
Wagon” (Townspeople)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “It’s You” (Don Yule, Robert Brubaker, James Clark, Jonathan Green, Muriel
Costa-Greenspon, Ladies); “Shipoopi” (James Billings, Townspeople); “Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little” (re-
prise) (Muriel Costa-Greenspon, Ladies); “Lida Rose” (Don Yule, Robert Brubaker, James Clark, Jonathan
Green” and “Will I Ever Tell You?” (Leigh Munro); “Gary, Indiana” (Joel Chaiken, Leigh Munro, Brooks
Almy); “Till There Was You” (Leigh Munro, Bob Gunton); “Goodnight, My Someone” (reprise) (Leigh
Munro) and “Seventy-Six Trombones” (reprise) (Bob Gunton); “Minuet in G” (Boys’ Band); Finale (Com-
pany)
The New York City Opera Company’s production of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man was one of a
brief series of musical comedy revivals which the company presented for an uninterrupted run of a few weeks
each spring. (For more information about the musical, see entry for the 1980 revival.)
Stephen Holden in the New York Times said the “frigid” production was “as far away from the show’s
essence as Iowa is from Vienna.” The “cavernous” stage of the New York State Theatre created an “imper-
sonal space” that gave “no sense of community” to the citizens of River City except for their “membership in
the same corps of singing actors.” Further, Bob Gunton’s Harold Hill was “almost sinister in its tight-lipped
tension” in which he “barely” cracked a smile and seemed “like a grim, skulking outsider.” Although her
singing offered “a rich frilly lyric soprano,” Leigh Munro’s Marian was too “stiff and proper” and the “ro-
mantic chemistry” between her and Gunton was “nil.” But supporting players Richard McKee and Muriel
Costa-Greenspon in the respective roles of the “windbag” mayor and his “flighty” wife gave the “strongest
performances” of the evening.
THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS

“A New Musical”

Performances: 61
Book and Lyrics: Lee Breuer
Music: Bob Telson
Based on the play Oedipus at Colonus (written circa 406 BC) by Sophocles in the translation by Robert
Fitzgerald; the musical also incorporated passages from two other plays by Sophocles, Oedipus Rex (428
BC) and Antigone (written circa 441 BC), both in the translations by Dudley Fitts and Robert Fitzgerald.
Direction: Lee Breuer; Producers: Dodger Productions, Liza Lorwin, Louis Busch Hager, Playhouse Square
Center, and Fifth Avenue Productions (Michael David, Edward Strong, and Sherman Warner, Executive
Producers) (The Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Newark, Inc., Associate Producer); Scenery: Alison Yerxa; Cos-
tumes: Ghretta Hynd; Lighting: Julie Archer; Musical Direction: Bob Telson
Cast: Morgan Freeman (Visiting Pastor, Messenger), Clarence Fountain and The Five Blind Boys of Alabama:
Bobby Butler, James Carter, J. T. Clinkscales, Reverend Olice Thomas, and Joseph Watson (Oedipus),
Isabell Monk (Evangelist, Antigone), Reverend Earl F. Miller (Assistant Pastor, Theseus), Jevetta Steele
(Ismene) and The J. D. Steele Singers (J. D. Steele, Fred Steele, Janice Steele, and Jevetta Steele), Robert
Earl Jones (Church Deacon, Creon), Kevin Davis (Congregation Member, Polyneices); Choragos (Choir):
Martin Jacox and J. J. Farley and The Soul Stirrers (J. J. Farley, Jackie Banks, Martin Jacox, Ben Odom,
and Willie Rogers; Sam Butler Jr. (The Singer), Carolyn Johnson-White (The Choir Soloist); Chorus: The
Institutional Radio Choir—Altos: Betty Cooper, Angie Haddock, Vincent Haddock, Crystal Johnson, Se-
lene Jones, Shellie Jordan, Janet Napper, Pamela Poitier, Arnita Tillman, and Candace White; Sopranos:
Regina Berry, Deborah Britt, Sharon R. Driscoll, Lady Peachena Eure, Mary Fischer, Parthea Hil, Josie
Johnson, Carolyn Johnson-White, Francine Thompkins, and Joan Fate Wright; Tenors: Charles Bellamy,
Jim Craven, Walter Dixon, Haywood Gregory, Sidney Hull, Kevin Jackson, Roscoe Robinson, Billy Steele,
Ezekiel Tobby, Carl Williams Jr., and Jeff Young; J. D. Steele (Guest Choir Director); Little Village (Band
[Orchestra])
The action takes place in a Pentecostal church.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Welcome” and “Quotations” (Morgan Freeman); “The Invocation” (“Live Where You Can”)
(Choir with Jevetta Steele); “Recapitulation from Oedipus the King” (Isabell Monk, Reverend Earl F.
Miller); “Oedipus and Antigone Enter Colonus” (Isabell Monk, Morgan Freeman); “Ode to Colonus”
(“Fair Colonus”) (Willie Rogers); “Stop, Do Not Go On” (Sam Butler Jr., with J. J. Farley and The Soul
Stirrers; bridge: Clarence Fountain and The Five Blind Boys of Alabama); “Choral Dialogue” (“Who Is This
Man?”) (Martin Jacox, Morgan Freeman); “Ismene Comes to Colonus” (“How Shall I See You through
My Tears?”) (The J. D. Steele Singers, Jevetta Steele); “Narrative of Ismene” (Isabell Monk); “Tableau:
Polyneices and Eteocles” (J. D. Steele, Fred Steele); “The Rite” (Isabell Monk, Morgan Freeman, Clarence
Fountain); “Tableau: Antigone and Ismene” (Janice Steele, Jevetta Steele); “Dialogue: Chorus Questions
Oedipus” (Martin Jacox, Morgan Freeman); “The Prayer” (“A Voice Foretold”) (Clarence Fountain and
The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Sam Butler Jr.); “Oedipus Is Welcomed at Colonus”: (1) “Peroration”
(Reverend Earl F. Miller) and (2) “Jubilee” (“No Never”) (Martin Jacox with The Soul Stirrers; bridge: Clar-
ence Fountain and The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Choir, Ensemble); “Creon Comes to Colonus and The
1987–1988 SEASON 351
Seizure of the Daughters” (Robert Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Clarence Fountain and The Five Blind
Boys of Alabama); “Oedipus Curses Creon” (Suite: “All My Heart’s Desire”) (Clarence Fountain and The
Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Choir, Robert Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman); “Choral Ode” (“Numberless Are
the World’s Wonders”) (The J. D. Steele Singers, J. D. Steele, Janice Steele, Choir)
Act Two: “Oedipus Laments” (“Lift Me Up”) (Clarence Fountain and The Five Blind Boys of Atlanta); “Poly-
neices’ Testimony and Supplication” and “Oedipus’ Curse” (Kevin Davis, Morgan Freeman, Clarence
Fountain); “Evil” (Sam Butler Jr.); “You Break My Heart” (J. D. Steele, Fred Steele, Ben Odom); “Poem”
(“Love Unconquerable”) (Isabell Monk); “Preaching with Tuned Response” (Morgan Freeman, Clarence
Fountain); “Special Effect” (“Ah! Heaven’s Height Has Cracked!”) and “The Teachings” (Morgan Free-
man, Reverend Earl F. Miller); “The Descent of Oedipus”: (1) “Oh, Sunlight of No Light” (Sam Butler Jr.)
and “Eternal Sleep” (Willie Rogers and The Soul Stirrers); “Mourning” (Isabell Monk, Reverend Earl F.
Miller, Jevetta Steele, Janice Steele); “Doxology, the Paen” (“Lift Him Up”) (Choir with Carolyn Johnson-
White); “The Sermon” (Morgan Freeman); “Closing Hymn” (“Now Let the Weeping Cease”) (Willie Rog-
ers and The Soul Stirrers, Choir, Ensemble); “Benediction” (Morgan Freeman)
The Gospel at Colonus was a sometimes uneasy mix of Greek myth and American black Pentecostal
church service. It retold Sophocles’s tragedy in which the dying Oedipus, who has suffered and repented for
sins he committed in innocence, is granted spiritual redemption. But the epic story was divided among brief
book and church service scenes and musical interludes. And instead of one performer acting and singing the
role, it was shared by one actor (Morgan Freeman) and six singers (Clarence Fountain and The Five Blind Boys
of Atlanta) and thus inadvertently achieved a Brechtian distance that made it impossible for the audience to
focus upon and relate to Oedipus’s plight.
The critics praised Bob Telson’s score, but one or two suggested the evening would have been better
served as a straight gospel service without the trappings of ancient myth. Despite many respectable reviews
and two over-the-moon raves, the musical closed just shy of a two-month run and the New York Times re-
ported that the production’s losses were in the range of $1.4 million.
Frank Rich in the New York Times found Telson’s score “an explosion born of fusion” in which various
styles of music (such as gospel, jazz, rock, and pop) were performed by singers who seemed “engaged in a vo-
calizing Olympics held in gospel heaven.” But Lee Breuer’s book was “far from seamless,” and his direction
was “surprisingly retrograde” in “form and static staging.” The idea of merging the two distinct styles was
“superficial” with “Ivy League bull-session cleverness,” but ultimately the “glib intellectual convenience”
distorted and diluted both ancient Greece and modern music. And because the book scenes were “lengthy
regurgitations of Sophocles” and the musical numbers “sometimes regurgitate the regurgitations,” Rich said
“one soon gets restless between song cues.” Linda Winer in New York Newsday suggested the “crossover
adventure” was a “late-night brainstorm” that should have been quashed in the morning because the gods of
ancient Greece were “simply not interchangeable” with the notion of one God, and “the classic notion of fate
is inconsistent with Christianity.”
David Patrick Stearns in USA Today said that “only intermittently” did the musical make “good the-
atre” and the use of multiple performers playing Oedipus was “confusing.” And while “Sophocles mavens”
wouldn’t like the musical, fans of gospel music would have “to wade through a lot of tedious Oedipus stuff.”
But John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor liked the “unique and stirring” production, and David
Lida in Women’s Wear Daily and Jack Kroll in Newsweek went into gush-overload. Lida said the show was
“the most exciting and original musical I’ve seen since I became a drama critic.” He found the show “a rous-
ing theatrical experience that should fulfill the Broadway audience’s hunger for spectacle,” and he hoped it
would run in New York “for years.” As for Kroll, the musical was one of the “most marvelous” of the decade
and was “based on one of the most inspired ideas of any time.” The show was a “sunburst of joy” which
seemed “to touch the secret heart of civilization itself.”
The Gospel at Colonus was first produced as a work-in-progress at the ReCherChez Studio for the Avant-
Garde Performing Arts at the Washington Square United Methodist Church on December 23, 1981, and was
later performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Carey Playhouse on November 8, 1983, for two slightly
separated engagements that totaled thirty performances. Besides appearing in the Broadway production, Mor-
gan Freeman was also in the Brooklyn engagement. There are two cast recordings of the musical; the Brooklyn
production was recorded by Warner Brothers Records (LP # 1-25192) and a Philadelphia staging at the Ameri-
can Music Theatre Festival was released by Elektra/Nonesuch Records (LP # 9-79191-1).
The musical was shown on public television’s Great Performances on November 8, 1985, and was re-
leased on videocassette and DVD by New Video Group, Inc. The script was published in paperback by Theatre
Communications Group in 1993.
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Book (Lee Breuer)
OBA OBA
“The Brazilian Extravaganza”

Performances: 46
Producers: Franco Fontana (Dino Cuzzoni, Coproducer); Choreography: Roberto Abrahao (Soraya Bastos and
Luis Bocanha, Assistant Choreographers); Musical Direction: Mario Ruffa
Cast: Eliana Estevao, Nilze Carvalho, Toco Preto, Jaime Santos, Bebeto, Beicola, Borracha, Brecho, Chita,
Concheta, Soraya Bastos, Tome de Bebedouro, Luis Bernardo, Luis Bocanha, Waldir Cavalcanti, Jose Ro-
berto Ferreira, Marquinho da Dona Geralda, Claudia Jacomo, Ledinha da Mangueira, Cobra Mansa, Olga
Maria, Wilson Mauro, Lucia Helena Maximo, Claudinho Nascimento, Marcos Negao, Milani Nicolau,
Gerson du Pandeiro, Pedro Pottier, Soninha Toda Puro, Miguel do Repinique, Marta Sargentelli, Roberto
Silva, Rosemary Silva, Vivian Machado Soares, Lindete Souza, Marcia Souza, Wilmar Vieira, Paulo Xavier;
Ensemble: Claudio Sargentelli, Cristino Ricardo, Dalto Macedo, Garcia de Aragao, Iole Fernandes, Lu-
celita Barros, Maria Elza de Jesus, Monica Gonçalves, Nino, Ondina Lopes, Vera Lima
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Xica da Silva” (Rosemary Silva, Wilmar Vieira, Company); “Homage to ‘Baiao’” (including songs
“Tico Tico” and “Urubu malandro”) (Nilze Carvalho, Toco Preto); “Samba de roda” (Toco Preto, Gerson
Pandeiro, Milani Nicolau, Claudia Jacomo, Concheta, Ledinha da Mangueira, Lindete Souza, Marta Sar-
gentelli, Olga Maria, Rosemary Silva, Soninha Toda Pura, Vivian Machado Soares); “Chorinho” (includ-
ing songs “Brasileirinho” and “Delicado,” both with music by Waldir Azevedo) (Nilze Carvalho, Toco
Preto); “Homage to the Northeast” (Jaime Santos, Company); “Brazil capela” (Eliana Estevao); “Homage
to the Bossanova and to Brazilian Music of the Seventies” (Eliana Estevao, Nilze Carvalho, Wilson Mauro,
Waldir Cavalcanti); “Homage to Brazilian Music of the Sixties” (including songs “Manha de Carnaval,”
“Samba de uma nota so,” and “Garota de Ipanema”) (Eliana Estevao, Maria Sargentelli, Olga Maria,
Soninha Toda Pura, Soraya Bastos); “Tribute to the ‘Brazilian Bombshell’ Carmen Miranda” (Nilze Carv-
alho, Eliana Estevao, Lindete Souza, Company)
Act Two: “Macumba” (Ledinha de Mangueira, Lindete Souza, Bebeto, Gerson do Pandeiro, Olga Maria, Luis
Bocanha, Jose Roberto Ferreira, Maria Sargentelli, Company); Afro-Brazil Folk Songs and Dances: (1)
“Berimbau Medley” (Luis Bocanha, Gerson do Pandeiro, Brecho, Claudinho Nascimento, Luis Bernardo,
Roberto Silva, Tome de Bebedouro, Waldir Cavalcanti, Wilson Mauro, and Jaime Santos); (2) “Capoeira
of Angola” (Bebeto, Beicola, Borracha, Chita, Cobra Mansa, Luis Bocanha, Marcos Negao, Claudia Ja-
como, Concheta, Lindete Souza, Marcia Souza, Marta Sargentelli, Olga Maria, Rosemary Silva, Soninha
Toda Pura, Soraya Bastos, Vivian Machado Soares); (3) “Macuele” (Brecho, Claudia Jacomo, Claudinho
Nascimento, Jose Roberto Ferreira, Lindete Souza, Helena Maximo, Luis Bernardo, Marcia Souza, Marta
Sargentelli, Paolo Xavier, Roberto Silva, Soraya Bastos, Tome de Bebedouro, Waldir Cavalcanti, Wilmar
Vieira); and (4) “Acrobatic Capoeira” (Bebeto, Beicola, Borracha, Chita, Cobra Mansa, Luis Bocanha, Mar-
cos Negao); “Rhythm Beaters” (Gerson do Pandeiro, Bebeto, Borracha, Luis Bocanha, Marquinho da Dona
Geralda, Miguel do Repinique, Milani Nicolau, Pedro Pottier); “Show of Samba Dancers” (Olga Maria,
Rosemary Silva, Soninha Toda Pura); “Grand Carnival” (Company)
1987–1988 SEASON 353
The Brazilian import Oba Oba (which was the name of a nightclub in Rio de Janeiro and seems to trans-
late as roughly “Oh, boy, oh, boy”) opened for a limited Broadway run after playing nine months at the Alad-
din Hotel in Las Vegas. The dance revue had originally premiered in Brazil in 1984 and toured such countries
as Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, and Israel. The critics compared it to a latter-day Folies Bergère and to
a 1950s New York nightclub revue that might have been seen at the Latin Quarter or the Copacabana, and
indeed Clive Barnes in the New York Post suggested the evening would have been “old-fashioned 30 years
ago.” Stephen Holden in the New York Times indicated the revue was more in the nature of “a theatricalized
MGM-style musical brochure that reinforces stereotypical images” of Brazil as the land of “nonstop carnival.”
The evening was a mixture of dances on the order of the samba and music of the bossa nova variety,
and there were popular songs (such as “The Girl from Ipanema”) and folk songs. Along the way there was a
second-act finale that saluted the “Brazilian Bombshell” Carmen Miranda (who was actually born in Portu-
gal), “Acrobatic Capoeria” and an energetic display of acrobatic dancing, and medleys of popular Brazilian
songs from the 1960s and 1970s. For the finale, the huge production number “Grand Carnival” found some of
the performers dancing in the aisles with game ticket-holders as an avalanche of balloons dropped from the
theatre’s ceiling.
There was also much in the way of female nudity, and, according to Don Nielsen in the New York Daily
News, “muscled guys in designer jock straps.” In the same newspaper, Douglas Watt reported that one mem-
ber of the cast strummed an electric guitar while the instrument was held “behind his head, between his legs
and other positions,” and the critic suspected “Ed Sullivan would have grabbed him in a second.” Further,
the acrobatic dancers performed “dizzying turns and flips,” and for the Carmen Miranda tribute all the chorus
girls wore the requisite headdresses of Technicolored fruit and flowers.
An unsigned review in Women’s Wear Daily also praised the “wonderful” acrobatic dancers, but said the
production was better suited to Las Vegas and Atlantic City than to New York. On the other hand, the show
was better than the “pretentious spectacles” Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. Holden found
the evening a “circusy nightclub pageant” and advised his readers to “imagine the Radio City Music Hall’s
Magnificent Christmas Spectacular with a samba beat.” Barnes noted that the show lacked the “unifying”
presence of a major star and suggested the revue was the “kind of extravaganza” which wasn’t “quite extrava-
ganza enough” and needed about two-million more dollars in order “to be the spectacular evening it clearly
aspires to be.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor compared the production to “old-fashioned
vaudeville” and reported the décor as “a riot of jungle colors and gaudy curtains.”
The current revue was followed up by two more visits: Oba Oba ’90 (Marquis Theatre on March 15,
1990, for forty-five performances) and Oba Oba ’93 (Marquis Theatre on October 1, 1992, also for forty-five
performances).
MAIL
“A New Musical”
Theatre: Music Box Theatre

Performances: 36
Book and Lyrics: Jerry Colker
Music: Michael Rupert
Direction: Andrew Cadiff; Producers: Michael Frazier, Susan Dietz, Stephen Wells, and The Kennedy Center/
ANTA (Kenneth Biller, Associate Producer); Choreography: Grover Dale (Stephen Jay, Assistant Choreog-
rapher); Scenery and Projections: Gerry Hariton and Vicki Baral; Multi-Media Production: Nelson & Sixta;
Costumes: William Ivey Long; Lighting: Richard Nelson; Musical Direction: Tom Fay
Cast: Michael Rupert (Alex), Mara Getz (Dana), Rick Stockwell (Radio Announcer, Life Exec, Billy Ray Binger,
Con Ed Men, Hunter, Mr. Stansbury, Pitchman), Mary Bond Davis (Radio Singer, Mama Utility, Brun-
hilda, Operator, Lois T. Wertshafter), Alan Muraoka (Life Exec, Assistant, Con Ed Men, I.R.S. Auditor,
Takeuchi Fujimoto), Robert Loftin (Life Exec, Assistant, Con Ed Men, Boy Scout, Crackerface Callahan),
Brian (Stokes) Mitchell (Franklin), Antonia Ellis (Sandi), Robert Mandan (Max), Michele Pawk (Kathy Sue
Binger, Power Lady, Democratic Party Delegate, Candi Suwinski), Louise Hickey (Power Lady, Gypsy,
Harmony Steinberg); The Pitchpeople: Mary Bond Davis, Robert Loftin, Alan Muraoka, Michele Pawk,
Rick Stockwell, Louise Hickey

The action takes place during the present time in New York City.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Monolithic Madness” (Michael Rupert); “Gone So Long” (Mary Bond Davis);
“Hit the Ground Running” (Mara Getz, Michael Rupert); “It’s Your Life” (Alan Muraoka, Robert Loftin,
Rick Stockwell); “Cookin’ with Steam” (lyric by Jerry Colker, music by Brian Mitchell and Michael Ru-
pert) (Brian Mitchell); “It’s Just a Question of Technique” (Antonia Ellis, Michael Rupert); “It’s None of
My Business” (Robert Mandan); “Crazy World” (Mara Getz); “Ambivalent Rag” (Michael Rupert); “It’s
Your Life II” (Alan Muraoka, Robert Loftin, Rick Stockwell); “You Better Get Outta Town” (Michele
Pawk, Rick Stockwell, Alan Muraoka, Robert Loftin); “We’re Gonna Turn Off Your Juice” (Louise Hickey,
Michele Pawk, Mary Bond Davis, Alan Muraoka, Rick Stockwell, Robert Loftin); “The World Set on Fire
by a Black and a Jew” (Brian Mitchell, Michael Rupert); “Where Are You?”/”Where Am I?” (Mara Getz);
“Family Ties” (Robert Mandan); “One Lost Weekend” (Antonia Ellis, Michael Rupert, Mara Getz); “Junk
Mail”/“Disconnected” (Ensemble); “Helplessness at Midnight” (Mary Bond Davis); “What Have You Been
Doing for the Past Ten Years” (Michael Rupert, Ensemble); “A Blank Piece of Paper” (Michael Rupert)
Act Two: “Sweepstakes” (Michael Rupert, Rick Stockwell, Mary Bond Davis, Robert Loftin, Alan Muraoka,
Michele Pawk, Louise Hickey); “It’s Getting Harder to Love You” (Mara Getz, Mary Bond Davis, Michele
Pawk, Louise Hickey); “Publish Your Book” (Antonia Ellis, Michael Rupert, Mary Bond Davis, Robert
Loftin, Alan Muraoka, Michele Pawk, Rick Stockwell, Louise Hickey); “Ambivalent Rag II” (Michael
Rupert); “Pages of My Diary” (Mara Getz, Michael Rupert, Mary Bond Davis, Michele Pawk, Louise
Hickey); “One Step at a Time”/“Ambivalent Rag III” (Michael Rupert, Mary Bond Davis, Robert Lof-
tin, Alan Muraoka, Michele Pawk, Rick Stockwell, Louise Hickey); “Don’t Count on It” (Antonia Ellis,
Michael Rupert); “Friends for Life” (Brian Mitchell, Michael Rupert); “Twenty-Nine Years Ago” (Robert
Mandan, Michael Rupert); “Sweepstakes” (reprise) (Mary Bond Davis, Robert Loftin, Alan Muraoka, Mi-
chele Pawk, Rick Stockwell, Louise Hickey); “A Blank Piece of Paper” (reprise) (Michael Rupert); Finale:
“Crazy World” (Michael Rupert, Mara Getz)
It was strictly hate Mail as far as the critics were concerned, and they had a field day with the musical’s
title: “Mail Best Left Unopened” was the headline for Clive Barnes’s review in the New York Post, and he
proclaimed that the musical was a “dead letter” sent “to the wrong address.” The headline for Linda Winer’s
notice in New York Newsday said the show was for “The Dead-Letter Slot” and she suggested that Mail
should “have been stamped ‘return to sender.’” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said Mail didn’t “deliver” and he
too felt it should be returned to sender because it was “a third-class musical that through some postal service
error was misdelivered to Broadway.” Howard Kissel’s headline in the New York Daily News found the show
a “Post-Card Production.” And the headline for Douglas Watt’s notice in the same newspaper succinctly
stated “Junk Mail.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the missives in Mail made him wish the post office would dis-
courage all letter-writing by charging five dollars to send a first-class letter. This Mail was so “anonymous” it
might well have been addressed to “Occupant,” and he speculated the musical might actually be “a surrepti-
tious advertisement for Federal Express.” The barrage of negative notices did in the show, and it lasted just
thirty-six performances. According to the Times, the musical closed at a loss of $2.5 million.
The far-fetched plot dealt with twenty-nine-year-old Jewish New Yorker Alex (Michael Rupert), who has
commitment issues with just about everyone is his life. He’s also the author of five unpublished books (all
“satirical-comical-autobiographical novels”) and because of a rather early mid-life crisis he has completely
disappeared for four full months (it seemed a stretch that someone so young had enough emotional baggage
to warrant such middle-aged-styled angst). As the musical begins, Alex has returned to his apartment after his
four-month sojourn and goes through all the mail that’s piled up, including letters from family and friends.
(He seemingly vanished off the face of the Earth for four months and they wrote him letters? Did no one think
to call the police or check the hospitals?)
The musical’s gimmick was that all of Alex’s mail comes to life, and thanks to breakaway sets and trap-
doors, the letter-writers emerge from windows, closets, the bathtub, the refrigerator, and the couch in order
1987–1988 SEASON 355
to confront him with comments and accusations. Among the accusers are his girlfriend, Dana (Mara Getz);
his best friend, Franklin (Brian Mitchell); his literary agent, Sandi (Antonia Ellis); and his father, Max (Robert
Mandan, whom Winer noted was “as Jewish as the St. Patrick’s Day parade”). And not only do the letters
materialize, the bills and junk mail make appearances, too (including threats from Con Ed about his unpaid
utility bills, requests from Life magazine to subscribe, and the good news that he may be a million-dollar
sweepstakes winner). It was telling that a few critics found the junk-mail moments more interesting than
the characters themselves. But for all the hoopla about Alex’s essentially undefined problems (which were
apparently of the lack-of-commitment variety), the musical suggested that reading your mail is the best way
to resolve your emotional issues (Rich noted that by the finale Alex has suddenly reconciled himself to those
he’s heretofore spurned and alienated).
Winer wondered why we should care about Alex, who had “no personality” (and because his apartment
walls were decorated with old license plates and college pennants he clearly had “no taste”). Kissel called him
an “uninteresting” and “self-confessed jerk.” Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal noted it was “hard to
take the personal problems of the young hero seriously.” And Rich found him a “cipher” with a “grab bag of
attributes and psycho-babble that fails to add up to a person.”
Rich also said the score suffered from a “bad case of Sondheimitis” and the plot reflected the styles of
Sondheim and Harold Prince’s concept musicals (Company for the first act and Follies for the second). Winer
found the score “pseudo-Sondheim,” and John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor suggested the score
was “presumably an homage to Sondheim.” But Barnes reported the music sounded “like Marvin Hamlisch
zapped and muzaked,” and Kissel noted some songs were cute but mostly “obnoxious” and in general were as
“facile and vapid as the characters” who sang them. One or two critics pounced on the lyrics, including one
which rhymed “vasectomy” with “expect of me.”
During the tryout, Jonelle Allen played Sandi and was succeeded by Antonia Ellis; and the following songs
were dropped: “You Left Me Flat,” “Dana Dear,” “If We’re Gonna Go All the Way It’s Up to You,” “Call Your
Mother,” “Help o’ God,” “Ducks in a Row,” “Worldwide Success,” “Tentative Interest,” “Tentative Interest
II,” “Men Make Me Sick,” “Happy Birthday, You Little Schmuck,” “I Did It, Dad,” “Not with Me,” “The
Bombardment,” “A Quiet Perspective,” “Alex, You Creep,” and “By the Same Token.”
No doubt the critics were especially let down by Mail because the show’s creative team had enjoyed a
modest but enjoyable success with their Off-Broadway musical 3 Guys Naked from the Waist Down, which
dealt with stand-up comedians (as did the current season’s Late Nite Comic), and opened at the Minetta Lane
Theatre on February 5, 1985, for 160 performances (Colker wrote the lyrics and book, Rupert the music, and
Cadiff directed). Colker, Scott Bakula, and John Kassir were the three guys, and for Mail Colker was Rupert’s
standby and during the Washington, D.C., tryout went on for Rupert at least once.
MICHAEL FEINSTEIN IN CONCERT

Theatre: Lyceum Theatre
Performances: 62
Special Material: Bruce Vilanch
Direction: Christopher Chadman; Producers: Ron Delsener (Jonathan Scharer and Peter Kapp); Scenery: An-
drew Jackness; Lighting: Beverly Emmons; Musical Direction: Elliot Finkel
Cast: Michael Feinstein
Musical Numbers
Note: All songs performed by Michael Feinstein. The program didn’t list musical numbers, and the alphabeti-
cal list below reflects those songs mentioned in various newspaper reviews of the concert.
“Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (independent song; lyric and music by Irving Berlin); “Be Careful, It’s My Heart”
(1942 film Holiday Inn; lyric and music by Irving Berlin); “Can-Can” (Can-Can, 1953; lyric and music
by Cole Porter); “Fascinating Rhythm” (Lady, Be Good!, 1924; lyric by Ira Gershwin, music by George
Gershwin); “Forty-Second Street” (1933 film 42nd Street; lyric by Al Dubin, music by Harry Warren);
“I Can Dream, Can’t I?” (Right This Way, 1938; lyric by Irving Kahal, music by Sammy Fain); “I Got
Rhythm” (Girl Crazy, 1930; lyric by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin); “I Love a Piano” (Stop!
Look! Listen!, 1915; lyric and music by Irving Berlin); “I Only Have Eyes for You” (1934 film Dames; lyric
by Al Dubin, music by Harry Warren); “I Want to Hear a Yankee Doodle Tune” (Mother Goose, 1903; lyric
and music by George M. Cohan); “I Won’t Send Roses” (Mack & Mabel, 1974; lyric and music by Jerry
Herman); “I’ll Be Seeing You” (Right This Way, 1938; lyric by Irving Kahal, music by Sammy Fain); “Isn’t
It Romantic” (1932 film Love Me Tonight; lyric by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers); “It Only Hap-
pens When I Dance with You” (1948 film Easter Parade; lyric and music by Irving Berlin); “Loopin’ the
Loop” (cut from Chicago, 1975; lyric by Fred Ebb, music by John Kander); “(Our) Love Is Here to Stay”
(1938 film The Goldwyn Follies; lyric by Ira Gershwin, music by George Gershwin); “Lullaby of Broad-
way” (1935 film Gold Diggers of 1935; lyric by Al Dubin, music by Harry Warren); “Lulu’s Back in Town”
(1935 film Broadway Gondolier; lyric by Al Dubin, music by Harry Warren); “Lydia, The Tattooed Lady”
(1939 film At the Circus; lyric by E. Y. Harburg, music by Harold Arlen); “Never Never Land” (Peter Pan,
1954; lyric by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, music by Jule Styne); “Not Another Song about Paris”
(lyric and music by Dave Frishberg); “Sail Away” (1950 London musical Ace of Clubs; later used in New
York musical Sail Away, 1961 [which was produced in London in 1962]; lyric and music by Noel Coward);
“Something Good Will Come from That” (lyricist unknown; music by Harry Warren); “Taking a Chance
on Love” (Cabin in the Sky, 1940; lyric by John Latouche and Ted Fetter, music by Vernon Duke); “Time
Heals Everything” (Mack & Mabel, 1974; lyric and music by Jerry Herman); “Sing a Tropical Song” (1943
film Happy Go Lucky; lyric by Frank Loesser, music by Jimmy McHugh); “Wasn’t It Romantic?” (lyric
by Marshall Barer, music by Hugh Martin); “Where Do You Start?” (lyric by Alan Bergman and Marilyn
Bergman, music by Johnny Mandel); “You Keep Coming Back Like a Song” (1946 film Blue Skies; lyric
and music by Irving Berlin); “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby” (1938 film Hard to Get; lyric by
Johnny Mercer, music by Harry Warren); “You’re My Everything” (The Laugh Parade, 1931; lyric by Mort
Dixon and Joe Young, music by Harry Warren)
Saloon-singer and pianist Michael Feinstein made his Broadway debut in this limited-engagement concert
which was extended twice and played for almost two months. Feinstein was accompanied by a six-man band
led by pianist Elliot Finkel, and the program included segments devoted to the songs of Irving Berlin and Harry
Warren as well as to such topics as travel.
John S. Wilson in the New York Times said Feinstein sang “with a soft, warm intimacy” which took
on “a brassy ring when he rises to a climactic belt.” But he complained that many songs were reduced “to
a few lines each” which left the numbers “in a blur of unresolved lyrics and melodies.” Clive Barnes in the
New York Post praised Feinstein’s “effortless theatrical personality”; David Patrick Stearns in USA Today
said Feinstein’s singing had “never been better” but he felt the evening needed a “unifying thread” to hold
it together and make it more than “a miscellaneous collection of songs”; Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street
Journal found Feinstein an “impeccable cabaret performer”; and Alan Bunce in the Christian Science Monitor
said the singer made music “transparent, radiant, and fun.” Stuart Troup in New York Newsday noted Fein-
stein’s “faithfulness to compositions is spellbinding.” The second act opened with a “rollicking excursion”
of Broadway show tunes, and Feinstein and Finkel occasionally performed “brightly” in dueling-pianos style.
But the headline of Howard Kissel’s review in the New York Daily News proclaimed “He’s Fine, It’s Pleas-
ant . . . Ho-Hum.” The critic said Feinstein was “a skillful pianist and an engaging performer” who wasn’t
“exceptional” and couldn’t “generate enough excitement to fill a stage.” Instead of “a pretty, Johnny Mathis-
like sound,” Kissel wanted “real theatre energy” and “a sense of the songs as miniature dramas.”
Feinstein returned to Broadway in two more concerts, Michael Feinstein in Concert: Isn’t It Romantic
(which was a return engagement of the current concert) and Michael Feinstein in Concert: Piano and Voice
(John Golden Theatre, October 2, 1990; thirty performances); and, with Dame Edna Everage (Barry Humphries),
in the intimate revue All About Me (Henry Miller’s Theatre, March 18, 2010; twenty performances).
1987–1988 SEASON 357
CHESS
“A New Musical”

Performances: 68
Book: Richard Nelson
Lyrics: Tim Rice
Music: Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus
Direction: Trevor Nunn; Producers: The Shubert Organization, 3 Knights Ltd., and Robert Fox Ltd. (Gatchell
& Neufield Ltd., Executive Producers); Choreography: Lynne Taylor-Corbett; Scenery: Robin Wagner;
Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge; Lighting: David Hersey; Musical Direction: Paul Bogaev
Cast: Neal Ben-Ari (Gregor Vassey), Gina Gallagher (Young Florence), Philip Casnoff (Freddie), Judy Kuhn
(Florence), David (David-James) Carroll (Anatoly), Harry Goz (Molokov), Kurt Johns (Nickolai), Dennis
Parlato (Walter), Paul Harman (Arbiter), Marcia Mitzman (Svetlana), Richard Muenz (Joe), Eric Johnson
(Harold); Ensemble: John Aller, Neal Ben-Ari, Suzanne Briar, Steve Clemente, Katherine Lynne Condit,
Ann Crumb, David Cryer, R. F. Daley, Deborah Geneviere, Kurt Johns, Eric Johnson, Paul Laureano,
Rosemary Loar, Judy McLane, Jessica Molaskey, Richard Muenz, Kip Niven, Francis Ruivivar, Alex San-
toriello, Wysandria Woolsey, Karen Babcock, Craig Wells
The action in the prologue takes place in Budapest, Hungary, in 1956, and the remaining action takes place
during the present time in Bangkok, Thailand; New York City’s Kennedy Airport; and Budapest.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “The Story of Chess” (Neal Ben-Ari); “Press Conference” (Philip Casnoff, Judy Kuhn, Reporters);
“Where I Want to Be” (David Carroll); “How Many Women” (Judy Kuhn, Philip Casnoff); “Merchandis-
ers’ Song” (Dennis Parlato, Merchandisers); “U.S. Versus U.S.S.R.” (Harry Goz, American and Soviet
Delegates); “Chess Hymn” (Paul Harman, Company); “Quartet” (“A Model of Decorum and Tranquility”)
(Harry Goz, Judy Kuhn, Paul Harman, David Carroll); “You Want to Lose Your Only Friend?” (Judy Kuhn,
Philip Casnoff); “Someone Else’s Story” (Judy Kuhn); “One Night in Bangkok” (Philip Casnoff, Company);
“Terrace Duet” (Judy Kuhn, David Carroll); “So You Got What You Want” (Philip Casnoff, Judy Kuhn);
“Nobody’s Side” (Judy Kuhn); “Anthem” (David Carroll)
Act Two: “Arbiter’s Song” (Paul Harman, Company); “Hungarian Folk Song” (Company); “Heaven Help My
Heart” (Judy Kuhn); “No Contest” (Philip Casnoff, Dennis Parlato); “You and I” (David Carroll, Judy
Kuhn, Marcia Mitzman); “A Whole New Board Game” (Philip Casnoff); “Let’s Work Together” (Den-
nis Parlato, Harry Goz); “I Know Him So Well” (Judy Kuhn, Marcia Mitzman); “Pity the Child” (Philip
Casnoff); “Lullaby” (“Apukad Eros Kezen”) (Neal Ben-Ari, Judy Kuhn); “Endgame” (David Carroll, Philip
Casnoff, Company); “You and I” (reprise) (David Carroll, Judy Kuhn); “Anthem” (reprise) (Judy Kuhn)
Chess received mostly dismissive reviews, but of all the so-called “British Invasion” musicals it was one
of the finest and deserved a better fate than its two months on Broadway. Here was a musical with an intrigu-
ing story, complex and not always likable characters, and fresh subject matter, but unfortunately most critics
and audiences were in the mood for cats, trains, and phantoms.
The musical was based on a popular 1984 concept album that sold over two-million copies; the music
was by the singing-group ABBA’s composers Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus and the lyrics by Tim Rice,
and eventually two hit songs emerged from the score, “One Night in Bangkok” and “I Know Him So Well.”
The leading performers for the album were Elaine Paige (Florence Vassey), Murray Head (Freddie Trumpet),
and Tommy Korberg (Anatoly Sergievsky), and other roles on the recording were sung by Denis Quilley and
Barbara Dickson.
The first stage production opened in London on May 14, 1986, at the Prince Edward Theatre and played
for three years. It was originally slated for direction by Michael Bennett, who was succeeded by Trevor Nunn
when Bennett became ill, and the cast included the three principals on the concept recording along with
Kevin Colson, Siobhan McCarthy, and Peter Karrie in supporting roles.
Nine months before the London premiere, David Richards in a Washington Post article dated September
11, 1985, reported that the American production of Chess would open nine months after the London version.
The musical was booked for the National Theatre in Washington, D.C., for a twelve-week run beginning in
December 1986 in a $5-million production financed by The Shubert Organization. Michael Bennett would di-
rect and choreograph, and others on the production team would be Robin Wagner (décor), Theoni V. Aldredge
(costumes), and Tharon Musser (lighting).
But there was no pre-Broadway engagement, and instead the musical opened in New York in April 1988
after an extended preview period. The radically revised and redesigned show now cost $6.2 million to produce,
and the new book by Richard Nelson focused on Florence, who was given a new song, the haunting “Someone
Else’s Story.”
The story was set against Cold War intrigues, which were symbolized by the World Chess Championship
between the insufferably arrogant American Freddy (Philip Casnoff) and the cool and calm Russian Anatoly
(David Carroll) as they play their matches in Bangkok and Budapest. Hungarian-born Florence (Judy Kuhn)
is both Freddie’s second and his lover, but soon leaves him for the married Anatoly, who defects to the West
with her. In Budapest for the second match, Anatoly and Florence discover that his wife Svetlana (Marcia
Mitzman) has arrived, and the two women have an amicable meeting in which both acknowledge their love
for him. Meanwhile, the Russian and American agents make backstreet deals: the Russians want Anatoly
back, and if he agrees to return to his homeland, the KGB will arrange for a reunion between Florence and
her father Gregor (Neal Ben-Ari). And so for the first time since she was four years old, Florence finally sees
her father.
In exchange for the family reunion, Anatoly plans to return to Russia and Svetlana, and he and Florence
meet one last time when they ruefully note they will “go on pretending / Stories like ours / Have happy
endings.” Once Anatoly’s flight takes off, Florence discovers she was duped by both the Russians and the
Americans: the man she met was not her father, and the charade was devised as a means to induce Anatoly
to return to Russia because the two governments had secretly arranged for Anatoly’s return in exchange for
the release of a captive CIA agent. Florence is devastated: her country has deceived her and she’s forever lost
her only love.
The rich score included a number of lush ballads, including “In Someone Else’s Story,” “Terrace Duet,”
“Heaven Help My Heart,” “I Know Him So Well,” and “You and I,” the latter a soaring, spine-tingling mel-
ody and one of the most powerful and touching ballads in recent musicals. Freddie’s “Pity the Child” was a
bravura moment that analyzed his essentially unlikable character, and Anatoly’s “Anthem” was a moving
number that brought down the first-act curtain. The “Merchandisers’ Song” was amusingly cynical in its look
at marketing; and there were a series of lyrically and musically complex and exciting songs that dealt with
political intrigue, “Quartet” (“A Model of Decorum and Tranquility”), “(Nobody’s on) Nobody’s Side,” and
“Endgame.”
A few critics complained about the seemingly out-of-place “One Night in Bangkok,” and in truth the song
was more natural in the context of the concept album and the British production because it and the deleted-
for-Broadway “Merano” were essentially companion pieces that introduced each act and commented on the
countries that were hosting the chess championship. Originally, the musical’s two locales were a Swiss-like
nation and Bangkok, and each song made references to musicals by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein
II and employed radically different music, “Merano” with its “Edelweiss”-inflected melody and “Bangkok”
with its occasionally staccato rap sound. With the revised script and the substitution of Budapest for Merano,
“Bangkok” was a colorful crowd-pleaser that now seemed shoehorned into the story.
For the Broadway version, the opening number “The Story of Chess” also suffered. Its complex, infor-
mation-filled lyric was perhaps lost in a staging where a father sings to a little girl that “Each game of chess
means there’s one less / Variation left to be played.” The London production instead presented the number
in a chilly, surreal staging that included masque-like performers dressed as life-sized chess pieces who acted
out the lyric as they moved about on the stage, which resembled a white-and-black chess board lit from un-
derneath by white light as the chess pieces themselves were bathed in blue lighting.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said Chess had “the theatrical consistency of quicksand” with an “in-
coherent and jerry-built” plot and mostly “broad or inept performances” by the supporting players. But David
Carroll was “impressive” and brought “real fire” as well as “sweetness” to his character. Linda Winer in New
York Newsday found the lyrics “unpredictable” and the music “uneven,” but said Carroll was “endearing”
and sang “like a star,” Casnoff made the audience “pay attention” despite a character who was an “obnoxious
combination of rock star and Ugly American,” and Kuhn had a “lovely” and “natural quality.”
1987–1988 SEASON 359
The headline in Howard Kissel’s review for the New York Daily News said he was “‘Chess’ Bored,” and
the critic suggested the musical had been written “by two committees not in very close touch” with one
another. Clive Barnes in the New York Post found the evening a “little banal” in its attempt “to show real
people in serious situations,” but he praised the “remarkably fine” Carroll and Casnoff, and said Kuhn was
“terrific, full voiced” and “intensely focused” as the “Hungarian sparrow crushed by the fall of the Iron Cur-
tain.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor felt the production was more “wearing” than “moving”
but praised the “affecting” songs and the “excellent” singers. And David Patrick Stearns in USA Today said
the evening was a “stalemate” and “a bit of a mess.”
John Simon in New York said the plot was “consistently confused, the characterization confusingly
inconsistent, and the tragic outcome thoroughly uncompelling.” But Robin Wagner’s Dreamgirls-inspired
set of twelve triangular towers spun about and created various theatrical spaces from which “a suggestive,
usually chilling, image materializes.” And Casnoff’s “Pity the Child” offered “anger and pathos” which won
Simon over to both the character’s often “callow and disagreeable” personality and to the show itself. Humm
in Variety suggested the musical “lacks the ingredients for long-run prosperity” but noted Nelson’s book
“attempted with some success to develop characters of psychological depth, with an overlay of pointedly
sardonic political commentary.”
William A. Henry III in Time hailed the “angry, difficult, demanding and rewarding show, one that pushes
the boundaries of the form” with “one of the best rock scores ever produced in the theatre” and “superb”
leading players who were “willing to be complex and unlikable.”
The Broadway cast album was released by RCA Victor Records (LP # 7700-1-RC and CD # 7700-2-RC),
and the script of the Broadway production was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1991. The script
of the London production is included in “Chess”: The Making of the Musical by William Hartston, which was
published in hardback by Pavilion Books in 1986 and includes dozens of color photographs from the British
version and provides glimpses of the striking production designs that were jettisoned for New York.
Virtually every fully staged production and every concert version of Chess differs in one way or another
in respect to the details of the plot and the songs used. One suspects that a full-length recording that includes
every song written for Chess would require three CDs, and probably only a master’s thesis could keep up with
the intricacies of plot and song variations in the different productions.
The original concept album was released by RCA Victor Records on a two-LP and two-CD set (CD #
PCD2-5340), and besides the Broadway cast album there are a number of recordings: Chess in Concert (1994),
a two-CD set recorded live in Sweden and sung in English with a cast that includes Tommy Korberg (Mono
Music Records # MMCD-010-2); a two-CD set of the 2000–2001 Danish tour, sung in English (Columbus Re-
cords CD # 81851); a two-CD set of a 2002 Swedish production (sung in Swedish) with Korberg (Mono Music
Records # MMCD-019); and Chess in Concert (2008), a two-CD set recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall,
London, with Josh Groban (Anatoly), Idina Menzel (Florence), and Adam Pascal (Freddie) (Reprise Records #
517635-2). Other recordings of the score were issued on single CD sets by Tring Records (CD # GRF-344), Big
Eye Records, and AIS Records.
The 2008 concert was also released on DVD by Warner Brothers (# 2-517636).
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Actor in a Musical (David Carroll); Best Actress in a Musical (Judy Kuhn)
ROMANCE ROMANCE
(Two one-act musicals, The Little Comedy and Summer Share)
“Two New Musicals”

Opening Date: May 1, 1988; Closing Date: January 14, 1989
Performances: 297
Book and Lyrics: Barry Harman
Music: Keith Herrmann
Direction: Barry Harman (Edward Marshall, Assistant Director); Producers: Dasha Epstein, Harve Brosten,
and Jay S. Bulmash (produced in association with George-Henry and Marvin A. Krauss); Choreography:
Pamela Sousa; Scenery: Steven Rubin; Costumes: Steven Jones; Lighting: Craig Miller; Musical Direction:
Kathy Sommer
Note: Romance Romance was an evening of two one-act musicals, The Little Comedy and Summer Share.
Act One—The Little Comedy

Based on the short story “The Little Comedy” by Arthur Schnitzler (as translated by George Edward Reyn-
olds).
The action takes place in Vienna during the turn of the twentieth century.
Cast: Scott Bakula (Alfred Von Wilmers), Alison Fraser (Josefine Weninger), Robert Hoshour (“Him”), Debo-
rah Graham (“Her”)
Musical Numbers
“The Little Comedy” (Scott Bakula, Alison Fraser); “Goodbye, Emil” (Alison Fraser); “It’s Not Too Late”
(Scott Bakula, Alison Fraser); “Great News” (Scott Bakula, Alison Fraser); “Oh, What a Performance!”
(Scott Bakula, Alison Fraser); “I’ll Always Remember the Song” (Scott Bakula, Alison Fraser); “Happy,
Happy, Happy” (Scott Bakula); “Women of Vienna” (Scott Bakula); “Yes, It’s Love” (Alison Fraser); “A
Rustic Country Inn” (Scott Bakula, Alison Fraser); “The Night It Had to End” (Alison Fraser); “The Little
Comedy” (reprise) (Scott Bakula, Alison Fraser)
Act Two—Summer Share

Based on the 1898 play Pain de ménage by Jules Renard (as translated by Max Gulack).
The action takes place in the Hamptons during August of the current year.
Cast: Robert Hoshour (Lenny), Deborah Graham (Barb), Scott Bakula (Sam), Alison Fraser (Monica)
Musical Numbers
“Summer Share” (Company); “Think of the Odds” (Deborah Graham, Robert Hoshour); “It’s Not Too Late”
(reprise) (Scott Bakula, Alison Fraser); “Plans A & B” (Alison Fraser, Robert Hoshour); “Let’s Not Talk
about It” (Scott Bakula, Deborah Graham); “So Glad I Married Her” (Company); “Small Craft Warnings”
(Deborah Graham, Robert Hoshour); “How Did I End Up Here?” (Alison Fraser); “Words He Doesn’t Say”
(Scott Bakula); “My Love for You” (Robert Hoshour, Deborah Graham); “Moonlight Passing through a
Window” (Scott Bakula); “Now” (Alison Fraser); “Romantic Notions” (Company); “Romance, Romance”
(Company)
Romance Romance was an evening of two one-act musicals that viewed sex, love, and romance (and
not necessarily in that order) from the perspectives of life in Vienna around 1900 and the Hamptons during
the present time. The Little Comedy took place in Old Vienna and depicted worldly demimondaine Josefine
(Alison Fraser) and well-to-do playboy Alfred (Scott Bakula) who meet one day in a park where both pretend
to be poor. She’s taken on the guise of a seamstress, and he the role of a struggling artist. Much of the book
consisted of letters the two write to friends about their relationship, and when their self-described “little
comedy” of “pure operetta” is over, Alfred agrees to take Josefine on a luxurious vacation. As the curtain
falls, he seems to view their relationship as one of man and mistress, but it’s clear she believes their future
will be one as husband and wife.
Summer Share dealt with two couples, Sam (Bakula) and Barb (Deborah Graham) and Monica (Fraser) and
Lenny (Robert Hoshour), who share a house in the Hamptons for a few weekends over the summer. Sam and
Monica have been good friends for years, and they decide this summer may be the right time to have an affair.
But perhaps Sam is less interested than Monica, who accuses him of being too staid (“Your idea of being ad-
venturous is moving a piece of furniture”). Ultimately, both couples decide that dreamy “romantic notions”
are perhaps better than actual romantic flings.
1987–1988 SEASON 361
Walter Goodman in the New York Times praised the “charm and intelligence” of Romance Romance and
liked the way the evening glided “from Vienna wry to Hampton rue.” Keith Herrmann’s score was “divert-
ing if not distinctive” with a “pseudo-fin de siècle lilt” for the first act and a “pop-rock beat” in the second.
Goodman praised Fraser’s “thoroughly winning” performance, and Clive Barnes in the New York Post said
Bakula had “the makings of a major Broadway star.” For the most part, Barnes found the book and lyrics
“neat, adroit, and wittily pertinent” but felt the score was “musically unmemorable and emotionally inau-
dible.” Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal liked the musical’s “admirable” modesty and felt the lyrics
and music captured the “bittersweet mood” of the stories (but he noted Summer Share lacked the “bite” and
“originality” of The Little Comedy).
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News found the lyrics “smart” and the music “bubbly and ardent,”
but otherwise decided the “literate” book was too “arch and clever” and kept the audience at an emotional
distance; in the same newspaper, Douglas Watt said the two one-act musicals were “at best pretty little di-
vertissements” and noted that while the music was influenced by Frederick Loewe, it failed to create that
composer’s “effortlessly memorable melodies.”
David Patrick Stearns in USA Today found Bakula and Fraser “extremely winning” performers, said Barry
Harmon’s direction, book, and lyrics maintained “a light touch without being superficial,” and he suggested that
Herrmann’s music was “serviceable” but lacked “distinction.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor
said the evening was both “musical and comic” and he liked the “period-sounding” songs in The Little Comedy,
which were accompanied by the “truly light fantastic” array of choreographer Pamela Sousa’s gallops, polkas,
and waltzes, which were “smoothly executed” by Hoshour and Graham. Linda Winer in New York Newsday
said The Little Comedy was “a small delight and rather dear” while Summer Share was “more pedestrian and
predictable but not oppressively simpleminded.” As a result, the “unpretentious” double-bill which cost less
than $1 million to produce had “taste.” The first act was in the style of A Little Night Music and the second
somewhat like Company, but the evening was not “one of Sondheim’s musical offsprings” because “on its own
unassuming terms” Romance Romance was “a modest attempt to get back into the musical mainstream.”
As Romance/Romance, the two musicals were first presented Off Off Broadway at the Actor’s Outlet The-
atre on November 16, 1987, for thirty-seven performances. Except for Dennis Parlato, who was succeeded by
Scott Bakula, the Off-Off-Broadway cast members Alison Fraser, Deborah Graham, and Robert Hoshour were
in the Broadway production. For Broadway, the songs in The Little Comedy remained the same; for Summer
Share, “Think of the Odds,” “Moonlight Passing Through a Window,” and “Romance, Romance” were added,
and “A Confession,” “Friendships Like Ours” and “When It Happens” were cut. The title song was performed
by the company for Summer Share, and was also heard in the show on a recording by an uncredited Nell
Carter. Only one number (“It’s Not Too Late”) was performed in both The Little Comedy and Summer Share.
The cast album was released by MCA Records (LP # MCA-6252), and the CD by That’s Entertainment
Records (# CDTER-1161). In 1989, the script was published in two editions, a special hardback edition by
the Fireside Theatre Book Club and a paperback by Samuel French, Inc. In 1992, the musical was shown on
the Arts & Entertainment Television Network with John Herrera, Susan Moniz, John DeLuca, and, from the
Broadway cast, Deborah Graham; the television version was released on video cassette.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Musical (Romance Romance); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Scott Bakula);
Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Alison Fraser); Best Book (Barry Harman); Best Score (lyrics by Barry
Harman, music by Keith Herrmann)
CARRIE
“The Musical”

Performances: 5
Book: Lawrence D. Cohen
Lyrics: Dean Pitchford
Music: Michael Gore

Based on the 1974 novel Carrie by Stephen King.
Direction: Terry Hands (Louis W. Scheeder, Assistant Director); Producers: The Friedrich Kurz Royal Shake-
speare Company Production (produced in association with Whitecap Productions, Inc., and Martin Ba-
randes); Choreography: Debbie Allen; Scenery: Ralph Koltai; Costumes: Alexander Reid; Lighting: Terry
Hands; Musical Direction: Paul Schwartz
Cast: Betty Buckley (Margaret White), Linzi Hateley (Carrie White), Charlotte D’Amboise (Chris), Paul
Gyngell (Tommy), Darlene Love (Miss Gardner), Gene Anthony Ray (Billy), Sally Ann Triplett (Sue);
Ensemble: Jamie Beth Chandler (Jamie), Catherine Coffey (Cath), Michele du Verney (Michele), Michelle
Hodgson (Shelley), Rosemarie Jackson (Rose), Kelly Littlefield (Kelly), Madeleine Loftin (Maddy), Michelle
Nelson (Michelle), Mary Ann Oedy (Mary Ann), Suzanne Maria Thomas (Squeezie), Gary Co-Burn (Gary),
Kevin Coyne (Kevin), David Danns (David), Matthew Dickens (Matthew), Eric Gilliom (Eric), Kenny Lin-
den (Kenny), Joey McKneely (Joey), Mark Santoro (Mark), Christopher Solari (Chris), Scott Wise (Scott)
The action takes place during the present time in an unidentified city.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “In” (Darlene Love, Girls); “Dream On” (Girls, Linzi Hateley); “Carrie” (Linzi Hateley); “Open Your
Heart” (Betty Buckley, Linzi Hateley); “And Eve Was Weak” (Betty Buckley, Linzi Hateley); “Don’t Waste
the Moon” (Sally Ann Triplett, Paul Gyngell, Charlotte D’Amboise, Gene Anthony Ray, Girls, Boys);
“Evening Prayers” (Linzi Hateley, Betty Buckley); “Unsuspecting Hearts” (Darlene Love, Linzi Hateley);
“Do Me a Favor” (Sally Ann Triplett, Paul Gyngell, Charlotte D’Amboise, Gene Anthony Ray, Girls,
Boys); “I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance” (Betty Buckley)
Act Two: “Out for Blood” (Charlotte D’Amboise, Gene Anthony Ray, Boys); “It Hurts to Be Strong” (Sally
Ann Triplett); “I’m Not Alone” (Linzi Hateley); “When There’s No One” (Betty Buckley); “Wotta Night!”
(Girls and Boys); “Unsuspecting Hearts” (reprise) (Darlene Love, Linzi Hateley); “Heaven” (Paul Gyngell
with Sally Ann Triplett, Darlene Love, Linzi Hateley, Betty Buckley, Girls, Boys); “Alma Mater” (Girls,
Boys, Darlene Love); “The Destruction” (Linzi Hateley); “Carrie” (reprise) (Betty Buckley)
The legendary flop Carrie was a musical of many firsts: The First Menstruation Musical, The First Bully-
ing-by-Pig’s-Blood Musical, The First Death-by-Laser Musical, and The First Mother-and-Daughter Mutual-
Murder Musical. And for its time it was also the biggest financial bomb in Broadway history, with a reported
loss of almost $8 million.
The notorious theatrical train wreck ran for five official performances (and sixteen previews) and was the
season’s second shortest-running musical (Late Nite Comic bested Carrie by closing after just four showings).
The New York opening night had been set for April 27, May 1, May 4, and then finally for May 12, and at
least one of the postponements was officially blamed on those always pesky scenery problems.
The musical was based on Stephen King’s 1974 potboiler and its over-the-top 1976 campy film version
(the screenplay was by Lawrence D. Cohen, who also wrote the musical’s book). In many respects, Carrie was
a reunion of sorts for Fame folk. The musical’s lyricist Dean Pitchford and composer Christopher Gore had
written the songs for the 1980 film Fame and won the Academy Award for the title song; the musical’s cho-
reographer Debbie Allen had appeared in Fame, and then later directed, choreographed, and starred in many
of the episodes of the television series based on the movie (and she was later in the film’s 2009 remake); and
cast member Gene Anthony Ray had appeared in both the film and television versions of Fame. Cast member
Betty Buckley played Carrie’s mother Margaret, and in the film version of Carrie had played the role of the
gym teacher (Miss Collins for the film and Miss Gardner for the musical). For the stage production, popular
singer Darlene Love (whose recording of “Da Doo Ron Ron” was a big hit in the 1960s) played Miss Gardner.
The critics were stunned by the evening’s hilarious ineptitude and its ludicrous presentation. Variety
reported that of the musical’s twenty-three notices, four were favorable, one was mixed, and eighteen were
unfavorable. At sell-out status the show’s weekly box-office take was $447,846 at a fifty-dollar top-ticket
price, but for the final week of performances (three previews and five regular showings) the musical filled 62
percent of the seats and grossed $134,259 in ticket sales (the amount was on the low side because of comp
seats as well as those set aside for the critics).
1987–1988 SEASON 363
For the inverted Cinderella story, the heroine gets to go to the ball (that is, the high-school prom) but
ends up as Miss Cinders when she incinerates everyone in sight. The shy, awkward, and insecure Carrie
(Linzi Hateley) has been shunned by her high-school classmates, and her abusive, sexually repressed mother
Margaret is certifiable in her religious fanaticism. At one point, she slaps Carrie and then pushes her down a
trapdoor (Margaret also takes a liking to mostly black dresses and prefers to go barefoot whenever possible).
When Carrie is invited to the prom and is crowned prom queen, her classmates conspire to humiliate her by
drenching her in pig’s blood, but this prom queen unchained gets even by killing them all through the use of
her convenient handy-dandy telekinetic powers.
More than one critic was reminded of the 1983 debacle Moose Murders, a comedy-mystery which became
the poster child for Broadway incompetence, and indeed Carrie quickly became known as the Moose Mur-
ders of musicals. Everyone agreed that Hateley and Buckley did what they could with their material, but no
performer could overcome the chaotic and confused production and its foolishly memorable moments. There
was of course Broadway’s first menstruation scene in which Carrie and the high school girls are in the gym’s
steamy shower room in various states of dishabille when Carrie has her first period for all to witness. Later,
mother-dearest Margaret helpfully explains in song (“And Eve Was Weak”) that this physical function is a
curse placed upon all women because Eve succumbed to temptation.
And there was more blood in “Out for Blood,” in which a group of teens seek out and kill a pig for its
blood, and at least three critics were delighted to share a sampling of its lyric (“It’s a simple little gig / You
help me kill a pig”). David Richards in the Washington Post mentioned that “oink” sounds wafted from the
orchestra pit during the slaughter of the unfortunate porker (and in this case perhaps a turkey would have
been a more appropriate animal). Linda Winer in New York Newsday noted that the musical seemed to take
place in a large city, and so she wondered how the high school kids managed to find such a convenient pig
to slaughter.
And when the pig’s blood is poured on Carrie, it was an understated moment. John Simon in New York
reported that from a small spill-proof bucket Carrie was “bedaubed slowly and carefully, as if a makeup
person were powdering a star between takes of a movie,” and Frank Rich in the New York Times noted the
blood looked like “strawberry ice-cream topping.” Carrie of course takes umbrage at this offense and is thus
compelled to do what any self-respecting telekinetic girl would do, and so in the “destruction” scene she in-
cinerates everyone in sight when she turns the stage into an inferno of laser beams which are aided by a hazy
smoke-screen scrim and red light.
And one can’t forget the big powder-puff ballet. (Well, not really a ballet, but.) When Carrie gets ready for
the prom she sits at her bedroom vanity and (with the help of black lighting effects) causes her power puff,
party shoes, hairbrush, and other items to merrily float about in the air in a supposedly Disney-like moment
of quaint charm.
Finally, there was the mother-and-daughter double-murder scene in which both Carrie and Margaret do
away with one another; the latter dies on a huge white stairway that descended from the flies, which except
for this scene was otherwise never utilized. And Rich reported that the sequence garnered “unwanted laughs”
from the audience when Margaret stabs Carrie with a dagger but “gently” says to her, “Baby, don’t cry.”
Winer said the musical was more than “problematic” or a “miscalculation”: it was in fact “stupendously,
fabulously terrible” and it stretched “way beyond bad to mythic lousiness.” Rich noted that the prom-night
fireworks “wouldn’t frighten the mai-tai drinkers at a Polynesian restaurant,” and he wondered when was the
last time Broadway audiences were entertained by a song-and-dance about the slaughtering of a pig (he was
also bewildered when the teens exuberantly danced to the background of red disco lights while the butchery
occurred, but perhaps this was a mystery “mankind is not meant to unravel”). He also noted that “only the
absence of antlers separates the pig murders of Carrie from the Moose Murders of Broadway lore.”
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News said he wished he could take back the “nasty things” he
had written about Chess because Carrie was “so disgusting” it made Chess “look adorable,” and in the
same newspaper Douglas Watt said it would be better to believe that the “obscenely and numbingly idiotic
musical” had never happened, but because it did it would “long be remembered with horror.” David Patrick
Stearns in USA Today said Carrie would become “a new reference point for Broadway atrocities.” And John
Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor called the show a “fiasco” and a “shambles.”
Jack Kroll in Newsweek suggested the trapdoor sequence was “one of the most repugnant scenes in
the noble history of Broadway musicals,” and the show’s narrative was “oddly pointless and unfocused”;
Mimi Kramer in the New Yorker wryly hailed the work as “the first splatter musical” and noted that the
double-murder scene drew “embarrassed laughter” from the audience; Simon reported that the musical’s cre-
ators said their inspiration was Alban Berg’s 1937 opera Lulu, but instead of Lulu their creation was a “lulu”
and a “gutless shocker” with a “flavorless fricassee” of a score. Humm in Variety said the “bizarre hodge-
podge” was a “tasteless and heavy-handed” musical that fell “flat” and noted that the box-office outlook
was “grim.” William A. Henry III in Time said the musical was a “mismatched morass” with “ludicrously
campy high school scenes,” and he reported that when Darlene Love made her entrance she broke character
“to step forward and smile in acknowledgment of the audience’s greeting.” The headline of Richards’s review
exclaimed “Hairy Carrie.”
As for Henry’s remark about the “campy” high school sequences, one such memorable moment was a
calisthenics class in which the girls created a human pyramid; the kitschy moment is forever preserved in a
photograph for the lavish and colorful Broadway souvenir program which shows the girls in their four-tiered
glory, and it makes a rather interesting companion piece to a similar sequence for the beefcake football chorus
in All American (1962).
The program also includes a photo from the “Don’t Waste the Moon” number in which the kids are seen
in cut-outs of cars that are stacked in four tiers; a montage of photos of the prom dance; and a generous sam-
pling of set designer Ralph Koltai’s backdrops of mirrors and icy-looking silver and white panels. And, yes,
there’s also a photo of the shower sequence in which the girls seem about to go into a chorus of “Hey, Big
Spender.”
The musical was also an extended Wardrobe Malfunction, or at least a Wardrobe Miscalculation. Rich
reported that the high school girls were costumed like “suburban aerobics instructors” (and they looked “old
enough to be guidance counselors”). Kissel said the mission of Carrie’s high school apparently was “to prepare
its students for careers in disco, the girls as dancers, the boys as bouncers,” the gym teacher dressed “like a
hostess in a cocktail lounge,” and the actresses playing the teenagers looked “hard and haggard” as if they’d
“just come off a rough bus-and-truck tour playing the hookers in Sweet Charity.” Henry said the girls looked
and dressed “like 28-year-old hookers”; Humm said the girls’ costumes suggested that their high school of-
fered “a minor in prostitution”; Winer likened the costumes to those found in a “grind show” and mentioned
that the high school seemed “populated with 28-year-old Playmates”; and Rich suggested that the teenagers’
stud-and-leather outfits would have been more suitable for the movie Cruising.
And there were more costume mysteries. Simon noted that Margaret is a “man-hater,” and so why in
one scene did she wear a “sexy negligee”? The critic also mentioned that when Carrie’s powder puff and
other items went into their dance, one was her prom dress. But she went to the prom in an entirely different
dress that looked like a nightgown, and with her mother’s straight-laced admonishments, just how did Car-
rie acquire such a wardrobe? Was it possible Carrie practiced “telekinesis on J.C. Penney’s?” Further, Simon
reported another shocker, one perhaps even more horrific than the slaughter of the pig and the final immola-
tion: on the big prom night, all the girls wore nearly identical gowns!
Debbie Allen’s choreography also came in for criticism. Rich said Allen “shouldn’t wait another moment
to return to her performing career.” Kissel noted one dance was reminiscent of Bob Fosse’s style, but otherwise
the choreography was “disco stuff, energetic but meaningless” and “obsessed with the pelvis.” Stearns said
Allen’s “S & M-aerobics choreography vulgarizes the show into a tale of teen-age hormones.” Winer found
the dances “amateurish and coarse” and noted they “peaked” in “Do Me a Favor,” an “incomprehensible”
Bob Fosse “ripoff.” Humm said Allen’s work was “lowbrow T & A stuff out of the discount Fosse-Robbins
catalog.” Kramer decided the “derivative” choreography was “a sort of sexualized aerobics” or “balletoporn.”
Simon reported that the dances were “enthusiastic but repetitious,” and Richards said the dances reminded
him “of those overblown production numbers that Hollywood confers on the Best Song nominees at Oscar
time.” But Kroll said Allen’s dances had “the only real human energy” in the “strange farrago” of a show, and
he thought “it would be interesting to see Allen direct a real Broadway musical.” And Clive Barnes in the
New York Post found her work “wonderfully dense and energized in texture.”
In fact, Barnes was one of the few reviewers to praise the musical. Despite ominous grumblings from
Britain where the musical had first been produced earlier in the year, the show had “unexpectedly emerged
as a strong, effective and remarkably coherent piece of terrific total theatre” and Terry Hands’s direction was
“both operatic and essentially fluid.”
As noted, the musical was first produced in Britain where it was presented by the Royal Shakespeare
Company (RSC) on February 13, 1988, for a limited engagement of twenty-five performances at the Royal
1987–1988 SEASON 365
Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. Barbara Cook starred as Margaret, but wisely declined to appear
in the New York production (which would have marked her first Broadway musical since The Grass Harp
in 1971). The remaining RSC principals, including Linzi Hateley, appeared in the Broadway production. Two
songs in the British version were cut prior to New York (“Crackerjack” and “Once I Loved a Boy”), and in
early gossip about the musical Frances Ruffelle, who had won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a
Musical for Les Miserables, was mentioned for the title role.
In reviewing the British production, Pit in Variety said Carrie was a “pretentious show with no unifying
vision,” the score lacked “a single standout melody,” the dances were “derivative,” and the story had “more
holes than Swiss cheese.” The headline of Jack Tinker’s notice in the Daily Mail proclaimed, “What a Dread-
ful Carrie On,” and the critic said Barbara Cook was “woefully miscast” in an “unsavoury” show which
“looks and sounds a mess.” Milton Shulman in the Evening Standard noted that the musical was “about as
frightening as a bowl of quivering jelly” and the evening was “an uneasy mix of moods” that came across
like “a jive competition in a Trappist monastery”; and Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph said the “gro-
tesquely misconceived” musical was “a tragedy of wasted effort and directorial hubris.”
There was no Broadway cast album, but Hateley included the title song in her collection Sooner or Later
(LHL Records CD # 4) and Buckley’s Children Will Listen collection (Sterling Records CD # S-1001-2) in-
cludes “When There’s No One” (which is also heard in Betty Buckley’s Broadway, released by Sterling Re-
cords CD # S-1018-2). “Unsuspecting Hearts” is included on Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley’s collection of
that title (Varese Sarabande Records CD # 302-066-074-2).
As mentioned, Lawrence D. Cohen had written both the screenplay for the 1976 film adaptation of Car-
rie and the book for the musical, and his book What Were They Thinking?: Carrie, From Book to Movie to
Musical was published by Applause Theatre and Cinema Books in paperback in 2014.
A revised version of the musical opened Off Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on March 1, 2012,
for forty-six performances. The production was recorded by Ghostlight Records and includes a booklet with
all the lyrics (CD # 8-6660), and the cast includes Molly Ranson (Carrie) and Marin Mazzie (Margaret). The
production cut seven songs from the original (“Dream On,” “Don’t Waste the Moon,” “Out for Blood,” “It
Hurts to Be Strong,” “I’m Not Alone,” “Wotta Night!,” and “Heaven”), and added nine (“The World Accord-
ing to Chris,” “Dreamer in Disguise,” “Once You See,” “A Night We’ll Never Forget,” “You Shine,” “Why
Not Me?,” “Stay Here Instead,” “Prom Arrival,” and “Prom Climax”).
GROVER’S CORNERS
“The New Musical That Takes America Back Home”
The musical opened on July 29, 1987, at Marriott’s Lincolnshire Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois, and perma-
nently closed there on October 11, 1987.
Book and Lyrics: Tom Jones
Music: Harvey Schmidt
Based on the 1938 play Our Town by Thornton Wilder.
Direction and Musical Staging: Dominic Missimi (Fred Klaisner, Assistant Director) (Charles Misovye, Assis-
tant for Musical Staging); Producer: Marriott’s Lincolnshire Theatre (Kary M. Walker, Producer; Dyanne
K. Earley, Artistic Director; Peter R. Grigsby, Director of Marketing) and produced in association with
the National Alliance of Musical Theatre Producers; Scenery and Lighting: John and Diane Williams;
Costumes: Nancy Missimi; Musical Direction: Kevin Stites
Cast: Harvey Schmidt (Pianist), Tom Jones (Stage Manager), Deanna Wells (Emily Webb), Richard Henzel (Mr.
Webb), Linda Stephens (Mrs. Webb), Todd Schmarak (Wally Webb), Michael Bartsch (George Gibbs), Les
Hinderyckx (Doctor Gibbs), Sharon Carlson (Mrs. Gibbs), Randi Beth Stavins (Rebecca Gibbs), Rick Boyn-
ton (Joe Crowell, Jr.), Ron Keaton (Howie Newsome), James Harms (Simon Stimson), Renee Matthews
(Miss Soames), Kathy Santen (Lois Hershey), Jeanne Croft (Martha Cartwright), Phil Courington (Amos
McCarthy), Marilyn Bogetich
The action takes place in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire.
Musical Numbers
Daily Life: “Our Town” (Tom Jones, Harvey Schmidt, Townspeople); “A Hearty Breakfast” (Michael Bartsch,
Les Hinderyckx, Sharon Carlson, Randi Beth Stavins, Deanna Wells, Richard Henzel, Linda Stephens,
Todd Schmarak); “Maybe” (Michael Bartsch, Deanna Wells); “Snapshots, Photographs” (Tom Jones, Har-
vey Schmidt, Townspeople)
Marriage: “It Isn’t Hard to Get Married” (Tom Jones, Harvey Schmidt, Les Hinderyckx, Sharon Carlson, Rich-
ard Henzel, Linda Stephens); “I Notice You” (Michael Bartsch, Deanna Wells); “I Only Want Someone to
Love Me” (Deanna Wells, Michael Bartsch, Company)
Death: “Time Goes By” (Tom Jones, Harvey Schmidt, The Dead); “Do Not Hold On” (Sharon Carlson, The
Dead); “Birthday Girl” (Richard Henzel, Linda Stephens, Deanna Wells); “Goodbye, World” (Deanna
Wells); “Conclusion” (Company); “Day After Day” (Company)
Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt’s Grover’s Corners was a musical version of Thornton Wilder’s 1938
play Our Town, and on paper the adaptation seemed a natural. Wilder’s minimalist approach to his drama of
life and death in a small New England town matched the sensibility of the creators of The Fantasticks, who
specialized in spartan and intimate musicals. Their lovely, muted score was perfectly aligned with Wilder’s
vision, but for one reason or another the musical never quite got off the ground and permanently closed after
its first and only staging.
Grover’s Corners was originally set for a Broadway opening after a series of workshop performances in
New York. Enid Nemy in the New York Times reported the musical would go into workshop on December
31, 1984, and that Broadway rehearsals would start on March 11, 1985, prior to a May 11 opening night. R.
Tyler Gatchell Jr. and Peter Neufeld were the producers, David Trainer the director, Marge Champion the
choreographer, the cast was to include Liz Callaway, Peg Murray, MacIntyre Dixon, and Marge Redmond, and
the show was financed at $2.75 million of which $200,000 was earmarked for the workshop.
But the Broadway production never materialized, and the musical remained in limbo until 1987 when it
opened in Illinois. Mor in Variety indicated that after the Illinois run at the arena-styled Lincolnshire The-
atre, the musical would temporarily close for recasting, rewriting, and restaging (for traditional proscenium
theatres) and then in Spring 1988 the work would tour a dozen cities, of which five had already been booked.
But like the aborted Broadway production, the projected tour never occurred.
A full-page advertisement in Variety’s April 5–11, 1989, issue announced that Grover’s Corners would
begin a national tour in November 1989 with Mary Martin (as the Stage Manager), but the production never
got off the ground.
The rights to the musical reportedly reverted to the Wilder estate, and Grover’s Corners all but disap-
peared. However, a demo of the score with Liz Callaway and Scott Waara was recorded (apparently around
the time of the projected workshop production), and so the expansive score of twenty-four songs (including
reprises) was preserved. Two songs from the score (“The World Is Very Wide” and “Time Goes By”) are in-
cluded in the collection Harvey Schmidt Plays Jones & Schmidt (Kritzerland Records CD # KR-20010-3).
In his review of Grover’s Corners, Mor praised the “endearing and probably enduring” adaptation, and said
the lyrics were “beautifully turned,” the music was “very special,” and “from the rustle of Kleenex it was
apparent that there weren’t many dry eyes in the house.” He noted that Wilder’s text was only “minimally”
altered, and while the alcoholic choirmaster had been somewhat “softened,” the musical maintained “the
somber undertone of the play, including the extended and solemn final graveyard scene.”
During the course of the Lincolnshire run, the song “The World Is Very Wide” was added. Songs on the
demo recording that weren’t included in the Lincolnshire engagement were: “On Main Street,” “There Is a
River,” “Heavenly Music,” “The Letter,” “The Wedding,” “A Beautiful Farm,” “Morning Fragments,” and
“Now You Know.”
In 2006, an operatic version of Our Town premiered with libretto by J. D. McClatchy and music by Ned
Rorem; the work was first produced in New York at the Julliard School’s Peter Jay Sharp Theatre for three
performances beginning on April 23, 2008. An earlier musical adaptation was presented by NBC on September
19, 1955, in an adaptation by David Shaw, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jimmy Van Heusen. The
cast included Frank Sinatra (Stage Manager), Paul Newman (George), and Eva Marie Saint (Emily), and the
musical yielded the hit song “Love and Marriage.”
1987–1988 SEASON 367
SATCHMO
“America’s Musical Legend”
The musical opened on July 14, 1987, at the Theatre of the Performing Arts in New Orleans, Louisiana, and
permanently closed on October 4, 1987, at the Colonial Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts. In between these
engagements the musical played in Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, North Carolina; and at the Opera House
at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Book, New Lyrics, and New Music: Jerry Bilik (Note: When known, the names of specific lyricists and com-
posers are given in the list of musical numbers below.)
Direction: Jerry Bilik; Producer: Kenneth Feld; Choreography: Maurice Hines; Scenery: Edward Burbridge;
Costumes: Judy Dearing; Lighting: Thomas R. Skelton; Musical Direction: Bill Easley
Cast: Charles Funn (Trombonist), Doug Barden (Empire Room MC, Policeman, Ralph Peer, Memphis Police
Chief, Percy Brooks), Byron Stripling (Louis Armstrong), Ebony Jo-Ann (Lucille Armstrong, Mayann Arm-
strong), Kenyatta Beasley (Young Louis, Young Lee Collins for matinee performances), Lynn Augustin
(Young Louis for matinee performances), Lynn Augustin (Big Nose Sidney), Rashaan Granger (Big Nose
Sidney for matinee performances, Young Lee Collins), James Rowan (Joe Oliver), Elliott Goldwag (Police-
man, Joe Glaser), C. E. Wallace Jr. (Peter Davis, Luis Russell, Ghana Chief), Matilda A. Haywood (Ma-
rylou, Lil Hardin), Quincella (Daisy Parker), Sven Toorvald (Engineer), Troy Myers (Engineer, Memphis
Policeman), Randy Morris (Bix Beiderbecke), Jill Slyter (Ellamae), Linda May (Greta, Czech MC), Marc
Barron (Benny Goodman), Tiffney Lyn Myers (Elizabeth), Patrick Gullotta (Tommy Dorsey), David B.
Pruyn (Gene Krupa), Michael Jaye (Dick McPartland, Memphis Bus Driver, Paris Press Reporter), Myles
Thoroughgood (Fletcher Henderson, Ghana MC), Longineu Parsons (Ernie Chambers), Cornell Ivey (Danc-
ing Louis Armstrong, Frank), Carl Le Blanc (Mike McKendrick), Allyson Tucker (Blues Gal), Julio Monge
(Argentine MC), John Joseph Festa (Paris MC); Ensemble Dancers: Mary Felber, John Joseph Festa, Keith
Henderson, Cornell Ivey, Linda May, Julio Monge, Tiffney Lyn Myers, Troy Myers, Elise Neal, Quincella,
Jill Slyter, Myles Thoroughgood, Allyson Tucker, Sven Toorvald, C. E. Wallace Jr., Eyan Williams
The action takes place in New Orleans, Chicago, New York, and throughout the United States as well as in
London and other European and South American cities.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?” (1947 film New Orleans; lyric by Eddie
DeLange, music by Louis Ater) (Musicians); “Hello, Dolly” (Hello, Dolly!, 1964; lyric and music by Jerry
Herman) and “Play On” (Byron Stripling, Band); “Back Home in Indiana” (lyric and music by Ballard
MacDonald and James F. Hanley) (Byron Stripling, Band); “Mack the Knife” (1954 Off-Broadway revival of
1928 musical The Threepenny Opera; original German lyric by Bertolt Brecht, English lyric by Marc Blitz-
stein, music by Kurt Weill) (Byron Stripling, Band); “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South” (lyric by Leon
Rene and Otis Rene, music by Clarence Muse) (Byron Stripling, Band); “New Year’s in New Orleans”
(lyric and music by Jerry Bilik) (James Rowan, Band, Dancers); “Home, Sweet Home” (lyric by John How-
ard Payne, music by Henry Bishop) (The Waifs’ Band); “Hoodlums and Whores” (music by William Pruyn)
(Dancers); “Home, Sweet Home” (reprise) (The Waifs’ Band); “Red Beans and Rice” (lyric and music by
Jerry Bilik) (Kenyatta Beasley, Ebony Jo-Ann); “Trading Fours” Prelude (lyric and music by Jerry Bilik)
(Kenyatta Beasley, James Rowan); “Trading Fours” (lyric and music by Jerry Bilik) (Byron Stripling, James
Rowan, Band, Dancers); “Daisy’s Blues” (lyric and music by Jerry Bilik) (Quincella, Band, Dancers); “This
Train Is Bound for Glory” (James Rowan, Byron Stripling, Band, Dancers); “Heebie Jeebies” (Byron Strip-
ing, James Rowan, Band); “Chicago Jazz” (lyric and music by Jerry Bilik) (Young Chicago Jazz Musicians
and Dancers); “Love, It’s Not Easy” (lyric and music by Jerry Bilik) (Matilda A. Haywood); “Dippermouth
Blues” (aka “Sugar Foot Stomp”) (lyric and music by Joseph Oliver) (Byron Stripling, James Rowan, Band);
“Basin Street Blues” (lyric and music by Spencer Williams) (Byron Stripling, James Rowan, Band); “When
the Saints Go Marchin’ In” (traditional) (Ebony Jo-Ann, Byron Stripling, Band)
Act Two: “By the Waters of Minnetonka” (lyric and music by Thurlow Weed Lieurance) (Byron Stripling,
Band); “Trumpet Rag” (lyric and music by Jerry Bilik) (Byron Stripling, Longineu Parsons, Band); “(I’ll
Be Glad When You’re Dead) You Rascal, You” (lyric and music by Sam Theard) (Byron Stripling, Band,
Dancers); “Jeepers Creepers” (1938 film Going Places; lyric by Johnny Mercer, music by Harry Warren)
(Byron Stripling, Band, Dancers); “Struttin’ with Some Bar-B-Que” (lyric and music by Louis Armstrong)
(Byron Stripling, Band, Dancers); “After You’ve Gone” (lyric by Henry Creamer, music by Turner Layton)
(Byron Stripling, Band); “Royal Garden Blues” (lyric and music by Spencer Williams) (Byron Stripling,
Band); “Sleepy Time Down South” (reprise) (Byron Stripling, Band); “Bamboula” (Byron Stripling, Elliott
Goldwag, Chiefs, Ebony Jo-Ann); “Red Beans and Rice” (reprise) (Ebony Jo-Ann); “Callin’ the Children
Home” (lyric and music by Jerry Bilik) (James Rowan, Byron Stripling, Ebony Jo-Ann, Company)
Satchmo was a well-meaning musical that looked at the life and career of trumpeter and singer Louis
Armstrong (1901–1971). But the musical floundered after less than three months on the road and canceled
the next ten months of its projected national tour. The show lacked drama, and its attempts to glorify if not
deify the popular entertainer was at best pleasantly bland and unfortunately never matched the inventiveness
of Maurice Hines’s electrifying choreography.
The program notes indicated the production cost in the vicinity of $4.5 million; that the “characters,
places, and events” and “much of the actual dialogue” were all based on “true” as well as “historical” fact;
and the casting of Byron Stripling in the title role was the result of an “unprecedented international search.”
In an article by Richard Coe for the Kennedy Center’s Stagebill, producer Kenneth Feld stated he wasn’t
“panting” for a New York run and noted “New York is for the Ego.”
During the course of the tryout, the songs “All for You, Louis” (lyric and music by Jerry Bilik), “High
Society” (lyric and music by Porter Steele and Walter Melrose), and “St. Louis Blues” (“Variation”) (lyric and
music by W. C. Handy) were dropped.
1988–1989 Season
AN EVENING WITH ROBERT KLEIN

Performances: 3
Comic Monologues: Robert Klein
Producers: Circle in the Square Theatre (Theodore Mann, Artistic Director; Paul Libin, Producing Director);
Musical Direction: Bob Stein
Cast: Robert Klein; Vocalists: Betsy Bircher, Catherine Russell
The comedy revue was presented in one act.
Robert Klein’s comedy revue ushered in the new season, which was arguably the worst in memory for
musicals. Even the Tony Awards committee couldn’t put a good face on it, and so the awards for Best Score
and Best Book were eliminated.
Stand-up comedian Robert Klein’s evening of topical humor was presented in a three-performance limited
engagement by the Circle in the Square Theatre as part of the First New York International Festival of the
Arts. Because the company’s regular offering was a revival of Tennessee Williams’s 1961 drama The Night of
the Iguana, Klein and his small group of musicians and singers performed on the set of the play, which had
been designed by Zack Brown.
Stephen Holden in the New York Times noted that Klein straddled the line between two traditions of
stand-up comics, those from the genteel “toastmaster-quipster” variety (such as Bob Hope and Johnny Carson)
and the “brilliant brats” of the Robin Williams and Eddie Murphy school who were like “rude and raunchy”
rock stars “wallowing in cultural trash.” Klein offered “the best of both worlds without actually falling into
the gutter.”
Klein took inspiration from the setting, and thus provided “some nifty spoofs” of Tennessee Williams-
styled dialogue, commented on the worlds of advertising and marketing, and noted there was something
strange about the radio popularity of Edgar Bergen and his puppet Charlie McCarthy, because just how did
the ventriloquist convey ventriloquism via the medium of the radio?
Klein occasionally performed parodies of soft-rock music and was backed by two vocalists and an instru-
mental trio.
A few seasons earlier at the same theatre, Klein had appeared in The Robert Klein Show!, another limited-
engagement stand-up comedy stint.
369
THE MERRY WIDOW

Music: Franz Lehar
Direction: Ronald Bentley (Cynthia Edwards, Assistant Stage Director); Producer: The New York City Opera
Company (Beverly Sills, General Director); Choreography: Sharon Halley; Scenery: Herbert Senn and
Helen Pond; Costumes: Suzanne Mess; Lighting: Ken Tabachnick; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri;
Musical Direction: Imre Pallo
Cast: Richard McKee (Baron Popoff), Ruth Golden (Natalie), John Lankston (General Novikovich), Michael
Willson (Counsellor Khadja), Robert Ferrier (Marquis de Cascada), Michele McBride (Sylviane), Michael
Rees Davis (M. de St. Brioche), Joyce Campana (Olga), Paul Austin Kelly (Vicomte Camille de Jolidon),
James Billings (Nisch), Leigh Munro (Sonia), Richard White (Count Danilo), Jonathan Guss (Head Waiter),
Ivy Austin (Zozo), Joan Mirabella (Lolo), Esperanza Galan (Dodo), Candace Itow (Jou-Jou), Victoria Rinaldi
(Frou-Frou), Ashley Janeway (Clo-Clo), Jean Barber (Margot); Members of Marsovian and Parisian Society,
Dancers, Servants, and Waiters: The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers
Bernard Holland in the New York Times said the New York City Opera Company’s “first course” for
the new opera season was “dessert,” and while its production of Franz Lehar’s operetta The Merry Widow
was occasionally guilty of both “a slightly awkward impersonation of Viennese sophistication” and “sitcom
humor,” the revival had “its wits about it” and as a result the evening would please its “intended” audi-
ence. Leigh Munro’s Sonia had personality and voice, her “hushed” interpretation of “Vilia” was “downright
charming,” and Richard White’s Danilo offered a “clear” baritone and a “reasonably dashing presence.” In
a later review for the same newspaper, Allan Kozinn praised Munro’s “ravishing moments” and said White
was a “strong” Danilo.
For more information about the operetta, see entry for City Opera’s 1982 revival. The company also re-
vived the work in 1983, 1985, and 1989, and a production by the Vienna Volksoper was given in 1984 (see
entries for these specific presentations).
CANCIONES DE MI PADRE
“A Romantic Evening in Old Mexico”

Performances: 18
Direction and Choreography: Michael Smuin; Producers: James M. Nederlander and Jerome Minskoff (pro-
duced by Ira Koslow for Asher/Krost Management); Scenery: Tony Walton; Costumes: Yvonne Cervantes,
Arturo Ceballos, Rosalie Blagaich, Manuel; Lighting: Jules Fisher; Musical Direction: Ruben Fuentes
Cast: Linda Ronstadt (Vocalist), Danny Valdez (Vocalist), Sal Lopez (Dancer), Urbanie Lucero (Dancer), Mary
Louise Diaz (Dancer), Elsa Estrada (Dancer), Luis Valdez (Dancer), Lalo Garcia (Dancer), Gilberto Puente
(Guitar), Jose Martinez (Violin), Mario A. de Santiago (Violin), Juan Biurquix (Violin), Daniel Martinez
(Violin), Ildefonso Moya (Violin), Francisco Gonzalez (Violin), Rigoberto Mercado (Trumpet), Federico
Torres (Trumpet), Arturo Mendoza (Harp), Nati Santiago (Guitar), Victor Cardenas (Vihuela), Rafael Palo-
mar (Guitar)
1988–1989 SEASON 371
Musical Numbers
Act One: First Mariachi Section: “Fanfarria,” “Los laureles,” “Por un amour,” and “La cigarra” (Mariachi Var-
gas de Tecalitlan [Musicians]); “Tu solo tu” (Linda Ronstadt, Ildefonso Moya; Violin Solos: Jose Martinez
and Juan Manuel Biurquix); and “Cancion Mexicana”; Traditional Dances with Jalisco Costumes: “La
negra” (Mary Louise Diaz, Elsa Estrada, Urbanie Lucero, Lalo Garcia, Sal Lopez, Luis Valdez); “El gusto”
(Mary Louise Diaz, Elsa Estrada, Urbanie Lucero, Lalo Garcia, Sal Lopez, Luis Valdez); and “El caballito”
(Sal Lopez, Mary Louise Diaz); Revolutionary Section: “El tren sone,” “La rielera,” and “Corrido de cana-
nea” (Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan [Musicians]); “Adios del soldado” (Linda Ronstadt, Danny Valdez;
Chorus: Mario A. de Santiago, Ildefonso Moya; Violin Solos: Jose Martinez and Juan Manuel Biurquix);
“Yo soy el corrido” (Linda Ronstadt, Danny Valdez); “El sol que tu eres” (Linda Ronstadt, Danny Valdez);
“La rielera” (mini reprise); and “Viva Mexico” (Company)
Act Two: “Fiesta en Jalisco” and “Las bodas de Luis Alonso” (Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan [Musicians]);
Ballad Section: “Hay unos ojos” (Violin Solos: Jose Martinez and Juan Manuel Biurquix); “Rogaciano
de huapanguero” (Linda Ronstadt, Daniel Martinez, Ildefonso Moya); “Dos arbolitos” (Linda Ronstadt,
Daniel Martinez, and Ildefonso Moya with Sal Lopez and Urbanie Lucero; Violin Solos: Jose Martinez and
Juan Manuel Biurquix); “La barca de Guaymas” (Linda Ronstadt, Ildefonso Moya, and Rafael Palomar with
Mary Louise Diaz, Elsa Estrada, Urbanie Lucero, Lalo Garcia, Sal Lopez, and Luis Valdez; Violin Solos:
Jose Martinez and Juan Manual Biurquix); and “Amorcito corazon” (Danny Valdez); Traditional Dances:
“La bamba” (Dance Company in Vera Cruz costumes); “Malaguena salerosa” (Gilberto Puente); “Jarabe
tapatio” (Dance Company in China Poblana costumes); and “El cascabel” (Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan
[Musicians]); Town Courtyard: “Y andale” (Linda Ronstadt, Daniel Martinez); “Crucifijo de Piedra”; “La
calandria” (Linda Ronstadt, Daniel Martinez, Ildefonso Moya); “Cancion mixteca”; “Volver” (Company)
The revue Canciones de mi padre (Songs of my father) was subtitled “A Romantic Evening in Old Mex-
ico,” and with it Linda Ronstadt paid tribute to the Mexican music of her father’s era. The two-week limited
engagement had previously been produced at City Center in February 1988 for a four-night run.
In reviewing the earlier production, Stephen Holden in the New York Times said the evening was an
“idealized homage” to a culture “steeped in fierce sunlight, swirling color and the aroma of desert flowers,”
and he noted Ronstadt sang with the “vocal authority and confidence of someone who feels the music in her
blood” (Ronstadt’s father was of Mexican descent). He praised Tony Walton’s “opulently colored storybook
sets,” and said the musicians played with “splendid precision and gusto.”
The recording of Canciones de mi padre was released by Elektra/Asylum Records (CD # 60765).
THE NEW MOON

Performances: 7
Book: Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab; new book adaptation by Robert Johanson
Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II; some lyrics revised by Robert Johanson
Direction and Choreography: Robert Johanson (Albert Sherman and Laura Alley, Assistant Directors; Sharon
Halley, Assistant Choreographer); Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills, General
Director); Scenery: Michael Anania; Costumes: Andrew Marlay; Lighting: Mark W. Stanley; Choral Direc-
tion: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Jim Coleman
Cast: (Note: For those roles that had alternating performers, the first name listed denotes who played the
role on opening night.) Joyce Campana (Julie), Gerald Isaac (Alexander), James Billings (M. Beaunoir),
Joseph McKee (Captain Duval), David Rae Smith (Vicomte Ribaud), Allen Riberdy (Fouchette), Richard
White/William Parcher (Robert Mission), Kenneth Kantor (Besac), David Frye (Jacques), Leigh Munro/
Jane Thorngren (Marianne Beaunoir), Harris Davis (Proprietor), Terry Lacy (Comrade), Esperanza Galan
(Spanish Dancer), Michael Cousins/Michael Rees Davis (Philippe Dupres), Muriel Costa-Greenspon (Clo-
tilde Lombaste), John Lankston (Admiral de Jean); Servants, Courtiers, Ladies, Sailors, Pirates, Tavern
Wenches, Brides, French Soldiers, Dancers: The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers

The action takes place during 1792 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and on the Isle of Pines.
Musical Numbers
The New York City Opera Company’s production of Sigmund Romberg’s operetta The New Moon had
first been revived a year earlier (for more information about that production and for the operetta itself, see
entry).
John Rockwell in the New York Times noted that because the operetta took place during the time of the
French Revolution and its plot centered on a single-minded French detective determined to track down the
evening’s hero, the work somewhat anticipated Les Miserables. But if the latter was “impossibly sententious
and overblown,” The New Moon exploited revolutionary idealism in a “humbler” and “tackier” way. The
revival wavered between nostalgia and camp but could still be enjoyed “on its own determinedly middlebrow
terms,” and while Richard White was “a dashing, decently vocalized baritone hero,” Leigh Munro didn’t pos-
sess “the lilting soprano to do justice” to her character.
In reviewing the alternate cast, Alan Kozinn in the same newspaper praised William Parcher’s “strong,
sizable baritone” and his “suitably debonair good looks,” and said Jane Thorngren, whose soprano was
“slightly pinched at the top and unsupported at the very bottom,” was nonetheless a “clear and well-focused”
singer who performed “with a sweetness that proved fully engaging.”
AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’
“The Fats Waller Musical Show”

Opening Date: August 15, 1988; Closing Date: January 15, 1989
Performances: 176
Lyrics and Music: See list of musical numbers for specific credits.
Direction: Richard Maltby Jr. (Murray Horwitz, Associate Director); Producers: The Shubert Organization,
Emanuel Azenberg, Dasha Epstein, and Roger Berlind; Choreography: Arthur Faria; Scenery: John Lee
Beatty; Costumes: Randy Barcelo; Lighting: Pat Collins; Musical Direction: Luther Henderson
Cast: Nell Carter, André De Shields, Armelia McQueen, Ken Page, Charlaine Woodard
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (Hot Chocolates, 1929; lyric by Andy Razaf, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller
and Harry Brooks) (Company); “Lookin’ Good but Feelin’ Bad” (lyric by Lester A. Santly, music by Thomas
“Fats” Waller) (Company); “’T Ain’t Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do” (lyric and music by Porter Grainger and
Everett Robbins; additional lyric by Richard Maltby Jr., and Murray Horwitz) (André De Shields, Com-
pany); “Honeysuckle Rose” (lyric by Andy Razaf, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Ken Page, Nell
Carter); “Squeeze Me” (lyric by Clarence Williams, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Armelia McQueen);
“Handful of Keys” (lyric by Richard Maltby Jr., and Murray Horwitz [based on an idea by Marty Grosz],
music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Company); “I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling” (lyric by Billy Rose, music
by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Link) (Nell Carter, Company); “How Ya Baby” (lyric by J. C. John-
son, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (André De Shields, Charlaine Woodard, Company); “The Jitterbug
Waltz” (lyric by Richard Maltby Jr., music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Company); “The Ladies Who Sing
with a Band” (Early to Bed, 1943; lyric by George Marion Jr., music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (André De
Shields, Ken Page); “Yacht Club Swing” (lyric by J. C. Johnson, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Her-
man Autry) (Charlaine Woodard); “When the Nylons Bloom Again” (Early to Bed, 1943; lyric by George
1988–1989 SEASON 373
Marion Jr., music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Armelia McQueen, Charlaine Woodard, Nell Carter); “Cash
for Your Trash” (lyric by Ed Kirkeby, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Nell Carter); “Off-Time” (lyric by
Andy Razel, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Brooks) (Company); “This Joint Is Jumpin’” (lyric
by Andy Razaf and J. C. Johnson, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Company)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Company); “Spreadin’ Rhythm Around” (1936 film King of Burlesque; lyric by Ted
Koehler, additional lyric by Richard Maltby Jr., music by Jimmy McHugh) (Company); “Lounging at the
Waldorf” (lyric by Richard Maltby Jr., music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Armelia McQueen, Charlaine
Woodard, Ken Page, Nell Carter); “The Viper’s Drag” (music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) and “The Reefer
Song” (traditional) (André De Shields, Company); “Mean to Me” (lyric and music by Roy Turk and Fred E.
Ahlert) (Nell Carter); “Your Feet’s Too Big” (lyric and music by Ada Benson and Fred Fisher) (Ken Page);
“That Ain’t Right” (lyric and music by Nat “King” Cole, additional lyric by Richard Maltby Jr., and Mur-
ray Horwitz) (André De Shields, Armelia McQueen, Company); “Keepin’ Out of Mischief Now” (lyric by
Andy Razaf, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Charlaine Woodard); “Find Out What They Like” (lyric by
Andy Razaf, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Armelia McQueen, Nell Carter); “This Is So Nice” (Early
to Bed, 1943; lyric by George Marion Jr., music by Thomas “Fats” Waller) (Nell Carter); “Fat and Greasy”
(lyric and music by Porter Grainger and Charlie Johnson) (André De Shields, Ken Page); “Black and Blue”
(Hot Chocolates, 1929; lyric by Andy Razaf, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Brooks) (Com-
pany); Finale: “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” (lyric by Joe Young, music by Fred
E. Ahlert) (Ken Page); “Two Sleepy People” (1938 film Thanks for the Memory; lyric by Frank Loesser,
music by Hoagy Carmichael) (Armelia McQueen, Ken Page); “I’ve Got My Fingers Crossed” (1936 film
King of Burlesque; lyric by Ted Koehler, music by Jimmy McHugh) (Armelia McQueen, Charlaine Wood-
ard, Ken Page); “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love” (Blackbirds of 1928; lyric by Dorothy Fields, music
by Jimmy McHugh) (André De Shields, Charlaine Woodard); “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie” (lyric and music by
Billy Mayhew) (Nell Carter, Company); “Honeysuckle Rose” (reprise) (Company)
The revival of the Thomas “Fats” Waller (1904–1943) tribute revue Ain’t Misbehavin’ brought back all
five original cast members from the 1978 Broadway production, but with a difference. During the period be-
tween the two productions, Nell Carter had become a television star and a household name, and so for the
revival she received star billing and an extra song was added for her (“This Is So Nice” from Waller’s 1943
musical Early to Bed). Otherwise, the revival was a fastidious copy of the original, with all the earlier songs in
place. Further, the scenic, costume, and lighting designers were the same, and Richard Maltby Jr., and Arthur
Faria returned as respective director and choreographer.
The revue’s songs fell into four categories: songs composed solely by Waller; songs co-composed by Waller
and others; songs by Waller that never had lyrics and here were sung with newly written ones by Maltby and
by Murray Horwitz; and other composers’ songs that were popularized by Waller.
For the most part, the critics wrote valentines to the revue and the cast, but there were a couple of dis-
senting opinions and in one or two cases it seemed the critics had seen two entirely different shows and sets
of performers.
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News said for “sheer entertainment” the revue gave “the best
value on Broadway,” and he noted Carter’s voice was “one of the most amazing instruments to hit Broadway
in years” with “joyful sounds” that were “absolutely irresistible.” But now the revue was less an “ensemble
performance” than “a series of star turns,” and he complained that André De Shields unfortunately added an
anachronistic 1980s touch to “The Viper’s Drag” and during “The Jitterbug Waltz” a sight gag by Carter went
on so long she upstaged the other cast members and performed a disservice to the number.
David Patrick Stearns in USA Today suggested the evening should have been reconceived with other
songs by Waller because the cast knew their old material “so well” they “nearly fussed it to death to give
it a fresh twist.” And while Amy Duncan in the Christian Science Monitor felt Carter was a “parody” of
herself and was “so busy hamming and posturing that key lyrics got lost” in her “small and pinched voice,”
Frank Rich in the New York Times said Carter’s voice was as always an “unexpected instrument” that was
“an alternately blaring and muted trumpet,” and instead of warping the show with her “star presence” she
deepened it.
An unsigned review in Time stated that of all the so-called “songbook” musicals, none matched the
“verve or style” of Ain’t Misbehavin’ and none came close “to the rowdy, raunchy yet infectious humor of
its songs.” Linda Winer in New York Newsday said the revival was “fast, fresh, elegantly raunchy and filled
with a rare no-nonsense foolishness that knows the difference between parody and affectionate attitudiniz-
ing.” And Marilyn Stasio in the New York Post said the evening was a “bona-fide recreation of the spirit and
the artistry that made the show such a joy the first time around.”
The original production had been first presented at the Manhattan Theatre Club’s Cabaret on February 8,
1978, for twenty-eight performances, and except for Irene Cara (who was succeeded by Charlaine Woodard),
the cast transferred to Broadway on May 9, 1978, at the Longacre Theatre for 1,604 performances. The revue
won three Tony Awards, for Best Musical, Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Carter), and Best Director of a
Musical (Maltby).
The original cast album was released by RCA Victor Records on a two-LP set (# CBL2-2965), and later on
a two-CD set (# 2965-2-RC). A television version was presented on June 21, 1985, by NBC with the original
Broadway cast, and a 1995 national tour with the Pointer Sisters apparently had Broadway in mind but didn’t
get there (but a CD of highlights from the revue was released by RCA Victor # 68415). There have been two
London productions, one at Her Majesty’s Theatre on March 22, 1979, and the other at the Tricycle Theatre
in 1995 (the latter was recorded by First Night Records).
The revue included a handful of songs from Waller’s hit 1943 Broadway musical Early to Bed. Both the
1978 and 1988 productions included “The Ladies Who Sing with a Band” and “When the Nylons Bloom
Again,” and as mentioned above the revival added “This Is So Nice.” Those songs that have emerged from
Early to Bed are melodic delights, and it’s a shame some enterprising record company hasn’t put together a
studio cast album. Among other top-of-the-list candidates for full-length recordings are Richard Rodgers and
Lorenz Hart’s Peggy-Ann (1926), Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Sweet Adeline (1929), Cole Porter’s
Jubilee (1935), Rodgers and Hart’s I’d Rather Be Right (1937), Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s The Day
Before Spring (1945), and Jerome Moross and Edward Eager’s Gentlemen, Be Seated! (1963).
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Revival (Ain’t Misbehavin’)
NAUGHTY MARIETTA
Performances: 14
Book: Rida Johnson Young; new book adaptation by Theodore Pappas
Lyrics: Rida Johnson Young; some lyrics revised by Theodore Pappas
Music: Victor Herbert
Direction and Choreography: Theodore Pappas; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills,
General Director); Scenery: Oliver Smith; Costumes: Andrew Marlay; Lighting: Ken Tabachnick; Choral
Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Scott Bergeson
Cast: (Note: For those roles that had alternating performers, the first name listed denotes the opening-night
cast member.) Jonathan Guss (Watchman), Rebecca Rosales (Flower Girl), Christine Meadows (Fanchon),
Paula Hostetter (Nanette), Madeleine Mines (Felice), Richard White/William Parcher (Etienne Grandet
alias Bras Pique), Susanne Marsee/Janis Eckhart (Adah aka Le Clercq), Ralph Bassett (Manuel), John
Henry Thomas (Pirate), William Ledbetter (Town Crier), Jack Kenny (Silas Slick), Don Yule (Harry Blake),
Michael Rees Davis/Mark Beudert (Captain Richard Warrington), Ivy Austin (Lizette), David Gramlich
(American Indian), Joseph McKee (Lieutenant Governor Grandet), John Lankston (Florenze), Cheryl Par-
rish/Gail Dobish (Marietta d’Altena), James Billings (Rudolfo), Esperanza Galan (Graziella); Men: Neil
Eddinger and Louis Perry; Ensemble: The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers
The action takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1780.
1988–1989 SEASON 375
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Opening Chorus” (Ensemble); “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp” (Michael Rees Davis, Rangers); “Taisez-
vous” (Rangers, Casquette Girls); “Naughty Marietta” (Cheryl Parrish); “It Never, Never Can Be Love”
(Cheryl Parrish, Michael Rees Davis); “If I Were Anyone Else but Me” (Jack Kenny, Ivy Austin); “’Neath
the Southern Moon” (Susanne Marsee); “Italian Street Song” (Cheryl Parrish, Ensemble); “Finale” (Com-
pany)
Act Two: “All I Crave Is More of Life” (Cheryl Parrish); “You Marry a Marionette” (Richard White); “Inter-
mezzo” (Orchestra); “At the Ball” (Male Ensemble); “Loves of New Orleans” (Ensemble); “Mister Right”
(Ivy Austin); “A Royal Whipping Boy” (Jack Kenny); “Live for Today” (Cheryl Parrish, Susanne Marsee,
Michael Rees Davis, Richard White, Ensemble); “I’m Falling in Love with Someone” (Michael Rees Da-
vis); “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life” (Cheryl Davis, Michael Rees Davis); Finale Ultimo (Cheryl Parrish,
Michael Rees Davis, Richard White, Chorus)
The original production of Victor Herbert’s operetta Naughty Marietta opened at the New York Theatre
on November 7, 1910, for 136 performances and told the story of Marietta d’Altena (Cheryl Parrish in the
current revival) who flees Italy for New Orleans in order to escape from an arranged marriage with a man
she doesn’t love. She is soon courted by both the dandy but villainous Etienne Grandet (Richard White), who
leads a double life as the pirate Bras Pique, and stalwart military officer Captain Warrington (Michael Rees
Davis), and thus Marietta faces the age-old operetta dilemma of whom to choose, a flashy no-good or a dull
but steady bore. (John Chapman in Theatre ’55 pondered over this typical either-or dilemma, and in his review
of the 1954 musical Hit the Trail noted that “the prima donna doesn’t know whether to marry a banker or a
gambler. Well . . . who ever did?”)
Herbert’s music box poured forth with delightful melody: the stirring march “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp”;
the merry “Italian Street Song”; the sweeping waltz “I’m Falling in Love with Someone”; and one of the
ultimate examples of operetta music (perhaps rivaled only by Rudolf Friml’s “Indian Love Call” from 1924’s
Rose-Marie), the haunting ballad “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life.” Like Lady in the Dark’s “My Ship,” this is a
dream melody that haunts and frustrates Marietta because she can’t remember the entire song. But when the
Captain completes it, she knows he’s her man. Other memorable interludes were the lighthearted “It Never,
Never Can Be Love” and the pleasant if somewhat lugubrious “’Neath the Southern Moon.”
The New York City Opera Company’s revival in 1978 marked the operetta’s first New York production in
forty-eight years. It had been revived for a limited engagement of sixteen performances at Jolson’s Theatre on
October 21, 1929, and then in two slightly separated engagements was produced for limited runs at Erlanger’s
Theatre on November 16, 1931, for a total of twenty-four showings.
City Opera’s first revival opened at the New York State Theatre on August 31, 1978, for fourteen perfor-
mances and returned there August 30, 1979, for six showings. The first had a new book by Frederick S. Roff-
man, who also wrote additional lyrics, and the second had a new book by Jack Eddleman which was based
on Roffman’s adaptation. The current and final City Opera revival was the company’s third version of the
operetta, and this time the adaptation was by Theodore Pappas, who also supplied some new lyrics.
Will Crutchfield in the New York Times felt that operettas of the Naughty Marietta ilk could be “touch-
ing” if “played with sincere feeling.” But the current production often lacked the necessary “romantic, naïve,
and sentimental” spirit, and even “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life” was shortchanged: the singers “didn’t quite
trust it,” the concertmaster played it with perhaps “condescending comment,” and the audience laughed
whenever the number was sung. But Cheryl Parrish “scored a genuine success” in the title role, and Michael
Rees Davis had “an exciting ring to his tenor” and employed “excellent” diction.
In his review of the alternate cast, Allan Kozinn in the same newspaper liked the “strong, well-rounded
soprano” of Gail Dobish’s Marietta, and praised the “good, clarion tenor” of Mark Beudert’s Captain. Further,
the chorus and the orchestra (the latter under the direction of Scott Bergeson) gave Herbert’s score “the ener-
getic brightness it deserves.”
Naughty Marietta is best remembered today for its 1935 MGM film version, which represented the first
teaming of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke, the film retained five songs
from Herbert’s score (“Tramp, Tramp, Tramp,” “’Neath the Southern Moon,” “Italian Street Song,” “I’m Fall-
ing in Love with Someone,” and “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life”).
The most complete recording of the score was released as part of the Smithsonian American Musical
Theatre Series in a two-LP boxed set (Smithsonian Collection # N-026).
MICHAEL FEINSTEIN IN CONCERT/ISN’T IT ROMANTIC

Performances: 38
Special Material: Bruce Vilanch
Direction: Christopher Chadman; Producers: Ron Delsener and Jonathan Scharer; Scenery: Andrew Jackness;
Lighting: Beverly Emmons; Musical Direction: Joel Silberman
Cast: Michael Feinstein
Musical Numbers
Note: All songs performed by Michael Feinstein (the program didn’t list musical numbers).
Saloon singer Michael Feinstein had made his Broadway debut at the Lyceum Theatre six months earlier
in Michael Feinstein in Concert, and the current visit with its altered title was a return engagement that
played for almost five weeks. For a list of songs performed in the concert as well as more information about
Feinstein’s other Broadway appearances, see entry for Michael Feinstein in Concert.
LEGS DIAMOND
“A New Broadway Musical” / “The Almost Totally Fictitious Musical History of Legs Diamond”

Opening Date: December 26, 1988; Closing Date: February 19, 1989
Performances: 64
Book: Harvey Fierstein and Charles Suppon
Lyrics and Music: Peter Allen
Based on the 1960 film The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (direction by Budd Boetticher).
Direction: Robert Allan Ackerman; Producers: James M. and James L. Nederlander, Arthur Rubin, The En-
tertainment Group, and George M. Steinbrenner III in association with Jonathan Farkas and Marvin A.
Krauss, Executive Producer; Choreography: Alan Johnson; Scenery: David Mitchell; Costumes: Willa
Kim; Lighting: Jules Fisher; Musical Direction: Eric Stern
Cast: Peter Allen (Jack “Legs” Diamond); Convicts: Adrian Bailey, Quin Baird, Frank Cava, Norman Wendall
Kauahi, Bobby Moya, Paul Nunes, and Keith Tyrone; Prison Guards: Stephen Bourneuf and Rick Manning;
Brenda Braxton (Madge), Deanna Dys (Cigarette Girl), Christian Kauffmann (Bones), Raymond Serra (Au-
gie), Randall Edwards (Kiki Roberts), Pat McNamara (Devane), Mike O’Carroll (Hotsy Totsy Announcer,
Barber), Julie Wilson (Flo); The Hotsy Totsy Girls: Carol Ann Baxter, Colleen Dunn, Deanna Dys, Gwen-
dolyn Miller, and Wendy Waring; Jim Fyfe (Moran), Joe Silver (Arnold Rothstein), James Brandt (Tropica-
bana Announcer); Tuxedo Dancers: Stephen Bourneuf, Jonathan Cerullo, K. Craig Innes, and Kevin Wel-
don; Latin Dancers: Adrian Bailey, Frank Cava, Norman Wendall Kauahi, Bobby Moya, Paul Nunes, and
Keith Tyrone; Champagne Girls: Carol Ann Baxter, Gwendolyn Miller; Showgirls: Colleen Dunn, Wendy
Waring; Gangsters: Quin Baird, Stephen Bourneuf, James Brandt, Jonathan Cerullo, Rick Manning, Bobby
Moya, Paul Nunes, and Mike O’Carroll; Taxi Dancers: Frank Cava, K. Craig Innes, and Bobby Moya; Boys
from Bay Ridge: Adrian Bailey, Rick Manning, and Bobby Moya; Ruth Gottschall (Mourner), Burlesque
Women: Gwendolyn Miller, Wendy Waring; Norman Wendall Kauahi (Chinese Waiter); A.R.’s Gang:
Adrian Bailey, Quin Baird, Jonathan Cerullo, Rick Manning, and Bobby Moya; Jack’s Gang: Stephen Bour-
neuf, Frank Cava, K. Craig Innes, Norman Wendall Kauahi, Paul Nunes, and Keith Tyrone; Paul Nunes
(Policeman), Shelley Wald (Jack Diamond’s Secretary); F.B.I. Men: James Brandt, Rick Manning
1988–1989 SEASON 377

The action takes place in Pennsylvania and in New York City in the “Roaring ’20s.”
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “When I Get My Name in Lights” (Peter Allen, Convicts, Ensemble);
“Speakeasy”(Ensemble); “Applause” (Julie Wilson, The Hotsy Totsy Girls); “Knockers” (Peter Allen, The
Hotsy Totsy Girls); “I Was Made for Champagne” (Randall Edwards, The Tropicabana Dancers); “Tropica-
bana Rhumba” (Peter Allen, Randall Edwards); “Sure Thing Baby” (Peter Allen); “Speakeasy Christmas”
(The Hotsy Totsy Dancers); “Charge It to A.R.” (Joe Silver, Raymond Serra, Jim Fyfe, Christian Kauff-
mann, Gangsters); “Only an Older Woman” (Peter Allen, Julie Wilson); “Taxi Dancers’ Tango” (Peter
Allen, Ensemble); “Only Steal from Thieves” (Peter Allen, Randall Edwards, Gangsters); “When I Get My
Name in Lights” (reprise) (Peter Allen)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Orchestra); “Cut of the Cards” (Peter Allen, Company); “Gangland Chase” (Peter Allen,
Gangsters); “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t” (Peter Allen, Randall Edwards, Ensemble); “The Man
Nobody Could Love” (Randall Edwards, Julie Wilson, Brenda Braxton); “The Music Went Out of My Life”
(Julie Wilson); “Say It Isn’t So” (Peter Allen, Company); “All I Wanted Was the Dream” (Peter Allen)
Legs Diamond was one of the most public disasters of the decade. Instead of an out-of-town tryout, the
musical opted for a series of New York previews that dragged on for seventy-two performances over a period
of nine weeks before an estimated ninety-thousand customers who bought full-priced tickets to see a work in
progress (although perhaps progress isn’t quite the appropriate description for the resulting bloodbath, which
lost a reported $5.2 million).
The show underwent drastic rewrites, dropped at least four songs, eliminated two central characters, and
jettisoned some of its scenery while even more was being constructed. For her pre-opening article about the
musical for the New York Times, Marilyn Stasio reported that a brief scene that took place in Times Square
was cut, and with it went a subway entrance, a newsstand, and a special-effects billboard, all of which cost
between $20,000 and $30,000. Further, the original opening number “Ain’t I Something!” was replaced with
an elaborate new one (“When I Get My Name in Lights”) which at the very minimum cost $20,000 (and pos-
sibly twice that amount) for orchestrations, copying fees, and rehearsals, not to mention a new set, which
represented a huge electric sign high above the stage from which Allen made his first-act entrance. But for
all the changes, the show fell on its face and closed in a sea of red ink after less than two months of official
performances.
Sadly, when the final curtain rang down on the musical it also marked the end of the hallowed Mark
Hellinger Theatre as one of Broadway’s most desirable and handsome houses. After the debacle of Legs Dia-
mond, the original home of the hits Plain and Fancy (1955), My Fair Lady (1956), and Sugar Babies (1979) as
well as such fabled flops as Hit the Trail (1954), Ankles Aweigh (1955), Ari (1971), and A Doll’s Life (1982)
closed its theatrical doors and was sold to a church.
Instead of looking at Legs Diamond’s ambitions as a gangster, the musical emphasized his aspiration to
break into show business, and so approximately one-third of the songs were performance numbers at the
Hotsy Totsy Club, which was owned by his former flame and an older woman, Flo (Julie Wilson), or at the
Tropicabana Club, where his new girlfriend and eventual wife Kiki (Randall Edwards) works. It’s not surpris-
ing that the show’s atmosphere and characters (if not quality) reminded the critics of Pal Joey (1940) and Guys
and Dolls (1950), but perhaps a better comparison would have been Nowhere to Go but Up (1962), another
failed musical about New York in the 1920s that was neck-deep in gangsters and speakeasies.
The wispy plot focused on Legs’s show-business career and his problems with gangland boss Arnold
Rothstein (Joe Silver), who is forever ordering his goons to rub out Legs. But Legs always bounces back, and
even manages to inadvertently kill Rothstein. But the FBI is in hot pursuit of the hero, Kiki backs out of their
marriage, and soon Legs reunites with Flo and they head off to Cuba.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the evening seemed like “a sobering interlude of minimum-
security imprisonment” during which an audience member might feel inclined to finish a crossword puzzle
or balance a checkbook. Legs Diamond was “lackluster” even when “measured on the Richter scale of disas-
ter” against such recent flops to play the Hellinger as Platinum (1978), Merlin (1983), Grind (1985), and Rags
(1986). Rich found the script “so confusing” that he lost its thread before the end of the opening number, and
said that while Allen may have lacked talent he was nonetheless blessed “with a genius for self-promotion.”
Further, his score was so “derivative” it made Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music “sound idiosyncratic.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the score took “unmemorability to the point of amnesia,” and
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News said Allen’s talent was “supper-club size” and his attempt to play
a gangster was “hopeless.” Michael Kuchwara in the Associated Press suggested the book was “the skimpi-
est story this side of Starlight Express” and that the evening was “a mixed bag of musical tricks.” Some of
the ballads had “charm” (Julie Wilson’s “The Music Went Out of My Life” was “the closest” the score had
to a “showstopper”) and Willa Kim’s costumes “cornered the market on all the sequins, feathers, spangles
and even bananas in New York.” But the gangsters in such musicals as Guys and Dolls (1950) and Do Re Mi
(1960) “were funny, brash, even rakish characters,” whereas here they were “nearly anonymous buffoons.”
And because Allen didn’t “quite deliver,” Legs Diamond was “a musical in search of a leading man.”
But Nels Nelson in the Philadelphia Daily News praised the “lively” first act and the “simply terrific”
second half. The show had “great vitality,” was “as tight as a drum,” and the evening’s “best” songs were
“The Music Went Out of My Life,” “Say It Isn’t So,” and “All I Wanted Was the Dream.” John Beaufort in
the Christian Science Monitor said the “jazzy spectacular” was a “raucous mock tribute” to Legs Diamond,
and the “insouciant” evening offered a “flashy” first-act curtain and a “surprise” second-act opening. He
singled out such songs as “The Music Went Out of My Life,” “Sure Thing Baby,” “Now You See Me, Now
You Don’t,” “Only an Older Woman,” and “I Was Made for Champagne.”
During previews, the following songs were deleted: “Ain’t I Something!,” “When I Dream My Dream,”
“Come Save Me,” and “To Overcome Passion and Acquire Perfection.” The roles of Legs’s first wife, Alice
(Christine Andreas), and his brother, Eddie (Bob Stillman), were written out of the musical, and some of the
dialogue between Legs and Alice and between Legs and Eddie was refashioned into narrative for Allen to speak
directly to the audience.
The cast album was recorded by RCA Victor Records (LP # 7983-1-RC and CD # 7983-2-RC).
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Julie Wilson); Best Costume Designer (Willa
Kim); Best Choreographer (Alan Johnson)
BLACK AND BLUE

“A Musical Revue”

Opening Date: January 26, 1989; Closing Date: January 20, 1991
Performances: 824
Direction: Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli; Producers: Mel Howard and Donald K. Donald (Marilynn
LeVine); Choreography: Cholly Atkins, Henry LeTang, Frankie Manning, and Fayard Nicholas (Dianne
Walker, Assistant Choreographer); Scenery and Costumes by and Lighting Conceived by: Claudio Segovia
and Hector Orezzoli; Lighting: Neil Peter Jampolis and Jane Reisman; Musical Direction: Leonard Oxley
Cast: The Singers—Ruth Brown, Linda Hopkins, Carrie Smith; The Hoofers—Bunny Briggs, Ralph Brown,
Lon Chaney, Jimmy Slyde, Dianne Walker; The Dancers—Rashamella Cumbo, Tanya Gibson, Germaine
Goodson, Angela Hall, Kyme, Valerie Macklin, Deborah Mitchell, Valerie E. Smith, Frederick J. Boothe,
Eugene Fleming, Ted Levy, Bernard Manners, Van Porter, Kevin Ramsey, Ken Roberson, Melvin Wash-
ington; The Younger Generation—Cyd Glover, Savion Glover, Dormeshia Sumbry; The Musicians—Billy
Butler (Guitar), Bill Easley (Clarinet), Sir Roland Hanna (Piano), Haywood Henry (Clarinet, Saxophone),
Virgil Jones (Trumpet), Al McKibbon (Bass), Leonard Oxley (Piano), Jake Porter (Trumpet), Jerome Rich-
ardson (Alto Sax), Grady Tate (Drums), Emery Thompson (Trumpet), Claude Williams (Violin), Britt
Woodman (Trombone), Stephen Furtaldo (Trumpet)
1988–1989 SEASON 379
Musical Numbers
Act One: Blues: “I’m a Woman” (lyric and music by McDaniel) (Linda Hopkins, Ruth Brown, Carrie Smith);
“Hoofers a Capella” (Jimmy Slyde, Bunny Briggs, Ralph Brown, Lon Chaney, Bernard Manners, Savion
Glover, Ted Levy); “Royal Garden Blues” (music by Spencer Williams and Clarence Williams) (Musi-
cians); “St. Louis Blues” (lyric and music by W. C. Handy) (Ruth Brown; Featured Musicians: Sir Roland
Hanna, Haywood Henry, Britt Woodman, Jake Porter, Grady Tate, and Billy Butler); “Everybody Loves
My Baby” (lyric and music by Jack Palmer and Spencer Williams) (choreography by William LeTang)
(Dancers); “After You’ve Gone” (lyric by Henry Creamer, music by J. Turner Layton) (choreography by
Cholly Atkins) (Linda Hopkins, Bernard Manners, Male Dancers); “If I Can’t Sell It, I’ll Keep Sittin’ on It”
(lyric by Andy Razaf, music by Alexander Hill) (Ruth Brown); “I Want a Big Butter and Egg Man” (lyric
and music by Percy Venable and Louis Armstrong) (choreography by Fayard Nicholas) (Carrie Smith with
Kevin Ramsey, Ted Levy, and Eugene Fleming; Featured Musicians: Sir Roland Hanna and Jake Porter);
“Rhythm Is Our Business” (lyric by Sammy Cahn, music by Jimmie Lunceford and Saul Chaplin) (Savion
Glover, Cyd Glover, Dormeshia Sumbry); “Mystery Song” (lyric by Irving Mills, music by Duke Ellington)
(Tanya Gibson, Rashamella Cumbo, Valerie Smith); “Stompin’ at the Savoy” (lyric by Andy Razaf, music
by Benny Goodman, Edgar Sampson, and Chick Webb) (Jimmy Slyde); “I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues”
(Earl Carroll Vanities, 1932; lyric by Ted Koehler, music by Harold Arlen) (Carrie Smith); “Black and Tan
Fantasy” (choreography by Frankie Manning) (music by Duke Ellington and Bubber Miley) (Bunny Briggs,
Dancers); “Come Sunday” (lyric and music by Duke Ellington) (Linda Hopkins); “Daybreak Express”
(music by Duke Ellington) (Musicians); “’T Ain’t Nobody’s Biz-ness If I Do” (lyric and music by Porter
Grainger and Everett Robbins) (Ruth Brown, Linda Hopkins; Featured Musicians: Sir Roland Hanna);
“That Rhythm Man” (Hot Chocolates, 1929; lyric by Andy Razaf, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller and
Harry Brooks) (choreography by Henry LeTang) (Dancers)
Act Two: “Swinging to Wednesday Night Hop” (music by Johnson and by Johnakins and Kirk) (Dancers);
“Cry Like a Baby” (lyric and music by Kirkland and Big Maybelle Smith) (Linda Hopkins); “Memories of
You” (Blackbirds of 1930; lyric by Andy Razaf, music by Eubie Blake) (choreography by Cholly Atkins)
(Dianne Walker, Bernard Manners, Kevin Ramsey); “Body and Soul” (Three’s a Crowd, 1930; lyric by
Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, and Frank Eyton, music by Johnny Green) (Ruth Brown); “I’m Confessin’
(That I Love You)” (lyric by Don Daugherty and Ellis Reynolds, music by Al J. Nieburg) (choreography by
Cholly Atkins) (Kyme, Bernard Manners, Kevin Ramsey, Frederick J. Boothe, Ted Levy; Featured Musi-
cians: Claude Williams and Billy Butler); “East St. Louis Toodle-oo” (music by Duke Ellington and Bubber
Miley) (Ralph Brown, Lon Chaney); “Am I Blue?” (1929 film On with the Show; lyric by Grant Clark, mu-
sic by Harry Akst) (Carrie Smith; Featured Musician: Claude Williams); “I Can’t Give You Anything but
Love” (Blackbirds of 1928; lyrics by Dorothy Fields, music by Jimmy McHugh) (choreography by Henry
LaTang) (Angela Hall, Eugene Fleming, Dancers); “In a Sentimental Mood” ( music by Duke Ellington)
(Bunny Briggs; Featured Musician: Jerome Richardson); “Black and Blue” (Hot Chocolates, 1929; lyric
by Andy Razaf, music by Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Brooks) (Ruth Brown, Linda Hopkins, Carrie
Smith, Jimmy Slyde, Bunny Briggs); Finale (choreography by Henry LeTang) (Savion Glover, Cyd Glover,
Dormeshia Sumbry, Jimmy Slyde, Ralph Brown, Lon Chaney, Dianne Walker, Dancers)
Many of the critics didn’t quite know what to make of the revue Black and Blue. They found it a strange,
almost schizoid, affair that purported to be about the blues but was instead an upbeat and almost garish show
with lavish costumes and quirky staging effects that were often at cross purposes with the content. Even
“Fats” Waller’s title song seemed all wrong. In Ain’t Misbehavin’ it was a strangled cry from the soul with
its heartfelt lament, and here it was presented as a merry production number. But audiences didn’t mind, and
the revue played over two years.
The production originated in Paris at the Theatre Musical de Paris in 1985 and reportedly played there
for a year. It was conceived, directed, and designed by the team of Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli, who
had earlier presented Tango Argentino and Flamenco puro, and the New York version included such estab-
lished blues and gospel singers as Ruth Brown, Linda Hopkins, and Carrie Smith as well as the up-and-coming
dancer Savion Glover (Hopkins had also appeared in the Paris production).
Linda Winer in New York Newsday said the $5 million revue offered over-miked music and over-utilized
stage machinery, and as a result the evening was “a disfiguring case of Broadway elephantiasis.” And the
revue was replete with oddities. Winer noted that for “If I Can’t Sell It, I’ll Keep Sittin’ on It,” Ruth Brown
played the owner of a second-hand shop, but wore what looked like an inauguration gown with “the world’s
biggest tiara,” and when she finished the number a backdrop materialized and became the train of her dress.
And Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal reported that during the first act Carrie Smith sang “I Gotta
Right to Sing the Blues” while she was awkwardly positioned on a huge black disk that tilted backwards
(Frank Rich in the New York Times thought she was being readied for a root canal), and for the second act
sang “Am I Blue?” while perched on a swing some twenty-five feet above the stage as acres of material from
her billowing dress cascaded to the floor of the stage (he noted she looked like a parachutist caught in the
limbs of a tree).
Rich complained that the three leads wore “metallic” and “bejeweled” outfits that made them look
as though they were shrouded in “imprisoning carapaces,” and the older male tap dancers were dressed in
“patchwork” suits that were “patronizingly clownish.” And William A. Henry III in Time noted the leading
ladies were of “ample proportions” and therefore they should have questioned “the white feathered dresses
for the finale that make them look like ostriches with glandular problems.”
Rich commented that although a revue didn’t necessarily require a script it nonetheless needed “its own
internal theatrical logic,” but here it was difficult to see where “innocent vulgarity leaves off and intentional
camp begins.” The work brought to mind an old-time “bloated” night club floor show and it was loaded with
crimson velour curtains and flashing proscenium lights that suggested “the busy environment of television
game shows,” and he noted that for the finale many of the cast members were rolled out in “monochromatic
compartments” that would have been more appropriate “in a large international airport’s restroom.” Joel
Siegel on WABCTV7 said the show was a “large, elaborate and inconsequential nightclub act,” and Douglas
Watt in the New York Daily News suggested the evening was “akin to one of those old Radio City Music
Hall shows.”
Ruth Brown’s interpretation of “Body and Soul” also raised some eyebrows. Rich said she was so “in-
flected and lispy that it could pass for a Carol Channing impersonation,” and Henry also thought of Channing
when he heard Brown’s “husky” and “lisping” approach to the song.
But David Patrick Stearns in USA Today said “despite some gaudy Vegas-like lapses” Black and Blue
was “the most handsome, stylish show on Broadway.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post stated the revue
was “one of the best nights on the town in this or any other town,” and praised Hopkins, Smith, and Brown
(and noted that for “Body and Soul,” Brown was “great” and sang it “beautifully”). And Howard Kissel in the
New York Daily News said the dancing was “stupendous,” Hopkins put “her rainbow of a voice to wonderful
effect,” Smith was “robust and clarion,” and Brown was “searing” in “St. Louis Blues” and “savagely funny”
in “If I Can’t Sell It, I’ll Keep Sittin’ on It,” but “because her vocal cords seem coated with irony” her “Body
and Soul” seemed “muted.”
During previews, “Tappin’ In” (music by Boss Townsend) and “Take Your Hands Off My Mojo” (lyric
and music by Grant and Wilson) were cut, and during the run of the show the songs “Call It Stormy Mon-
day” (lyric and music by A. T. Walker) and “I’m Getting ’Long Alright” (lyric and music by R. Sharp and C.
Singleton) were added while “Cry Like a Baby” was cut.
Note that of the revue’s four choreographers, Cholly Atkins (with Honi Coles and Anita Alvarez) memo-
rably introduced the vampy saga of “Mamie is Mimi” in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949), and Fayard Nicho-
las and his brother Harold were the dazzling tap-dance team who appeared on stage in St. Louis Woman (1946)
and in such films as Orchestra Wives (1942) and The Pirate (1948).
The Paris cast album was released on Trema Records (CD # 710213), and the Broadway cast album was
issued by DRG Records (CD # 19001).
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Black and Blue); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Ruth
Brown); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Linda Hopkins); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Bunny
Briggs); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Savion Glover); Best Director of a Musical (Claudio Segovia and
Hector Orezzoli); Best Scenic Designer (Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli); Best Costume Designer
(Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli); Best Lighting Designer (Neil Peter Jampolis and Jane Reisman);
Best Choreographer (Cholly Atkins, Henry Le Tang, Frankie Manning, and Fayard Nicholas)
1988–1989 SEASON 381
JEROME ROBBINS’ BROADWAY

Opening Date: February 26, 1989; Closing Date: September 1, 1990
Performances: 634
Lyrics and Music: For specific credits, see list of musical numbers
Direction and Choreography: Jerome Robbins (Grover Dale, Codirector; Cynthia Onrubia, Victor Castelli,
and Jerry Mitchell, Assistants to Jerome Robbins); Producers: The Shubert Organization, Roger Berlind,
Suntory International Corp., Byron Goldman, and Emanual Azenberg (produced in association with Pace
Theatrical Group); Scenery: Robin Wagner, Production Scenic Designer (for specific scenic design credits,
see list of musical numbers); Costumes: Joseph G. Aulisi, Supervising Costume Designer (for specific cos-
tume credits, see list of musical numbers); Lighting: Jennifer Tipton; Musical Direction: Paul Gemignani
Cast: Jason Alexander, Richard Amaro, Dorothy Benham, Jeffrey Lee Broadhurst, Christophe Caballero, Mindy
Cartwright, Irene Cho, Jamie Cohen, Charlotte d’Amboise, Camille de Ganon, Donna Di Meo, Donna
Marie Elio, Mark Esposito, Susann Fletcher, Scott Fowler, Angelo H. Fraboni, Ramon Galindo, Nicholas
Garr, Gregory Garrison, Carolyn Goor, Michael Scott Gregory, Andrew Grose, Alexia Hess, Nancy Hess,
Louise Hickey, Eric A. Hoisington, Barbara Hoon, JoAnn M. Hunter, Scott Jovovich, Pamela Khoury,
Susan Kikuchi, Michael Kubala, Robert La Fosse, Mary Ann Lamb, Jane Lanier, David Lowenstein, Mi-
chael Lynch, Greta Martin, Joey McKneely, Julio Monge, Troy Myers, Maria Neenan, Jack Noseworthy,
Steve Ochoa, Kelly Patterson, Luis Perez, Faith Prince, James Rivera, Tom Robbins, George Russell, Greg
Schanuel, Debbie Shapiro, Renee Stork, Mary Ellen Stuart, Linda Talcott, Leslie Trayer, Ellen Troy, Andi
Tyler, Scott Wise, Elaine Wright, Barbara Yeager, Alice Yearsley
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture: “(I’m a Guy Who’s) Gotta Dance” (Look, Ma, I’m Dancin’!, 1948; lyric and music by Hugh
Martin); “Papa, Won’t You Dance with Me?” (High Button Shoes, 1947; lyric by Sammy Cahn, music
by Jule Styne); and “Shall We Dance?” (The King and I, 1951; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by
Richard Rodgers) (The Setter: Jason Alexander; Singers: Michael Lynch, Debbie Shapiro, Company
On the Town (1944)
Scenery: Oliver Smith
Costumes: Alvin Colt
Musical Numbers: “New York, New York” and “Sailors on the Town”
Cast: Robert La Fosse (Gabey), Scott Wise (Chip), Michael Kubala (Ozzie), Debbie Shapiro (Hildy), Mary El-
len Stuart (Claire), Nancy Hess (Dolores Dolores), Jason Alexander (Emcee); Sailors, Workmen, Dance
Hall Hostesses, Passersby, and Others: Christophe Caballero, Irene Cho, Jamie Cohen, Donna Di Meo,
Mark Esposito, Susann Fletcher, Scott Fowler, Nicholas Garr, Michael Scott Gregory, Andrew Grose,
Alexia Hess, Louise Hickey, Eric A. Hoisington, Barbara Hoon, David Lowenstein, Michael Lynch, Joey
McKneely, Julio Monge, Maria Neenan, Jack Noseworthy, Steve Ochoa, Kelly Patterson, Faith Prince,
James Rivera, Tom Robbins, Greg Schanuel, Renee Stork, Linda Talcott, Leslie Trayer, Andi Tyler, Elaine
Wright, Alice Yearsley
Musical Number: “Ya Got Me”
Cast: Robert La Fosse (Gabey), Scott Wise (Chip), Michael Kubala (Ozzie), Debbie Shapiro (Hildy), Mary Ellen
Stuart (Claire), Nancy Hess (Dolores Dolores), Jason Alexander (Emcee)
Billion Dollar Baby (1945)
Music: Morton Gould
Costumes: Irene Sharaff
Musical Number: “Charleston”
Cast : David Lowenstein (Cop), Michael Lynch (Doorman), Barbara Yeager (Flapper), Mary Ann Lamb (Flap-
per), JoAnn M. Hunter (Flapper), Jane Lanier (Socialite), Nicholas Garr (Socialite), Susann Fletcher (A
Timid Girl), Troy Meyers (Good Time Charlie), Elaine Wright (Collegiate), Angelo H. Fraboni (Collegiate),
Younger Generation: Christophe Caballero and Linda Talcott, Older Generation: Barbara Hoon and Scott
Fowler, Michael Scott Gregory (Gangster), Joey McKneely (Gangster), Andrew Grose (Bootlegger), Julio
Monge (Gangster)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962)
Book: Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
Scenery and Costumes: Tony Walton
Musical Number: “Comedy Tonight”
Cast: Jason Alexander (Pseudolus), Michael Kubala (First Protean), Joel McKneely (Second Protean), Scott
Wise (Third Protean); Company: Charlotte d’Amboise, Dorothy Benham, Susann Fletcher, Michael Scott
Gregory, Andrew Grose, Robert La Fosse, Mary Ann Lamb, David Lowenstein, Michael Lynch, Jack Nose-
worthy, Kelly Patterson, Luis Perez, Tom Robbins, Greg Schanuel, Debbie Shapiro
High Button Shoes (1947)
Book: Stephen Longstreet
Lyrics: Sammy Cahn
Music: Jule Styne
Costumes: Miles White
Musical Number: “I Still Get Jealous”
Cast: Faith Prince (Ma), Jason Alexander (Pa)
West Side Story (1957)
Co-Choreographer: Peter Gennaro
Musical Number: “Suite of Dances” (This sequence included: “Prologue,” “The Dance at the Gym,” “Cool,”
“America,” “The Rumble,” and “Somewhere.”)
Cast: Robert La Fosse (Tony), Alexia Hess (Maria), Scott Wise (Riff), Nicholas Garr (Bernardo), Charlotte
d’Amboise (Anita), Debbie Shapiro (Rosalia), Donna Di Meo (Graziella), Dorothy Benham (“Somewhere”
Soloist); The Jets: Christophe Caballero, Scott Fowler, Angelo H. Fraboni, Michael Scott Gregory, Andrew
Grose, Joey McKneely, Troy Myers, Jack Noseworthy, Kelly Patterson, Greg Schanuel; Their Girls: Louise
Hickey, Barbara Hoon, Mary Ann Lamb, Maria Neenan, Mary Ellen Stuart, Linda Talcott, Leslie Trayer,
Alice Yearsley; The Sharks: Jamie Cohen, Mark Esposito, Eric A. Hoisington, Scott Jovovich, David Low-
enstein, Michael Lynch, Julio Monge, Steve Ochoa, James Rivera; Their Girls: Irene Cho, Donna Marie
Elio, Nancy Hess, JoAnn M. Hunter, Renee Stork, Andi Tyler, Elaine Wright, Barbara Yeager
Act Two:
The King and I (1951)
Scenery: Jo Mielziner
Musical Number: “The Small House of Uncle Thomas”
Cast: Barbara Yeager (Narrator), Susan Kikuchi (Eliza), Joey McKneely (King Simon), Linda Talcott (Little
Eva), JoAnn M. Hunter (Topsy), Barbara Hoon (Uncle Thomas), Irene Cho (Angel, George); Royal Dancers:
Christophe Caballero, Donna Di Meo, Mark Esposito, Eric A. Hoisington, Maria Neenan, Steve Ochoa,
Renee Stork, Andi Tyler, Elaine Wright, Alice Yearsley; Royal Singers: Dorothy Benham, Donna Marie
Elio, Leslie Trayer, Nancy Hess, Louise Hickey, Mary Ellen Stuart; Propmen: Jamie Cohen, Angelo H.
Fraboni, Scott Fowler, Nicholas Garr, Scott Jovovich, James Rivera
1988–1989 SEASON 383
Gypsy (1959)
Music: Jule Styne
Scenery: Jo Mielziner
Costumes: Raoul Pene du Bois
Musical Number: “You Gotta Have a Gimmick”
Cast: Jason Alexander (Cigar), Mary Ann Lamb (Louise), Faith Prince (Tessie), Debbie Shapiro (Mazeppa),
Susann Fletcher (Electra)
Peter Pan (1954)
Book: Credited to James Barrie (probably adapted by Jerome Robbins)
Lyrics: Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green
Music: Moose Charlap and Jule Styne
Scenery: New scenery by Robin Wagner
Costumes: New costumes by Joseph G. Aulisi
Musical Number: “I’m Flying” (lyric by Carolyn Leigh, music by Moose Charlap)
Cast: Charlotte d’Amboise (Peter Pan), Donna Di Meo (Wendy), Linda Talcott (Michael), Steve Ochoa (Mi-
chael)
High Button Shoes (1947)
Book: Stephen Longstreet
Lyrics: Sammy Cahn
Music: Jule Styne
Costumes: Miles White
Musical Number: “On a Sunday by the Sea”
Cast: Jason Alexander (Floy), Troy Myers (Pontdue), Faith Prince (Ma), Barbara Yeager (Fran), Michael Kubala
(Uncle Willie), Andrew Grose (Police Captain), Michael Scott Gregory (Chief of Police); Cops: Mark Es-
posito, Angelo H. Fraboni, Eric A. Hoisington, Julio Monge, Greg Schanuel; Bathing Beauties: Charlotte
d’Amboise, Susann Fletcher, Louise Hickey, JoAnn M. Hunter, Debbie Shapiro, Renee Stork, Leslie
Trayer, Elaine Wright; Tom Robbins (Life Guard); Alexia Hess and Maria Neenan (The Twins), Scott
Fowler and Scott Jovovich (The Twins); Crooks: Scott Wise, Nancy Hess, Linda Talcott; Singers: Doro-
thy Benham, Christophe Caballero, Donna Marie Elio, Nicholas Garr, Barbara Hoon, David Lowenstein,
Michael Lynch, Jack Noseworthy, Kelly Patterson, James Rivera, Mary Ellen Stuart, Leslie Trayer, Andi
Tyler, Alice Yearsley
Miss Liberty (1949)
Book: Robert Sherwood
Lyrics and Music: Irving Berlin
Costumes: New costumes by Joseph G. Aulisi
Musical Number: “Mr. Monotony”
Cast: Debbie Shapiro (Singer); Luis Perez, Jane Lanier, Robert La Fosse
Fiddler on the Roof
Book: Joseph Stein
Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick
Music: Jerry Bock
Scenery: Boris Aronson
Costumes: Patricia Zipprodt
Musical Numbers: “Tradition,” “The Tailor Motel Kamzoil” (aka “Tevye’s Dream”), “Sunrise, Sunset,” and
“Bottle Dance”
Cast: Jason Alexander (Tevye), Susann Fletcher (Golde), Michael Lynch (Motel Kamzoil), JoAnn M. Hunter
(Tzeitel), Barbara Hoon (Grandma Tzeitel), Nancy Hess (Fruma-Sarah), Tom Robbins (Lazar Wolf), Troy
Myers (The Rabbi), Joey McKneely (The Fiddler); Bottle Dancers: Christophe Caballeros, Mark Esposito,
Scott Jovovich, Greg Schanuel; Villagers and Wedding Guests: Dorothy Benham, Irene Cho, Jamie Cohen,
Charlotte d’Amboise, Donna Di Meo, Donna Marie Elio, Scott Fowler, Angelo H. Fraboni, Nicholas Garr,
Michael Scott Gregory, Alexia Hess, Scott Jovovich, Michael Kubala, Mary Ann Lamb, David Lowenstein,
Maria Neenan, Jack Noseworthy, Steve Ochoa, Kelly Patterson, James Rivera, Renee Stork, Mary Ellen
Stuart, Linda Talcott, Leslie Trayer, Andi Tyler, Scott Wise, Elaine Wright, Barbara Yeager, Alice Yearsley
Finale
On the Town
Scenery: Original scenery by Oliver Smith; setting for “Broadway at Night” by Robin Wagner
Costumes: Alvin Colt
Musical Numbers: “Some Other Time” and “New York, New York” (reprise)
Cast: Robert La Fosse (Gabey), Scott Wise (Chip), Michael Kubala (Ozzie), Debbie Shapiro (Hildy), Mary El-
len Stuart (Claire), Alexia Hess (Ivy); Three Sailors: Christophe Caballero, Kelly Patterson, Michael Scott
Gregory; Company
Perhaps Jerome Robbins’ Broadway took its cue from Lee Becker Theodore’s The American Dance Ma-
chine (1978), which presented reconstructions of what were in many cases lost dances from Broadway musi-
cals. Robbins here offered a number of the dances and musical stagings that he had created for musicals during
his twenty-year Broadway career (1944–1964). There was familiar material, such as a suite of dances from
West Side Story, “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” Ballet from The King and I, and other well-known
numbers from On the Town, Peter Pan, Gypsy, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. But
the evening offered esoterica as well, including the legendary but long unseen “On a Sunday by the Sea” from
High Button Shoes, the all-but-forgotten “Charleston” from Billion Dollar Baby, and the wandering child
“Mr. Monotony,” which had been cut from no less than three film and stage musicals (see below).
The critics were in a generally agreeable mood, and so the dance revue received mostly favorable reviews
and won a slew of Tony Awards, including Best Musical. But the show didn’t quite please everyone, and so
there was some general nitpicking. The run was rather modest, and the revue closed after a little more than
six hundred performances and lost money.
Linda Winer in New York Newsday reported that the $8 million production (which broke box-office re-
cords with its $55 top ticket price) had undergone twenty-two weeks of rehearsals before playing nine weeks
of New York previews. The huge cast numbered sixty-two, and there were twenty-eight members in the
orchestra.
Frank Rich in the New York Times said audiences used to the “hydraulic scenic gizmos, formless acro-
batics, deafening amplification and emotional vacuity” of recent Broadway musicals would find Robbins’s
world one of “taste” and “joy.” Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News observed that what now “passes
for musical theatre is mainly about computerized scenic effects” and so “this look backward is enormously
exhilarating.” And in the same newspaper Douglas Watt’s headline proclaimed that the show was “Broadway
the Way It Ought to Be.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal praised the “unique event in Broadway musical history” and sug-
gested that “those interested in seeing Broadway musical numbers at their best had better not wait for some
other time” because “the time is now.” John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said the evening was
“a glorious celebration of musicals like they don’t make anymore.” And Marcia B. Siegel in Dance was happy
to note that Robbins had “honored the original styles and stagings” and thus there was no “swoopy vocalizing
or mumbled lyrics” and “no misguided updating of the choreography.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the “magnificent” evening didn’t offer “new hope” for the Broad-
way musical, but it might “suggest to us where we went wrong” and “what we have missed.” Winer found
the revue “exhilarating” and noted that “On a Sunday by the Sea” was “fabulous stage chaos.” And Jack Kroll
in Newsweek stated that the revue “instantly becomes the best show on Broadway” and it seemed that “the
real Broadway has come down from Valhalla to let today’s pseudo-Broadway see what it’s all about.”
Despite the praise, there were a few dissenting voices. Dale Harris in the Wall Street Journal said the
evening’s “motivating force” was Robbins’s “narcissism,” and therefore his “unabashed tribute” to himself
revealed “a dispiriting lack of judgment” and his removal of some numbers from their context denied them
“not only pertinence but punch.” Further, “The Small House of Uncle Thomas” now looked “stylistically
arch and choreographically thin” and was “offensively patronizing about the Orient.” And the West Side
Story dances deteriorated into easy answers about serious problems, and thus the matter of racial prejudice
was “dissolved in the clichés of the dream ballet.”
1988–1989 SEASON 385
While William A. Henry III in Time noted that “the gala onstage is a summing up” of the director and
choreographer’s “invaluable” career, the evening was in some ways a “patchwork.” He found “The Small
House of Uncle Thomas” both “stately and slow,” and the Russian peasant lives depicted in Fiddler on the
Roof seemed “cornier and campier when deprived of the original’s glints of fear and oppression.” As for the $8
million that went into the production, the show looked surprisingly “modest” and “even a little tatty.” Some
of the performers didn’t impress him, and he commented that while Robert La Fosse danced “gloriously,” his
facial expressions were relegated “to a scowl and a simpering grin” and Jason Alexander lacked “the star at-
tribute of effortless ease.” Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 also had qualms about Alexander, and noted he “doesn’t
score at all” as Tevye and was in fact “grossly miscast” with a “phony beard and even phonier accent.” But
for all the carping, Alexander nonetheless won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
During previews, the number “Dreams Come True,” which followed “Charleston,” was dropped from the
Billion Dollar Baby sequence (Charlotte d’Amboise played Maribelle and the dance trio were Kelly Patterson,
Greg Schanuel, and Luis Perez).
The cast album was issued by RCA Records on a two-LP set and a two-CD set (both # 60150-2-RC).
As for “Mr. Monotony,” it was written by Irving Berlin for Judy Garland to sing in the MGM film Easter
Parade (1948); the song was filmed but cut prior to the movie’s release and the outtake is included in the
film’s DVD, which was issued by Warner Home Video (# 67072). The song resurfaced during the tryout of
Miss Liberty (1949) where Mary McCarty and the singing and dancing chorus performed it as “Mrs. Monot-
ony,” but the number was cut prior to New York. It was next heard (as “Mr. Monotony”) during the tryout
of Call Me Madam where it was sung by Ethel Merman, Muriel Bentley, Tommy Rall, and Arthur Parting-
ton, and it was again cut during the pre-Broadway engagement (and was replaced by “Something to Dance
About”). In 1954, the song was considered for Twentieth Century-Fox’s musical There’s No Business Like
Show Business (which starred Merman), but wasn’t used. Both Miss Liberty and Call Me Madam opened at
the Imperial Theatre, and if “Mr./Mrs. Monotony” hadn’t been dropped from one or the other musical, the
song would have been heard there. But it seems the song was destined to be performed in that theatre, and so
of course some four decades later the number finally got to the Imperial’s stage where it was sung by Debbie
Shapiro in the Robbins’s revue.
Awards
Tony Nominations and Awards: Best Musical (Jerome Robbins’ Broadway); Best Actor in a Musical (Jason
Alexander); Best Actor in a Musical (Robert La Fosse); Best Actress in a Musical (Charlotte d’Amboise);
Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Scott Wise); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Jane Lanier); Best Fea-
tured Actress in a Musical (Faith Prince); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Debbie Shapiro); Best Direc-
tor of a Musical (Jerome Robbins); Best Lighting (Jennifer Tipton)
THE PAJAMA GAME

Performances: 51
Book: George Abbott and Richard Bissell
Lyrics and Music: Richard Adler and Jerry Ross
Based on the 1953 novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell.
Direction and Choreography: Theodore Pappas; Producer: The New York City Opera Company (Beverly Sills,
General Director; Donald Hassard, Artistic Administrator); Scenery: Michael Anania; Costumes: Marjorie
McCown; Lighting: Ken Tabachnick; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Peter Howard
Cast: Avery Saltzman (Hines), David Green (Prez), Jim Borstelmann (Joe), Steve Pudenz (Hasler), Lenora
Nemetz (Gladys), Susan Nicely (Mae), Joyce Campana (Brenda), Lillian Graff (Poopsie), Richard Muenz
(Sid Sorokin), Louis Perry (Charlie), Scott Robertson (First Helper), David Koch (Second Helper), Brooks
Almy (Mabel), Judy Kaye (Babe Williams), Don Yule (Max), Paula Hostetter (Pat), William Ledbetter (Pop);
“Steam Heat” Boys: Jim Borstelmann and David Koch; The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers

The action takes place in a small town in the Midwest during June 1957.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “The Pajama Game” (Avery Saltzman); “Racing with the Clock” (Chorus); “A
New Town Is a Blue Town” (Richard Muenz); “I’m Not at All in Love” (Judy Kaye, Girls); “I’ll Never Be
Jealous Again” (Avery Saltzman, Brooks Almy); “Hey, There” (Richard Muenz); “Her Is” (David Green,
Lenora Nemetz); “Sleep-Tite” (Company); “Once-a-Year Day” (Richard Muenz, Judy Kaye, Company);
“Her Is” (reprise) (David Green, Judy Kaye); “Small Talk” (Richard Muenz, Judy Kaye); “There Once Was
a Man” (Richard Muenz, Judy Kaye); “Hey, There” (reprise) (Richard Muenz)
Act Two: “Steam Heat” (Lenora Nemetz, Jim Borstelmann, David Koch); “Hey, There” (reprise) (Judy Kaye);
“Think of the Time I Save” (Avery Saltzman, Girls); “Hernando’s Hideaway” (Lenora Nemetz, Company);
“Jealousy Ballet” (Lenora Nemetz, Avery Saltzman, Men); “Seven-and-a-Half Cents” (Judy Kaye, David
Green, Chorus); “The Pajama Game” (reprise) (Company)
The New York City Opera Company’s production of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross’s The Pajama Game
was the last in its short-lived series of Broadway musical revivals that were booked for about a six-week run
each spring.
Allan Kozinn in the New York Times noted that Beverly Sills, who was retiring as General Director of
the company, had “pulled out all the stops” with a production that “captures and magnifies the garish fluffi-
ness of the 1950’s in a fresh and amusing way.” As Babe, Judy Kaye sang with “power and charm” and played
her role “touchingly”; Richard Muenz was “slightly dryer vocally” but “equally sympathetic” as Sid; Avery
Saltzman’s Hines was “spectacularly frenetic” and his duet “I’ll Never Be Jealous Again” with Brooks Almy
(Mabel) was a “delight”; and as Gladys, Lenora Nemetz’s dancing was a highlight of the evening. Kozinn re-
ported that for the “Jealousy Ballet” Hines imagined that Gladys was trysting with various pop icons of the
era, including Elvis Presley (in the original production, Gladys is involved with generic types, such as an amo-
rous Frenchmen and a wrestler, but director and choreographer Theodore Pappas was indeed inspired with
the conceit of Hines’s runaway imagination seeing Gladys cavort with a male harem of the era’s celebrities).
The Pajama Game took on fresh subject matter with blue-collar workers and labor-versus-management
issues at a pajama factory in a small Midwestern town, and the story centered on the on-again, off-again ro-
mance between new factory superintendant Sid Sorokin (Muenz) and factory worker and union representative
Babe Williams (Kaye). Yes, we are definitely in the mid-1950s where women are named Babe and Poopsie and
where factory workers get head-over-heels excited about the annual office picnic. The musical also had time
to focus on the comic shenanigans of the secondary leads, the factory’s time-study-obsessed executive Hines
(Saltzman) who as mentioned is insanely jealous of his secretary Gladys (Nemetz). The lighthearted book
was beautifully complemented by Adler and Ross’s delightful score, which yielded such standards as “Hey,
There,” “Hernando’s Hideaway,” and “Steam Heat.”
The original production opened on May 13, 1954, at the St. James Theatre for 1,063 performances and
won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Choreography (the latter award went to
Bob Fosse). When the show closed, it was the seventh-longest-running book musical in Broadway history.
The script was published in hardback by Random House in 1954, and an undated paperback edition was
published in Great Britain by Williamson Music. The libretto is also part of the 2014 Library of Congress
hardback collection American Musicals, which includes scripts of fifteen other musicals. The original cast
album was released by Columbia Records (LP # OL-4840), and the CD by Sony Classical/Columbia/Legacy
(# SK-89253) includes such bonus tracks as the virtually throw-away number “Sleep-Tite” (which was re-
corded in 1954 but not released as part of the original cast album) and “The World around Us,” which was
heard at the Broadway opening-night performance but was immediately dropped in favor of a reprise of “Hey,
There.” The 1997 studio cast recording by Jay Records (# CDJAY2-1250) includes the complete “Jealousy Bal-
let” as well as the factory slowdown music, the entr’acte, finale, curtain, and exit music, and the cast mem-
bers include four from the City Opera revival (Judy Kaye, Avery Saltzman, Brooks Almy, and David Green).
The original London production opened on October 13, 1955, for 588 performances, and the cast members
included Elizabeth Seal (Gladys); the cast album was issued by Axis/EMI Records (CD #7017902) and Sepia
Records (CD # 1072).
1988–1989 SEASON 387
The faithful 1957 film version released by Warner Brothers was directed by George Abbott and Stanley
Donen and was choreographed by Fosse. With the exception of Janis Paige (whose role was assumed by Doris
Day), virtually all the stage principals reprised their roles. A new song (“The Man Who Invented Love”) was
written by Adler for Day, and although filmed it was cut prior to the film’s release (but its outtake is included
as a bonus on the DVD issued by Warner Brothers # 70599).
The musical was first revived in New York at City Center by the New York City Center Light Opera
Company on May 15, 1957, for 23 performances. Besides the current City Opera revival, there have been two
others. One opened at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on December 9, 1973, for 65 performances, and the second
at the American Airlines Theatre on February 23, 2006, for 129 showings. The 1973 revival added “Watch
Your Heart” (aka “If You Win, You Lose”), a revised version of Adler’s “What’s Wrong with Me?” from
his 1961 Broadway musical Kwamina. The second revival included “The World around Us,” “Watch Your
Heart,” “Sleep-Tite,” and “The Three of Us,” a new song by Adler. The cast album for the second revival was
released by Columbia Records (CD # CK-99036) on a two-CD set that includes selections from Harry Connick
Jr.’s 2001 musical Thou Shalt Not.
With George Abbott, co-librettist Richard Bissell had adapted his novel 7½ Cents into The Pajama Game,
and he was later inspired to write the 1957 novel Say, Darling, about a writer’s observations when his novel is
adapted into a hit musical. This slightly Pirandelloesque approach resulted in the adaptation of the novel Say,
Darling into the 1958 play-with-music, also called Say, Darling (and subtitled “a comedy about a musical”).
CHU CHEM
“The First Chinese-Jewish Musical”

Performances: 44
Book: Ted Allan
Lyrics: Jim Haines and Jack Wohl
Music: Mitch Leigh
Direction: Albert Marre; Producers: The Mitch Leigh Company and William D. Rollnick; Scenery: Robert
Mitchell; Costumes: Kenneth M. Yount; Lighting: Jason Sturm; Musical Direction: Don Jones
Cast: The Oriental Company—Kevin Gray (The Prince), Alvin Lum (The Elder), Chev Rodgers (Hong Ho),
Hechter Ubarry (The Prince’s Brother), Zoie Lam (Daf-ah-Dil, Concubine, Villager), Timm Fujii (The
Prompter), Simone Gee (Na Mi, Concubine, Villager), Keelee Seetoo (Lei-An, Concubine, Villager), Kenji
Nakao (Shu-Wo, Propman, Villager), Jason Ma (Ho-Ke, Propman, Villager), Paul Nakauchi (Nu-Wo, Prop-
man, Villager), Nephi Jay Wimmer (Chueh-Wu, Propman, Guard); The Westerners—Mark Zeller (Chu
Chem), Emily Zacharias (Lotte), Irving Burton (Yakob)
The action takes place some six-hundred years ago in the village of Kai-Feng, China.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Orient Yourself” (The Oriental Company); “What Happened, What?” (Mark Zeller, Irving Burton);
“Welcome” (Villagers); “You’ll Have to Change” (Emily Zacharias); “Love Is” (Kevin Gray); “I’ll Talk to
Her” (Mark Zeller, Kevin Gray, Hechter Ubarry); “Shame on You” (Mark Zeller, Kevin Gray, Zoie Lam,
Simone Gee, Keelee Seetoo); “It Must Be Good for Me” (Emily Zacharias); “I’ll Talk to Her” (reprise)
(Mark Zeller, Kevin Gray); “You’ll Have to Change” (reprise) (Kevin Gray); “The River” (Emily Zacharias,
Kevin Gray, Kenji Nakao, Jason Ma, Paul Nakauchi, Nephi Jay Wimmer); “We Dwell in Our Hearts”
(Mark Zeller, Emily Zacharias, Kevin Gray)
Act Two: “Re-Orient Yourself’ (The Oriental Company); “What Happened, What?” (Irving Burton); “I Once
Believed” (Emily Zacharias); “It’s Possible” (Mark Zeller); “Our Kind of War” (Company); “Boom!” (Chev
Rodgers); Finale (Company)
Chu Chem, which is the name of the musical’s leading character and roughly translates as “wise man,”
told the story of a group of fourteenth-century Jews who set off in search of one of their lost tribes, which had
settled in China some four hundred years earlier. The program notes indicated the story was “historically
accurate” but the date that the tribe settled in China is uncertain, and while some argue 998 AD, most agree
it was before 1000 AD (there are existing ruins of a synagogue that was built in 1163 AD at the intersection
of two streets in Kai-Feng, China).
The musical’s rocky road to Broadway took twenty-three years, but once it arrived it managed only a
two-month run. The show had first been produced in 1966, with its first tryout stop scheduled for the Shu-
bert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut. But the producers canceled this engagement, and opened at the
New Locust Theatre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After a series of chaotic previews, the musical’s tryout
premiered on November 15, 1966, and abruptly closed four days later on November 19. The production team
of the previous year’s mega-hit Man of La Mancha were also involved with Chu Chem, including composer
Mitch Leigh, director Albert Marre, choreographer Jack Cole (who also appeared in Chu Chem), and scenic
and lighting designer Howard Bay, and the cast included Menasha Skulnik, Molly Picon, James Shigeta, Mar-
cia Rodd, Khigh Dhiegh, Yuki Shimoda, Alvin Ing, Reiko Sato, and Bill Starr. During previews, Picon left the
show after the final preview performance and her understudy, Henrietta Jacobson, went on for opening night.
(At one performance, Jacobson famously told the audience that a number wouldn’t be performed that evening
and everyone would be “better off” without it.)
The original production utilized some of the conventions of Chinese theatre and attempted to provide
a slightly improvisational air to the proceedings, and to add to the evening’s supposedly spontaneous atmo-
sphere, there were no song titles listed in the program. The production also introduced “Occidental Actors”
and Chinese performers who come together and relate the story of the lost tribe.
Ernest Schier in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin said the musical was “confused and tasteless,” “thor-
oughly unpalatable, like blintzes with soy sauce,” “bizarre and unedifying,” “astonishingly banal,” “some-
body’s wild idea of Chinese theatre,” and, in a comment for the ages, he suggested a better title for the musi-
cal would be The King and Oy. The show canceled its scheduled opening at the George Abbott Theatre, and
it took more than two decades for the musical to see its first New York production, at Off-Off-Broadway’s
Jewish Repertory Theatre on December 27, 1988, for twenty performances. Some two months later the show
transferred to Broadway, and Marre again directed. With the exception of Thom Sesma, who was succeeded
by Kevin Gray, most of the Off-Off-Broadway cast members were seen in the Broadway version.
For their reviews of the Off-Off-Broadway production, Richard Shepard in the New York Times said the
evening provided “good fun” with “bright and energetic direction” and a “tuneful enough” score with two
standouts, “It’s Possible” and “Our Kind of War,” the latter “a rollicking Marxian (Groucho) chant done in
the style of a slick early-1930’s Hollywood musical.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post praised the “little
kosher eggroll of a show” which was “delicious,” and although the entertainment was “curious” it nonethe-
less had “its own very definite charms.” And Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News decided the subject
matter was “too interesting” for its “Borscht Belt treatment” (and he noted that Chu Chem’s daughter, Lotte,
played by Emily Zacharias, was depicted as a feminist, and he wondered if the 1966 production had such
“underpinnings”).
In his review of the Broadway production, John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said he liked the
“amiable little cross-cultural caper,” which was “so good-natured that only a Grinch would enter a dissenting
gripe.” But Drew Fetherston in New York Newsday said Chu Chem “lives up to every misgiving you might
feel about it” because it was “culturally condescending, carelessly anachronistic, and self-contradictory” (he
also noted the “outlandish” costumes suggested that “every upholstery shop in Manhattan was ransacked
to make them” and the headgear worn by the cast resembled “overturned wastebaskets and flower vases,
or pith helmets topped by phallic devices”). Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the music was
“plodding” and “unmemorable,” the lyrics “lifeless,” and the décor “designed on the cheap.” He mentioned
that along with his program the usher handed him a Chinese fortune cookie, which contained the message,
“A half-hour after seeing Chu Chem, you’ll want to see it again.” To which Watt commented, “Talk about
Chinese torture.”
The cast album for the 1966 production had been scheduled to be recorded by Mercury Records, and
the cast album for the current revival was recorded but never issued. (But a pirated recording of the Off-Off-
1988–1989 SEASON 389
Broadway production, which features Thom Sesma in the cast, includes “Raisin Cookies,” “Proof,” and “The
Scroll,” none of which appear on the song lists for the 1988 and 1989 productions.)
The demo recording of the 1966 production includes ten songs (plus alternate versions of four numbers):
“Chu Chem,” “Love Is,” “Our Kind of War,” “A Lovely Place,” “Empty Yourself,” “I Once Believed,” “We
Dwell in Our Hearts,” “One at a Time,” “My Only Love,” and “It’s Not the Truth.” Of these songs, four were
heard in the 1988 version, “Love Is,” “Our Kind of War,” “I Once Believed,” and “We Dwell in Our Hearts”;
and others in this production were: “Orient Yourself” (and “Re-Orient Yourself,” a second-act reprise ver-
sion) (these may have been a variation of “Empty Yourself”), “Rain,” “What Happened, What?,” “Welcome,”
“You’ll Have to Change,” “I’ll Talk to Her,” “Shame on You,” “It Must Be Good for Me,” “The Wise,” “The
River,” “It’s Possible,” and “Boom!” For the Broadway production, “Rain” and “The Wise” were eliminated.
THE WIZARD OF OZ
Performances: 39
Book: Adaptation by Michel M. Grilikhes
Lyrics: E. Y. Harburg
Music: Harold Arlen; original incidental music by Herbert Stothart
Based on the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (who also wrote thirteen other Oz
novels) and the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz (direction by Victor Fleming and screenplay by Noel
Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allen Woolf from an adaptation by Noel Langley).
Direction: Michel M. Grilikhes; Producer: Michel M. Grilikhes and M.M.G. Arena Productions; Choreogra-
phy: Onna White (Jim Taylor, Associate Choreographer); Scenery: Stephen Ehlers; Art Direction: Jeremy
Railton; Costumes: Bill Campbell; Lighting: Uncredited
Cast: Grace Greig (Dorothy), Linda Johnson (Aunt Em, Glinda), John Sovec (Uncle Henry), Guy Allen (Zeke,
Cowardly Lion), Joe McDonough (Hunk, Scarecrow), Joe Giuffre (Hickory, Tin Woodsman), Polly Seale
(Miss Gulch, Wicked Witch), Bart Williams (Professor Marvel, The Wizard of Oz, Gate Keeper), Chorus
The action takes place in Kansas and in Oz.
Musical Numbers
The main musical sequences in the film, and in the current stage version, were: “Over the Rainbow,”
“Munchkinland,” “Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead,” “Follow the Yellow Brick Road,” “We’re Off to See
the Wizard,” “If I Only Had a Brain,” “If I Only Had a Heart,” “Lions and Tigers and Bears,” “If I Only
Had the Nerve,” “Optimistic Voices,” The Merry Old Land of Oz,” “If I Were King of the Forest,” and
“Courage.”
The production of The Wizard of Oz was presented at large arena-styled theatres, and for its limited New
York engagement played at Radio City Music Hall. The book adaptation was by Michel M. Grilikhes, and the
dialogue was prerecorded and lip-synched by the performers, who also mouthed the words of the lyrics (the
songs, with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg and music by Harold Arlen, were taken directly from the soundtrack of
MGM’s 1939 film version).
Richard F. Shepard in the New York Times said the show was “an amiable, colorful and at times even
spectacular affair” with a cast of forty-two and lavish effects which included the levitation of Dorothy’s home
during the tornado scene, flying monkeys, a transformation sequence in which three performers turned into
snowdrops, and a “big and ominous” face of the Wizard, which was “appropriately scary.” He also noted that
Joe McDonough as the Scarecrow was a “particularly adroit” dancer.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB

Theatre: Music Box Theatre
Performances: 12
Book: A. E. Hotchner
Lyrics: Cy Coleman and A. E. Hotchner
Music: Cy Coleman
Direction: Peter Mark Schifter; Producers: Cy Coleman, A. E. Hotchner, William H. Kessler Jr., and Michael
M. Weatherly in association with Raymond J. Greenwald (Robert R. Larsen, Associate Producer); Chore-
ography: Patricia Birch; Scenery: David Jenkins; Costumes: William Ivey Long; Lighting: Tharon Musser;
Musical Direction: David Pogue
Cast: Marilyn Sokol (Arlene Meltzer), Avery Schreiber (Milton Meltzer), Bill Buell (Gus Bottomly), Scott
Wentworth (Aaron Bates), Samuel E. Wright (Bruce Aiken), Scott Waara (Kevin Bursteter), Jody Benson
(Betty Bursteter), Marcia Mitzman (Carol Bates), Terri White (Eve Aiken), Sally Mayes (Winona Shook)
Musical Numbers
Act One: “A Place Called Alimony Jail” (Avery Schreiber, Scott Wentworth, Samuel E. Wright, Scott Waara,
Marilyn Sokol, Jody Benson, Marcia Mitzman, Terri White); “Pay the Lawyer” (Avery Schreiber, Scott
Wentworth, Samuel E. Wright, Scott Waara); “Mrs. Meltzer Wants the Money Now!” (Marilyn Sokol,
Avery Schreiber, Scott Wentworth, Samuel E. Wright, Scott Waara); “That’s a Woman” (Scott Wentworth,
Marilyn Sokol, Marcia Mitzman, Jody Benson, Terri White); “Piece of Cake” (Terri White, Samuel E.
Wright); “Rio” (Avery Schreiber, Marilyn Sokol, Jody Benson, Marcia Mitzman, Terri White, Bill Buell);
“Holidays” (Marilyn Sokol); “The Trouble with You” (Scott Wentworth, Marcia Mitzman, Avery Sch-
reiber, Samuel E. Wright, Scott Waara, Marilyn Sokol, Jody Benson, Terri White); “Mother-in-Law” (Av-
ery Schreiber, Scott Wentworth, Samuel E. Wright, Scott Waara); “At My Side” (Samuel E. Wright, Scott
Waara)
Act Two: “Southern Comfort” (Sally Mayes, Scott Wentworth, Marilyn Sokol, Jody Benson, Marcia Mitzman,
Terri White, Avery Schreiber, Samuel E. Wright, Scott Waara); “The Two of Us” (Samuel E. Wright, Avery
Schreiber); “It’s Love! It’s Love!” (Bill Buell, Avery Schreiber, Scott Wentworth, Samuel E. Wright, Scott
Waara); “In the Name of Love” (Marcia Mitzman); “Miami Beach” (Marilyn Sokol, Avery Schreiber, Scott
Wentworth, Samuel E. Wright, Scott Waara); “Guilty” (Sally Mayes); “Love Behind Bars” (Sally Mayes,
Scott Wentworth, Marilyn Sokol, Jody Benson, Marcia Mitzman, Terri White); “At My Side” (reprise)
(Scott Waara, Jody Benson); “It Wouldn’t Be You” (Avery Schreiber, Scott Wentworth, Samuel E. Wright,
Scott Waara, Marilyn Sokol, Jody Benson, Marcia Mitzman, Terri White)
Along with Home Again, Home Again (which closed during its pre-Broadway tryout in 1979), Welcome
to the Club was Cy Coleman’s worst-received musical and lost its entire investment of approximately $1.5
million. At twelve performances, it’s also the composer’s shortest-running show, and of his eleven Broadway
musicals the only one without a cast recording.
The musical took place in an alimony jail in New York City during the present time, and unlike Cole-
man’s 1977 hit I Love My Wife, the current one could have been subtitled I Hate My Wife. Four husbands
(Avery Schreiber, Scott Wentworth, Samuel E. Wright, and Scott Waara) would rather be incarcerated than
fork over alimony to their respective wives (Marilyn Sokol, Marcia Mitzman, Terri White, and Jody Benson).
Despite a cascade of non-stop acrimony, most of the couples reunite by the end of the evening.
The book had a number of holes, and so the critics pounced on various questionable plot details. Why is
the show set in an alimony jail during the present time when such jails no longer exist? Why are the wives so
dependent on their husbands’ money? Why don’t any of the wives have jobs? For those characters who have
children, why are the kids barely mentioned and seem to have no place in the story? (Could it be that child
support, not alimony, is the issue?) Further, in the second act Winona Shook (Sally Mayes), a famous country-
1988–1989 SEASON 391
and-western singer, joins the husbands in jail because she won’t pay alimony to her husband. Since when are
men and women placed in the same jail cell?
More to the point, the evening was a one-joke show that might have worked as a five-minute revue
sketch, but a full Broadway evening of two acts had nowhere to go and as a result the show was filled with
extraneous numbers, including two about resorts: a husband looks forward to the day he can escape to “Rio,”
and a wife anticipates enough alimony to ensure that she can vacation in “Miami Beach.” And when coun-
try star Winona comes on the scene, she and the husbands go into a song about the War Between the States
(“Southern Comfort”). As for the “jokes,” at least two critics singled out the line “I was out of there faster
than a matzoh from the Vatican.”
The critics weren’t just appalled by the mean-spirited, misogynistic diatribe that depicted wives as cas-
trating harpies and gold diggers and men as better off in jail than in the clutches of their greedy and schem-
ing wives. The reviewers were also surprised over the liberal use of four-letter words, especially in the song
“Mother-in-Law,” in which one four-letter expletive was endlessly repeated. Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said
the show broke the “Broadway musical language barrier and sets a record for profane language, in the dia-
logue, in the songs and, by the second act, from the audience.”
David Patrick Stearns in USA Today said “Move over, Carrie” because that “bad-taste yardstick” was
now “eclipsed” by Welcome to the Club. The “breathtakingly misogynistic” musical wasn’t “bigotry of the
unenlightened” kind but was instead “gleeful vulgarity.” Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News said
one must make “subtle gradations in awfulness,” and thus the new musical didn’t have the “grandiosity”
and “relentlessness” of Carrie or the “sustained inanity” of Legs Diamond, but it surpassed both of them “in
cheapness and tackiness.” The “full evening of spitefulness and recriminations is unimaginably gross,” and
he suspected the Broadway run was a tryout “for an extended engagement in an as-yet-undisclosed resort in
the Poconos.”
The headline of Douglas Watt’s notice in the New York Daily News proclaimed “Welcome to the Dud.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the “poor little thing” was so far the best musical of the season, and
while there had been “bad” Broadway seasons before, this was “ridiculous,” and he asked, “What on earth
haven’t we done to deserve this?” Frank Rich in the New York Times complained that Coleman and A. E.
Hotchner’s book lacked “credible” characters, drama, and emotions, and in place of “song and story” there
were only “idle song cues.”
As for Coleman’s score, Rich noted it was “better” than the material deserved, but its “quality is too
inconsistent to galvanize the show.” Watt said there were four or five “attractive tunes” and Barnes said the
songs (which ranged from operetta pastiche to barbershop quartet to country music to Broadway ballad) were,
along with the performances, the “best” part of the evening. Winer praised the “natural, simple” melodies;
Siegel liked the “tuneful” music; and Stearns found the score “typically tuneful” and said “At My Side”
(which was also singled out by Watt as “winning” and by Kissel as “mildly fetching”) had the makings of a
“hit.”
During previews, Sharon Scruggs was succeeded by Sally Mayes, and the song “Meyer Chickerman” was
dropped.
There was no cast recording, but for the collection Unsung Musicals (Varese Sarabande CD # VSD-5462)
cast member Sally Mayes performed two songs from the musical (“In the Name of Love” and “At My Side”),
neither of which she sang in the show.
Curiously enough, Welcome to the Club was the second of four versions of the material, all with differ-
ent titles. The musical first premiered as Let ’Em Rot! on February 19, 1988, at the Coconut Grove Playhouse
in Coconut Grove, Florida, with Ron Orbach, William Parry, Martin Vidnovic, Cady Huffman, and Marilyn
Sokol, who was the only member of the cast to transfer with the show to Broadway. Some nine songs heard
in Florida were cut for New York: “Alimony Rap,” “Let ’Em Rot!,” “Piece of Mind,” “King of the Mound,” “I
Get Tired,” “Aiken’s Lament,” “Bachelors,” “The Honeymoon Is Over,” and “To Live Again.” “Boom Chicka
Boom” was heard in the Florida production and may have been an early title for “Rio.”
After Let ’Em Rot! and Welcome to the Club, Coleman and Hotchner revised the show as Exactly Like
You, which opened at Goodspeed Opera House’s Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, Connecticut, on May
7, 1998. It was later staged Off Off Broadway by the York Theatre Company at the Theatre at Saint Peter’s
Church on April 19, 1999, for thirty-one performances. New songs heard in the Goodspeed production that
weren’t used in the York Theatre staging were “A Man of the People,” “The Trouble with You,” and “I For-
give Him.” New songs added for the York version were: “Courtroom Cantata,” “I Want the Best for Him,”
and “Don’t Mess Around with Your Mother-in-Law” (which may have been a revised version of “Mother-in-
Law”).
Exactly Like You and the final version of the show (which opened as Lawyers, Lovers & Lunatics) were
set in a courtroom and not in the jail itself. Lawyers had a short regional tour in New Jersey and Florida dur-
ing the early months of 2003, and the cast included four members from the York Theatre production (Dorina
Kelly, Donya Lane, Susan Mansur, and Michael McGrath) as well as Barbara Walsh, who had appeared in
the Goodspeed version. For this latest and presumably final edition of the material, three songs were added:
“Wake Up and Smell the Coffee,” “Don’t Let It Getcha,” and “Pound of Flesh.”
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Scott Wentworth); Best Director of a Musical
(Peter Mark Schifter)
BARRY MANILOW AT THE GERSHWIN

Performances: 44
Special Material: Ken and Mitzie Welch, Roberta Kent, and Barry Manilow
Direction: Kevin Carlisle; Producers: Garry C. Kief, James M. Nederlander, James L. Nederlander, Arthur
Rubin, and Joe Gannon; Scenery and Costumes: Jeremy Railton; Lighting: J. T. McDonald; Musical Direc-
tion: Bud Harner and Ron Pedley
Cast: Barry Manilow; Vocalists and Musicians: Marc Levine (Vocals, Bass Guitar), John Pondel (Vocals, Gui-
tar), Joe Melotti (Vocals, Keyboards), Billy Kidd (Vocals, Keyboards), Vanessa Brown (Vocals, Percussion),
Dana Robbins (Vocals, Woodwinds), Debra Byrd (Vocals), Bud Harner (Drums), Ron Pedley (Keyboards)
For the first half of his limited-engagement concert Barry Manilow at the Gershwin, the singer presented
a musical autobiography of sorts during which he sang and chatted about his childhood and Brooklyn roots.
For the second half, he performed an extended medley of his hit songs. During the evening he was backed up
by nine vocalists and musicians.
Stephen Holden in the New York Times characterized the concert as “a smoothly streamlined affair that
has much less glitz” than Manilow’s earlier appearances. The singer’s “boy-next-door ingenuousness” sug-
gested the only reason he performed on stage was because of the “love and support” of his fans, and Holden
noted that Manilow didn’t “oversell” the “greeting-card sentiments” of his songs, which dealt with such
themes as “an adolescent longing for love” and “the satisfaction of having ‘made it through the rain.’”
Holden reported that among the songs performed during the evening were: “Lady of Spain,” “Born in the
U.S.A.,” “Bad,” “Like a Virgin,” “Mandy,” “Can’t Smile without You,” “One Voice,” and “I Write the Songs.”
The singer’s Barry Manilow on Broadway had played at the Uris (now Gershwin) Theatre on December
21, 1976, for twelve performances and it won him a special Tony Award; he later appeared in Barry Manilow’s
Showstoppers, which opened at the Paramount Theatre on September 25, 1991, for four performances; and he
composed the score for the 1997 musical Harmony (book and lyrics by Bruce Sussman), which closed during
its pre-Broadway tryout.
STARMITES
Theatre: Criterion Center Stage Right
Performances: 60
Book: Stuart Ross and Barry Keating
Lyrics and Music: Barry Keating
1988–1989 SEASON 393
Direction: Larry Carpenter; Producers: Hinks Shimberg, Mary Keil, and Steven Warnick (Peter Bogyo, John
Burt, and Severn Sandt, Associate Producers); Choreography: Michele Assaf (T. C. Charlton, Assistant
Choreographer); Scenery: Lowell Detweiler; Costumes: Susan Hirschfeld; Lighting: Jason Kantrowitz;
Musical Direction: Henry Aronson
Cast: Liz Larsen (Eleanor, Milady, Bizarbara), Sharon McKnight (Mother, Diva), Ariel Grabber (Shak Graa),
Brian Lane Green (Space Punk), Gabriel Barre (Trinkulus); Starmites: Bennett Cale (Ack Ack Ackerman),
Victor Trent Cook (Herbie Harrison), and Christopher Zelno (Dazzle Razzledorf); Banshees: Mary Kate
Law (Shotzi), Gwen Stewart (Canibelle), Freida Williams (Balbraka), and Janet Aldrich (Maligna); John-
Michael Flate (Droid), Ric Ryder (Droid)
The action takes place during the present time on Earth and in innerspace.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Superhero Girl” (Liz Larsen); “Starmites” (Bennett Cale, Victor Trent, Christopher Zelno, Brian
Lane Green); “Trink’s Narration” (Gabriel Barre, Bennett Cale, Victor Trent, Christopher Zelno); “Afraid
of the Dark” (Brian Lane Green, Bennett Cale, Victor Trent, Christopher Zelno, Liz Larsen, Gabriel Barre);
“Little Hero” (Liz Larsen); “Attack of Banshees” (Mary Kate Law, Gwen Stewart, Freida Williams, Janet
Aldrich); “Hard to Be Diva” (Sharon McKnight, Mary Kate Law, Gwen Stewart, Freida Williams, Janet
Aldrich); “Love Duet” (Brian Lane Green, Liz Larsen); “The Dance of Spousal Arousal” (Mary Kate Law,
Gwen Stewart, Freida Williams, Janet Aldrich, Liz Larsen); Finaletto (Company)
Act Two: Entr’acte (Band); “Bizarbara’s Wedding” (Liz Larsen, Mary Kate Law, Gwen Stewart, Freida Wil-
liams, Janet Aldrich); “Milady” (Brian Lane Green, Bennett Cale, Victor Trent, Christopher Zelno);
“Beauty Within” (Sharon McKnight, Liz Larsen); “The Cruelty Stomp” (Gabriel Barre, Company); “Reach
Right Down” (Bennett Cale, Victor Trent, Christopher Zelno, Sharon McKnight, Mary Kate Law, Gwen
Stewart, Freida Williams, Janet Aldrich); “Immolation” (Liz Larsen, Ariel Grabber, Brian Lane Green);
“Starmites”/”Hard to Be Diva” (reprises) (Sharon McKnight, Bennett Clae, Victor Trent, Christopher
Zelno, Mary Kate Law, Gwen Stewart, Freida Williams, Janet Aldrich); Finale (Company)
Starmites had been orbiting throughout the theatrical universe for about ten years, and now finally crash-
landed on Broadway. But perhaps Off Broadway should have been its destination. The critics weren’t all that
amused, the audiences didn’t come, and the show closed within two months of its opening.
The science-fiction spoof centered on teenager Eleanor (Liz Larsen), an avid reader of sci-fi comics who
like Alice dreams she’s in a wonderland (here called Innerspace). And like Peter Pan’s Wendy, Eleanor (now
known as Milady) meets a young man (Space Punk, the “heart throb of the universe” [Brian Lane Green]) and
his band of “lost boys,” the Starmites. Space Punk and the Starmites fight evil in the universe, including Shak
Graa (Ariel Grabber), the High Priest of Chaos whose mission in life is to destroy Earth and Innerspace. Added
to the mix are dangerous Diva (Sharon McKnight) and her Banshees, the latter described in the published
script as “Amazonian bombshells” and “henchwomen” who are led by Shotzi (Mary Kate Law), Diva’s ser-
geant-at-arms. But Diva isn’t so bad after all (in her big number “Hard to Be Diva,” she confides that while it’s
“a full-time job” to keep her “veneer up,” she’s nonetheless “a big-hearted gal”), especially when it turns out
that her dear daughter Bizarbara (also played by Larsen) is a changeling and that Eleanor herself is Diva’s birth
daughter (don’t ask). At any rate, Earth and Innerspace are saved, Eleanor returns to Earth and her mother (also
played by McKnight), but not before everyone joins in the latest dance craze “The Cruelty Stomp.”
Mel Gussow in the New York Times said the musical had a “convivial Off-Broadway feeling,” and while it
possessed “a childlike fancifulness and a genuine affection for its genre” it lacked “a sharply satiric storyline.”
But he liked the “eclectic” music, noted the lyrics often had a “cartoon cleverness,” and he enjoyed Sharon
McKnight’s Diva, a role “that might have been made to order for Bette Midler.” Linda Winer in New York
Newsday said the show should have opened in a “tiny” Off-Broadway theatre, but noted the book was true to
its “foolish shlock genre,” the dialogue was “overwritten in the great stupid comic-book tradition” (with lines
on the order of “How doleful is the shaft of evility”), the music was “innocuous, mainstream soft rock,” and
Larry Carpenter’s direction pulled it all together with “sweetness” and “a kind of nonstop homemade party.”
As for McKnight, she “belted” her songs and looked “like Barbara Bush as a biker.”
Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News felt the “terribly silly and relentlessly unmusical musical”
seemed like a “rash and costly Off-Broadway” production. Joel Siegel on WABCTV7 said Starmites wasn’t an
“outrageous failure” like Carrie and Legs Diamond and wasn’t “offensive” like Welcome to the Club, but
“not being terrible still isn’t good enough.” And Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal said the evening
never matched the “level of playfulness and satire” that McKnight brought to the proceedings.
John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor suggested the musical was aimed at teenagers “or perhaps
just the latent teenager in all of us,” and noted “Hard to Be Diva” permitted McKnight “to raise the roof.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post suggested his readers would be better off going to a restaurant or a movie,
or maybe just staying home; the score carried “the unmemorable to as yet uncharted areas of amnesia,” and
as he wrote his review on the computer, every time he typed the show’s title it came out as Termites.
The musical was first produced Off Off Broadway on October 23, 1980, at the Ark Theatre for twenty
performances (with book, lyrics, and music by Barry Keating); it was again presented Off Off Broadway when
it opened at Musical Theatre Works on April 26, 1987, for sixteen performances (this time around, the book
was credited to both Keating and Stuart Ross, and the cast included Liz Larsen and Gabriel Barre, both of
whom were in the eventual Broadway production). Between the 1987 and 1989 versions, the musical was
presented at the American Stage Festival in Milford, New Hampshire, and after the Broadway production
closed the work twice returned to Off Off Broadway, at the Hartley House Theatre on December 14, 1990, for
twenty performances and (as Starmites 2001) at the AMAS Musical Theatre on March 22, 2001, for seventeen
performances. Starmites was also produced on March 29, 2006, at the Cap 21 Theatre as part of the Barbara
Wolf Monday Night Reading Series.
The script was published in paperback by Samuel French, in 1990, and Original Cast Records released a
recording that was a combination of 1989 cast members and studio cast performers (CD # OC-8812). Cast
member Sharon McKnight’s collection In the Meantime (Jezebel Music Records CD # OU81SS) includes her
number “Hard to Be Diva.”
Starmites was the first production to play at the new Criterion Center Stage Right. It was located on
the site of the Olympia Theatre, which was demolished in 1935 and later replaced by the Criterion Theatre,
a movie house. The Criterion eventually underwent reconstruction, and as Criterion Center Stage Right,
Barnes reported the new space seemed to have “more foyers and staircases than seating and stage,” and Siegel
praised the wide aisles and “comfortable” seats with lots of leg room (but he complained that in the case of
the current production, all the seats faced the stage). Two years after the theatre opened, it was leased to the
Roundabout Theatre Company for almost a decade, but in 1999 the space was converted into a retail store.
There was also Criterion Center Stage Left, an Off-Broadway house that opened on September 25, 1988, with
the musical Suds. Like its counterpart, Stage Left was eventually demolished in order to make way for retail
space.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Musical (Starmites); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Brian Lane Green);
Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Sharon McKnight); Best Direction of a Musical (Larry Carpenter); Best
Choreographer (Michele Assaf)
GHETTO
“The Last Performance in the Vilna Ghetto”

Performances: 33
Play: Joshua Sobol (English adaptation by David Lan)
Lyrics: English lyrics by Jeremy Sams
Music: Most of the music was based on “authentic Ghetto songs” arranged by William Schimmel
Direction: Gedalia Besser; Producer: Circle in the Square Theatre (Theodore Mann, Artistic Director; Paul
Libin, Producing Director); Movement: Nir Bel Gal and Liat Dror; Scenery: Adrian Vaux; Costumes: Edna
Sobol; Lighting: Kevin Rigdon; Musical Direction: William Schimmel
1988–1989 SEASON 395
Cast: Avner Eisenberg (Srulik), Stephen McHattie (Kittel), Helen Schneider (Hayyah), Gordon Joseph Weiss
(Dummy), George Hearn (Gens), Jerry Matz (Hassid, Doctor Gottlieb), Donal Donnelly (Weiskopf), Jarlath
Conroy (Kruk), Marshall Coid (Haiken), David Hopkins (Reed Player), Barry Mitterhoff (Guitar Player),
William Swindler (Accordion Player), Julie Goell (Miriam), Alma Cuervo (Ooma, Doctor Weiner), Richard
M. Davidson (Rich Man), David Rosenbaum (Judge), Andrea Clark Libin (Luba), Jon Rothstein (Yankel),
Matthew P. Mutrie (Yitzak Geivish), Jonathan Mann (Elia Geivish), William Venderber (Dessler), Ahvi
Spindell (Averbuch), Angelo Ragonesi (Levas), Julie Anne Eigenberg (Woman), Brian Maffitt (German Sol-
dier), Spike McClure (German Soldier)
The action takes place in the ghetto of Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1941, 1942, and 1943.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t list individual musical numbers.
Joshua Sobol’s play-with-music Ghetto premiered at the Haifa Municipal Theatre in Haifa, Israel, in April
1984, and its first European production was performed in German when the play opened in Berlin during June
of that year. The English adaptation by David Lan was commissioned by the Royal National Theatre of Great
Britain and premiered on April 27, 1989, three days before the New York production opened. Ghetto is one
of three related plays by Sobol that deal with life in the Vilna Ghetto; the other two are Adam (1988) and
Underground (1989). The script was published in 1989 in two different paperback editions, one in Britain by
Nick Hern Publishers and one in New York by the Theatre Communications Group.
The play centers on a group of players and musicians who continue to perform in the Vilna Ghetto in
the face of imminent extinction. The ghetto was once the home of tens of thousands of Jews, but ultimately
only a few hundred survived the Holocaust. The drama looked at the spirit and willpower of a group of people
determined to go on living as normally as possible in the face of their Nazi oppressors, and the central char-
acter Srulik (Avner Eisenberg), who is the artistic director of the ghetto’s theatre, looks back at life under
Nazi occupation from September 1941 until the virtual liquidation of the ghetto in 1943. The program notes
indicated the memory play was “a mixture” of the “factual” and the “imaginative” as Srulik’s recollections
bring the past and his dead friends to life.
Frank Rich in the New York Times suggested the play’s director Gedalia Besser was “entirely at sea” with
the “bizarrely chosen” cast which included two performers associated with Irish theatre (Donal Donnelly
and Jarlath Conroy), one best known as a singer (Helen Schneider), and one a clown (Avner Eisenberg, known
as the clown “Avner the Eccentric”). The result was “perhaps the most ineptly performed production of the
Broadway season.” Further, the “diffuse” evening offered “predictable soliloquies delivered by stereotyped”
characters, and even the extras in the cast seemed “less like victims of the Nazis than like refugees from an
exhausted summer-stock tour of Oliver!”
Rich noted that the play aspired to be a musical in the tradition of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Edwin
Wilson in the Wall Street Journal reported that when the SS officer (Stephen McHattie) smears blackface
on the Jewish actors and orders them to sing George Gershwin’s “Swanee,” the moment was “strong” and
“chilling” in its parallel between black American slaves and the slaves in the ghetto. Howard Kissel in the
New York Daily News commented that the officer demanded a song by Gershwin “on pain of death,” said
Schneider was a “moving” singer but “unconvincing” actress, and reported that the “oddly cast” George
Hearn wasn’t “Jewish enough.” Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the authentic ghetto songs were
“expertly” performed, and Linda Winer in New York Newsday praised the scenes that included “sardonic”
political playlets, dances, and songs.
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Featured Actor in a Play (Gordon Joseph Weiss)
DANGEROUS MUSIC
“A New Musical”
The musical opened on October 18, 1988, at The Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre and permanently closed there
on November 26, 1988.
Direction: Tom Eyen; Producer: The Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre (K. R. Williams, Producer); Choreography:
Wayne Cilento; Scenery: Robin Wagner; Costumes: William Ivey Long; Lighting: Tharon Musser; Musical
Direction: Lon Hoyt
Cast: Donna Murphy (Angela Dubrowsky, Ms. Francis, Beverly), Jon Ehrlich (Tommy Dubrowsky, Prom
Backup Singer, Salto Lee Smith), David Chaney (Frank Dubrowsky, Big Jerry Palatore), Yvette Cason
(Verdi Winston, Jackie Morrison, Prom Backup Singer, Dollene, Crystall, Reporter # 3), Laurie Beechman
(Diane Dubrowsky), T. J. Meyers (Ed Pasky, Ball Player, Prom Singer, Lieutenant Dwyer, Bob J. Donner),
Jodi Benson (Barbara Pasky, Cathy Hartley, Prom Backup Singer, Tania), Shaun Cassidy (Turk Armalli,
Randy Taylor), Lee Lobenhofer (Josh, Prison Guard, Man in Cage, Billy, Reporter # 1, Phil, Policeman),
Lorraine Goodman (Jeannette, Reporter # 2, Mia, Connie Pasky), Belinda Beeman (Helen, Prison Inmate,
Body Shop Lady), Anastasia R. Barzee (Andrea, Prison Inmate, Body Shop Lady, Frank’s Friend), Margot
Moreland (Sharon), Joe Gately (Prison Guard, Policeman), Colin Lockerbie (Prison Guard, Gregory), Pep-
per Sweeney (Prison Guard), Marietta Haley (Old Lady), Trent Kendall (Policeman); Song Cycle Singers:
Jodi Benson, Yvette Cason, Donna Murphy, Jon Ehrlich, and Lorraine Goodman
The action for the first act takes place in Detroit during the early 1970s, and the action for the second occurs
during the early 1980s (primarily in Detroit and Los Angeles but also in Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee,
and Toledo).
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Dangerous Music” (Company); “The Paskys Coming to Dinner” (Donna Murphy, David Chaney,
Jon Ehrlich, Yvette Cason, Laurie Beechman, T. J. Meyers, Jodi Benson); “Hey, Turk” (Jon Ehrlich, Shaun
Cassidy, Lee Lobenhofer, Team); “We’re Alive, Diane” (Shaun Cassidy, Jodi Benson, Laurie Beechman,
Yvette Cason); “Worried about the Way You Feel” (Donna Murphy, Laurie Beechman); “Dancing at the
Prom” (T. J. Meyers, Yvette Cason, Jodi Benson, Jon Ehrlich, Company); “This Is Your Big Chance, Diane”
(Jon Ehrlich, Laurie Beechman, Yvette Cason, Shaun Cassidy, Jodi Benson); “I’m So Rough on the Out-
side” (Shaun Cassidy, Laurie Beechman); “You Got Me Going, Baby” (Shaun Cassidy, Laurie Beechman);
“Who Did This to You?” (David Chaney, Donna Murphy, Laurie Beechman, Jon Ehrlich); “You Haven’t
Talked” (Laurie Beechman, Shaun Cassidy); “It’s about Your Daughter” (T. J. Meyers, Donna Murphy,
David Chaney, Jon Ehrlich); “New Girl Coming In” (Jodi Benson, Yvette Cason, Donna Murphy, Laurie
Beechman, Lee Lobenhofer, Joe Gately, Colin Lockerbie, Pepper Sweeney); “One More Loser” (Anasta-
sia R. Barzee, Belinda Beeman, Laurie Beechman); “Where Is My Heart Now?” (Laurie Beechman); “I’m
Always Gonna Be a Part of You” (Shaun Cassidy with Laurie Beechman); “Keep It Quiet” (Anastasia R.
Barzee, Belinda Beeman, Laurie Beechman, Lee Lobenhofer, Joe Gately, Colin Lockerbie, Pepper Sweeney);
“A Bottle of Peroxide” (Anastasia R. Barzee, Belinda Beeman, Laurie Beechman); “We Gotta Make Some
Money” (Anastasia R. Barzee, Belinda Beeman, and Laurie Beechman with Lee Lobenhofer, Joe Gately,
Colin Lockerbie, Pepper Sweeney); “How We Gonna Live?” (Jon Ehrlich, Donna Murphy, T. J. Meyers,
David Chaney); “We Gotta Make Some Money” (reprise) (Anastasia R. Barzee, Belinda Beeman, Laurie
Beechman); “Diane Gets an Offer” (Laurie Beechman, David Chaney, Jodi Benson, Yvette Cason, Anasta-
sia R. Barzee, Belinda Beeman, Lee Lobenhofer, Joe Gately, Coln Lockerbie, Pepper Sweeney); “I’m Gonna
Fly” (Laurie Beechman, Company)
Act Two: “Dangerous Music” (reprise) (Company); “Diane’s Letter” (Jon Ehrlich, Donna Murphy, Laurie
Beechman); “I Love You” (Yvette Cason, Donna Murphy, Jodi Benson, Laurie Beechman); “I’m Getting
Out” (Laurie Beechman, Anastasia R. Barzee, Belinda Beeman); “Deal” (David Chaney, T. J. Meyers, Shaun
Cassidy, John Ehrlich, Lee Lobenhofer); “Let’s Keep This Business” (David Chaney, Laurie Beechman);
1988–1989 SEASON 397
“Diane Did Better Than Us” (Jon Ehrlich, Donna Murphy, David Chaney); “Potato Chips” (Laurie Beech-
man, Jodi Benson, Donna Murphy, Yvette Cason); “I Don’t Know What to Tell Her” (Donna Murphy, Jon
Ehrlich); “Come Home, Diane” (Jon Ehrlich); “We’re American” (Laurie Beechman, Yvette Cason); “Make
It Work for You” (Yvette Cason with Jodi Benson, Anastasia R. Barzee, and Belinda Beeman); “You Lost It,
Jerry” (David Chaney, T. J. Meyers, Men, Laurie Beechman); “So You Saw What Happened” (T. J. Meyers,
Laurie Beechman, Shaun Cassidy, Jodi Benson, Yvette Cason, Men); “We Are the People” (Shaun Cassidy,
Laurie Beechman, Jon Ehrlich, Lorraine Goodman, Lee Lobenhofer, Anastasia R. Barzee, Belinda Beeman,
Trent Kendall); “I Am Your Obsession” (Shaun Cassidy with Laurie Beechman); “Get Rid of Her” (Shaun
Cassidy, T. J. Meyers); “Girls Like Me” (Laurie Beechman, Jodi Benson, Donna Murphy); “First Interview”
(Laurie Beechman, Lee Lobenhofer, Lorraine Goodman, Yvette Cason); “I’m Addicted to You” (Laurie
Beechman, Jodi Benson, Donna Murphy); “Second Interview” (Laurie Beechman, Lee Lobenhofer, Lorriane
Goodman, Yvette Cason); “I Don’t Want to Be Famous” (T. J. Meyers, Laurie Beechman); “Heartbreak”
(Lee Lobenhofer, Laurie Beechman, T. J. Meyers, Song Cycle Singers); “Danger Danger” (Laurie Beechman,
Song Cycle Singers); “White Girl” (Laurie Beechman, Song Cycle Singers); “You Can’t Hold Me Down”
(Laurie Beechman, T. J. Meyers, Song Cycle Singers); “I’m My Father’s Daughter” (Laurie Beechman, Song
Cycle Singers, Colin Lockerbie); “Heartbreak” (reprise) (Laurie Beechman, Song Cycle Singers, Shaun Cas-
sidy); “White Girl” (reprise) (Laurie Beechman, Song Cycle Singers); “You Can’t Hold Me Down” (reprise)
(Laurie Beechman, Song Cycle Singers); “I’m My Father’s Daughter” (reprise) (Laurie Beechman, Song
Cycle Singers); “Hello, Mama” (Laurie Beechman, Company); “Do You Know Me?” (Shaun Cassidy, Lau-
rie Beechman, Marietta Haley); “I Remember You” (Shaun Cassidy, Laurie Beechman); “My Star Player”
(Shaun Cassidy, Laurie Beechman, David Chaney, Jon Ehrlich); “Here Is the Heart” (Laurie Beechman)
The Broadway-bound Dangerous Music was composer Henry Krieger and librettist and lyricist Tom
Eyen’s first collaboration after their hit Dreamgirls. The choreography was by Wayne Cilento, the décor by
Robin Wagner, the costumes by William Ivey Long, the lighting by Tharon Musser, and the cast included Lau-
rie Beechman, Jodi Benson, Shaun Cassidy, and Donna Murphy. The ambitious musical with its sung-through
score and its raw subject matter never got out of Florida, but if the book had been pruned and clarified, the
work might have had a chance on Broadway. Unfortunately, once the show closed after its initial engagement
it completely disappeared.
Like Krieger’s Dreamgirls and The Tap Dance Kid and his later Side Show, the musical focused in part
on life in show business, and also had a touch of The Visit about it with elements of obsession and revenge.
The plot dealt with Diane (Beechman) who falls in love with the carefree Turk (Cassidy), who rapes her and
goes on to marry the town’s rich girl. After a stint in prison, Diane finds herself in the world of show business
where she eventually becomes a rock star. But she always obsesses over Turk, and Zink in Variety reported
that in the final scene the “tragic heroine” sings her final aria as she clutches Turk’s corpse.
Zink reported the musical cost between $500,000 and $700,000 to produce and was presented in the
style of the verismo school of opera. He liked the score, but felt the book was too “heavy-handed” with a
“rich, overripe subplot” which used the fall of Detroit’s automobile industry as a symbol of “opportunism”
and “rampant social and personal decay.” There was too much in the way of “wallpaper-chewing and breast-
beating psychodrama” amid “a quicksand of plot complications.” But at its best, the work was “of a piece”
with its “own identity” and in some respects had both the “visceral power” of Les Miserables and a “touch”
of Grand Guignol a la Sweeney Todd.
NIMROD AND THE TOWER OF BABEL

Nimrod and the Tower of Babel had been scheduled to open at the Neil Simon Theatre in January 1989 and
would have been performed in repertory with Senator Joe, but apparently at the last minute the producers
decided to cancel the production and instead presented Senator Joe by itself on a full-week performance
schedule. As noted in the entry for Senator Joe, that musical played for just three preview performances
before permanently closing.
While Senator Joe played out its three performances, programs for that musical alone were given to the audi-
ence members. But a joint program had also been printed for both Senator and Nimrod, and so Nimrod
may well be the only Broadway musical which didn’t give a single performance but which nonetheless
boasted a Broadway program, a dubious distinction it shares with two Off-Broadway musicals. The 1983
Off-Broadway Bodo closed in rehearsals and never gave a performance at the Promenade Theatre, but the
programs had been printed and delivered to the theatre just prior to the show’s cancelation. And the 1984
musical Once on a Summer’s Day played Off Off Broadway for two slightly separate engagements before
announcing a regular Off-Broadway run at the Westside Arts Center/Cheryl Crawford Theatre beginning
on March 1, 1985. Because of last-minute financing issues, the Westside production was canceled, but not
before programs had been printed.
Both Senator Joe and Nimrod were apparently sung through, and while the former listed song titles in its
program, Nimrod did not and listed only the scenes depicted in the musical.
The information below is taken from Nimrod’s Broadway program.
Libretto: John Walker
Music: Tom O’Horgan
Direction: Tom O’Horgan; Producers: Adela Holzer and Chester Fox; Choreography: Wesley Fata; Scenery:
Bill Stabile; Costumes: Randy Barcelo; Lighting: John McLain; Musical Direction: Gordon Lowry Harrell
Cast: Ric Ryder (Nimrod), J. P. Dougherty (Roan), Cheryl Alexander (Zenrakan), Maggi-Meg Reed (Amitlai),
Michael Leslie (Terah), Jeff Johnson (Gabriel), Tom Desrocher (Noah), Elena Ferrante (Noah’s Wife), Ray-
mond Patterson (Abraham); Ensemble: Richard Coombs, Michele Fleisher, Kristen Gray, Mary Jo Limpert,
Aaron Mendelson, Michael Rapposelli, Mary Robin Roth
The musical was in two acts.
Except for a prologue that takes place during the present time in the Middle East, the action takes place during
the sixteenth century BC in Babylon and on the Shinear Plain.
The program notes indicated the story of Nimrod, the fall of Babylon, the “confusing” of languages, the
dispersion of Babylonians, and the coming of Abraham are “the epic mythological explanation for the schism
between Arab and Jew and others in the Middle East.” Nimrod’s pride ultimately brought an end to Babylon,
which “forever” divided “the peoples of the world, primarily and tragically those of the Middle East.”
SENATOR JOE
The musical began previews at the Neil Simon Theatre on January 5, 1989, and permanently closed there on
January 7, 1989, after three performances.
Libretto: Perry Arthur Kroeger
Music: Tom O’Horgan
Direction: Tom O’Horgan; Producers: Adela Holzer and Chester Fox; Choreography: Wesley Fata; Scenery:
Bill Stabile; Original Production Art: Marc Kehoe and Dan Gosch; Costumes: Randy Barcelo; Lighting:
John McLain; Musical Direction: Gordon Lowry Harrell
Cast: Jeff Johnson (Edward R. Morrow, Richard Nixon, Mao Tse Tung, Welch), Kristen Gray (Eggene Celeste,
Mamie Eisenhower, Fatty Deposit, Snake), Michael Rapposelli (Alger Hiss, Drew Pearson, Dean Acheson,
David Schine, Jackie Gleason), Tom Desrocher (Whittaker Chambers, Owen Lattimore, George Marshall,
Julius Rosenberg, Ricky Ricardo), Michelle Fleisher (Applause Girl, Dorothy Kenyon, Ethel Rosenberg,
Lucy Ricardo), Mary Robin Roth (Applause Girl, Jeanne Kerr), Cheryl Alexander (Lena Horne, Flower Girl
# 2, Mrs. Voice of America), J. P. Dougherty (Joe McCarthy), Richard Coombs (Chicken, Attorney, Office
Boy # 1, Enzyme, Lenin, Huck Finn, Ronald Reagan), Elena Ferrante (Bess Truman), Maggie-Meg Reed
(Eleanor Roosevelt), Ric Ryder (Professor, Roy Cohn), Michael Leslie (Priest, Natasha, Major Domo), Mary
Jo Limpert (Statue of Liberty, Flower Girl # 1), Aaron Mendelson (Harry Truman, Stalin, Voice of America
Man, Bobby Kennedy, Secretary Stevens), Raymond Patterson (Office Boy # 2)
The action takes place during the early 1950s “in, about and around the minds of Joe McCarthy and those
involved with him.”
1988–1989 SEASON 399
Musical Numbers
Note: Although the program listed song titles, names of performers or their characters weren’t given.
Act One: “The 50’s”; “Prelude”; “Cold War”; “Hysteria”; “Microfilm”; “Black and Blue”; “Where the War
Left Us”; “Dirt between My Fingers”; “Three First Ladies”; “Communism”; “Almighty American”;
“Dealing in Wheeling”; “Charisma”; “Rape of Liberty”; “The Weakest Point”; “The Briefcase”; “What
He Needs I Got”; “Ism # 1”; “Take a Professor”; “Ism # 2”; “Jeannie”; “Was There Love”; “Joe’s Liver”;
“Cocktail Party”; “Jungle of Lies”; “Personal President”
Act Two: “What’s My Lie”; “The 50’s”; “The Wedding”; “Slow as the Moon”; “What’s Up for You”; “Book
Burning”; “Mamie and Bess Bicker”; “I Knew a Man”; “Twenty Years of Treason”; “Have You No
Shame”; “Time Heals All Wounds”; “See It Now”; “Pussyfootin’”; “Haunted Television”; “Boozin’ &
Barfin’”; “The Telephone”; “The Army”; “Make Up”; “Ron and Bobby”; “The Hearings”; “Flashback”;
“Aftermath”; “America”; “Jungle of Lies”
After three preview performances, Senator Joe collapsed for good. The musical was a diatribe against Sena-
tor Joseph McCarthy (J. P. Dougherty), but the rather feverish program notes indicate that Roy Cohn (Ric Ry-
der) had as much stage time as McCarthy. We’re told that the work depicts a “cartoon world where anything
can happen.” Thus “blacklist hysteria” sweeps across the United States, McCarthy “claws” his way into the
U.S. Senate, his lawyer Roy Cohn with a “cirrhosis-ridden liver rapes the Statue of Liberty,” Cohn meets the
handsome David Schine (Michael Rapposelli) and takes him on a “romantic” European trip, David is drafted,
McCarthy is brought to trial because he tried to procure “special favors” for Cohn’s “special private,” and
then everyone “deserts” McCarthy when “his evil becomes apparent to the world” and “he is left to bathe in
the blood bath he created.”
If all this weren’t enough, the cast of characters included Ronald Reagan and Bobby Kennedy years be-
fore they were political figures; Mao Tse Tung and Stalin were also portrayed; there were characters named
Enzyme and Fatty Deposit; the titles of some of the musical numbers were “Joe’s Liver” (but shouldn’t that
have been “Roy’s Liver”?), “Boozin’ & Barfin’”, and “Mamie and Bess Bicker”; and, most tantalizing, Lucy and
Ricky Ricardo along with Jackie Gleason (shouldn’t that have been “Ralph Kramden”?) had their moments
in the show.
Variety reported that for its three Broadway performances the musical sold 11.7% of its seats and the total
box-office take was $5,661. Theatre Week stated the show closed because of “financial problems” and that
director and composer Tom O’Horgan reportedly “took off for Europe before it was even determined whether
or not the show would resume.” The article further noted that “all this chaos was allowed to occur” because
the show was deemed a non-Equity production due to its “‘operatic status.’”
Despite its three performances on Broadway, the musical boasted two different program covers, includ-
ing one that it shared with Nimrod and the Tower of Babel. It appears that originally both Senator Joe and
Nimrod were to be performed together in repertory, but at the last minute this idea was shelved and Senator
Joe took off by itself. One program is for both musicals, and the other is for Senator Joe.
Both musicals were apparently sung through, and while the programs listed the song titles for Senator
Joe, the program for Nimrod didn’t list song titles and instead provided a detailed list of the scenes depicted
in the musical.
1989 Season
ELVIS: A ROCKIN’ REMEMBRANCE

Theatre: Beacon Theatre
Performances: 31
Text: Robert Rabinowitz
Direction and Choreography: Patricia Birch (John Mineo, Assistant Director); Producers: Jules Fisher, Roger
Hess, Magic Promotions, Inc., Pace Theatrical Group, Concert Productions International, Marvin A.
Krauss, Act III Communications, Inc., Joseph Rascoff, Julian and Jean Aberbach, and Mark Levy in associa-
tion with the estate of Elvis Presley (Madison Square Garden Enterprises); Scenery: Douglas W. Schmidt;
Costumes: Jeanne Button; Lighting: Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer; Musical Direction: Terry Mike
Jeffrey
Cast: Terry Mike Jeffrey (Young Elvis), Johnny Seaton (Heyday Elvis), Julian Whitaker (Older Elvis); Lead
Dancers: Dannul Dailey and Tinka Gutrick; Ensemble: Helena Andreyko, Darren Dollar, James Ellis, Col-
lette Hill, Debbie Jeffrey, Leonard Joseph, Paul Mahos, Pat Moya, David Mullen, Kaye Pryor, Carol Denise
Smith, Trish Vevera, Patrick Weathers
Musical Numbers
Various Presley hits were performed (see below).
The Elvis Presley tribute revue Elvis: A Rockin’ Remembrance opened in New York for a limited engage-
ment as part of its national tour. Put together by some of the creators of the similar Beatlemania (1977), the
evening showcased Presley’s songs, a number of Elvis impersonators, and film footage of the singer’s films.
There was also a weak attempt to tell Presley’s life story with what Jon Pareles in the New York Times noted
were “pompous” titles, one of which announced that “Elvis Finds His Fans and His Fans Find a New Rebel
Hero and an Independent Life Style.” And the evening became “heavy-handed” when it juxtaposed the song
“Blue Hawaii” with footage of 1960s political events such as riots, civil rights marches, and the Vietnam War.
But Pareles said the production dazzled the eye with “visual hoopla” and was “fun to watch” even if it
kept “the mind on hold.” The impersonators were “better than passable” and musical director Terry Mike
Jeffrey came closest to sounding like Presley while cast member Johnny Seaton looked more like him. The
show was “technically impressive and entertaining” and Presley fans were “bound to have a good time.”
The production included a number of songs popularized by Presley, including “Hound Dog,” “Treat Me
Nice,” and “Jailhouse Rock” (all with lyrics and music by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller), “Shake, Rattle and
Roll” (lyric and music by Charles Calhoun), “Teddy Bear” (lyric and music by Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann),
“It’s Now or Never” (lyric and music by Wally Gold and Aaron Schroeder), “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”
401
(lyric and music by Lou Handman and Roy Turk), “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (lyric and music by Luigi Cre-
atore, Hugo Peretti, and George David Weiss), and “Blue Suede Shoes” (lyric and music by Carl Lee Perkins).
Tribute revues and jukebox musicals which utilized songs popularized by Presley have amounted to a
cottage industry. Prior to the current revue, Broadway had seen Elvis the Legend Lives, which opened at the
Palace Theatre on January 31, 1978, for 101 performances and later at the Palace the jukebox musical All
Shook Up opened on March 24, 2005, for 213 showings. Off Broadway saw Elvis Mania at the Off On Broad-
way Theatre on September 4, 1984, for eighteen performances (with Johnny Seaton, who also appeared in El-
vis: A Rockin’ Remembrance), and London has endured Elvis (1977), Are You Lonesome Tonight? (1985), and
Jailhouse Rock (2004); Canada has seen The Elvis Story (1997); and Germany has had at least three tributes,
two titled Elvis opened in 1984 and in 1987 Elvis & John consisted of two one-act musicals (the latter was
about John Lennon, another figure like Presley whose career has turned into a musical-theatre factory with a
number of tributes either to him singly or with the Beatles).
THE MERRY WIDOW

Music: Franz Lehar
Direction: Robert Bentley (Cynthia Edwards, Stage Director); Producer: The New York City Opera Company;
Choreography: Sharon Halley; Scenery: Herbert Senn and Helen Pond; Costumes: Suzanne Mess; Light-
ing: Ken Tabachnick; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Imre Pallo
Cast: Richard McKee (Baron Popoff), Ruth Golden (Natalie), John Lankston (General Novikovich), Michael
Willson (Counsellor Khadja), Robert Ferrier (Marquis de Cascada), Lisbeth Lloyd (Sylviane), Richard Byrne
(Monsieur de St. Brioche), Joyce Campana (Olga), Paul Austin Kelly (Vicomte Camille de Jolidon), James
Billings (Nisch), Richard Muenz (Count Danilo), Michele McBride (Sonia), Jonathan Guss (Head Waiter),
Ivy Austin (Zozo), Joan Mirabella (Lolo), Esperanza Galan (Dodo), Candace Itow (Jou-Jou), Victoria Rinaldi
(Frou-Frou), Stephanie Godino (Clo-Clo), Jean Barber (Margot); Members of Marsovian and Parisian Soci-
ety, Dancers, Servants, and Waiters: The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers
Allan Kozinn in the New York Times said the New York City Opera Company’s version of Franz Le-
har’s operetta The Merry Widow had “jettisoned the work’s stylistic soul” and turned it into “a hybrid of a
Broadway musical and a sitcom.” Imre Pallo conducted, and his orchestra “rarely generated the sparkle and
excitement one looks for in this frothy score”; as the title character, Michele McBride failed to “command”
the stage and Richard Muenz (as Danilo) was a “good comic actor” but his voice wasn’t particularly suited
to Lehar’s music.
The production interpolated Lehar’s “Girls Were Made to Love and Kiss” from Paganini (1925).
For more information about the operetta, see entry for City Opera’s 1982 revival. The company also re-
vived the work in 1983, 1985, and 1988, and a production by the Vienna Volksoper was given in 1984 (see
entries for these specific presentations).
CANDIDE
Opening Date: July 18, 1989; Closing Date: September 10, 1989
Performances: 14
Book: Hugh Wheeler
1989 SEASON 403

Direction: Harold Prince (Arthur Sherman, Stage Director); Producer: The New York City Opera Company;
Choreography: Patricia Birch; Scenery: Clarke Dunham; Costumes: Judith Dolan; Lighting: Ken Billing-
ton; Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: Scott Bergeson
Cast: (Note: For those roles that had alternating performers, the first name listed denotes who played the role
on opening night.) John Lankston/Joseph McKee (Voltaire, Doctor Pangloss, Businessman, Governor, Sec-
ond Gambler aka Police Chief, Sage), Mark Beubert/Robert Tate (Candide), Don Yule (Huntsman, Bulgar-
ian Soldier, Don), Maris Clement (Paquette), Christine Meadows (Baroness), Richard McKee (Baron, Grand
Inquistor, Slave Driver, Pasha-Prefect), Cyndia Sieden/Lisa Saffer (Cunegonde), James Javore/Richard
Byrne (Maximilian), James Billings (Maximilian’s Servant, Bulgarian Soldier, Don Isaachar, Judge, Father
Bernard, First Gambler), William Ledbetter (Westphalian Soldier, Don, Pirate), Jose Traba (Westphalian
Soldier, Sailor), Christine Meadows (Calliope Player), Ralph Bassett (Heresy Agent, Don), Gary Dietrich
(Inquisition Agent, Sailor), Kirk Griffith (Inquisition Agent, Sailor), Muriel Costa-Greenspon/Brooks
Almy (Old Lady), Daniel Albert (Don, Governor’s Aide, Sailor), William Ward (Don), Joey R. Smith (Don),
John Henry Thomas (Pirate), Andrea Green (Pink Sheep), Karen Ziemba (Pink Sheep), Michael Willson
(Lion); Ensemble: The New York City Opera Chorus and Dancers
The New York City Opera Company’s 1989 revival of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide was its fifth of seven;
for more information about the operetta, see entry for the 1982 production (which also includes a list of musi-
cal numbers and a general history of the musical). For information about the 1983, 1984, and 1986 revivals,
see specific entries. The work was also revived by the company in 2005 and 2008.
Will Crutchfield in the New York Times mentioned that the work had undergone numerous revisions
over the years, and he noted that while Bernstein’s score “sings, kicks and prances” with “vitality,” his music
“could hardly have been inspired by the book now housing it.” The result was “a tacky, cartoonish, soulless
show” with a “relentless flow of slapstick and one-liners.” As for the cast, Mark Beudert in the title role had a
“strong tenor” but brought “little poetic naivete” to his character; Cyndia Sieden’s Cunegonde was “in secure
command of the staccatos and high notes” but didn’t convey her character’s “changing moods”; and Muriel
Costa-Greenspon reprised her “heavy-handed, rarely funny” Old Lady.
In the same newspaper, Allan Kozinn reviewed the alternate cast, and said Lisa Saffer sang Cunegonde
with “alluring agility” and despite her “scantly outlined character” managed to bring “dimension” to the
role. As Candide, Robert Tate had a “light but strong and secure tenor” and “made a sympathetic case for the
bumbling, naïve, vulnerable youth.”
MANDY PATINKIN IN CONCERT: DRESS CASUAL

Opening Date: July 25, 1989; Closing Date: September 16, 1989
Performances: 56
Producer: Ron Delsener; Lighting: Richard Nelson
Cast: Mandy Patinkin, Paul Ford (Piano)
The concert was presented in one act.
Musical Numbers
Note: All songs performed by Mandy Patinkin. The program didn’t include a list of musical numbers, but the
following alphabetical list is taken from newspaper reviews, which cited some of the songs heard in the
production.
“And the Band Played On” (lyric by John F. Palmer, music by Charles B. Ward); “Anyone Can Whistle”
(Anyone Can Whistle, 1964; lyric and music by Stephen Sondheim); “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (traditional
lyric and music; popular version by Ella Fitzgerald and Al Feldman aka Van Alexander); “Buddy’s Blues”
(aka “The God-Why-Don’t-You-Love-Me Blues”) (Follies, 1971; lyric and music by Stephen Sondheim);
“Coffee in a Cardboard Cup” (70, Girls, 70, 1971; lyric by Fred Ebb, music by John Kander); “Doodle-
Doo-Doo” (lyric and music by Art Kassel and Mel Stitzel); “Giants in the Sky” (Into the Woods, 1987;
lyric and music by Stephen Sondheim) ; “I’ll Be Seeing You” (Right This Way, 1938; lyric by Irving Kahal,
music by Sammy Fain); “Marie” (lyric and music by Randy Newman); “Mr. Arthur’s Place” (lyric and
music by Tom Bishop);“My Mammy” (lyric by Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis, music by Walter Don-
aldson); “No More” (Into the Woods, 1987; lyric and music by Stephen Sondheim); “No One Is Alone”
(Into the Woods, 1987; lyric and music by Stephen Sondheim); “On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa
Fe” (1945 film The Harvey Girls; lyric by Johnny Mercer, music by Harry Warren); “Over the Rainbow”
(1939 film The Wizard of Oz; lyric by E. Y. Harburg, music by Harold Arlen); Pal Joey Medley (1940; lyr-
ics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers): “Great Big Town” aka “Chicago”; “You Mustn’t Kick It
Around”; “I Could Write a Book”; “Happy Hunting Horn”; “What Do I Care for a Dame?” aka “Pal Joey”;
“Do It the Hard Way”; and “I’m Talking to My Pal” (the latter was cut during the pre-Broadway tryout of
the musical); “Pennies from Heaven” (1936 film Pennies from Heaven; lyric by Johnny Burke, music by
Arthur Johnston); “Soliloquy” (Carousel, 1945; lyric by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodg-
ers); “Sonny Boy” (1928 film The Singing Fool; lyric by B. G. “Buddy” DeSylva and Lew Brown, music by
Ray Henderson); “Swanee” (Demi-Tasse Revue aka Capitol Revue, 1919; lyric by Irving Caesar, music
by George Gershwin); “There’s a Rainbow ’Round My Shoulder” (1928 film The Singing Fool; lyric and
music by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer); “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” (1935 film Top Hat;
lyric and music by Irving Berlin); “Tschaikowsky” (Lady in the Dark, 1941; lyric by Ira Gershwin, music
by Kurt Weill);“When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’ Along)” (lyric and music by Harry
M. Woods); “You Could Drive a Person Crazy” (Company, 1970; lyric and music by Stephen Sondheim)
Mandy Patinkin’s one-man concert (with pianist Paul Ford) played for seven weeks, and the critics were
mostly enthusiastic. For Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News, the evening was “the most exciting
time I’ve had in the theatre in ages,” and he was particularly pleased that the songs were performed without
amplification. In the same newspaper, Douglas Watt also found the show “exciting,” and Clive Barnes in the
New York Post said the concert was “terrific” and that Patinkin was not only “a unique force in the musi-
cal theatre” he was also “the greatest entertainer on Broadway today—period.” Linda Winer in New York
Newsday praised Patinkin because “he sings the notes the composers wrote and respects the rhythms,” and
she was happy his choice of material was “unpredictable, even willfully unfashionable, and usually inspired.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times said Patinkin and Ford brought “fresh, interesting ideas to almost ev-
erything” they touched, and the evening was “audacious, often brilliant, but also a touch wacky” because the
singer informed the audience he would start a song over if he felt he could sing it better, and so if a number
started off “badly” he would stop and begin again.
Probably most of Patinkin’s fans enjoyed his quirk of starting a song over, but it came across as arch and
calculated shtick. In fact, Laurie Winer in the Wall Street Journal suggested the singer’s indulgences were a
“flaw” that “may soon repel” audiences. Indeed, she noted that Forbidden Broadway mocked Patinkin with
the number “Somewhat Over Indulgent” (set to the music of “Over the Rainbow”). Further, the singer tended
to “go over the top” because he over-explained a song and thus came across as “alternately patronizing, forced
or just plain goony.” He was often “brilliant” but at the same time he “invited ridicule” with his “intricate
rationalizations and embarrassing emoting.” She concluded by suggesting Patinkin was “badly” in need of a
director because his “instincts are too often wrong” and so “won’t someone out there save him from him-
self?” (And for at least one of his concert performances at the Kennedy Center a few years later, Patinkin
stopped the concert and began discussing a national political issue. Whether one agreed or disagreed with him
was beside the point; this was a concert, and audience members had bought their tickets to hear him sing, not
to hear him talk about his personal angst over a social matter.)
The concert had previously been presented as Mandy Patinkin: Dress Casual on February 27, 1989, at the
Public Theatre for six performances.
Mandy Patinkin: Dress Casual was recorded by CBS Records (CD # MK-4599).
Patinkin returned to Broadway for three more concerts: Mandy Patinkin in Concert (Lyceum Theatre,
March 1, 1997, fifteen performances); Mandy Patinkin in Concert: “Mamaloshen” (Belasco Theatre, October
13, 1998, twenty-eight performances); and An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin (Ethel Barry-
1989 SEASON 405
more Theatre, November 21, 2011, fifty-seven performances). As of this writing, he has created roles in four
Broadway musicals: Evita (1979), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), The Secret Garden (1991), and The
Wild Party (2000).
SHENANDOAH
Performances: 31
Book: James Lee Barrett, Peter Udell, and Philip Rose
Lyrics: Peter Udell
Music: Gary Geld
Based on the 1965 film Shenandoah (screenplay by James Lee Barrett and direction by Andrew V. McLaglen).
Direction: Philip Rose; Producers: Howard Hurst, Sophie Hurst, and Peter Ingster; Choreography: Robert
Tucker; Scenery: Adapted by Reginald Bronskill from the original scenic designs by Kert Lundell; Cos-
tumes: Guy Geoly; Lighting: Stephen Ross; Musical Direction: David Warrack
Cast: John Cullum (Charlie Anderson), Burke Lawrence (Jacob), Christopher Martin (James), Nigel Hamer
(Nathan), Stephen McIntyre (John), Tracey Moore (Jenny), Robin Blake (Henry), Jason Zimbler (Robert
aka The Boy), Camilla Scott (Anne), Roy McKay (Gabriel), Donald Saunders (Reverend Byrd, Engi-
neer), Thomas Cavanagh (Sam), Jim Selman (Sergeant Johnson), Caper Roos (Lieutenant), Richard Liss
(Tinkham), Jim Bearden (Carol), Stephen Simms (Corporal), Sam Mancuso (Marauder), David Connolly
(Confederate Sniper), Gerhard Kruschke (Confederate Sniper); Ensemble: Henry Alessan, Jim Bearden,
Mark Bernkoff, David Connolly, Leslie Corne, Mark Ferguson, Brian Gow, Jennifer Griffin, Gerhard
Kruschke, Richard Liss, Robert Longo, Sam Mancuso, Casper Roos, Fernando Santos, Jim Selman, Stephen
Simms
The action takes place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia during the period of the Civil War.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Raise the Flag of Dixie” (Confederate and Union Soldiers); “I’ve Heard It All Before” (John Cul-
lum); “Pass the Cross to Me” (The Congregation); “Why Am I Me?” (Jason Zimbler, Roy McKay); “Next
to Lovin’ (I Like Fightin’)” (Burke Lawrence, Christopher Martin, Nigel Hamer, Stephen McIntyre, Robin
Blake); “Over the Hill” (Tracey Moore); “The Pickers Are Coming” (John Cullum); “Next to Lovin’ (I
Like Fightin’)” (reprise) (Burke Lawrence, Christopher Martin, Nigel Hamer, Stephen McIntyre, Robin
Blake, Tracey Moore); “Meditation” (I) (John Cullum); “We Make a Beautiful Pair” (Camilla Scott, Tracey
Moore); “Violets and Silverbells” (Tracey Moore, Thomas Cavanaugh); “It’s a Boy” (John Cullum)
Act Two: “Freedom” (Camilla Scott, with Roy McKay); “Violets and Silverbells” (reprise) (Christopher Mar-
tin, Camilla Scott); “Papa’s Gonna Make It Alright” (John Cullum); “The Only Home I Know” (Stephen
Simms, Soldiers); “Papa’s Gonna Make It Alright” (reprise) (Tracey Moore); “Meditation” (II) (John Cul-
lum); “Pass the Cross to Me” (reprise) (The Congregation)
The revival of Shenandoah had originated at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,
and the move to Broadway was a miscalculation that lasted just one month. The run of the original 1975
Broadway version chalked up more than 1,000 performances and won a Tony Award for John Cullum, who
here reprised his role of Charlie Anderson (the musical also won the Tony for Best Book). But the original
production barely turned a profit, and while it was a pleasant enough evening in the Rodgers and Hammer-
stein tradition it was clearly not a show that would ever achieve cult status and generate the kind of interest
to make theatergoers clamor for a revival.
The musical lacked a popular song to identify it with the public, and there hadn’t been a film version
to keep the show alive, and so with tepid reviews the revival quickly disappeared. As the years have passed,
Shenandoah now seems more and more unlikely to ever receive another Broadway production or to be a
candidate for an Encores! concert presentation. Despite its Civil War setting, it was a show of its era: it came
along during a time when there were few mainstream Broadway musicals aimed at the family trade, it was
just trendy enough in its anti-war sentiments to relate to a public weary of the nation’s seemingly endless
conflict in Southeast Asia, and at the same time it was a safe and traditional book musical with a paint-by-
the-numbers structure.
The pleasant but unsurprising score rang familiar bells: Charlie had a number of stalwart soliloquies
(two “Meditation” sequences as well as “I’ve Heard It All Before”) and a Billy Bigelow-like moment in “It’s a
Boy”; his sons enjoyed a number that would have been right at home in the 1954 film Seven Brides for Seven
Brothers (“Next to Lovin’[I Like Fightin’]”); two songs touched upon freedom for blacks (“Why Am I Me?”
and “Freedom”); one song was a tinkly if bland wedding ballad (“Violets and Silverbells”); and there was a
lullaby (“Papa’s Gonna Make It Alright”), a religious hymn (“Pass the Cross to Me”), and a would-be humor-
ous number (“Over the Hill”) which Ado Annie in Oklahoma! or Daisy in Bloomer Girl might have eagerly
snatched up for their repertoire.
Moreover, during the first half of the 1970s, the Broadway musical had been in a downward spiral and
had offered little in the way of popular, old-fashioned shows. Until The Wiz and Shenandoah opened two
days apart in January 1975, the first half of the decade had offered only three full-fledged musicals in regular
Broadway houses that qualified as genuine crowd-pleasers and enjoyed runs of more than 1,000 performances
(Grease, Pippin, and The Magic Show). So despite less than stellar reviews, The Wiz and Shenandoah came
along at the right time, had long runs, and won many major awards. But, tellingly, both did poorly when they
were revived in the 1980s (the 1984 revival of The Wiz [see entry] lasted just 13 performances).
Shenandoah centered on widower Charlie Anderson (Cullum), who lives in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley
and runs his farm with the help of his sons, five of whom are adults and one still a little boy. The country is
enmeshed in the Civil War, but Charlie is a pacifist if not an isolationist who is determined to remain neu-
tral. But the war soon comes to Charlie and his family: his young son Robert (Jason Zimbler) is kidnapped by
Union soldiers; his son James (Christopher Martin) and daughter-in-law Anne (Camilla Scott) are killed by
marauders; and Nathan (Nigel Hamer) is killed by a Yankee sniper. In retaliation for the latter, Charlie kills
the sniper by shooting him over and over again.
Although the musical was clearly on the era’s antiwar bandwagon, the final scenes seemed to reverse
Charlie’s message that only undertakers win wars. Charlie soon begins to spout cracker-barrel wisdom about
how some dreams are worth dying for and if some men have to die then others have to do the killing. (Or
something like that.) It was all rather confusing and contradictory, as if the musical’s antiwar message also
acknowledged that war and killing are sometimes necessary.
The critics were cool to the revival, and as a result the production was gone in a month. Frank Rich in
the New York Times noted it was a “well-constructed” show, but it lacked “the dramatic urgency of a seri-
ous musical play”; further, there was “no strong sense of family or community” and most of Charlie’s clan
had “little more substance than the tacky painted scenery through which they move.” But Cullum gave a
“detailed” and “vocally forceful” performance.
Clive Barnes in the New York Post found the score “essentially dull” and the book “clumsily constructed
and packaged,” but praised Cullum’s “sterling” performance; Don Nelsen in the New York Daily News said
the evening was “still laden with enough cliché-ridden sentimentality to make drowning in a vat of molas-
ses seem a desirable alternative”; Linda Winer in New York Newsday said Cullum was “superb” but most of
the cast was only “competent and occasionally better” and the décor was “road-show cheapo with cardboard
trees and rural vistas painted on cloth”; and John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor liked Cullum’s
“resonant” interpretation and noted that the actor responded “to the show’s wide range of demands.”
The script was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1975 (and includes stanzas from “Raise the
Flag of Dixie” with the notation that they “have been removed from the original Broadway production” and
that the copyright owners recommend the stanzas “also be cut from regional productions”). The original
Broadway cast album was released by RCA Victor Records (LP # ARL11019) and was later issued on CD
(# 3763).
THE DESERT SONG

Performances: 7
1989 SEASON 407
Book: Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Frank Mandel; new book adaptation by Robert Johanson
Lyrics: Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II; some lyrics revised by Robert Johanson
Direction and Choreography: Robert Johanson (Sharon Halley, Co-Choreographer); Producer: The New York
City Opera Company; Scenery: Michael Anania; Costumes: Suzanne Mess; Lighting: Mark W. Stanley;
Choral Direction: Joseph Colaneri; Musical Direction: James Allen Gahres
Cast: (Note: For those roles that had alternating performers, the first name listed denotes who played the
role on opening night.) Michael Rees Davis/Michael Cousins (Sid El Kar), Erick Devine (Hassi), William
Ledbetter (Hadji), Joyce Campana (Neri, Clementina), Philip William McKinley (Benjamin Kidd), Louise
Hickey (Azuri), Mark Delavan/Louis Otey (Captain Paul Fontaine), David Frye (Sergeant La Vergne),
Lillian Graff (Susan), Paula Hostetter (Edith), Jane Thorngren/Michele McBride (Margot Bonvalet), Ron
Parady (General Birabeau), William Parcher/Richard White (Pierre Birabeau aka The Red Shadow), Ray-
mond Bazemore (Ali Ben Ali); French Girls, Spanish Cabaret Girls, Wives, Native Dancers, Servants, and
Soldiers: The New York City Opera Singers and Dancers
The action takes place during the 1930s in Morocco.
Musical Numbers
The New York City Opera Company’s revival of Sigmund Romberg’s 1926 operetta The Desert Song had
first been presented in 1987 (for more information about that revival and for general information about the
operetta, see entry). The current production was the company’s second and final presentation of the work.
Given that one aspect of the plot is that the heroine Margot wants a “rough and ready” man to dominate
her, Will Crutchfield in the New York Times reported that when one character notes that “every woman is
a slave and must have her master” there were “only a couple of faint hisses” from the audience. But when
Margot is actually carried off by the mysterious and romantic Red Shadow, “the crowd went fairly wild with
enthusiasm.” As for Jane Thorngren’s Margot, Crutchfield said she was “handsome” but “unintelligible” and
didn’t “have much to offer where most of the melodies lay.” And the critic noted that The Red Shadow’s
“magnetism” was “ill represented” by William Parcher’s “gruff, unseductive singing.”
In reviewing the alternate cast for the same newspaper. Bernard Holland found the soprano of Michele
McBride’s Margot “strong if overly busy with vibrato” while Richard White (The Red Shadow) and Louis Otey
(Captain Fontaine) sang with “robust assertiveness, clearly but not with much subtlety.”

Opening Date: September 14, 1989; Closing Date: February 25, 1990
Performances: 189
Book: Hugh Wheeler
Based on the 1970 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond.
Direction: Susan H. Schulman; Producer: Circle in the Square Theatre (Theodore Mann, Artistic Director;
Paul Libin, Producing Director); Choreography: Michael Lichtefeld; Scenery: James Morgan; Costumes:
Beba Shamash; Lighting: Mary Jo Dondlinger; Musical Direction: David Krane
Cast: Tony Gilbert (Jonas Fogg), David E. Mallard (Policeman), Ted Keegan (Bird Seller), Sylvia Rhyne (Dora),
Mary Philips (Mrs. Mooney), Jim Walton (Anthony Hope), Bob Gunton (Sweeney Todd), SuEllen Estey
(Beggar Woman), Beth Fowler (Mrs. Lovett), David Barron (Judge Turpin), Michael McCarty (The Beadle),
Gretchen Kingsley (Johanna), Eddie Korbich (Tobias Ragg), Bill Nabel (Pirelli)
The intimate revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street had a
slightly revised text (here, we actually meet that elusive Mrs. Mooney) and score (“The Barber and His Wife”
and “Quartet” were omitted, but Judge Turpin’s version of “Johanna,” which had been cut during the Broad-
way preview period of the original 1979 production, was reinstated). The original also emphasized, either in
design or staging, the Industrial Revolution and the distinctions among the British classes, but the current
one instead focused on the story itself and brushed away some of the pretentious social commentary of the
Broadway version. The revival also had a small cast of fourteen (as opposed to twenty-seven in the original)
and two musicians in place of the twenty-six-member orchestra for Broadway. As a result, some wags referred
to the revival as Teeny Todd.
This production, which received favorable notices and ran well over five months, had originally been
presented Off Off Broadway by the York Theatre Company at the Church of the Heavenly Rest on March 31,
1989, for twenty-four performances. Bob Gunton and Beth Fowler played the respective roles of Sweeney Todd
and Mrs. Lovett for both the York and Circle in the Square presentations. Incidentally, the Circle is located
on the lower level of the building that houses the Uris (now Gershwin) Theatre where the original Sweeney
Todd premiered.
Frank Rich in the New York Times noted that director Susan H. Schulman had created an “alternative”
Sweeney Todd that eliminated the massive set and most of the chorus and orchestra as well as the musical’s
“politics” and its Brechtian alienation and staging effects. As a result, the intimate production on the Circle’s
thrust stage brought the audience closer to the action, and rather than depicting Todd and Mrs. Lovett as
victims haunted by “the remote demons of Dickensian London,” the two are now imprisoned by their own
“internal demons.”
Linda Winer in New York Newsday said the revival was “a fast, raging, beautifully bittersweet and de-
liciously junky Grand Guignol” that made effective use of the theatre’s “long and notoriously problematic
stage.” She noted that the original Broadway production had somewhat overwhelmed the story “with grander
statements on the class struggle and the Industrial Revolution,” and City Opera’s version was “klutzy” and
“overblown.” But the current revival was “just right.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal indicated Gunton’s Todd was no longer “demented” but was
instead “a somber man suffering from injustice” who “gradually grows into an obsessive avenger,” and
Fowler’s Mrs. Lovett wasn’t a “hard-edged jocular” type but more in the nature of a “good-humored woman
who is genuinely in love” with Todd. William A. Henry III in Time said Gunton “believably underscores the
improvisatory quality” of Todd’s first murders and turns the character from “a monster to a man who howls
piteously over the body of his beloved wife,” and Fowler “enriched” Mrs. Lovett “with a lifelong ardor for
Sweeney and a pixilated fondness for romantic fantasy.”
For more information about the musical, including a list of musical numbers, see entry for the New York
City Opera Company’s 1984 production.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Revival (Sweeney Todd); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Bob Gunton); Best
Leading Actress in a Musical (Beth Fowler); Best Director of a Musical (Susan H. Schulman)
DANGEROUS GAMES
(Two one-act dance musicals, Tango and Orfeo)
Performances: 4
Book: Jim Lewis and Graciela Daniele
Lyrics: William Finn
Music: Astor Piazzolla
Direction and Choreography: Graciela Daniele (Tina Paul, Co-Choreographer) (B. H. Barry, Fight Direction for
Tango; Luis Perez, Fight Direction for Orfeo); Producers: Jules Fisher, James M. Nederlander, and Arthur
Rubin in association with Mary Kantor; Scenery: Tony Straiges; Costumes: Patricia Zipprodt; Lighting:
Peggy Eisenhauer; Musical Direction: James Kowal
1989 SEASON 409
Cast:
For Tango—Dana Moore (Delia), Philip Jerry (Felipe), Richard Amaro (Ricardo), Ken Ard (Carlos), Rene Cebal-
los (Renata), Diana Laurenson (Diana), Malinda Shaffer (Maria), Adrienne Hurd-Sharlein (Adriana), John
Mineo (Juan), Gregory Mitchell (Gregorio), Luis Perez (Gregorio for Wednesday and Saturday matinees),
Tina Paul (Cristina), Elizabeth Mozer (Cristina for Wednesday and Saturday matinees)
For Orfeo—Gregory Mitchell (Orfeo), Luis Perez (Orfeo for Wednesday and Saturday matinees), Rene Ceballos
(Dicha), Danyelle Weaver (Aurora), Ken Ard (Pluton), Tina Paul (Nora, Lascivia), Elizabeth Mozer (Nora
and Lascivia for Wednesday and Saturday matinees), John Mineo (Antares, Altivo), Dana Moore (Mira,
Codicia), Malanda Shaffer (Lyrae, LaGula), Diana Laurenson (Cleo, Envidia), Marc Villa (Alberio, Ira),
Adrienne Hurd-Sharlein (Ursula, Malicia), Philip Jerry (Leon, Metira), Richard Amaro (Arturo, Charon,
Perez), Adrian Brito (Bambo Player)
The Quintet: Rodolfo Alchourron (Guitar), Jorge Alfano (Bass, Bamboo Flute), Miguel Arrabal (Bandoneon),
Jon Kass (Violin), James Kowal (Piano, Conductor), Rene Ceballos (Offstage Vocals)
The evening of two dance musicals was presented in two acts.
The action of Tango takes place in the present time in Argentina.
The action of Orfeo takes place during the 1970s in Argentina.
Musical Numbers
Note: The program didn’t list individual musical sequences.
Director and choreographer Graciela Daniele’s two-part dance-musical-with-songs Dangerous Games

(which consisted of Tango and Orfeo) received some of the worst notices of the decade, and at four perfor-
mances tied with The Prince of Central Park as the shortest-running musical of the season. Tango was set in
a sleazy brothel in Argentina in which rough sex is the order of the day, and it focused on “the new whore”
Cristina (Tina Paul) and her encounters with two tough brothers, Juan (John Mineo) and Gregorio (Gregory
Mitchell). The program notes indicated Orfeo was dedicated to the desaparecidos (literally, “the ones who
have disappeared”) who were arrested by Argentina’s military dictatorship and were never heard from again.
Orfeo borrowed the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to tell its story, but the Orpheus/Orfeo connection wasn’t
always clear, and for that matter the connection between the two musicals was hazy (unless Argentine-born
Daniele’s message was that life in Argentina was hell, both in and out of the brothels).
Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the “spurious theatrics were awful” and the “gratuitous violence
ran close to pornography,” but the dancers did their best “to raise this grisly corpse of an evening into some
semblance of life.” Apart from “the rapes, the whippings and the fights” the choreography was “the key” to
the work with its use of Argentine dance forms. But the tangos were “hammered home with showy gestures
and clumsy mock macho melodramatics.”
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News noted that Daniele’s “imagination seldom goes beyond the
adolescent in her depiction of the earthiness and sensuality of the brothel or the repressiveness of the gener-
als.” As a result, the entire forty-minute Tango offered enough “dazzling steps” for perhaps a seven-minute
dance sequence and the story and choreography for Orfeo were “sick.” In the same newspaper, Douglas Watt
mentioned that Daniele “tried so hard to dazzle us with scenes of fornication, rape and suggestions of Argen-
tinian military brutality” that “the exaggerated behavior seemed merely laughable when it wasn’t downright
boring.”
Linda Winer in New York Newsday suggested Broadway had perhaps witnessed “uglier, clumsier, and
more repugnant shows,” but for “the bad-taste theatrical sweepstakes” Dangerous Games was “a world-
class contender.” The evening celebrated “violent sex and torture under the guise of criticizing them” and
the “twisted” show was “more muddled and inept than scary or controversial.” Frank Rich in the New York
Times said it was the “inalienable right” of theatre people “to make a spectacle of themselves,” but in the
case of Dangerous Games “the poor audience” also had the right “to enjoy a few laughs in the face of such
disaster.” This “musical misfire” only offered “stern sermonettes” on sexual politics and state terrorism, and
while Daniele’s previous musicals had “been neither dominated nor distinguished by their choreography,”
she now exposed “the limits of her own talent by stretching it over too much time and space.” He concluded
by commenting on a late second-act song titled “The Joys of Torture,” and said the “humor” of such a number
was “especially lost on the audience at Dangerous Games.”
Watt said Piazzola’s music was “pretty,” but Winer found it “unmelodic and meandering,” Barnes said the
tangos all sounded alike, Kissel complained that the score “imitates the style of tango but lacks the sensuous
power of the real thing,” and Rich noted the music could never escape its essential “sameness.”
Rich commented that William Finn’s lyrics were written “in a ham-fisted pseudo-Brecht manner”; Kissel
said the lyrics were “ridiculous,” sometimes “dumb,” and “never appealing or skillful”; Barnes said Finn was
“a bathetic specialist in junk, monosyllabic rhymes”; and Winer stated that if the dialogue was “idiotic,” then
Finn’s lyrics were “even worse, if possible.”
Dangerous Games had originally been produced by the American Music Theatre Festival in Philadelphia,
the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, and at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, and was later seen at the
Curran Theatre in San Francisco where it was subtitled “Two Tango Pieces.” An early version of Tango had
been produced Off Off Broadway as Tango Apasionado at the INTAR Theatre on October 28, 1987, for fifty-
six performances.
Awards
Tony Award Nominations: Best Choreographer (Graciela Daniele and Tina Paul)
TAKARAZUKA
“Japan’s Most Lavish Musical Extravaganza”

Performances: 6
Lyrics and Music: See song listing for specific credits.
Artistic Directors: Shinji Ueda and Hirotoshi Ohara; Assistant Directors: Masazumi Tani and Masaya Ishida;
Producers: A Mitsubishi Special Event; Kohei Kobayashi, Producer, and Haruhiko, President; Radio City
Musical Hall Productions; Choreography: Yoshijiro Hanayagi, Mayumi Nishizaki, Eiken Fujima, Hagi
Hanayagi, Kiyomi Hayama, Taku Yamada, Roger Minami; Scenery: Hideo Ishihama and Toshiaki Sekiya;
Costumes: Harumi Tokoro, Kikue Nakagawa, and Ikuei Touda; Lighting: Naoji Imai (Ken Billington,
Lighting Supervisor); Musical Direction: Kazuakira Hashimoto
Cast: Yuri Matsumoto, Junko Takara, Akira Ban, Mizuki Oura, Kae Segawa, Mito Hibiki, Yu Shion, Ai Ko-
dama, Mira Anju, Yuki Amami, Yu Asuka, Yo Natsumi, Miya Aoi, Manami Kozue, Yuka Shima, Nachi
Mineoka, Kanade Nazuki, Hikaru Senju, Mitsuru Aiko, Aya Maiki, Mayu Omine, Michiru Namine,
Naoki Ema, Chitose Kagami, Chie Kinami, Risa Wakao, Ayu Mitsuki, Natsuki Yuma, Fubuki Takane,
Rio Hanabusa, Katsura Godai, Nari Asaoka, Ai Otohara, Ginka Itsuki, Yuka Shino, Yuzumi Mari, Mami
Natsuki, Hajime Wako, Reo Kazami, Maika Tomo, Ko Minoru, Ayano Ogishiro, Yoko Hana, Shun Tasai,
Yura Natsukawa, Mire Aika, Chikoto Yumeno, Mitsuki Mario, Satomi Akino, Tatsuki Koju, Konomi
Akane, Yuki Maori, Aki Itsumine, Serika Moemi, Kei Miyabi, Shoko Kirihara, Jun Shibuki, Akari Michi,
Rei Natsushiro, Hibiki Takumi, Mai Gojo
Musical Numbers
Act One: Takarazuka Dance Festival—“Prologue” and “Takarazuka March” (lyrics by Ken Kumon, music by
Takio Terada) (choreography by Eiken Fujima) (Mizuki Oura, Yuri Matsumoto, Company); “Snow, Moon,
and Flower” (lyric by Shinji Ueda, music by Takio Terada) (choreography by Yoshijiro Hanayagi) (Yu
Shion, Mito Hibiki, Ai Kodama, Rei Natsushiro, Company); “Icy Moon” (lyric by Shinji Ueda, music by
Takio Terada) (choreography by Yoshijiro Hanayagi) (Mizuki Oura, Mito Hibiki, Ai Kodama, Akira Ban,
Company); “Swirling Snow” (lyric by Shinji Ueda, music by Takio Terada) (choreography by Hagi Hana-
yagi) (Ayu Mitsuki, Yuri Matsumoto, Company); “The Cherry Flower” (music by Toshiko Yonekawa and
Takio Terada) (choreography by Mayumi Nishizaka) (Manami Kozue, Company)
1989 SEASON 411
Act Two: Takarazuka Forever/A Grand Revue—(A) “Prologue” (choreography by Roger Minami): (1) “Takara-
zuka Forever” (lyric by Hirotoshi Ohara, music by Kenji Yoshizaki) (Ai Kodama, Company; Dance: Mizuki
Oura, Company) and (2) “A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody” (Ziegfeld Follies of 1919; lyric and music by Irving
Berlin) (Mizuki Oura, Yuki Amami, Company); (B) “Flower Fantasy” (choreography by Taku Yamada): (1)
“I’ll String Along with You” (1934 film Twenty Million Sweethearts; lyric by Al Dubin, music by Harry
Warren) (Yu Shion, Manami Kozue, Company) and (2) “I Only Have Eyes for You” (1934 film Dames; lyric
by Al Dubin, music by Harry Warren) (Ai Kodama, Akira Ban, Kae Segawa, Mira Anju, Mito Hibiki, Yuka
Shima, Yuka Shino); (C) “Arabian Dream” (choreography by Kiyomi Hayama): (1)“Too Close for Comfort”
(Mr. Wonderful, 1956; lyric and music by Larry Holofcer, Jerry Bock, and George David Weiss) (Junko Ta-
kara, Yuki Amami, Company)” and (2) “Polovtsian Dance” (Prince Igor, 1890; music by Alexander Borodin)
(Mizuki Oura, Ai Kodama, Company); (D) “Keep Young and Beautiful” (choreography by Taku Yamada): (1)
“American Beauty Rose” (music by Read Evans, Hal David, and Arthur Altman) (Yu Shion, Company); (2)
“Keep Young and Beautiful” (1933 film Roman Scandals; lyric by Al Dubin, music by Harry Warren) (Mito
Hibiki, Company); (3) “You Stepped Out of a Dream” (1941 film Ziegfeld Girl; lyric by Gus Kahn, music
by Nacio Herb Brown) (Mizuki Oura, Company); and (4) “The Lady Is a Tramp” (Babes in Arms, 1937; lyric
by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers) (Mizuki Oura, Mito Hibiki, Company); (E) “Piano Fantasy”: (1)
“Play a Simple Melody” (aka “Simple Melody”) (Watch Your Step, 1914; lyric and music by Irving Berlin)
(choreography by Kiyomi Hayama) (Yu Shion); (2) “Shaking the Blues Away” (Ziegfeld Follies of 1927; lyric
and music by Irving Berlin) (choreography by Roger Minami) (Mizuki Oura, Company); and (3) “Rhapsody
in Blue” (music by George Gershwin) (choreography by Roger Minami) (Mizuki Oura, Mito Hibiki, Kae
Segawa, Mira Anju, Company); and (F) “Finale” (choreography by Kiyomi Hayama): (1) “The Words Are in
My Heart) (1935 film Gold Diggers of 1935; lyric by Al Dubin, music by Harry Warren) (Nachi Mineoka,
Company); (2) “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening” (1951 film Here Comes the Groom; lyric by Johnny
Mercer, music by Hoagy Carmichael) (Yu Shion, Mito Hibiki, Company); (3) “Something’s Gotta Give”
(1955 film Daddy Long Legs; lyric and music by Johnny Mercer) (Mizuki Oura, Kae Segawa, Mira Anju,
Natsuki Yuma, Yuki Amami); and (4) “Takarazuka Forever” (reprise) (Mizuki Oura, Mito Hibiki, Ai Ko-
dama, Yu Shion, Nachi Mineoka, Company)
Japan’s all-female revue troupe Takarazuka played a limited engagement of six performances at Radio
City Music Hall.
The first half of the evening was comprised of Japanese songs and dances, and the second was a salute to
Broadway and Hollywood. Stephen Holden in the New York Times said the overall production was “an odd,
sometimes monotonous cross-cultural hybrid,” and the first act was “slow-moving.” But the evening’s glitz
was “Japan’s answer to the Ziegfeld Follies, the Folies-Bergère, Las Vegas floor shows, and the Music Hall’s
own spectaculars all rolled into one glittering unwieldy package.” Those who enjoyed “gaudy camp fun and
cross dressing” would enjoy the production, and the “most amusing” sequence was “Flower Fantasy” in
which the cast members were gowned as “garish Southern belles” and “created an expressionistic parody of
the picnic scene from Gone with the Wind.”
The Takarazuka Revue Company was founded in 1913, and gave its first presentation the following
year. The repertoire consists of revues and book musicals based on Japanese works as well as productions of
American musicals, including the company’s own new musical versions of American novels (such as East of
Eden and The Great Gatsby). The company’s selections of American musicals are generally safe and popular
titles, but some are surprisingly esoteric. Among the productions available on DVD are Oklahoma! (Broad-
way, 1943), Kean (Broadway, 1961), and Singin’ in the Rain (Broadway, 1985), and the CDs of such musicals
as Ernest in Love (Off Broadway, 1960) and Grand Hotel (Broadway, 1989) were issued.
SID CAESAR & COMPANY: DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHAT I’M

TALKING ABOUT?
Theatre: John Golden Theatre
Performances: 5
Sketches: Mostly uncredited (“The Penny Candy Gum Machine” by Sid Caesar)
Original Songs: Lyrics and music by Martin Charnin

Direction: Martin Charnin; Producers: Ivan Bloch and Harold Thau in association with Larry Spellman (J.
Scott Broder, Sonny Bloch, and Robert Courson, Associate Producers); Scenery and Lighting: Neil Peter
Jampolis; Costumes: Karen Roston; Musical Direction: Elliot Finkel
Cast: Sid Caesar, Lee Delano, Erick Devine, Lubitza Gregus, Linda Hart, Carolyn Michel, Peter Shawn, Laura
Turnbull

Act One: “Sleep” (Sid Caesar); “A Boy at His First Dance” (Sid Caesar); “A Man Walking Down the Aisle” (Sid
Caesar); “Zero Hour” (Sid Caesar); “A Man with His Wife Arguing to the First Movement of Beethoven’s
Fifth Symphony” (Sid Caesar, Laura Turnbull); “The Last Angry Bull” (Sid Caesar, Company); “At the
Movies” (Sid Caesar, Linda Hart, Lee Delano, Peter Shawn)
Act Two: “We Aren’t Fooling Anyone” (Company); “The World through the Eyes of a Baby” (Sid Caesar);
“The Penny Candy Gum Machine” (Sid Caesar); “The Grieg Piano Concerto” (Sid Caesar); “The Profes-
sor” (Sid Caesar, Lee Delano); “Make a New Now, Now!” (Sid Caesar, Company)
An early version of Sid Caesar’s revue had opened Off Broadway earlier in the year on June 22, 1989, at
The Village Gate Downstairs for seventy-two performances. The production was then titled Sid Caesar &
Company: The Legendary Genius of Comedy, and for Broadway it underwent extensive revisions (including
the addition of director Martin Charnin and two and possibly three songs written by him, none of which were
identified in the program as songs [but one was “Make a New Now, Now!” and probably “We Aren’t Fooling
Anyone” was another]).
The evening included sketches Caesar had performed on his popular and now legendary 1950s television
program Your Show of Shows, including a Marcel Marceau-like moment in which he gave his interpretation
of the rise and fall of a penny candy gum machine which is converted to a slot machine in Las Vegas and then
to a towel dispenser in a men’s washroom; a scene with a Spanish matador (who according to Frank Rich in
the New York Times comes across “like a put-upon waiter at the Carnegie Deli”); a sketch (“At the Movies”)
in which a hapless moviegoer finds himself enmeshed in a marital brawl by two audience members; and a
mimed sequence in which Caesar and Laura Turnbull argue to the accompaniment of the First Movement of
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
Rich found Caesar “so fit and ready to amuse” that he could easily reprise all his seven roles from his
1962 Broadway musical Little Me. But the comic legend’s show was “so misconceived that it turns the guest
of honor into a beggar at his own feast” because Charnin “underminded” many of the skits by letting them
run on too long and denying one or two punch lines. He also noted that Charnin’s song “Make a New Now,
Now!” went on so long that he became worried that “’Now’ will never turn into ‘Then.’” Clive Barnes in the
New York Post said the revue’s “Charninization” was not to its advantage and it should have been Charnin’s
job “to give Caesar a better showcase.” Further, Charnin’s songs were “cutesy” and one about sweeping a
messy stage was “especially puerile.” But Caesar was a “consummate” performer and a “clowning genius.”
Leo Seligsohn in New York Newsday said when the evening was “good, it’s very, very good” and it should
have been a one-man show instead of a revue because the “lackluster” musical numbers were “irrelevant” to
the show’s theme and weren’t “good enough to stand on their own.” Although Don Nelsen in the New York
Daily News found the show “disappointing,” he said it was better than its downtown version, and he liked
Charnin’s “salutary” direction, which dropped the “irrelevant” music from the first production and replaced
it with songs of his own. And while he complained that some of the material was either dated or “cutesy”
and the comedian overdid his gestures, Caesar was nonetheless “capable of projecting great understanding of
the human condition” and his penny gum machine skit was given with “superb timing, facial accents and no
syrupy sentimentality whatsoever.”
The Off-Broadway version had included Marilyn Sokol and Gerianne Raphael in the cast, and the latter
sang “(The) A Wicked Man,” which she had introduced in the 1960 Off-Broadway musical Ernest in Love.
The evening also included a medley of songs from Little Me (including “Farewell” aka “Goodbye” and “The
Prince’s Farewell”) as well as a medley of songs by George Gershwin.
1989 SEASON 413
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS

“The New Musical” / “The New Broadway Musical”/ “The Stunning New Broadway Musical”

Opening Date: November 2, 1989; Closing Date: June 10, 1990
Performances: 253
Book: Hugh Wheeler
Lyrics and Music: Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane
Based on the 1942 short story collection Meet Me in St. Louis by Sally Benson (which included a number of
stories that had first appeared in the New Yorker during 1941 and 1942) and the 1944 MGM film Meet
Me in St. Louis (screenplay by Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoff and direction by Vincente Minnelli).
Direction: Louis Burke (Lonnie Chase, Assistant Director); Producers: Brickhill-Burke Productions, Christo-
pher Seabrooke, and EPI Products (Loren Krok, P. K. Sloman, and L. Everett Chase, Associate Producers);
Choreography: Joan Brickhill (Herman-Jay Muller, Associate Choreographer); Ice Choreography: Michael
Tokar; Scenery and Costumes: Keith Anderson; Lighting: Ken Billington; Musical Direction: Bruce Poma-
hac
Cast: Michael O’Steen (Lon Smith), Brian Jay (Randy Travis), Betty Garrett (Katie), Jim Semmelman (Motor-
man), Courtney Peldon (Tootie Smith), Charlotte Moore (Mrs. Smith), Milo O’Shea (Grandpa Prophater),
Donna Kane (Esther Smith), Juliet Lambert (Rose Smith), Jason Workman (John Truitt), Rachael Graham
(Agnes Smith), George Hearn (Mr. Alonzo Smith), Peter Reardon (Warren Sheffield), Naomi Reddin (Ida
Boothby), Gregg Whitney (Douglas Moore), Shauna Hicks (Eve Finley), Gordon Stanley (Doctor Bond),
Karen Culliver (Lucille Ballard), Craig A. Meyer (Clinton A. Badger); Company: Kevin Blackstrom, Dan
Buelow, Victoria Lynn Burton, Karen Culliver, Deanna Dys, H. David Gunderman, Shauna Hicks, K.
Craig Innes, Brian Jay, Rachel Jones, Nancy Lemenager, Joanne McHugh, Frank Maio, Carol Lee Meadows,
Craig A. Meyer, Christopher Lee Michaels, Ron Morgan, Georga L. Osborne, Rachelle Ottley, Christina
Pawl, Naomi Reddin, Carol Schuberg, Jim Semmelman, Ken Shepski, Gordon Stanley, Sean Frank Sul-
livan, Cynthia Thole, Gregg Whitney, Kyle Whyte, Lee Wilson
The action takes place in and around the Smith family home in St. Louis, Missouri, from Summer 1903 to
Spring 1904, and on the fairgrounds of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
Musical Numbers
Note: Unless otherwise noted, all songs are by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane (the team collaborated on some
songs while others were written separately by Martin or by Blane).
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Meet Me in St. Louis” (lyric by Andrew B. Sterling, music by Kerry Mills;
new lyric by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane) (Company); “Meet Me in St. Louis” (reprise) (Milo O’Shea,
Courtney Peldon); “The Boy Next Door” (Donna Kane); “Be Anything but a Girl” (Milo O’Shea, Rachael
Graham, Courtney Peldon); “Skip to My Lou” (traditional; new lyric by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane) (Ju-
liet Lambert, Donna Kane, Michael O’Steen, Gregg Whitney, Jason Workman, Peter Reardon, Company);
“Under the Bamboo Tree” (lyric and music by Bob Cole) (Donna Kane, Courtney Peldon); “Banjos” (Mi-
chael O’Steen, Ensemble); “Ghosties and Ghoulies and Things That Go Bump in the Night” (Betty Gar-
rett, Rachael Graham, Courtney Peldon, Neighborhood Kids); “Halloween Ballet” (Company); “Wasn’t It
Fun?” (George Hearn, Charlotte Moore); “The Trolley Song” (Donna Kane, Company)
Act Two: “Ice” (Juliet Lambert, Peter Reardon, Gregg Whitney, Company; Featured Skaters: Rachelle Ottley,
Ron Morgan); “Raving Beauty” (Peter Reardon, Gregg Whitney, Juliet Lambert); “A Touch of the Irish”
(Betty Garrett, Donna Kane, Juliet Lambert); “You Are for Loving” (Jason Workman, Donna Kane); “A Day
in New York” (George Hearn, The Smith Family); “The Ball” (aka “Irish Jig”) (Milo O’Shea, Company);
“Diamonds in the Starlight” (Jason Workman, Donna Kane); “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
(Donna Kane); “Paging Mr. Sousa” (George Hearn, Company); Finale (Company)
Although the stage adaptation of the classic 1944 MGM film Meet Me in St. Louis premiered on Broad-
way in 1989, the first theatrical version had been produced twenty-nine years earlier when the musical was
presented on the straw-hat circuit in 1960 with a book by Sally Benson (who had written the original source
material upon which the film was based and who had written one of the early and unused drafts for the
film’s screenplay) and a score by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane that included their original film songs, songs
interpolated into the film, and songs either new or borrowed from other sources. The book of the Broadway
edition was by Hugh Wheeler, and Martin and Blane’s score included songs from the film, from the first stage
adaptation, from other sources, and new ones (see below for a breakdown of the sources for all the songs in
the Broadway production).
The Broadway version was one of the most lavish of the era, and the show’s budget was reportedly $6
million. With mostly unenthusiastic reviews, a lack of star wattage, and perhaps because of the convenient
availability of the original film on videocassette, the show lost a small fortune but nonetheless managed to
run out the season.
The producers spared no expense, and clearly scenic designer Keith Anderson was the hero of the evening
with opulent sets that spun about on turntables. The Smith’s home was a grand Victorian affair, and when it
whirled around the cozy interiors of the house were unveiled in all their bric-a-brac finery; there was also a
trolley car on tracks that ran across the stage; an ice-skating pond for one scene; and for the finale fountains
of water and simulated fireworks were used to depict the gala opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
in St. Louis.
The plot was slight but rich with nostalgic atmosphere in its depiction of the middle-class Smith fam-
ily who live in St. Louis, including father Alonzo (George Hearn), his wife (Charlotte Moore), their teenage
daughters Esther (Donna Kane) and Rose (Juliet Lambert), their college student son Lon (Michael O’Steen),
their younger daughters Agnes (Rachael Graham) and the irrepressible Tootie (Courtney Peldon), and Grandpa
(Milo O’Shea). Also very much involved in the family’s activities is their Irish cook and housekeeper Katie
(Betty Garrett).
As the story begins, the Smiths are excited about the opening of the Exposition the following spring, a
time that also marks Esther’s graduation from high school. And Esther has high hopes that for her senior year
the new boy next door John Truitt (Jason Workman) will become her beau. But the placid lives of the Smiths
are turned topsy-turvy when Alzono breaks the news that he’s accepted a position in New York City and
that the family will move there right after the Christmas holidays. But of course all ends well when Alonzo
decides to stay in St. Louis, and by the finale the clan is seen in attendance at the opening of the Exposition
where Esther and John are hand in glove.
The critics praised the evening’s production values and said the cast’s veterans, such as Hearn and Gar-
rett, were more than welcome. But they suggested that an air of summer stock permeated the evening and
that many of the cast members were underwhelming. Frank Rich in the New York Times said the actresses
who portrayed Esther and Rose were like “well-schooled Miss America contestants” and “only the different
colors of their wigs permit us to tell them apart”; the young men in the cast were so “interchangeable” that
the boy next door was really an “occupant”; and many of the other performances were “insipid.” He found
the “paint-by-numbers” book “inane” with “a complete lack of originality,” And although Joan Brickhill’s
choreography offered struts, jigs, cakewalks, square dances, and dream ballets, the numbers had “no internal
drive” and seemed like “compilations of souvenir-program freeze-frames” of dance routines that had been
created by Michael Kidd and Onna White for Broadway musicals of yore.
Clive Barnes in the New York Post felt the evening was “strictly summer stock in an autumnal mood”
and that many of the younger roles (and the performers who played them) were guilty of “a certain cookie-
cutter similarity.” But he noted that Anderson’s décor had “a most attractive old Saturday Evening Post
look that is corny but immaculately apt.” Linda Winer in New York Newsday said the show left “no cliché
undecorated” and was an example of “very, very fancy summer stock.” If one had an “elevated threshold for
cutsie-poo Americana,” then the show was, in “the icky tongue of its creators, peachy keen.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal found the dialogue “embarrassingly banal”; David Patrick
Stearns in USA Today said “everybody looks like mannequins” and “some act that way, too”; and Joel Siegel
on WABCTV7 stated “this isn’t Broadway – It’s summer stock – extravagant but unsophisticated” and with
dances which were “energetic but irrelevant.”
But Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News liked the “wonderful, endearing family entertainment,”
which had a “Middle American innocence” he thought “had been banished from the musical theatre by its
grandiose pretentions in recent years.” In the same newspaper, Douglas Watt said, “Broadway hasn’t seen
such a splendiferous musical comedy in a long, long time”; and John Beaufort in the Christian Science Moni-
tor found the musical “an affectionate, outgoing, lavishly picturesque celebration of an American past.”
1989 SEASON 415
In the film, the Halloween scene was a highlight, but Watt stated the stage version’s approach to the se-
quence was “disastrous,” “numbingly dull,” and “completely superfluous,” and Winer said it was the “worst”
element in the show. “Paging Mr. Sousa” was one of the new songs, and it included a marching band that
strutted down the theatre’s aisles and onto the stage; Barnes said it was a “low-powered” “Seventy-Six Trom-
bones” that was more like “17 Trombones,” and Siegel said this “low-budget” version of the song from The
Music Man should have been titled “7.6 Trombones.” As for her overall assessment of the new songs, Winer
suggested they made “Dick and Jane seem literate.”
The Broadway cast album was released by DRG Records (CD #19001).
Directed by Vincente Minnelli, the 1944 film starred Judy Garland (Esther), Margaret O’Brien (Tootie),
Tom Drake (John Truitt), Leon Ames (Alonzo Smith), Mary Astor (Mrs. Smith), and Marjorie Main (Katie), and
is available on DVD (Warner Brothers Video # 65089). NBC’s Hallmark Hall of Fame presented a television
adaptation on April 26, 1959, with Jane Powell (Esther), Patty Duke (Tootie), Tab Hunter (John Truitt), Ed
Wynn (Grandpa), Reta Shaw (Katie), and as Alonzo Walter Pidgeon (in a role similar to the one he performed
later that year in Broadway’s Take Me Along).
Of the songs heard in the current production, three by Martin and Blane were from the 1944 film ver-
sion (“The Boy Next Door,” “The Trolley Song,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”); three were
interpolations heard in the film (“Meet Me in St. Louis,” “Skip to My Lou,” and “Under the Bamboo Tree”
[the first two included revised lyrics by Martin and Blane]); three had been written for the 1960 stage version
(“You Are for Loving,” “Raving Beauty,” and “Diamonds in the Starlight”); one was from Martin’s 1958 NBC
television musical Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates (“Ice”) (in his third edition of Show Tunes, Steven
Suskin reports that the refrain of “I Happen to Love You” from Brinker was part of an extended version of
“The Boy Next Door”; Suskin also notes that “Be Anything but a Girl” is from Brinker, but the song isn’t
included on the Brinker sound track album and isn’t listed as part of the score in Joan Baxter’s Television
Musicals); and eight numbers by Martin and Blane (written together or separately) were either created for the
current production or were trunk songs (“Banjos,” “Ghosties and Ghoulies and Things That Go Bump in the
Night,” “Halloween Ballet,” “Wasn’t It Fun?,” “A Touch of the Irish,” “A Day in New York,” “The Ball” aka
“Irish Jig,” and “Paging Mr. Sousa”).
Songs not by Martin and Blane that were heard in the film but not in the Broadway version were “You
and I” (lyric by Arthur Freed, music by Nacio Herb Brown) and the traditional song “Over the Bannister” (but
the latter was heard during New York previews).
Songs written for the 1960 stage adaptation that weren’t used in the New York production were “Al-
most,” “How Do I Look?,” “What’s-His-Name,” and “If I Had an Igloo” (the 1960 production included “Over
the Bannister,” which as mentioned above was heard during New York previews). Also performed during New
York previews was “You’re a Very Lucky Girl” from Hans Brinker. Other songs apparently performed during
the show’s summer-stock tours of the 1960s were “How to Behave Like a Lady” (“How to Dress Like a Lady”)
(“How to Faint Like a Lady”) and “Would You Let Me?”
“You Are for Loving” and “Raving Beauty” were interpolated into the 1963 Off-Broadway revival of Best
Foot Forward and are included on that show’s cast album (Cadence Records LP # CE-4012 and # CLP-24012;
reissued on Stet Records LP # DS-150032; and issued on CD by Varese Sarabande # 302-066-221-2); and “Ice,”
“I Happen to Love You,” and the aforementioned (and deleted) “You’re a Very Lucky Girl” are included on
the television soundtrack album of Hans Brinker (LP released by Dot Records # DLP-9001 and the CD issued
by Sepia # 1121), the latter as “I’m a Very Lucky Boy.”
Variety later reported that a 1991 regional revival of the musical would be a considerably revised version
of the 1989 production and would include three new songs by Martin and Blane, “Thanksgiving,” “Whenever
I’m with You,” and “You’ll Hear a Bell,” as well as “Over the Bannister,” which had been heard in the film
version. The revision would eliminate the ice skating sequence (and the song “Ice”), “Be Anything but a
Girl,” “A Touch of the Irish,” “Raving Beauty,” and other songs not identified in the article.
For more information about stage adaptations of MGM musicals, see entry for Singin’ in the Rain.
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Musical (Meet Me in St. Louis)
3 PENNY OPERA
Performances: 65
Book and Lyrics: Bertolt Brecht (adaptation by Michael Feingold)
Music: Kurt Weill
Based on the 1728 opera The Beggar’s Opera (libretto by John Gay, music by Johann Pepusch); Brecht based
his adaptation on Elisabeth Hauptmann’s German translation of the opera.
Direction: John Dexter; Producers: Jerome Hellman in association with Haruki Kadokawa and James M. Ned-
erlander (Margo Lion, Hiroshi Sugawara, Lloyd Phillips, and Kiki Miyake, Associate Producers); Choreog-
raphy: Peter Gennaro; Scenery and Costumes: Jocelyn Herbert; Lighting: Andy Phillips and Brian Nason;
Musical Direction: Julius Rudel
Cast: Ethyl Eichelberger (Ballad Singer), Suzzanne Douglas (Jenny Diver), Alvin Epstein (Jonathan Jeremiah
Peachum), Jeff Blumenkrantz (Filch), Georgia Brown (Mrs. Peachum), Nancy Ringham (Polly Peachum),
Sting (Macheath), Josh Mostel (Matt of the Mint), Mitchell Greenberg (Crook-Finger Jack), David Schech-
ter (Sawtooth Bob), Philip Carroll (Ed), Tom Robbins (Walter aka Walt Dreary), Alex Santoriello (Jimmy),
Larry Marshall (Tiger Brown), Anne Kerry Ford (Dolly), Jan Horvath (Betty), Teresa De Zarn (Vixen),
Leslie Castay (Molly), K. T. Sullivan (Suky Tawdry), Fiddle Viracola (Old Whore), David Pursley (Smith),
MacIntyre Dixon (Policeman), Michael Piontek (Policeman), Kim Criswell (Lucy); Beggars and Bystanders:
Philip Carroll, MacIntyre Dixon, Michael Piontek, David Schechter, Steven Major West
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture (Orchestra); “Ballad of Mack the Knife” (“Moritat”) (Ethel Eichelberger); “Peachum’s
Morning Hymn” (Alvin Epstein); “Why-Can’t-They Song” (Alvin Epstein, Georgia Brown); “Wedding
Song” (Josh Mostel, Mitchell Greenberg, David Schechter, Philip Carroll, Tom Robbins, Alex Santoriello);
“Pirate Jenny” (Nancy Ringham); “Soldiers’ Song” (Sting, Larry Marshall); “Wedding Song” (reprise) (Josh
Mostel, Mitchell Greenberg, David Schechter, Philip Carroll, Tom Robbins, Alex Santoriello); “Love
Song” (Sting, Nancy Ringham); “Barbara Song” (Nancy Ringham); “First 3 Penny Finale” (Nancy Ring-
ham, Alvin Epstein, Georgia Brown)
Act Two: “Melodram” and “Polly’s Song” (Sting, Nancy Ringham); ‘Ballad of the Prisoner of Sex” (Georgia
Brown); “Pimp’s Ballad” (“Tango”) (Sting, Suzzanne Douglas); “Ballad of Living in Style” (Sting); “Jeal-
ousy Duet” (Kim Criswell, Nancy Ringham); “Second 3 Penny Finale” (Sting, Georgia Brown, Chorus)
Act Three: “Ballad of the Prisoner of Sex” (reprise) (Georgia Brown); “Song of Futility” (Alvin Epstein); “Lucy’s
Aria” (Kim Criswell); “Solomon Song” (Suzzanne Douglas); “Call from the Grave” (Sting); “Epitaph”
(Sting); “March to the Gallows” (Orchestra); “Third 3 Penny Finale” (Company)
The highly anticipated revival of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s 1928 musical Die Dreigroschenoper (The
Threepenny Opera, and here titled 3 Penny Opera) was presented in a translation by Michael Feingold, who
stated his version adhered “as closely as possible” to the franker original German text. For his adaptation,
all the songs were performed by the intended characters and were in proper performance order (the produc-
tion also restored “Lucy’s Aria,” which was dropped in 1928 when the singer who was to perform it left the
production).
The revival starred popular singer Sting in his musical-theatre stage debut, who with his rough good looks
and slightly menacing air was the perfect embodiment of the seductive yet dangerous Macheath (aka “Mack
the Knife”). The production also included Georgia Brown and Alvin Epstein as Mr. and Mrs. Peachum, Suz-
zanne Douglas as Jenny, Kim Criswell as Lucy, and solo performance-artist Ethyl Eichelberger as the Ballad
Singer whose quirky, on-the-brink-of-madness interpretation gave the revival the theatrical glue that bound
together the various lowlifes in nineteenth-century London, including the amoral gang-leader Macheath and
his assorted underground cronies (including the prostitute Jenny); his marriage to the middle-class Polly Pea-
chum; and his narrow escape from the gallows.
1989 SEASON 417
Maureen McGovern had played the role of Polly during the revival’s tryout in Washington, D.C., but be-
cause of vocal ailments didn’t perform the role for the New York opening night and for some weeks thereafter
(her understudy Nancy Ringham, who normally played the role of Molly, substituted).
Andy Phillips and Brian Nason contributed an atmospherically “dark” lighting design that added to the
sinister mood, Julius Rudel conducted, and John Dexter directed (he had helmed the original London and
Broadway productions of Equus and M. Butterfly as well as the Metropolitan Opera Company’s debut of
Brecht and Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny).
Unfortunately, the revival never quite came together; it was one of those productions that flirted with
brilliance because its components seemed almost in sync with Brecht and Weill’s vision. But it never jelled,
and one was reluctantly forced to accept the conclusion that the evening was a near-miss that had the mak-
ings of the most definitive 3 Penny Opera since the original.
The reviews seemed overly harsh and picky, and of all the cast members Georgia Brown received the best
notices (but one or two critics had reservations about her performance). Despite a large advance sale, the pro-
duction faltered after less than two months on Broadway and didn’t leave behind a cast album.
Linda Winer in New York Newsday said the revival was “respectful, uninspired, almost academic” and
thus “not terrible” but “merely OK.” As for Sting, “every breath he takes, every move he makes, you’ll be
watching him,” but he was more David Niven than Mack the Knife. Georgia Brown had “an insinuating voice
of dark honey and acid,” but Alvin Epstein was “surprisingly dull in a stock performance.”
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News said the presentation was “as harmless” as a community
revival of H.M.S. Pinafore: the production was bland and lacked style, the evening was “limp and flaccid,”
and only Brown brought “power” to the material. As for Sting, he should have brought a “bravura presence”
to Macheath but instead he crooned, posed, and smiled “cockily” at the audience. Kissel noted that Feingold’s
translation provided a “clear and direct” narrative but sometimes it distracted “from the melodic line and the
drama.” In the same newspaper, Douglas Watt complained that the production’s “overall effect” of the “bril-
liantly sulphurous work” was an “abomination,” and Sting came across like “a two-dollar window Gaylord
Ravenal” who was “nice” and “somehow got mixed up in the wrong company.”
David Patrick Stearns in USA Today said the revival lacked “immediacy and spontaneity” but Sting was
“a genuine presence and a sound actor.” William A. Henry III in Time criticized Dexter’s “snarly, airless”
staging and said Feingold’s adaptation was “less effective” than Marc Blitzstein’s version for the 1954 Off-
Broadway revival. John Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said Brecht’s alienation effects may have
been carried too far in the current revival and thus the evening’s “assorted concepts” came together “some-
what uneasily.” And the headline of Edwin Wilson’s review in the Wall Street Journal proclaimed “Brecht
with Sting but Little Bite.”
Frank Rich in the New York Times said the evening offered no “high points,” and despite its “sincere
intentions,” the show’s ideas were “fumbled in the execution.” Dexter gave the show such a “spartan” look
it made Our Town look “decadent,” Sting was a “stiff,” Brown and Epstein were as “tired and mechanical”
as the other performers, and Rudel’s orchestra played “with a lassitude more appropriate to a hotel-lobby tea
service than a Weimar cabaret.”
But Clive Barnes in the New York Post said the production was “the best musical in town, this season,
next season and for anticipated time.” Dexter’s staging offered a “bizarre authenticity,” scenic designer Joc-
elyn Herbert’s “tatterdemalion” look worked “wonders,” and the performances were “terrific,” including
Sting, who was “very, very good indeed” with his “natural presence,” which made him a “debonair bandit-
villain.”
Rich suggested the evening provided “some drama” when Nancy Ringham had to step in at the last mo-
ment for the ailing Maureen McGovern. This was the second time during the decade that Ringham took over
a leading role on opening night because of a leading lady’s vocal problems (Ringham had succeeded Cheryl
Kennedy as Eliza Doolittle for the 1981 revival of My Fair Lady, which starred Rex Harrison). Rich stated
Ringham was “simply a competent ingénue,” but Winer said she had a “striking no-nonsense beauty, a pun-
gent voice without a high enough top for the role and a welcome sense of evil fun.” Kissel said she sang and
acted “attractively” but brought “little passion” to “Pirate Jenny”; Watts found her and others in the cast
“unforgivably bland”; Barnes said she was “excellent”; and Wilson said “she stole the show.”
As Die Dreigroschenoper, the musical premiered in Berlin on August 31, 1928, at the Theatre am Schiff-
buerdamm with Harold Paulson (Macheath), Lotte Lenya (Jenny), and Ernest Busch (The Street Singer). The
first Broadway production was adapted by Gifford Cochran and Jerrold Krimsky and opened on April 13, 1933,
at the Empire Theatre for twelve performances.
For almost twenty years the work virtually disappeared in the United States until Marc Blitzstein’s ver-
sion opened on June 14, 1952, at the Festival of the Creative Arts at Brandeis University and then played a
limited engagement Off Broadway at the Theatre de Lys on March 10, 1954, and returned there on September
20, 1955, for a marathon run and a total of 2,707 performances for both productions.
On March 11, 1965, the work played at City Center for 6 performances where it was produced by the
New York City Opera Company and marked the first U.S. performances in German (Rudel also conducted
this version); on October 27, 1966, the Stockholm Marionette Theatre of Fantasy presented the musical for
13 performances at the Billy Rose (now Nederlander) Theatre in a showing that used prerecorded music taken
from the Off-Broadway cast album; another Broadway revival opened on May 1, 1976, for 307 performances
at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in an adaptation by Ralph Mannheim and John Willett; and after the current
production, the work was revived on April 20, 2006, at Studio 54 for 77 showings in an adaptation by Wallace
Shawn.
On October 26, 1995, an Off-Broadway revival by the National Youth Music Theatre opened at City Cen-
ter for a limited run of three performances (it’s unclear which translation was used), and the 1976 Broadway
revival played Off Broadway at Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre on June 28, 1977, for twenty-seven perfor-
mances.
There have been three film versions of the musical. The first was produced in Germany in 1931, was di-
rected by G. W. Pabst, and starred Rudolph Forster and Lotte Lenya. A 1962 film adaptation used Blitzstein’s
lyrics, and the 1989 film Mack the Knife included some of Blitzstein’s lyrics.
The cast album of the 1954 Off-Broadway version was released by MGM Records (LP # E/SE-3121), and the
CD was issued by Decca Broadway Records (# 012-159-463-2); the 1976 production was recorded by Columbia
Records (LP # PS-34325) and later issued on CD by Arkiv/Sony Records (# 51520). The soundtrack of the 1962
film was released by RCA Victor Records (LP # LOC/LSO-1086) and the 1989 film soundtrack was released
on CBS Records, Inc. (LP # SM-45630). Perhaps the finest recording of the work is a 1959 studio cast album
performed in German with Lenya and other singers that was released by Columbia Records on a two-LP set
(# 02S-201) and later issued on CD by CBS Masterworks.
The script of the 1976 production was published in hardback by Random House in Brecht’s Collected
Plays, Vol. 2 and was also issued in a single volume in 1977 by Vintage Books/Random House in a special
hardback edition for the now defunct Fireside Theatre book club.
Awards
Tony Award Nomination: Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Georgia Brown)
PRINCE OF CENTRAL PARK

“The New Musical”
Theatre: Belasco Theatre

Performances: 4
Book: Evan H. Rhodes
Lyrics: Gloria Nissenson
Music: Don Sebesky
Based on the 1974 novel Prince of Central Park by Evan H. Rhodes.
Direction and Choreography: Tony Tanner (Stephen Bourneuf, Associate Choreographer); Producers: Abe
Hirschfeld and Jan McArt (Karen Poindexter, Executive Producer; Belle M. Deitch, Associate Producer);
Scenery and Costumes: Michael Bottari and Ronald Case; Lighting: Norman Coates; Musical Direction:
Joel Silberman
Cast: Richard H. Blake (Jay-Jay), Sel Vitella (School Guard, Park Ranger Rupp, Waiter), John Hoshko (Street
Person, Stock Broker, Young Richard), Adrian Bailey (Street Person, Officer Simpson), Bonnie Perlman
(Agnes, Anna Squagliatoria), Ruth Gottschall (Officer Washinski, Young Margie), Marilyn Hudgins (Bag
Lady, Floor Walker), Annie-Marie Gerard (Mary Berg, Twitchy), Stephen Bourneuf (Aerobics Instructor),
1989 SEASON 419
Jo Anne Worley (Margie Miller), Chris Callen (Sally), Sean Grant (Fist), Jason Ma (Bird Brain), Alice Years-
ley (Feather, Ballet Dancer), Anthony Galde (Elmo), Terry Eno (Carpenter, Maitre d’); Aerobics Students:
Adrian Bailey, Terry Eno, Ruth Gottschall, Anne-Marie Gerard, John Hoshko, Sel Vitella; Tap Dancers:
Adrian Bailey, Stephen Bourneuf, Ruth Gottschall, John Hoshko, Bonnie Perlman; Mannequins, Tango
Dancers: Adrian Bailey, Stephen Bourneuf, Ruth Gottschall, John Hoshko, Jason Ma, Bonnie Perlman,
Alice Yearsley
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Here’s Where I Belong” (Richard H. Blake, Ensemble); “All I’ve Got Is Me” (Richard H. Blake);
“New Leaf” (Jo Anne Worley, Aerobics Club); “Follow the Leader” (Anthony Galde, Gang, Richard
H. Blake); “Here’s Where I Belong” (Montage) (Ensemble); “We Were Dancing” (Jo Anne Worley, John
Hoshko, Ruth Gottschall); “One of a Kind” (Jo Anne Worley, Richard H. Blake); “I Fly by Night”(Anthony
Galde); “Zap” (Jo Anne Worley, Richard H. Blake, Ensemble)
Act Two: “Good Evening” (Ensemble); “All I’ve Got Is Me” (reprise) (Jo Ann Worley, Richard H. Blake);
“They Don’t Give You Life at Sixteen” (Anthony Galde, Gang); “Red” (Jo Ann Worley, Ensemble); “I Fly
by Night” (reprise) (Anthony Galde, Gang, Richard H. Blake); “The Prince of Central Park” (Richard H.
Blake); “One of a Kind” (reprise) (Jo Ann Worley)
Prince of Central Park originated in Florida, but critics and audiences might well have wondered what
universe it came from because its depiction of life in New York City was like nothing known on this planet.
According to the musical, life in the city is squeaky-clean, even down to the benches in Central Park; bag la-
dies are wacky and adorable; department-store sales clerks give you their undivided attention; street gangs are
comprised of carefully selected groups of racially diverse young men; and Frank Rich in the New York Times
noted that a friendly Park Ranger is right out of a Smokey the Bear promotional campaign. Rich also men-
tioned that the show had a “serious obsession” with the Tavern on the Green and thus dragged its name into
many scenes and even included a dance sequence which took place in the restaurant. And perhaps because of
its Florida connection, the musical determinedly offered jokes about retirement and retirement communities.
The story dealt with abused orphan Jay-Jay (Richard H. Blake) who leaves his foster home and takes to
the streets. He’s soon living in a tree house in Central Park, where he meets a jogger named Margie (Jo Ann
Worley), a middle-aged matron recently shoved aside by her husband for a younger woman and who is now
trying to pull her life together and start anew (Jay-Jay and Margie meet cute when they begin leaving chalk-
written messages for each other on a park bench). The musical assiduously avoided such serious issues as
child abuse, teenage runaways, street gangs, and homelessness and instead provided lame jokes (Worley cups
her breasts and asks, “Gravity, gravity, what did I ever do to you?”) and watery choreography (Rich noted it
“doesn’t just resemble aerobics. It is aerobics”).
Linda Winer in New York Newsday found the musical “aggressively predictable” with “slick” direction,
a score of “disco elevator music” that was “anonymous but innocuous,” a “stock urban assemblage” of city
types, and choreography that was “basically an aerobic-dance primer.” With tongue in cheek, Howard Kissel
in the New York Daily News wryly noted that during the years following the opening of Elizabeth Swados’s
“groundbreaking” Runaways, theatre lovers had “been pining for another musical about abused children,
street toughs and a general view of adults as nincompoops,” and with Prince of Central Park that musical is
“finally here!” The plot lacked “genuine understanding” and instead was a series of “sitcom-length” scenes,
the lyrics and music were “of equal dreariness and witlessness,” and there were “cliché-ridden” dances. Kis-
sel noted that when a performer accidentally stumbled over a chair, the evening suddenly came to life when
Worley ad-libbed a line. This was the only moment during the entire show that offered “the response of an
actual human being.”
Rich found the musical “a numbing evening” of “guileless amateurism” with songs that didn’t “so much
linger in the mind as pound it senseless.” Blake sang his numbers “mechanically and interchangeably, seem-
ing less like a refugee of the streets than an aging Mouseketeer,” and Worley “plunged through the show like
a Mack truck, mowing down everything before her.”
During previews the songs “Hey, Pal” and “Can’t Believe My Eyes” were cut.
The musical had first been produced at Jan McArt’s Cabaret Theatre in Key West, Florida, and then at the
Al Hirschfeld Theatre in Miami Beach.
Prince of Central Park was the Belasco Theatre’s first booking in some two and a half years. But instead
of a brand-new hit to inaugurate the reopening, the musical closed after four performances and tied with Dan-
gerous Games as the season’s shortest-running musical. The theatre was often a luckless one, and in recent
years had suffered plays with short runs, including a few that lasted for just one performance. In the 1940s, a
seemingly endless stream of flops opened at the Belasco and inspired one wag to call it the Fiasco.
Evan H. Rhodes’s novel Prince of Central Park was published in 1974, was made into a TV movie in 1977,
and then eleven years after the musical version a new film adaptation was released in 2000 (as a nonmusical).
GRAND HOTEL
“The Musical”
Theatre: Martin Beck Theatre (during run, the musical transferred to the Gershwin Theatre)
Opening Date: November 12, 1989; Closing Date: April 26, 1992
Performances: 1,077
Book: Luther Davis
Lyrics and Music: Robert Wright and George Forrest; additional songs by Maury Yeston; unidentified addi-
tional music by Wally Harper (see list of musical numbers for specific credits)
Based on the 1929 novel Menschen im Hotel (People in a Hotel) by Vicki Baum and the 1932 MGM film
Grand Hotel (screenplay by William A. Drake and direction by Edmund Goulding).
Direction and Choreography: Tommy Tune (Bruce Lumpkin, Associate Director); Producers: Martin Rich-
ards, Mary Lea Johnson, Sam Crothers, Sander Jacobs, Kenneth D. Greenblatt, Paramount Pictures, and
Jujamcyn Theatres in association with Patty Grubman and Marvin A. Krauss (Sandra Greenblatt, Martin
R. Kaufman, and Kim Poster, Associate Producers) (Kathleen Raitt, Production Associate); Scenery: Tony
Walton; Costumes: Santo Loquasto; Lighting: Jules Fisher; Musical Direction: Jack Lee
Cast: Charles Mandracchia (The Doorman), John Wylie (Colonel-Doctor Ottemschlag), Yvonne Marceau
(The Countess), Pierre Dulaine (The Gigolo), Rex D. Hays (Rohna), Bob Stillman (Erik), Ken Jennings
(George Strunk), Keith Crowningshield (Kurt Kronenberg), Gerrit de Beer (Hanns Bittner), J. J. Epson (Wil-
libald), Jennifer Lee Andrews (Hildegarde Bratts, Trudie), Suzanne Henderson (Sigfriede Holzheim, Hotel
Courtesan), Lynnette Perry (Wolffe Bratts), David Jackson and Danny Strayhorn (The Two Jimmys), Ben
George (Chauffeur), Hal Robinson (Zinnowitz), Mitchell Jason (Sandor), Michel Moinot (Witt), Kathi Moss
(Madame Peepee), Timothy Jerome (General Director Preysing), Jane Krakowski (Flaemmchen), Michael
Jeter (Otto Kringelein), David Carroll (The Baron aka Felix Von Gaigern), Karen Akers (Raffaela), Liliane
Montevecchi (Elizaveta Grushinskaya), Henry Grossman (Ernest Schmidt), William Ryall (Franz Kohl,
Detective), David Elledge (Werner Holst), Walter Willison (Gunther Gustafsson)
The action takes place in Berlin in 1928.
Musical Numbers
Note: * = lyric and music by Robert Wright and George Forrest; ** = lyric and music by Robert Wright and
George Forrest, with revised lyric by Maury Yeston; and *** = lyric and music by Maury Yeston.
“The Grand Parade” (***) (Company); “As It Should Be” (**) (David Carroll); “Some Have, Some Have Not”
(**) (Henry Grossman, William Ryall, David Elledge, Walter Willison); “At the Grand Hotel” (***) (Mi-
chael Jeter); “A Table with a View” (**) (Michael Jeter); “Maybe My Baby Loves Me” (*) (David Jackson,
Danny Strayhorn, Jane Krakowski); “Fire and Ice” (**) (Liliane Montevecchi); “Twenty-Two Years” (***)
(Karen Akers); “Villa on a Hill” (*) (Karen Akers); “I Want to Go to Hollywood” (aka “The Girl in the
Mirror”) (***) (Jane Krakowski); “Everybody’s Doing It” (***) (Timothy Jerome); “The Crooked Path” (**)
(Timothy Jerome); “As It Should Be” (reprise) (David Carroll); “Who Couldn’t Dance with You?” (*) (Jane
Krakowski and David Carroll, Michael Jeter and Jane Krakowski); “The Boston Merger” (**) (Timothy
1989 SEASON 421
Jerome); “No Encore” (*) (Liliane Montevecchi); “Fire and Ice” (reprise) (Company); “Love Can’t Happen”
(***) (David Carroll, Liliane Montevecchi); “What She Needs” (**) (Karen Akers); “Bonjour Amour” (***)
(Liliane Montevechhi); “H-A-P-P-Y” (*) (David Jackson, Danny Strayhorn, Jane Krakowski); “We’ll Take
a Glass Together”(**) (Michael Jeter, David Carroll); “I Waltz Alone” (*) (John Wylie); “Roses at the Sta-
tion” (***) (David Carroll); “How Can I Tell Her?” (*) (Karen Akers); “As It Should Be” (reprise) (Bob Still-
man, Company); “Some Have, Some Have Not” (reprise) (Henry Grossman, William Ryall, David Elledge,
Walter Willison); “The Grand Parade” (reprise) (Company); “The Grand Waltz” (*) (Company)
Tommy Tune’s Grand Hotel was based on Vicki Baum’s 1929 novel Menschen im Hotel (People in a
Hotel) and its famous MGM 1932 film version, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and starred
Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Lionel Barrymore, and Wallace Beery. Baum adapted the novel
for the stage during the same year the book was published, and its American version (as Grand Hotel) opened
on Broadway in 1930 in an adaptation by William A. Drake (who later wrote the screenplay for the 1932 film).
In 1945, MGM refilmed the story as Week-End at the Waldorf.
The musical was presented without intermission and Tune’s staging used cinematic techniques to create
a seamless flow of continuous action that created smooth transitions and allowed each sequence to dissolve
into the other. The constant swirl of activity gave the production the impression of being completely choreo-
graphed, but there was time for brief, traditional dances, particularly the kind of social dancing one might find
during the era in hotel lobbies for the tea dansant hour, and so occasional fox trots, waltzes, and Charlestons
insinuated themselves into the action.
Tony Walton’s décor was mostly expressionistic in its depiction of the hotel. The orchestra members were
perched high on a balcony overlooking Tune’s imminently theatrical space where the cast shifted dozens of
red velvet–cushioned chairs to form alternately expansive or intimate playing areas (the chairs were Tune’s
version of the moving pylons in Dreamgirls and Chess). The decor also included four huge columns of trans-
lucent blocks and a gilded glass revolving door at stage center, and hovering above the proceedings were three
magnificent crystal chandeliers that along with Jules Fisher’s lighting designs gave the entire mise-en-scène
the glow of dark, smoky light (Linda Winer in New York Newsday was happy to note the chandeliers were
“just” lamps and not the “stars” of the show).
The story focused on various guests at Berlin’s famous hotel during a few hours of one day and night in
1928. The main characters include the ballerina Grushinskaya (Liliane Montevecchi) and her brief, doomed
affair with the shady Baron Von Gaigern (David Carroll); the ruthless businessman Preysing (Timothy Jerome)
and his typist Flaemmchen (Jane Krakowski), who dreams of Hollywood glory; and the pathetic Kringelein
(Michael Jeter), a terminally ill Jewish clerk who plans to enjoy his last days in the luxurious hotel where
“people come, people go” and where everything is “always the same.”
Although Luther Davis’s book did a credible job of creating a sense of time and place and of setting up
the intertwining plots and characters, it never quite fleshed out those characters and didn’t bring a sense of
urgency to their situations. As a result, Frank Rich in the New York Times noted many of the hotel’s rooms
were “vacant,” and the respective headlines for the reviews by Howard Kissel and Douglas Watt in the New
York Daily News proclaimed there were “Vacancies at the Inn” and there were “A Few Reservations about
Hotel.”
The book also borrowed attitudes from earlier works, and of course the view of 1928 Berlin on the brink of
insanity had already been explored in Cabaret. There was also a portentous if not pretentious narrator of sorts
in Colonel-Doctor Otternschlag (John Wylie), who was reminiscent of the Emcee in Cabaret and here symbol-
ically wore a patch over one eye; there was a group of the hotel’s resentful scullery workers who droned away
in song that “Some Have, Some Have Not” and who seemed to have wandered in from the London streets of
The Threepenny Opera and Sweeney Todd; and there were two mysterious dancing figures (for another dose
of symbolism, one of the dancers wore a blindfold) who would have been at home in Follies and A Doll’s Life.
As for the score, the showstopper was Kringelein and the Baron’s “We’ll Take a Glass Together,” which
was by Robert Wright and George Forrest with a revised lyric by Maury Yeston. Of the team’s other contribu-
tions, “Maybe My Baby Loves Me” was a standout; and Yeston’s best songs were “At the Grand Hotel” and
“Roses at the Station” (the latter was particularly notable for its understated staging).
Rich praised Tune, saying the director-choreographer had “the most extravagant imagination in the
American musical theatre right now,” and Grand Hotel “should satisfy those with a boundless appetite for
showmanship untethered to content.” Rich suggested a better score would have helped, and he singled out
“We’ll Take a Glass Together” in which Michael Jeter let “loose like a human top gyrating out of control—
literally breaking out of his past into a new existence.” Winer praised Tune as a “master stylist” who over-
came the “drivel” of a “potboiler of pulp clichés and purple-dialogue howlers” and a score that was at best
“a patchwork of ballroom derivatives.” But somehow Tune pulled off “irresistibly subtle moves on the least
promising material.”
Clive Barnes in the New York Post found the musical’s concept “defiantly hackneyed but enormously
effective” but berated the “dull” score, which had “Tune where its tunes should be.” David Patrick Stearns
in USA Today stated the musical had “more creative vacancies than any Broadway musical should.” The
story wasn’t always convincing, the score lacked “consistency,” and Yeston’s lyrics laid “on the irony with a
shovel.” But because the Broadway season was “littered with casualties,” Grand Hotel would “have to do.”
Kissel wished there had been “a show beneath the elegant surfaces”; Watt said the production’s “el-
egance” helped one overlook the “thinness” of the book and score, which were “all style and no content.”
Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal said Tune’s direction and choreography saved the show, which was
otherwise “superficial” and “melodramatic” with a “pedestrian” score and a story “as empty as the lives of
those who inhabit the hotel.” William A. Henry III in Time said Tune weaved the action into a “ceaseless
flow” and if some of his “wizardry” was “borrowed from bygone auteur directors,” Grand Hotel was none-
theless “the musical winner of the season.” And Laura Shapiro in Newsweek reported that Tune “pulls off
a miracle” with a “choreographic” vision of the entire stage encompassing “strong physical imagery, visible
counterpoint, an intrinsic sense of rhythm, [and] a vivid sense of space.”
The script was published in paperback by Samuel French in 1992, and the belated cast album was released
during the same year by RCA Victor Records (CD # 09026-61327-2). Due to illness, David Carroll left the
production six months after it opened, but returned about a half year later (among the performers who suc-
ceeded him were Brent Barrett, Rex Smith, and John Schneider). Sadly, Carroll died on March 11, 1992, at the
age of forty-one, just three weeks before the cast album was to be recorded (it is Barrett who performs the role
of the Baron on the recording). As a bonus, the recording includes Carroll’s live performance of “Love Can’t
Happen,” which he sang at Steve McGraw’s nightclub on February 14, 1991.
The Japanese Takarazuka Revue Company presented the musical in Tokyo, and the cast album was is-
sued by TMP (CD # TMPC-175). The collection Lost in Boston II (Varese Sarabande Records CD # VSD-5485)
includes the deleted song “Flaemmchen (The Flame Girl)” performed by Lynette Perry, who succeeded Jane
Krakowski as Flaemmchen during the Broadway run. Also during the run, screen legend Cyd Charisse made
her Broadway debut when she succeeded Liliane Montevecchi, and for the national tour the 1950s screen and
stage actor Anthony Franciosa played the role of the Colonel-Doctor.
The London production opened on July 6, 1992, at the Dominion Theatre with Liliane Montevecchi
(Grushinskaya), Brent Barrett (The Baron), and Lynette Perry (Flaemmchen).
Grand Hotel’s backstory is unique because the musical folded on the road thirty-one years before it
finally reached Broadway in its new version. As At the Grand, and with a book by Luther Davis and lyrics
and music by Robert Wright and George Forrest, the musical premiered on July 7, 1958, at the Philharmonic
Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, and then opened on August 11, 1958, at the Curran Theatre in San
Francisco, where it closed on September 13, 1958. The work had been scheduled to open on Broadway at the
46th Street (now Richard Rodgers) Theatre on September 25, 1958, but Paul Muni (in the role of Kringelein)
wasn’t contractually committed to the musical beyond the scope of the two West Coast engagements and
refused to extend his contract for New York.
At the Grand was set in Rome at the Grand Roma Hotel, and here Grushinskaya is Isola Parelli (Joan
Diener), an opera singer instead of a ballet dancer. Cesare Danova was the baron, and during the course of the
tryout was succeeded by David Atkinson; Arthur Rubin was also in the cast, and his song “Isola” was later
refashioned by Wright and Forrest as “Elena” for Kean (1961) where Rubin performed it and recorded it for
that show’s cast album.
When Grand Hotel began its tryout in Boston, all the songs were by Wright and Forrest, but the show
was clearly in trouble right from the start and so Tune asked Yeston to step in and provide new songs, much
to Wright and Forrest’s displeasure (their annoyance must have doubled when Yeston revised some of their
songs). For the record, Grand Hotel retained just four songs from At the Grand: “A Table with a View,” “What
You Need,” “I Waltz Alone,” and “We’ll Take a Glass Together.” The final Grand Hotel score includes eight
songs by Wright and Forrest; eight by the team that include revised lyrics by Yeston; and eight by Yeston.
Songs by Wright and Forrest that were dropped during the Boston tryout or during New York previews were:
1989 SEASON 423
“After Autumn,” “What They Want Is Wind,” “Flaemmchen (The Flame Girl),” and “Crescendo” (the latter
had been part of the score for At the Grand).
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (Grand Hotel); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (David Carroll);
Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Liliane Montevecchi); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Michael Jeter);
Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Jane Krakowski); Best Director of a Musical (Tommy Tune); Best Book
(Luther Davis); Best Score (lyrics and music by Robert Wright, George Forrest, and Maury Yeston); Best
Scenic Designer (Tony Walton); Best Costume Designer (Santo Loquasto); Best Lighting Designer (Jules
Fisher); Best Choreographer (Tommy Tune)
GYPSY
Performances: 477
Music: Jule Styne
Based on the 1957 Gypsy: A Memoir by Gypsy Rose Lee.
Direction: Arthur Laurents (Richard Siccardi, Assistant to Arthur Laurents); Producers: Barry and Fran
Weissler, Kathy Levin, and Barry Brown (produced in association with Tokyo Broadcasting System Inter-
national, Inc., and Pace Theatrical Group); Choreography: Jerome Robbins (choreography reproduced by
Bonnie Walker); Scenery: Kenneth Foy; Costumes: Theoni V. Aldredge; Lighting: Natasha Katz; Musical
Direction: Eric Stern
Cast: Tony Hoty (Uncle Jocko, Kringelein), John Remme (George, Mr. Goldstone), Bobby John Carter (Clar-
ence, Newsboy), Jeana Haege (Balloon Girl), Kristen Mahon (Baby Louise), Christen Tassin (Baby June),
Tyne Daly (Rose), Ronn Carroll (Pop, Cigar), Demetri Callas (Newsboy), Danny Cistone (Newsboy), Jason
Minor (Newsboy), Mace Barrett (Weber, Phil), Jonathan Hadary (Herbie), Crista Moore (Louise), Tracy
Venner (June), Robert Lambert (Tulsa), Bruce Moore (Yonkers), Craig Waletzko (L.A.), Ned Hannah (Kan-
sas), Paul Geraci (Flagstaff), Alec Timerman (St. Paul), Barbara Erwin (Miss Cratchitt, Tessie Tura), Bar-
bara Folts (Hollywood Blonde), Teri Furr (Hollywood Blonde), Nancy Melius (Hollywood Blonde), Michele
Pigliavento (Hollywood Blonde), Robin Robinson (Hollywood Blonde), Lori Ann Mahl (Agnes), Jim Brac-
chitta (Pastey, Boureron-Cochon), Jana Robbins (Mazeppa), Anna McNeely (Electra), Ginger Prince (Maid)
The action takes place during the period of the 1920s and 1930s in various cities throughout the United States.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Let Me Entertain You” (Christen Tassin, Kristen Mahon); “Some People” (Tyne Daly); “Small
World” (Tyne Daly, Jonathan Hadary); “Baby June and Her Newsboys” (Christen Tassin, Demetri Callas,
Bobby John Carter, Danny Cistone, Jason Minor); “Mr. Goldstone, I Love You” (Tyne Daly, Jonathan Ha-
dary, Company); “Little Lamb” (Crista Moore); “You’ll Never Get Away from Me” (Tyne Daly, Jonathan
Hadary); “Dainty June and Her Farmboys” (Tracy Venner, Robert Lambert, Bruce Moore, Craig Waletzko,
Ned Hannah, Paul Geraci, Alec Timerman); “If Momma Was Married” (Crista Moore, Tracy Venner); “All
I Need Is the Girl” (Robert Lambert); “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” (Tyne Daly)
Act Two: “Toreadorables” (Crista Moore, Barbara Folts, Terri Furr, Nancy Melius, Michele Pigliavento, Robin
Robinson); “Together” (Tyne Daly, Jonathan Hadary, Crista Moore); “You Gotta Have a Gimmick” (Jana
Robbins, Anna McNeely, Barbara Erwin); “The Strip” (Crista Moore); “Rose’s Turn” (Tyne Daly)
Tyne Daly’s Rose was one of the era’s most striking performances. Here was an actress making her Broad-
way musical debut in the Medea of musical roles, and who was following Ethel Merman who created the
character in 1959 and Angela Lansbury who memorably appeared in the first Broadway revival in 1974. But
Daly had nothing to worry about. Hers was a Rose of dynamic dramatic punch, a steamroller Rose who barks
and bleats and bitches her way through life, alienates everyone around her, and yet still can’t figure out why
she’s both alone and lonely.
The critics were divided over Daly’s performance, but she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress
in a Musical and the revival played for 582 showings, including a return engagement. Frank Rich in the New
York Times said Daly was a Rose “with a vengeance that exposes the darkness at the heart of Gypsy as it
hasn’t been seen since Merman.” She “radically” altered the tone of the work from its previous 1974 revival
because she was not “glamorous, sexy or sympathetic” and “could not care less if anyone likes her or not.”
Rose is a “monster” and Daly was “true to the fundamental statement of the piece, which is not a pleasant
one.”
Linda Winer in New York Newsday praised Daly’s “bulldozer confidence,” which was a “sort of Merman
with a glint of Ralph Kramden”; William A. Henry III in Time said she rivaled Merman and Lansbury “as a
force of nature”; Douglas Watt in the New York Daily News said the “brassy” Daly was “dead on target for
the real thing” in her depiction of the stage mother who drives her daughters “like a battering ram”; and John
Beaufort in the Christian Science Monitor said that with Gypsy Daly became an “authentic Broadway star.”
But Clive Barnes in the New York Post noted that despite Daly’s “galvanic Broadway debut,” she went
“through the motions with a trouper-like diligence and loving histrionic care.” Although she wasn’t “a drop-
dead original” Rose, she came into her own in “Rose’s Turn” in that her “ineptitude” gave the number “a
poignancy it never had before” because you realized that despite her dreams and ambition Rose would never
be a “sensational” performer. While Henry said Daly’s interpretation was “a force of nature,” Howard Kissel
in the New York Daily News felt Daly wasn’t “the Force of Nature you need for the monstrous, heroic Rose”;
and Edwin Wilson in the Wall Street Journal said the star didn’t “convey the inner fire and sense of humor
required” for the role.
As for the musical itself, Kissel said its “solidity and power” would ensure it a long life at the St. James
Theatre; Watt said the show offered “an inspired assortment of songs perfectly tailored to its book”; Winer
stated Gypsy was one of the most “perfect musicals ever written”; and Rich said the “scorching” revival
showed that the musical improved with age (and he noted that Jule Styne had never composed as “angry” a
song as “Some People” and Stephen Sondheim had never written a lyric as “fragile and vulnerable” as “Little
Lamb”).
The revival ran for 476 performances (for a time Linda Lavin played Rose), and a few months after it
closed Daly starred in a return engagement that opened on April 28, 1991, at the Marquis Theatre for 105
performances.
The original production starred Ethel Merman and opened on May 21, 1959, at the Broadway Theatre for
702 performances, and the Lansbury revival opened on September 23, 1974, at the Winter Garden Theatre
for a limited engagement of 120 performances. After the current revival, the musical opened on May 1, 2003,
at the Shubert Theatre for 451 performances with Bernadette Peters; on July 14, 2007, an Encores! concert
presentation at City Center for 15 performances starred Patti LuPone; and on March 27, 2008, a revival with
LuPone at the St. James Theatre ran for 332 performances.
The cast album of the 1959 production was released by Columbia Records (LP # OL-5240) and the CD
(which includes deleted and unused songs) by Masterworks Broadway (CD # 88697-49406-2); the 1974 pro-
duction had opened in London during the previous year (see below), and the West End cast album was issued
on CD by RCA/BMG Records (# 60571-2-RG); the current production’s cast album was released by Elektra
Nonesuch Records (CD # 9-79239-2); the 2003 production was recorded by Angel Records (CD # 7243-5-
83858-2-3); and the 2008 revival was recorded by Time Life (CD # 80020-D) and includes a number of bonus
tracks of cut and unused songs.
The original London presentation opened at the Piccadilly Theatre on May 29, 1973, for 300 performances
and starred Lansbury, Zan Charisse (Louise), and Bonnie Langford (Baby June), all of whom reprised their roles
for the Broadway version. A 2015 London revival with Imelda Staunton was recorded by First Night Records
(CD # CASTCD-117).
The surprisingly faithful film version was released by Warner Brothers in 1962 and starred Rosalind Rus-
sell (Rose), Natalie Wood (Louise), Karl Malden (Herbie), and original cast member Faith Dane as the unfor-
gettable Mazeppa. With the exception of “Together” (which was filmed but cut prior to the final release), the
1989 SEASON 425
entire score was retained. The DVD by Warner Brothers (# 16755) includes “Together” as well as the duet
version of “You’ll Never Get Away from Me,” and the soundtrack was issued by Rhino Records (CD # R2-
73873) and has various extras, including outtake versions of five songs; a previously unreleased full version of
“Dainty June and Her Farmboys”; and both “album” and “film” versions of “Rose’s Turn.” Russell’s vocals
were partially dubbed by Lisa Kirk.
A television version was presented by CBS on December 12, 1993, with Bette Midler; Hallmark Entertain-
ment released an unnumbered DVD, and the CD was issued by Atlantic Records (# 82551-2).
Other recordings of the score include six selections from a late 1990s German revival produced by the
Theatre des Westens (Pallas Group CD # LC-6377); a jazz version by Annie Ross and the Buddy Bregman Band
(Pacific Jazz CD # CDP-7243-8-33574-2-0); and perhaps the rarest of all Gypsy recordings, the South African
production (circa 1976) with Libby Morris (Rose) and Bonnie Langford (Baby June).
The script was published in hardback by Random House in 1960, and in paperback by Theatre Commu-
nications Group in 1994. The libretto is also included in the 2014 Library of Congress hardback collection
American Musicals, which includes the scripts of fifteen other shows. The lyrics are included in Sondheim’s
hardback collection Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954–1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles,
Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes. Keith Garebian’s The Making of “Gypsy” was published in paper-
back by ECW Press in an undated edition.
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Revival (Gypsy); Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Tyne Daly); Best
Featured Actor in a Musical (Jonathan Hadary); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Crista Moore); Best
Costume Designer (Theoni V. Aldredge)
THE VICTOR BORGE HOLIDAY SHOW ON BROADWAY

“A Musical Entertainment”

Performances: 8
Producer: Music Fair Productions
Cast: Victor Borge
In an interview with pianist and comedian Victor Borge that appeared in the New York Times on the
morning of Borge’s limited-engagement holiday visit, Harold C. Schonberg noted that the performer was
“loved the world over as the premier musical comic of his time.” As for those who complained that Borge’s
act was always essentially the same, Borge replied that critics missed the point because when one attended a
performance of Aida was one annoyed that the arias were always the same?
With Borge, life was always a comical confrontation with his piano: sometimes the piano lost, sometimes
Borge lost, but the audience always won. Borge’s Broadway career spanned almost fifty years, and the current
production marked his final visit there. He had first appeared on Broadway in the revised edition of the revue
Crazy with the Heat, which opened at the 44th Street Theatre on January 14, 1941, for 99 performances; his
Comedy in Music premiered on October 2, 1953, for 849 performances, and to this day holds the record as
Broadway’s longest-running one-man revue; Comedy in Music: Opus 2 played at the Golden on November 9,
1964, for 192 showings; and Comedy with Music opened at the Imperial Theatre on October 3, 1977, for 66
performances.
CITY OF ANGELS
Performances: 878
Book: Larry Gelbart

Lyrics: David Zippel
Music: Cy Coleman
Direction: Michael Blakemore; Producers: Nick Vanoff, Roger Berlind, Jujamcyn Theatres, Suntory Interna-
tional Corporation, and The Shubert Organization; Choreography: Walter Painter; Scenery: Robin Wag-
ner; Costumes: Florence Klotz; Lighting: Paul Gallo; Musical Direction: Gordon Lowry Harrell
Cast:
Movie Cast—James Naughton (Stone), James Hindman (Hospital Orderly, Mahoney), Tom Galantich (Hos-
pital Orderly, Officer Pasco, Guard), Randy Graff (Oolie), Dee Hoty (Alaura Kingsley), Herschel Sparber
(Big Six), Raymond Xifo (Sonny), Scott Waara (Jimmy Powers); The Angel City 4: Peter Davis, Amy Jane
London, Gary Kahn, and Jackie Presti; Shawn Elliott (Lieutenant Munoz), Kay McClelland (Bobbi), Rene
Auberjonois (Irwin S. Irving), Doug Tompos (Peter Kingsley), Carolee Carmello (Margaret, Girl), Keith
Perry (Luther Kingsley), James Cahill (Doctor Sebastian Mandril), Evan Thompson (Butler, Gaines),
Rachel York (Mallory Kingsley), Peter Davis (Man with Camera), Alvin Lum (Harlan Yamato), Eleanor
Glockner (Margie), Jacquey Maltby (Bootsie)
Hollywood Cast—Gregg Edelman (Stine), Rene Auberjonois (Buddy Fidler), Evan Thompson (Shoeshine Boy,
Studio Engineer, Prop Man), Kay McClelland (Gabby), James Cahill (Gilbert, Soundman), Randy Graff
(Donna), Eleanor Glockner (Anna, Hairdresser), Scott Waara (Jimmy Powers); The Angel City 4: Peter
Davis, Amy Jane London, Gary Kahn, and Jackie Presti; Dee Hoty (Carla Haywood), James Hindman (Del
DaCosta, Buddy’s Nephew), Shawn Elliott (Pancho Vargas), Rachel York (Avril Raines), Doug Tompos
(Gerald Pierce), Keith Perry (Werner Krieger), Carolee Carmello (Stand-In), Alvin Lum (Cinematographer),
Tom Galantich (Gene), Peter Davis (Clapperboy), Herschel Sparber (Studio Cop), Raymond Xifo (Studio
Cop)
The action takes place in Los Angeles during the late 1940s.
Musical Numbers
Act One: Overture—“Theme from City of Angels” (Peter Davis, Amy Jane London, Gary Kahn, Jackie Presti,
Studio Orchestra); “Double Talk” (James Naughton, Dee Hoty); “Double Talk” (reprise) (Rene Auberjo-
nois, Gregg Edelman); “What You Don’t Know about Women” (Kay McClelland, Randy Graff); “Ya Gotta
Look after Yourself” (Scott Waara, Peter Davis, Amy Jane London, Gary Kahn, Jackie Presti); “The Buddy
System” (Rene Auberjonois); “With Every Breath I Take” (Kay McClelland); “The Tennis Song” (James
Naughton, Dee Hoty); “Ev’rybody’s Gotta Be Somewhere” (Scott Waara, Peter Davis, Amy Jane London,
Gary Kahn, Jackie Presti); “Lost and Found” (Rachel York); “All Ya Have to Do Is Wait” (Shawn Elliott,
Alvin Lum, James Hindman, Tom Galantich); “You’re Nothing without Me” (Gregg Edelman, James
Naughton)
Act Two: “Stay with Me” (Scott Waara, Peter Davis, Amy Jane London, Gary Kahn, Jackie Presti); “You
Can Always Count on Me” (Randy Graff); “You Can Always Count on Me” (reprise) (Randy Graff); “It
Needs Work” (Kay McClelland); “With Every Breath I Take” (reprise) (James Naughton, Kay McClelland);
“Funny” (Gregg Edelman); “You’re Nothing without Me” (reprise) (James Naughton, Gregg Edelman, Kay
McClelland, Company)
On November 14, 1980, Carol Lawson in the New York Times reported that Cy Coleman was preparing
his latest musical Oh, Mike! for Broadway. The lyrics were by Michael Stewart, and the book by best-selling
detective-story writer Mickey Spillane was an original mystery not based on any of his novels. In the article,
Spillane said his popular private-eye antihero Mike Hammer was the musical’s central character, the show
was set in New York City, and the story had “beautiful blondes” and “a great, great ending.” Cy Feuer was
set to produce, and was quoted as saying Coleman wanted to compose the musical in the style of jazz idioms
from the 1950s.
Oh, Mike! never materialized, but nine years later Coleman’s City of Angels opened on Broadway and in-
cluded a hard-boiled detective among its cast of characters. Coleman should have perhaps developed another
project, for despite mostly favorable reviews and a slew of awards, City of Angels rehashed all-too-familiar
1989 SEASON 427
material. Coleman must have forgotten that the classic 1953 MGM film The Band Wagon had spoofed Spill-
ane and his brand of detective stories in the witty thirteen-minute “The Girl Hunt Ballet.” Even the forgotten
1964 revue Zizi included a detective spoof titled “La chambre” (with a scenario by mystery writer Georges
Simenon) about a murderess and a detective who attempts to solve the crime before he becomes her next vic-
tim. And in 1986, the popular BBC (and later public television) series The Singing Detective by Dennis Potter
looked at a mystery writer who becomes enmeshed in the fantasy world of his fictional detective.
City of Angels focused on detective-mystery writer Stine (Gregg Edelman) and his fictional hero, private
eye Stone (James Naughton). Stine is adapting one of his Stone novels for the big screen, and the worlds of the
Hollywood studio and the film itself mesh into parallel stories. Soon Stine and Stone share a duet about their
symbiotic relationship (“You’re Nothing without Me”), and Robin Wagner and Florence Klotz’s respective
sets and costumes created a world of Technicolor to depict Stine’s life while the movie-within-the-musical
was seen in blacks, whites, and grays.
The musical revisited tried-and-true situations that were spread over two long acts, and perhaps a short
one-act spoof might have been more pointed. Larry Gelbart’s book provided some good lines (as Hollywood
producer Buddy Fidler, Rene Auberjonois sincerely tells Stine, “I’m your biggest fan. I’ve read a synopsis of
every book you’ve ever written”), there was some clever stage business (when Stine rewrites a character’s
line, the scene is in essence rewound and so the character freezes, moves backward, and talks in reverse),
and Coleman’s score was pleasant but generally forgettable. Further, Hollywood had been spoofed to death
as far back as George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart’s Once in a Lifetime (1930). And while the published script
of City of Angels doesn’t seem to use the word, one or two critics noted that Stine’s office at the studio was
referred to as a “cell.” Kaufman used the same conceit in his 1945 musical Hollywood Pinafore (1945), where
screen writers are forced to wear black-and-white striped convict outfits and are bound and gagged during
story conferences.
And City of Angels never quite rang true because its conceit was less a movie-within-the-musical than
it was a musical-movie-within-the-musical. There were certainly no detective movie musicals in the 1940s,
but here we found fictional hero-detective Stone arrested by a cop who gloats in song over the prospect that
Stone will soon visit the gas chamber (“All Ya Have to Do Is Wait”).
Frank Rich in the New York Times said one would have to go back to the Broadway of the early 1960s
and such musicals as How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying (1961) and A Funny Thing Happened
on the Way to the Forum (1962) to find a musical as “flat-out funny” with “riotous jokes” as City of Angels.
Here was an “exhilarating” show, and its score was a “delirious celebration of jazz and pop styles.” But the
evening needed more dancing and “a less arbitrarily plotted and more musical second act.” Douglas Watt in
the New York Daily News praised “the most brilliant of musical comedies”; Jack Kroll with Maggie Malone
in Newsweek said the show was “a welcome reminder that musicals used to be called musical comedies”;
William A. Henry III in Time said the musical had “the impeccably elegant fizz of champagne”; and Edwin
Wilson in the Wall Street Journal noted that the “familiar” material was “served with such relish you may
think you’re seeing it for the first time.”
David Patrick Stearns in USA Today liked the “tropical” sets, “stylish” direction, “wisecracking” lyrics,
and the mostly “jaunty” and “dazzling” score, but noted four songs sounded like “second-rate ditties” from
Coleman’s song trunk and the ending seemed like a “revenge fantasy” on Gelbart’s part. John Beaufort in the
Christian Science Monitor felt the show had “lots of just about everything except charm and heart.” And
Howard Kissel in the New York Daily News complained that the material was too familiar but said if you’d
“never seen a send-up of Hollywood before” then “maybe” City of Angels “will strike you as fresh.”
The headline of Clive Barnes’s review in the New York Post said the musical was “Almost Heavenly.”
It was “funny, ingenious and lots of other good things,” but it didn’t quite “work.” Here were ideas “search-
ing for fulfillment,” and while the musical was “brilliantly pleasing on one level” it was “disappointing” on
another. He also noted that Coleman’s score “rarely rises above the incidental,” with “jazzy pastiches” that
were “dazzling” but “oddly unmemorable.” Linda Winer in New York Newsday said the show lasted almost
three hours, at least thirty minutes “too long for its slim material.” Many of the scenes in the second act
were “didactic” and “clichéd,” the well-worn genre of Hollywood spoofs had “been its own parody forever,”
and the musical’s creators had a “heartbreaking inability to distinguish their best from their merely okay.”
The script was published in hardback by Applause Books in 1990, and the Broadway cast album was re-
corded by Columbia Records (CD # 46067). The London production, which opened on March 30, 1993, at the
Prince of Wales Theatre and played over seven months, was recorded by First Night Records (CD # CD34). In
preproduction, City of Angels was known as Death Is for Suckers.
Years after the premiere of City of Angels, Christopher Durang and Peter Melnick’s 2007 film noir spoof
Adrift in Macao provided a decidedly more satisfying lampoon of tough film noir types and Hollywood cli-
chés with a compact storyline, colorful characters (including nightclub owner Rick Shaw and the mysterious
Tempura, who has been “battered” by life), skewed dialogue (one character tells another he’ll see him around,
and the response is, “Well, it’s a small cast”), and a delicious, old-fashioned score (including the take-home
tune “Ticky Ticky Tock”).
Awards
Tony Awards and Nominations: Best Musical (City of Angels); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Gregg Edel-
man); Best Leading Actor in a Musical (James Naughton); Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Rene Auber-
jonois); Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Randy Graff); Best Director of a Musical (Michael Blakemore);
Best Book (Larry Gelbart); Best Score (lyrics by David Zippel, music by Cy Coleman); Best Scenic Designer
(Robin Wagner); Best Costume Designer (Florence Klotz); Best Lighting Designer (Paul Gallo)
DURANTE
“The Musical Comedy” / “Based on the life and times of Jimmy Durante and featuring many of
his favorite musical compositions”
The musical opened on August 12, 1989, at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Art’s Blum Appel Theatre in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and permanently closed on November 26, 1989, at the Shubert Theatre in Los
Angeles, California.
Book: Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth
Direction: Ernest O. Flatt; Producer: The First Durante Tour Company (N. Fylan, Producer; John MacNamara,
Executive Producer; Mary Murphy, Coproducer); Choreography: Toni Kaye; Scenery: Cameron Porteous;
Costumes: Christina Poddubiuk; Lighting: Sholem Dolgoy; Musical Direction: Grant Sturiale
Cast: Lonny Price (Jimmy Durante), Ralph Small (Coney Tony, Irving Thalberg, Radio Announcer), Evan
Pappas (Eddie Jackson), B. Alan Geddes (Moe the Gimp), Joel Blum (Lou Clayton), Jane Johanson (Jeanne),
Timothy French (David), Michel LaFletche (Major Domo), Melodee Finlay (Chorus Girl), Stephen Beamish
(Doctor), Kim Scarcella (Autograph Seeker), Lili Francks (Waitress), Lea Parrell (Waitress), David Gibb
(Sound Effects Man); Ensemble: Michael Arnold, Dale Azzard, Stephen Beamish, Patric A. Creelman,
Melodee Finlay, Lili Francks, Timothy French, Susan Gattoni, B. Alan Geddes, David Gibb, Jacqueline
Haigh, Michel LaFletche, Lea Parrell, Bob Riddell, Kim Scarcella, Kent Sheridan, Bernadette Taylor, Terrie
Turai, Risa Waldman, Michael Whitehead
The action takes place in New York City and Hollywood.
Musical Numbers
Act One: “Grandpa’s Spells” (lyric and music by Ferd “Jelly Roll” Morton) (Ensemble); “People Will (Would)
Laugh” (lyric and music by Lonny Price and Grant Sturiale) (Lonny Price); “Who Will Be with You When
I’m Far Away?” (lyric and music by William H. Farrell and Jimmy Durante) (Lonny Price, Evan Pappas);
“What a Day” (lyric and music by Jimmy Durante) (Evan Pappas, Lonny Price, Jacqueline Haigh, Lea Par-
rell, Susan Gattoni); “Put Your Arms around Me, Honey” (Madame Sherry, 1910; lyric by Junie McCree,
music by Harry Von Tilzer) (Jane Johanson, Bob Riddell, David Gibb); “I’ll Do the Strutaway” (lyric and
music by Harry Donnelly, Jimmy Durante, and Irving Caesar) (Lonny Price, Jane Johanson); “Courtship
Ballet” (music by David Krane) (Lonny Price, Jane Johanson, Ensemble); “Hello, Hello, Hello” (lyric and
music by David Krane, Frank Peppiatt, and John Aylesworth) (Kim Scarcella, Melodee Finlay, Risa Wald-
1989 SEASON 429
man, Terrie Turai); “Jimmy the Well-Dressed Man” (lyric and music by Jimmy Durante) (Lonny Price,
Evan Pappas); “Whispering” (lyric by John Schoenberger and Richard Coburn, music by Vincent Rose)
(Joel Blum); “Challenge” (lyricist and composer uncredited) (Joel Blum, Evan Pappas, Lonny Price); “I
Know Darn Well I Can Do without Broadway” (lyric and music by Jimmy Durante) (Joel Blum, Evan
Pappas, Lonny Price); “Don’t Lose Your Sense of Humor” (lyric and music by Jimmy Durante and Jack
Barnett) (Lonny Price); “You Gotta Start Off Each Day with a Song” (lyric and music by Jimmy Durante)
(Ensemble); “I Love Ya, Love Ya, Love Ya” (lyric and music by Jack Barnett, Jules Buffano, and Jimmy
Durante) (Joel Blum, Evan Pappas, Lonny Price); “Bill Bailey” aka “(Won’t You Come Home,) Bill Bailey”
and “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please . . . Come Home?” (lyric and music by Hughie Cannon) (Joel Blum,
Evan Pappas, Lonny Price)
Act Two: “I Love Ya, Love Ya, Love Ya” (reprise) (Joel Blum, Evan Pappas, Lonny Price); “Goodnight, Good-
night” (lyric and music by Jimmy Durante and Jack Barnett) and “Bill Bailey” (reprise) (Joel Blum, Evan
Pappas, Lonny Price); “Jeanne’s Fantasy” (lyricist, composer, and performers uncredited); “Did You Ever
Get the Feeling” (lyric and music by Jimmy Durante) (Lonny Price); “My One-Room Home” (lyric and
music by Jimmy Durante) (Lonny Price); “Partners” (lyric and music by Grant Sturiale, Frank Peppiatt,
and John Aylesworth) (performers uncredited); “Who Will Be with You When I’m Far Away?” (reprise)
(Lonny Price); “Inka Dinka Doo” (lyric and music by Jimmy Durante and Ben Ryan) (Lonny Price, Ra-
dio Singers); “Don’t Lose Your Sense of Humor” (reprise) (Lonny Price); “We’re the Men . . .” (lyricist
and composer uncredited) (David Gibb, Michael Whitehead [possibly Michael Arnold], Michel LaFleche,
Timothy French) ; “A Razz A Ma Tazz” (lyric and music by Irving Taylor and David Coleman) (Lonny
Price, Ensemble); “Goodnight, Goodnight” (reprise) (Lonny Price)
Durante was a showbiz biography of comedian Jimmy Durante (1893–1980) that closed during its pre-
Broadway tryout; during the tour, the musical played in San Francisco but was forced to cut short its run there
because of the October 1989 earthquake.
During the tryout, the following songs were heard in the production: “September Song” (Knickerbocker
Holiday, 1938; lyric by Maxwell Anderson, music by Kurt Weill); “If I Could Be with You (One Hour To-
night)” (lyric by Henry Creamer, music by James P. Johnson); “Toot, Toot, Tootsie! (Goo’bye)” (interpolated
into the musical Bombo, 1921; lyric by Gus Kahn, music by Ernie Erdman, Ted Fiorito, Robert A. King, and
Dan Russo); “What Do I Have to Say?” (lyric and music by Jerry Powell); and “Llamas in the Bahamas” (lyri-
cist and composer unknown).
Another musical about Jimmy Durante (also titled Durante) opened in regional theatre in early 1982 and
played at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles; the book and lyrics were by Frank Spiering, the music was by
Richard Wolf, and the cast included Al Mancini (Durante), Barbara Sharma (Jean), and Rick Podell (Lou). The
musical was set in Coney Island, Manhattan, and Hollywood during the period 1920–1950 (although most of
the score was new, a few older songs were included, such as “Inka Dinka Doo” and “You Gotta Start Each
Day Off with a Song,” both of which were also used in the 1989 musical).
Appendix A: Chronology (by Season)
The following is a seasonal chronology of the 250 productions discussed in this book. Musicals that closed
during their pre-Broadway engagements or during New York preview performances (and, in the case of Nim-
rod and the Tower of Babel, suddenly closed before its first scheduled Broadway preview performance) are
marked with an asterisk (*) and are listed alphabetically at the end of the season in which they were produced.
1980 Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale

Brigadoon
Canterbury Tales Wish Me Mazel-Tov
West Side Story Banjo Dancing, or The 48th Annual Squitters Moun-
Die Fledermaus tain Song Dance Folklore Convention and Banjo
Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale Contest . . . and How I Lost
Censored Scenes from King Kong Tintypes
Heartaches of a Pussycat Quick Change
Reggae Perfectly Frank
Happy New Year Onward Victoria
Barnum The Pirates of Penzance
A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine Shakespeare’s Cabaret
Black Broadway The Five O’Clock Girl
Musical Chairs Piaf
Blackstone! Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in
Billy Bishop Goes to War Paris
(*) Swing Sophisticated Ladies
Bring Back Birdie
Broadway Follies
1980–1981 Woman of the Year
Aaah oui Genty!
Your Arms Too Short to Box with God Copperfield
It’s So Nice to Be Civilized Can-Can
The Music Man The Moony Shapiro Songbook
Fearless Frank Inacent Black
Camelot Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music
42nd Street (*) An April Song
The Student Prince (*) Georgia Brown & Friends
Die Fledermaus (*) Hoagy, Bix and Wolfgang Beethoven Bunkhaus
Charlie and Algernon (*) One Night Stand
Insideoutsideandallaround with Shelley Berman (*) A Reel American Hero
431
432 APPENDIX A
1981–1982 The Flying Karamazov Brothers

Dance a Little Closer
This Was Burlesque
Fiddler on the Roof
My Fair Lady 1983–1984
The Student Prince
Song of Norway Mame
Die Fledermaus La Cage aux Folles
An Evening with Dave Allen The Merry Widow
Marlowe Candide
Oh, Brother! Zorba
Camelot Amen Corner
Merrily We Roll Along La tragedie de Carmen (aka Carmen)
The First Marilyn
Dreamgirls Doonesbury
Waltz of the Stork Baby
Little Me Peg
The Curse of an Aching Heart The Tap Dance Kid
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat The Rink
Pump Boys and Dinettes The Human Comedy
Little Johnny Jones Die Fledermaus
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein The Merry Widow
Is There Life after High School? Czardas Princess
Nine Shirley MacLaine on Broadway
Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? Oliver!
(*) Colette Sunday in the Park with George
(*) The Little Prince and the Aviator The Wiz
(*) Penny by Penny: The Story of Ebenezer Scrooge (*) Chaplin
(aka A Christmas Carol) (*) Duddy
(*) Say Hello to Harvey!
1982–1983 1984–1985
Blues in the Night Candide
Cleavage Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Play Me a Country Song Quilters
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers The Three Musketeers
Manhattan Rhythm Haarlem Nocturne
The Merry Widow Doug Henning and His World of Magic
Your Arms Too Short to Box with God The King and I
A Doll’s Life Streetheat
Cats Harrigan ’n Hart
Candide Leader of the Pack
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein Take Me Along
Rock ‘n Roll! The First 5,000 Years Grind
Herman Van Veen: All of Him Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Alice in Wonderland (*) America’s Sweetheart
Merlin
On Your Toes
Aznavour 1985–1986
Porgy and Bess
Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap Singin’ in the Rain
Show Boat The Student Prince
My One and Only The Merry Widow
CHRONOLOGY (BY SEASON) 433
Song & Dance (two one-act musicals, the musical The Desert Song
Song [aka Tell Me on a Sunday] and the dance- Die Fledermaus
musical Dance [aka Variations]) Roza
Kismet Mort Sahl on Broadway!
Tango argentino Late Nite Comic
La gatta Cenerentola Anything Goes
I due sergenti Cabaret
Mayor Don’t Get God Started
Pipino il breve Into the Woods
The News Teddy & Alice
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (aka Drood) Penn & Teller
Jerry’s Girls The Phantom of the Opera
Wind in the Willows Sarafina!
The Robert Klein Show! Rodney Dangerfield on Broadway
Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood The Music Man
Uptown . . . It’s Hot! The Gospel at Colonus
The American Dance Machine Oba Oba
Brigadoon Mail
Juggling and Cheap Theatrics Michael Feinstein in Concert
Big Deal Chess
Sweet Charity Romance Romance (two one-act musicals, The Little
(*) My Three Angels Comedy and Summer Share)
(*) Pieces of Eight Carrie
(*) Sing, Mahalia, Sing! (*) Grover’s Corners
(*) Satchmo
1986–1987
1988–1989
Candide
Kismet An Evening with Robert Klein
Die Fledermaus The Merry Widow
Honky Tonk Nights Canciones de mi padre
Me and My Girl The New Moon
Rags Ain’t Misbehavin’
The New Moon Naughty Marietta
Rowan Atkinson at the Atkinson Michael Feinstein in Concert: Isn’t It Romantic
Raggedy Ann Legs Diamond
Flamenco puro Black and Blue
Into the Light Jerome Robbins’ Broadway
A Little Like Magic The Pajama Game
Oh Coward! Chu Chem
Smile The Wizard of Oz
Jackie Mason’s “The World According to Me!” Welcome to the Club
Stardust Barry Manilow at the Gershwin
South Pacific Starmites
Les Miserables Ghetto
Starlight Express (*) Dangerous Music
Barbara Cook: A Concert for the Theatre (*) Nimrod and the Tower of Babel
(*) Senator Joe
1987–1988
1989
Dreamgirls
The Student Prince Elvis: A Rockin’ Remembrance
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street The Merry Widow
434 APPENDIX A
Candide Meet Me in St. Louis

Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Dress Casual 3 Penny Opera
Shenandoah Prince of Central Park
The Desert Song Grand Hotel
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street Gypsy
Dangerous Games (two one-act dance-musicals, The Victor Borge Holiday Show on Broadway
Tango and Orfeo) City of Angels
Takarazuka (*) Durante
Sid Caesar & Company: Does Anybody Know What
I’m Talking About?
Appendix B: Chronology (by
Classification)
Each one of the 250 productions discussed in this book is listed chronologically within its specific classifica-
tion. For more information about a show, see its specific entry.
Some productions were revived more than once during the decade, and their titles are followed by the
year in which they were produced (if produced more than once during a calendar year, both month and year
are given).
I’ve placed each production into the category I believe best defines it, but some shows fall into a gray area
and technically could be classified under two or more categories. For example, the 1984 revival of Oliver!
could be termed an import because the musical originated in Great Britain. The first New York production
opened in 1963, and that presentation was clearly an import, but I’ve opted to classify the 1984 production
as a revival. However, the 1937 British musical Me and My Girl wasn’t seen on Broadway until 1986, and
because the New York production was directly based on a 1985 London revival, I’ve classified the presentation
as an import. Also, the 1933 German opera Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale premiered in New York in 1980 in
a new production by the New York City Opera Company, and while I’ve categorized it as an import it wasn’t
directly based on an earlier European staging.
Another gray-area production is the 1958 musical At the Grand, which closed during its pre-Broadway
tryout. As Grand Hotel, the 1989 Broadway production had an extensively revised book and a mostly new
score, and so I’ve opted to classify the show as a book musical with new music.
BOOK MUSICALS WITH NEW MUSIC (50)

The following book musicals offered new lyrics and music (a few of these productions, such as Quilters, were
revue-like in nature).
Reggae
Barnum
Musical Chairs
It’s So Nice to Be Civilized
Wish Me Mazel-Tov
Onward Victoria
Bring Back Birdie
Woman of the Year
Copperfield
Marlowe
Oh, Brother!
Merrily We Roll Along
The First
Dreamgirls
435
436 APPENDIX B
Waltz of the Stork

Is There Life after High School?
Nine
Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
Cleavage
Play Me a Country Song
A Doll’s Life
Merlin
Dance a Little Closer
La Cage aux Folles
Amen Corner
Marilyn
Doonesbury
Baby
The Tap Dance Kid
The Rink
Sunday in the Park with George
Quilters
Grind
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The News
Wind in the Willows
Honky Tonk Nights
Rags
Raggedy Ann
Into the Light
Smile
Roza
Late Nite Comic
Into the Woods
Mail
Legs Diamond
Welcome to the Club
Prince of Central Park
City of Angels
Grand Hotel
BOOK MUSICALS WITH PREEXISTING MUSIC (10)

The following musicals contain mostly preexisting music (and some also include new music).
Happy New Year

42nd Street
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
My One and Only
Harrigan ’n Hart
Singin’ in the Rain
Big Deal
Teddy & Alice
The Wizard of Oz
Meet Me in St. Louis
CHRONOLOGY (BY CLASSIFICATION) 437
PLAYS WITH INCIDENTAL SONGS (2)

The productions in this category are plays that include songs and incidental music.
Inacent Black
The Curse of an Aching Heart
REVUES (15)
The productions in this category are more or less in the nature of traditional revues.
Black Broadway
Tintypes
Perfectly Frank
Shakespeare’s Cabaret
Sophisticated Ladies
Broadway Follies
Rock ’n Roll! The First 5,000 Years
Haarlem Nocturne
Streetheat
Leader of the Pack
Jerry’s Girls
Uptown . . . It’s Hot!
Stardust
Don’t Get God Started
Elvis: A Rockin’ Remembrance
PERSONALITY REVUES (23)

Personality revues are more in the nature of concert-like personal appearances by well-known performers.
These revues sometimes include other entertainers, but it’s clear each production was designed to showcase
the special skills and talents of a specific headliner.
Insideoutsideandallaround with Shelley Berman

Banjo Dancing, or The 48th Annual Squitters Mountain Song Dance Folklore Convention and Banjo Contest
. . . and How I Lost (Stephen Wade)
Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music
An Evening with Dave Allen
Herman Van Veen: All of Him
Aznavour (Charles Aznavour)
Peg (Peggy Lee)
Shirley MacLaine on Broadway
The Robert Klein Show!
Rowan Atkinson at the Atkinson
Jackie Mason’s “The World According to Me!”
Barbara Cook: A Concert for the Theatre
Mort Sahl on Broadway!
Penn & Teller (Penn Jillette and Teller)
Rodney Dangerfield on Broadway
Michael Feinstein in Concert
An Evening with Robert Klein
Canciones de mi padre (Linda Ronstadt)
438 APPENDIX B
Michael Feinstein in Concert: Isn’t It Romantic

Barry Manilow at the Gershwin
Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Dress Casual
Sid Caesar & Company: Does Anybody Know What I’m Talking About?
The Victor Borge Holiday Show on Broadway
DANCE MUSICALS AND REVUES (3)

Manhattan Rhythm
Jerome Robbins’ Broadway
Dangerous Games (two one-act dance musicals, Tango and Orfeo)
MAGIC REVUES (6)

The following are magic and sleight-of-hand revues.
Blackstone!
Quick Change
The Flying Karamazov Brothers
Doug Henning and His World of Magic
Juggling and Cheap Theatrics
A Little Like Magic
REVUES AND MUSICALS THAT ORIGINATED OFF OR OFF OFF

BROADWAY (9)
The productions in this category played Off and Off Off Broadway in regular runs prior to their Broadway
presentations; unlike showcase productions, these were widely advertised to the public and tickets were sold
(in the case of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, tickets were disseminated free to the public). Musicals that were
presented in limited-run showcase productions (such as How’s the House?) and were later produced on Broad-
way (where How’s the House? was renamed Musical Chairs) are listed as new book shows with new music
(as opposed to transfers like Pump Boys and Dinettes and Chu Chem, which are here categorized as Broadway
shows that originated Off or Off Off Broadway).
Pump Boys and Dinettes

Blues in the Night
The Human Comedy
Mayor
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (aka Drood)
The Gospel at Colonus
Romance Romance (two one-act musicals, The Little Comedy and Summer Share)
Chu Chem
Starmites
IMPORTS (30)
Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale (opera)
Censored Scenes from King Kong (play with songs)
Heartaches of a Pussycat (play with songs)
A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine (two one-act book musicals with new music)
Billy Bishop Goes to War (book musical with new music)
Fearless Frank (book musical with new music)

Charlie and Algernon (book musical with new music)
Piaf (play with preexisting songs)
Aaah oui Genty! (puppet revue)
The Moony Shapiro Songbook (revue-like musical with new music)
Cats (revue-like musical with new music)
Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap (play with new and preexisting music)
Song & Dance (Song is a book musical with new music and Dance is a dance musical)
Tango Argentino (dance revue)
La gatta Cenerentola (book musical with new music)
I due sergenti (play with incidental songs and music)
Pipino il breve (book musical with new music)
Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood (revue with preexisting music)
Me and My Girl (1937 book musical)
Flamenco puro (dance revue)
Les Miserables (book musical with new music)
Starlight Express (revue-like musical with new music)
The Phantom of the Opera (book musical with new music)
Sarafina! (revue-like musical with new and traditional music)
Oba Oba (dance revue)
Chess (book musical with new music)
Carrie (book musical with new music)
Black and Blue (revue with preexisting music)
Ghetto (play with songs)
Takarazuka (revue with mostly preexisting music)
COMMERCIAL REVIVALS (40)

Canterbury Tales
West Side Story
Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1980)
The Music Man (1980)
Camelot (1980)
Brigadoon (1980)
The Pirates of Penzance
The Five O’Clock Girl
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Can-Can
This Was Burlesque
Fiddler on the Roof
My Fair Lady
Camelot (1981)
Little Me
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Little Johnny Jones
Alice in Wonderland
On Your Toes
Porgy and Bess
Show Boat
Mame
Zorba
Carmen (as La tragedie de Carmen and Carmen)
440 APPENDIX B
Oliver!
The Wiz
The Three Musketeers
The King and I
Take Me Along
Sweet Charity
Oh Coward!
Dreamgirls (1987)
Anything Goes
Cabaret
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Shenandoah
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
3 Penny Opera
Gypsy
INSTITUTIONAL REVIVALS (40)

The following revivals were produced by not-for-profit institutions for limited runs.
Die Fledermaus (March 1980)

The Student Prince (1980)
Die Fledermaus (September 1980)
Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale (October 1980)
Song of Norway
Die Fledermaus (1981)
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (April 1982)
The Merry Widow (1982)
Candide (1982)
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (October 1982)
Candide (1983)
Czardas Princess
Candide (1984)
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1984)
Kismet (1985)
The American Dance Machine
Brigadoon (1986)
Candide (1986)
Kismet (1986)
The New Moon (1986)
South Pacific
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1987)
The Desert Song (1987)

The New Moon (1988)
Naughty Marietta
The Pajama Game
Candide (1989)
PRE-BROADWAY CLOSINGS (22)

Some musicals in this category had been booked for Broadway but closed during their pre-Broadway engage-
ments. Others were by major Broadway writers and composers and starred Broadway performers, and clearly
would have opened on Broadway had they enjoyed favorable reviews. Still others closed during New York
previews and never saw an official opening night. A special case is Nimrod and the Tower of Babel, which
had been scheduled to open on Broadway and play in repertory with Senator Joe; although the program (which
included both productions) was printed, Nimrod closed in rehearsals and was never performed.
Swing (book musical with new music)

An April Song (book musical with new music)
Georgia Brown & Friends (personality revue with preexisting music)
Hoagy, Bix and Wolfgang Beethoven Bunkhaus (book musical with preexisting music)
One Night Stand (book musical with new music)
A Reel American Hero (revue-like book musical with new music)
Colette (book musical with new music)
The Little Prince and the Aviator (book musical with new music)
Penny by Penny: The Story of Ebenezer Scrooge (aka A Christmas Carol) (book musical with new music)
Say Hello to Harvey! (book musical with new music)
Chaplin (book musical with new music)
Duddy (book musical with new music)
America’s Sweetheart (book musical with new music)
My Three Angels (book musical with new music)
Pieces of Eight (book musical with new music)
Sing, Mahalia, Sing! (revue-like book musical with new and preexisting music)
Grover’s Corners (book musical with new music)
Satchmo (book musical with new and preexisting music)
Dangerous Music (book musical with new music)
Nimrod and the Tower of Babel (book musical with new music)
Senator Joe (book musical with new music)
Durante (book musical with new music)
Appendix C: Discography
The following list represents commercially released recordings of the musicals discussed in this book, and
includes cast and studio cast recordings as well as songs that appear in collections. Musicals that opened
during the decade (such as Grind and Legs Diamond) are of course represented by cast albums; most City
Opera revivals (including Brigadoon and The Pajama Game) were not newly recorded for their productions,
but other recordings of the scores are available; the 1980 revival of Canterbury Tales wasn’t recorded, but
its earlier London and Broadway productions were; and some musicals (The First and Peg) are represented in
various song collections.
Catalog and jukebox musicals are not included on this list (unless, like Leader of the Pack and Jerome
Kern Goes to Hollywood, they were recorded); moreover, shows like Perfectly Frank and Elvis: A Rockin’
Remembrance are not listed because songs written by Frank Loesser or recorded by Elvis Presley are widely
available. Similarly, the unrecorded productions of Happy New Year and Little Johnny Jones are not listed
because many of their songs are standards and are readily available on various recordings.
For specific information about the recordings for the shows listed below, see specific entries. The criterion
for inclusion on this list is that the recordings were officially on sale to the public at one time or another.
Demo recordings are not included unless they were later issued for sale.
Ain’t Misbehavin’ Carmen (La tragedie de Carmen)

Amen Corner Carrie
Anything Goes Cats
Baby Charlie and Algernon (recorded as Flowers for Alger-
Banjo Dancing, or The 48th Annual Squitters Moun- non)
tain Song Dance Folklore Convention and Banjo Chess
Contest . . . and How I Lost Chu Chem
Barnum City of Angels
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Cleavage
Billy Bishop Goes to War Colette
Black and Blue Czardas Princess
Blues in the Night Dance a Little Closer
Brigadoon A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine
Bring Back Birdie The Desert Song
Cabaret Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?
La Cage aux Folles A Doll’s Life
Camelot Don’t Get God Started
Can-Can Doonesbury
Canciones de mi padre Dreamgirls
Candide Fiddler on the Roof
Canterbury Tales The First
443
444 APPENDIX C
Die Fledermaus One Night Stand

42nd Street Onward Victoria
La gatta Cenerentola On Your Toes
The Gospel at Colonus The Pajama Game
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein Peg
Grand Hotel Penny by Penny: The Story of Ebenezer Scrooge (aka
Grind A Christmas Carol)
Grover’s Corners The Phantom of the Opera
Gypsy Pipino il breve
Honky Tonk Nights The Pirates of Penzance
The Human Comedy Porgy and Bess
Into the Woods Pump Boys and Dinettes
Is There Life after High School? Rags
Jackie Mason’s “The World According to Me!” The Rink
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris Romance Romance
Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood Sarafina!
Jerome Robbins’ Broadway Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Jerry’s Girls Shenandoah
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Show Boat
The King and I Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale
Kismet Singin’ in the Rain
Late Nite Comic Smile
Leader of the Pack Song & Dance
Legs Diamond Song of Norway
Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music Sophisticated Ladies
Little Me South Pacific
Mame Starlight Express
Mandy Patinkin: Dress Casual Starmites
Mayor The Student Prince
Me and My Girl Sunday in the Park with George
Meet Me in St. Louis Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Merlin Sweet Charity
Merrily We Roll Along Take Me Along
The Merry Widow The Tap Dance Kid
Les Miserables Teddy & Alice
The Moony Shapiro Songbook This Was Burlesque
Musical Chairs The Three Musketeers
The Music Man 3 Penny Opera (The Threepenny Opera)
My Fair Lady Tintypes
My One and Only Welcome to the Club
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (aka Drood) West Side Story
Naughty Marietta The Wiz
The New Moon The Wizard of Oz
Nine Woman of the Year
Oh, Brother! Your Arms Too Short to Box with God
Oh Coward! Zorba
Oliver!
Appendix D: Filmography
The following list represents film, television, and home video versions of musicals discussed in this book
(to be sure, some films were released in earlier decades well before the musicals were revived on Broadway
during the 1980s).
The 1929 film version of The Five O’Clock Girl was never released by MGM and was permanently
shelved, and it seems Censored Scenes from King Kong was never shown on the BBC or released in theatres.
Fearless Frank was shown on the BBC as a nonmusical prior to the time when it was reconceived as a musi-
cal. For more information about a film version, see specific entry for the musical.
A few musicals that opened during the decade were based on musical films (42nd Street, Meet Me in
St. Louis, Raggedy Ann [in an earlier adaptation titled Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure], Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers, Singin’ in the Rain, and The Wizard of Oz); with the exception of Raggedy Ann &
Andy: A Musical Adventure, all these films are, as of this writing, available on DVD.
Ain’t Misbehavin’ Little Johnny Jones

The American Dance Machine Mame
Anything Goes Me and My Girl (as The Lambeth Walk and Me and
Barnum My Girl)
Billy Bishop Goes to War Merrily We Roll Along
Brigadoon The Merry Widow
Cabaret Les Miserables
Camelot The Music Man
Can-Can My Fair Lady
Candide Naughty Marietta
Cats The New Moon
Censored Scenes from King Kong Nine
Copperfield Oh Coward!
The Desert Song Oliver!
Dreamgirls On Your Toes
Fearless Frank The Pajama Game
Fiddler on the Roof The Phantom of the Opera
The Five O’Clock Girl The Pirates of Penzance
The Gospel at Colonus Porgy and Bess
Gypsy Pump Boys and Dinettes
Into the Woods Raggedy Ann (as Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical
Jackie Mason’s “The World According to Me!” Adventure)
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris Romance Romance
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Sarafina!
The King and I Show Boat
Kismet Song & Dance (as Tell Me on a Sunday)
445
446 APPENDIX D
Song of Norway Sweet Charity

Sophisticated Ladies This Was Burlesque
South Pacific 3 Penny Opera (as Die Dreigroschenoper and The
The Student Prince Threepenny Opera)
Sunday in the Park with George West Side Story
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street The Wiz
Appendix E: Gilbert and Sullivan
Operettas
With the exception of the 1981 Broadway revival of The Pirates of Penzance, which holds the record as the
longest-running New York production of a work by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan and is discussed in a
separate entry for the 1980–1981 season, the following is a chronological list of operettas by Gilbert and Sul-
livan that were revived on Broadway during the period January 1, 1980–December 31, 1989. After each title,
the opening date, number of performances, name of theatre, and name of producer(s) are given.
The decade saw a decline in the number of Gilbert and Sullivan productions. Of the fourteen major works
by the team (and again with the exception of The Pirates of Penzance), the decade saw just two of their works
presented in New York, for a total of six engagements (The Mikado, or The Town of Titipu and H.M.S. Pin-
afore, or The Lass That Loved a Sailor).
By contrast, the Broadway of the 1940s offered nine of the team’s operettas for a total of thirty-one engage-
ments; the 1950s saw nine operettas with nineteen engagements; the 1960s offered nine operettas for fifty-two
engagements; and the 1970s presented four operettas for a total of fifteen engagements.
The Mikado (September 6, 1984, six performances; New York State Theatre; The New York City Opera
Company)
The Mikado (July 13, 1985, twelve performances; New York State Theatre; The New York City Opera Com-
pany)
The Mikado (January 13, 1987, seven performances; New York City Center; The New York Opera Repertory
Theatre/A Stratford Festival of Canada Production)
The Mikado (April 2, 1987, thirty-eight performances; Virginia Theatre; The New York Opera Repertory
Theatre/A Stratford Festival of Canada Production)
H.M.S. Pinafore (January 17, 1989, sixteen performances; New York City Center; The New Sadler’s Wells
Opera Company)
The Mikado (July 29, 1989, four performances; New York State Theatre; The New York City Opera Company)
447
Appendix F: Other Productions
The following selected productions that played on Broadway during the 1980s included songs, sketches,
dances, or background music.
1980
Harold and Maude

By Colin Higgins (Martin Beck Theatre, February 7, 1980, four performances)
The lyrics, music, and “sounds” were by David Amram.
Clothes for a Summer Hotel

By Tennessee Williams (Cort Theatre, March 26, 1980, fifteen performances)
The background music was composed by Michael Valenti, and Anna Sokolow was the production’s dance
consultant.
1980–1981
The Man Who Came to Dinner
By George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart (Circle in the Square, June 26, 1980, eighty-five performances)
The revival included “What Am I to Do?” (lyric and music by Cole Porter), which had been written for the
original 1939 production where it was sung by John Hoysradt (as Beverly Carlton, the character inspired
by Noel Coward).
Fifth of July
By Lanford Wilson (New Apollo Theatre, November 5, 1980, 511 performances)
The production included the song “Your Loving Eyes” (lyric and music by Jonathan Hogan).
The Philadelphia Story

By Philip Barry (Vivian Beaumont Theatre, November 14, 1980, sixty performances)
The background music was by Claibe Richardson.
449
450 APPENDIX F
Frankenstein
By Victor Gialanella (Palace Theatre, January 4, 1981, one performance)
The background music was by Richard Peaslee.
Fools
By Neil Simon (Eugene O’Neill Theatre, April 6, 1981, forty performances)
The background music was by cast member John Rubinstein.
The Little Foxes

By Lillian Hellman (Martin Beck Theatre, May 7, 1981, 126 performances)
The background music was adapted by Stanley Silverman.
I Won’t Dance
By Oliver Hailey (Helen Hayes Theatre, May 10, 1981, one performance)
The comedy was directed by Tom O’Horgan, who also composed the background music. The production was
the final one to play the Helen Hayes Theatre before it was demolished.
1981–1982
The Life & Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

By David Edgar (Plymouth Theatre, October 4, 1981, ninety-eight performances)
The production included songs with lyrics and music by Stephen Oliver.
The West Side Waltz

By Ernest Thompson (Ethel Barrymore Theatre, November 19, 1981, 126 performances)
The music was supervised and arranged by David Krane; the score included music by Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven as well as the song “One More Waltz” (1930 film musical Love in the
Rough; lyric by Dorothy Fields, music by Jimmy McHugh).
Othello
By William Shakespeare (Winter Garden Theatre, February 3, 1982, 123 performances)
The background music was by Stanley Silverman.
Medea
By Euripides (adaptation by Robinson Jeffers) (Cort Theatre, May 2, 1982, sixty-five performances)
The background music and “sounds” were by David Amram.
OTHER PRODUCTIONS 451
1982–1983
Foxfire
By Susan Cooper and Hume Cronyn (Ethel Barrymore Theatre, November 11, 1982, 213 performances)
The play included the incidental songs “Cornshucking,” “Dear Lord,” “My Feet Took t’Walkin’”, and
“Sweet Talker” (lyrics by Jonathan Holtzman, Susan Cooper, and Hume Cronyn and music by Jonathan
Holtzman); cut during the tryout were “I Don’t Wanna Talk about Her” and “I Wish I Knew Now.” Cast
member Keith Carradine recorded songs from the production, which was later filmed for NBC’s Hallmark
Hall of Fame with Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, and John Denver and was telecast on December 13, 1987.
Angels Fall
By Lanford Wilson (Longacre Theatre, January 22, 1983, sixty-four performances)
The background music was by Norman L. Berman.
Moose Murders
By Arthur Bicknell (Eugene O’Neill Theatre, February 22, 1983, one performance)
Moose Murders is perhaps the Hairpin Harmony of nonmusicals. The production’s “dance coordinator” was
Mary Jane Houdina, who created the role of Young Hattie in the 1971 production of Follies.
Marcel Marceau on Broadway

Pantomime sketches by Marcel Marceau (Belasco Theatre, March 9, 1983, forty-seven performances)
For this production, French mime Marcel Marceau’s repertoire included both old and new sketches.
You Can’t Take It with You

By George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart (Plymouth Theatre, April 4, 1983, 312 performances)
The musical staging for the revival was by Reed Jones, who created the role of Skimbleshanks in the 1982
Broadway production of Cats.
All’s Well That Ends Well

By William Shakespeare (Martin Beck Theatre, April 13, 1983, thirty-eight performances)
The background music was by Guy Woolfenden, and the choreography was by Geraldine Stephenson.
Private Lives
By Noel Coward (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, May 8, 1983, sixty-three performances)
The revival included background music by Stanley Silverman.
452 APPENDIX F
1983–1984
The Glass Menagerie

By Tennessee Williams (Eugene O’Neill Theatre, December 1, 1983, ninety-two performances)
The revival included the background music that Paul Bowles had composed for the original 1945 production.
Death of a Salesman
By Arthur Miller (Broadhurst Theatre, March 29, 1984, 158 performances)
The revival included the background music that Alex North had composed for the original 1949 production.
The score was released by Kritzerland Records (CD # KR-20012–1).
Play Memory
By Joanna M. Glass (Longacre Theatre, April 26, 1984, five performances)
The background music was by Larry Grossman, who also composed one song and the background music for
End of the World (see below). Both Play Memory and End of the World were directed by Harold Prince,
and besides these two plays Grossman and Prince collaborated on A Doll’s Life and Grind, Grossman as
composer and Prince as director; the lyrics for the latter were by Ellen Fitzhugh. Grossman and Fitzhugh
also contributed four songs to the 1984 Off-Broadway revue Diamonds, which was directed by Prince.
End of the World

By Arthur Kopit (Music Box Theatre, May 6, 1984, thirty-three performances)
Originally titled End of the World: With Symposium to Follow (and advertised as “an explosive new play of
global proportions! And you thought doom wasn’t funny!”), the background music was by Larry Gross-
man, and the production included the song “What Can One Man Do?” (lyric by Ellen Fitzhugh), heard in
the production as a recording and sung by Marlene Ver Planck.
1984–1985
The Loves of Anatol

By Arthur Schnitzler (adaptation by Ellis Rabb and Nicholas Martin) (Circle in the Square, March 6, 1985,
forty-six performances)
The musical staging was by Donald Saddler. The production was based on Arthur Schnitzler’s Anatol stories
(including the 1893 play Anatol aka The Affairs of Anatol), which were also the basis of the 1961 Broad-
way musical The Gay Life (lyrics by Howard Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz). Another musical
based on the Anatol stories is Anatol, which premiered in Boston just four months before The Gay Life
opened on Broadway; the book and lyrics for Anatol were by Tom Jones, the music was adapted from
themes by Offenbach, and the cast included Jean-Pierre Aumont and Marisa Pavan (after a 1967 produc-
tion in Cincinnati, this version seems to have completely disappeared).
OTHER PRODUCTIONS 453
1985–1986
Hay Fever
By Noel Coward (Music Box Theatre, December 12, 1985, 124 performances)
The revival included the new song “No, My Heart” (lyric by Fred Ebb, music by John Kander), which is in-
cluded in Brent Barrett’s collection The Kander & Ebb Album (Varese Sarabande CD # VSD-6044).
1986–1987
Mummenschanz
By Andres Bossard, Floriana Frassetto, and Bernie Schurch (Helen Hayes Theatre, June 24, 1986, 152 perfor-
mances)
The revival of the Swiss mime revue originally opened on Broadway at the Bijou Theatre on March 30, 1977,
for 1,326 performances, and the current production was a transfer from an Off-Broadway revival that
opened on April 24, 1986, for 39 performances.
Stepping Out
By Richard Harris (John Golden Theatre, January 11, 1987, seventy-two performances)
The Broadway production of the British import was directed by Tommy Tune; his choreographic assistant
was Marge Champion, and the musical supervision was by Peter Howard. The play included such songs
as “Shaking the Blues Away” (Ziegfeld Follies of 1927; lyric and music by Irving Berlin); “Dancing on the
Ceiling” (1930 London musical Ever Green; lyric by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers; the song had
been written for and later cut from the tryout of the 1930 Broadway musical Simple Simon, where it was
heard as “He Dances on My Ceiling”); and “Pick Yourself Up” (1936 film Swing Time; lyric by Dorothy
Fields, music by Jerome Kern)
The cast of the 1991 film version of Stepping Out includes Liza Minnelli, Shelley Winters, Ellen Greene, Jane
Krakowski, Andrea Martin, and Carol Woods.
Blithe Spirit
By Noel Coward (Neil Simon Theatre, March 31, 1987, 103 performances)
The musical arrangements were by Marvin Hamlisch, and the production included “Always” (lyric and music
by Irving Berlin).
The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940

By John Bishop (Longacre Theatre, April 6, 1987, 136 performances)
The production included original music by Ted Simons.
Sleight of Hand
By John Pielmeier (Cort Theatre, May 3, 1987, nine performances)
The lyric and music for the title song was by Carly Simon, who also recorded the number.
454 APPENDIX F
1987–1988
Broadway
By Philip Duning and George Abbott (Royale Theatre, June 25, 1987, four performances)
The revival of the 1926 play included musical staging by Donald Saddler.
A Streetcar Named Desire

By Tennessee Williams (Circle in the Square, March 10, 1988, eighty-five performances)
The revival of the drama included incidental music by Michael O’Flaherty.
1988–1989
Kenny Loggins on Broadway

(Neil Simon, November 1, 1988, eight performances)
The popular singer, guitarist, and songwriter Kenny Loggins performed in a limited-engagement concert with
a five-piece band and guest stand-up comic Craig Shoemaker.
Note: During the decade, the following operas had their New York premieres: Philip Glass’s Satyagraha
(1981); Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men (1983); Robert Ward’s Abelard and Heloise (1984); Philip Glass’s
Akhnaten (1984); Anthony Davis’s X (The Life and Times of Malcolm X ) (1986); and John Adams’s Nixon
in China (1987). The decade also saw a new version of Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme (adaptation and lyrics
by David Spencer), which opened Off Broadway at the Public’s Anspacher Theatre in 1984. These works are
discussed in my reference book Off-Broadway Musicals, 1910–2007: Casts, Credits, Songs, Critical Reception
and Performance Data of More Than 1,800 Shows (2010).
Appendix G:
Black-Themed Revues and Musicals
The following is an alphabetical list that reflects revues and musicals that contain predominately black sto-
ries, themes, or characters, or black-related subject matter. This list includes revivals that opened during the
decade.
Ain’t Misbehavin’ It’s So Nice to Be Civilized

Amen Corner Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music
Big Deal Porgy and Bess
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Reggae
Black and Blue Sarafina!
Black Broadway Satchmo
Blues in the Night Show Boat
Don’t Get God Started Sing, Mahalia, Sing!
Dreamgirls Sophisticated Ladies
The First The Tap Dance Kid
The Gospel at Colonus Uptown . . . It’s Hot!
Grind Waltz of the Stork
Haarlem Nocturne The Wiz
Honky Tonk Nights Your Arms Too Short to Box with God
Inacent Black
455
Appendix H:
Jewish-Themed Revues and Musicals
The following is an alphabetical list of musicals discussed in this book whose subject matter is predominately
Jewish in theme, plot, or character.
Cabaret Ghetto
Chu Chem Rags
Duddy Roza
Fiddler on the Roof Wish Me Mazel-Tov
457
Appendix I:
Radio City Music Hall Productions
The following productions were presented at Radio City Music Hall during the decade.
1980
(During the 1979–1980 season, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs opened on October 18, 1979, for 106 per-
formances and The Magnificent Christmas Spectacular opened on November 25, 1979, for ninety-one
performances.)
The Glory of Easter (March 14, 1980, fifty-six performances)
A Rockette Spectacular (May 4, 1980, eighty-nine performances): The production starred Ginger Rogers (who
was succeeded by Carol Lawrence) and included three new songs, “My Big Moment,” “Alike, Alike,”
and “You’re at the Music Hall” (lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Donald Pippin). Rogers performed
a medley of songs she introduced in stage and film musicals, including “But Not for Me” and “Embrace-
able You” from the 1930 Broadway musical Girl Crazy (lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by George
Gershwin).
1980–1981
Manhattan Showboat (June 30, 1980, 191 performances): The production included “Manhattan Showboat”
and “There Are No Girls Quite Like Show Girls” (lyrics by Sammy Cahn, music by Donald Pippin);
“Right Here” (lyric by Nan Mason, music by Donald Pippin); and the bridge lyrics for a vaudeville medley
were by Nan Mason.
The Magnificent Christmas Spectacular (November 21, 1980, eighty-six performances)
America (March 13, 1981, 122 performances): The production included “Fifty Great Places All in One Place”
and “The Spirit of America” (lyrics and music by Tom Bahler and Mark Vieha).
1981–1982
Encore (March 26, 1982, 288 performances): The production included “You’re at the Music Hall” and “There
Are No Girls Quite Like Show Girls” (lyrics by Sammy Cahn, music by Donald Pippin); “Encore” (lyric
by Fred Tobias, music by Stan Lebowsky); and “Showstoppers” (lyric by Fred Ebb, music by John Kander).
The production included the sequence The Glory of Easter, which had first been presented at the Music
Hall in 1933.
459
460 APPENDIX I
1982–1983
Porgy and Bess (See separate entry for this production.)
1983–1984
Five-Six-Seven-Eight . . . Dance! (June 15, 1983, 156 performances): The production’s cast included Sandy
Duncan, Don Correia, Armelia McQueen, and Marge Champion; among the songs were “Five-Six-Seven-
Eight . . . Dance!,” “It’s Better with a Band,” “Singers Protest,” “It’s Not What You Weigh,” and “She Just
Loves Las Vegas!” (lyrics by David Zippel, music by Wally Harper) and “Dance” (music by Paul Jabara).
The Magnificent Christmas Spectacular (November 18, 1983, ninety-two performances)
1984–1985
Gotta Getaway! (June 16, 1984, 151 performances): The production’s cast included Liliane Montevecchi,
Tony Azito, Loretta Devine, and Alyson Reed; among the songs were “Gotta Getaway” (lyric and music
by Glen Roven); “Here in Minipoora,” “Manhattan,” and “Take Good Care of That Lady” (lyrics and mu-
sic by Marc Shaiman and Marc Elliot); and “Bubble, Bubble” and “Once You’ve Seen a Rainbow” (lyrics
and music by Gene Palumbo and Chip Orton).
The Magnificent Christmas Spectacular (November 16, 1984, 110 performances)
1985–1986
The Magnificent Christmas Spectacular (November 15, 1985, 120 performances): The production included
“’Twas the Night before Christmas” (lyric and music by Tom Bahler); “They Can’t Start Christmas with-
out Us” (lyric by Fred Tobias, music by Stan Lebowsky); and “My First Real Christmas” (lyric by Nan
Mason, music by Don Pippin).
1986–1987
The Magnificent Christmas Spectacular (November 14, 1986, 140 performances): The production included
“Christmas in New York” (lyric and music by Billy Butt).
1987–1988
The Magnificent Christmas Spectacular (November 13, 1987, 152 performances)
1988–1989
Christmas Spectacular (November 11, 1988, 166 performances): Beginning with this production, the name of
the annual series was slightly altered.
The Wizard of Oz (See separate entry for this production.)
1989
Takarazuka (See separate entry for this production.)
Christmas Spectacular (November 10, 1989, 188 performances)
(Later during the 1989–1990 season, Easter Extravaganza opened on April 11, 1990, for 26 performances.)
Appendix J: Published Scripts
The following is a list of musicals discussed in this book whose scripts were published and officially on sale
to the public at one time or another (the list also includes revivals that were produced during the decade). For
more information about a script, see specific entry (this appendix doesn’t include unpublished scripts).
Anything Goes Me and My Girl

Barnum Merrily We Roll Along (see entry for specifics about
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn the script, which was pulled from publication but
Billy Bishop Goes to War not before a handful of softbound proof copies
Brigadoon were published for internal use by the publisher)
Cabaret The Merry Widow
La Cage aux Folles Les Miserables
Camelot The Moony Shapiro Songbook (published as Song-
Candide book)
Charlie and Algernon Musical Chairs
Chess The Music Man
City of Angels My Fair Lady
The Curse of an Aching Heart The Mystery of Edwin Drood
The Desert Song The New Moon
A Doll’s Life Nine
Fiddler on the Roof Oh, Brother!
The First Oh Coward!
Die Fledermaus The Pajama Game
Ghetto Piaf
The Gospel at Colonus The Pirates of Penzance
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein Porgy and Bess
Grand Hotel Quilters
Grind The Rink
Gypsy Romance Romance
Happy New Year Shenandoah
The Human Comedy Show Boat
Into the Woods Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris Smile
Jerry’s Girls Song of Norway
The King and I South Pacific
Kismet Stardust
Leader of the Pack Starmites
Little Me Sunday in the Park with George
Mame Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
461
462 APPENDIX J
Sweet Charity West Side Story

Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap (published as Traf- The Wiz
ford Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap) Woman of the Year
The Three Musketeers Zorba
3 Penny Opera (The Threepenny Opera)
Appendix K: Theatres
For the productions discussed in this book, the theatres where they played are listed in alphabetical order.
Following each theatre’s name is a chronological list of the shows that played there (for those shows that had
more than one production during the decade, the entry is identified by year; if a production was presented
twice during a calendar year, both month and year are given).
Some productions transferred to other theatres, and entries are so noted. If a show transferred once, the
notation “transfer” follows the title; if a show transferred more than once, the notation “second transfer”
follows. The titles of musicals that closed during New York previews and never officially opened are notated
with an asterisk. Note that Nimrod and the Tower of Babel canceled its first preview performance at the
Alvin/Neil Simon Theatre and never opened (although programs had already been printed).
ALVIN THEATRE (later ANTA THEATRE

NEIL SIMON THEATRE) (later VIRGINIA THEATRE)
Merrily We Roll Along (Alvin) Heartaches of a Pussycat (ANTA)
The Little Prince and the Aviator (*) (Alvin) Copperfield (ANTA)
Little Johnny Jones (Alvin) Oh, Brother! (ANTA)
Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? Play Me a Country Song (Virginia)
(Alvin) Alice in Wonderland (Virginia)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Alvin) On Your Toes (Virginia)
Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1982) (Alvin) Carrie (Virginia)
Into the Light (Neil Simon) Shenandoah (Virginia)
Mort Sahl on Broadway! (Neil Simon) City of Angels (Virginia)
Nimrod and the Tower of Babel (*) (Neil Simon)
Senator Joe (*) (Neil Simon)
BEACON THEATRE
AMBASSADOR THEATRE Elvis: A Rockin’ Remembrance
Herman Van Veen: All of Him
Leader of the Pack BELASCO THEATRE
Barbara Cook: A Concert for the Theatre
Dreamgirls (1987) Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (transfer)
Oba Oba (1980)
Ain’t Misbehavin’ Prince of Central Park
463
464 APPENDIX K
BIJOU THEATRE CIRCLE IN THE SQUARE

Insideoutsideandallaround with Shelley Berman The Robert Klein Show!
Quick Change An Evening with Robert Klein
Shakespeare’s Cabaret Ghetto
Aaah oui Genty! Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1989)
BILTMORE THEATRE CITY CENTER

Reggae
The American Dance Machine
Inacent Black
Doonesbury
Honky Tonk Nights CORT THEATRE
Stardust
Sarafina!
BOOTH THEATRE
CRITERION CENTER STAGE
An Evening with Dave Allen RIGHT
Sunday in the Park with George
Michael Feinstein in Concert: Isn’t It Romantic Starmites
BROADHURST THEATRE ETHEL BARRYMORE THEATRE

Is There Life after High School?
The Tap Dance Kid
Baby
BROADWAY THEATRE EUGENE O’NEILL THEATRE

Zorba Little Me
The Three Musketeers Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The King and I
Big Deal
Les Miserables 46TH STREET THEATRE
Nine
BROOKS ATKINSON THEATRE

54TH STREET THEATRE
Rowan Atkinson at the Atkinson CABARET AT STUDIO 54
Jackie Mason’s “The World According to Me!”
The Victor Borge Holiday Show on Broadway Streetheat
CENTURY THEATRE HELEN HAYES THEATRE

(210 WEST 46TH STREET)
Banjo Dancing, or The 48th Annual Squitters Moun-
tain Song Dance Folklore Convention and Banjo Charlie and Algernon
Contest . . . and How I Lost Perfectly Frank
Waltz of the Stork The Five O’Clock Girl
THEATRES 465
HELEN HAYES THEATRE LYCEUM THEATRE

(240 WEST 44TH STREET)
A Little Like Magic
The News Michael Feinstein in Concert
Oh Coward!
Romance Romance
Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Dress Casual MAJESTIC THEATRE
Blackstone!
IMPERIAL THEATRE Brigadoon (1980)
42nd Street (transfer)
Dreamgirls (1981) The Phantom of the Opera
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (aka Drood)
Cabaret
Chess MARK HELLINGER THEATRE
Jerome Robbins’ Broadway
Les Miserables (transfer) A Doll’s Life
Merlin
Oliver!
JACK LAWRENCE THEATRE Grind
Tango Argentino
Quilters Rags
Flamenco puro
Rodney Dangerfield on Broadway!
JOHN GOLDEN THEATRE Legs Diamond
A Day in Hollywood: A Night in the Ukraine

Tintypes MARQUIS THEATRE
Sid Caesar & Company: Does Anybody Know What
I’m Talking About? Me and My Girl
LITTLE THEATRE MARTIN BECK THEATRE

The Curse of an Aching Heart It’s So Nice to Be Civilized
Onward Victoria
Bring Back Birdie
LONGACRE THEATRE The First
The Rink
Harrigan ’n Hart Take Me Along
Don’t Get God Started Into the Woods
Grand Hotel
LUNT-FONTANNE THEATRE
MINSKOFF THEATRE
Sophisticated Ladies
Aznavour West Side Story
Peg Can-Can
The Wiz The Pirates of Penzance (transfer)
Doug Henning and His World of Magic Dance a Little Closer
Uptown . . . It’s Hot! Marilyn
Smile The Tap Dance Kid (transfer)
The Gospel at Colonus Sweet Charity
3 Penny Opera Teddy & Alice
466 APPENDIX K
Cabaret (transfer) The Merry Widow (1985)

Canciones de mi padre Kismet (1985)
Black and Blue Brigadoon (1986)
Candide (1986)
Kismet (1986)
MOROSCO THEATRE Die Fledermaus (1986)
The New Moon (1986)
Happy New Year South Pacific
Billy Bishop Goes to War The Student Prince (1987)
The Moony Shapiro Songbook Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1987)
MUSIC BOX THEATRE The Music Man (1988)
Mail The New Moon (1988)
Welcome to the Club Naughty Marietta
The Pajama Game
NEDERLANDER THEATRE Candide (1989)
Broadway Follies
One Night Stand (*)
Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music PALACE THEATRE
Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap
Amen Corner Woman of the Year
Wind in the Willows La Cage aux Folles
Raggedy Ann
Dangerous Games
PLAYHOUSE THEATRE
NEW YORK STATE THEATRE Cleavage
Die Fledermaus (February 1980)

Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale (March 1980) PLYMOUTH THEATRE
Camelot (1980)
The Student Prince (1980) Piaf
Die Fledermaus (September 1980)
Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale (October 1980)
Fiddler on the Roof PRINCESS THEATRE
The Student Prince (1981) (later LATIN QUARTER)
Song of Norway
Die Fledermaus (1981) Censored Scenes from King Kong (Princess)
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (April 1982) Fearless Frank (Princess)
The Merry Widow (1982) This Was Burlesque (Princess)
Candide (1982) Pump Boys and Dinettes (Princess)
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (October 1982) Haarlem Nocturne (Latin Quarter)
The Merry Widow (1983) Mayor (Latin Quarter)
Candide (1983)
The Merry Widow (1984) RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL
Czardas Princess
Candide (1984) Porgy and Bess
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1984) The Wizard of Oz
The Student Prince (1985) Takarazuka
THEATRES 467
RIALTO THEATRE TOWN HALL

Canterbury Tales Black Broadway
Musical Chairs Wish Me Mazel-Tov
A Reel American Hero (*) Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
Marlowe
Blues in the Night
URIS THEATRE
RITZ THEATRE (later GERSHWIN THEATRE)
The Flying Karamazov Brothers The Pirates of Penzance (Uris)
Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood My Fair Lady (Uris)
Late Nite Comic Show Boat (Uris; during the run of this production,
Penn & Teller the Uris was renamed the Gershwin Theatre)
Chu Chem Mame (Gershwin)
Shirley MacLaine on Broadway (Gershwin)
Singin’ in the Rain (Gershwin)
ROYALE THEATRE Starlight Express (Gershwin)
Barry Manilow at the Gershwin (Gershwin)
A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine (transfer) Meet Me in St. Louis (Gershwin)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Grand Hotel (Gershwin) (transfer)
The Human Comedy
Song & Dance
Roza VIVIAN BEAUMONT THEATRE
La tragedie de Carmen (and Carmen)
ST. JAMES THEATRE La gatta Cenerentola
I due sergenti
Barnum
Pipino il breve
Rock ’n Roll! The First 5,000 Years
Juggling and Cheap Theatrics
My One and Only
Anything Goes
Jerry’s Girls
42nd Street (second transfer)
Gypsy WINTER GARDEN THEATRE
SAVOY THEATRE 42nd Street
Camelot (1981)
Manhattan Rhythm Cats
Bibliography
For the productions discussed in this book, I used source materials such as programs, souvenir programs, flyers, window
cards (posters), published and unpublished scripts (including preproduction and rehearsal scripts), and recordings. In ad-
dition, many reference books were helpful in providing both information and reality checks, and these are listed below.
Baxter, Joan. Television Musicals: Plots, Critiques, Casts and Credits for 222 Shows Written for and Presented on Televi-
sion, 1944–1996. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1997.
Best Plays. As of this writing, the most recent edition of the venerable series is The Best Plays Theatre Yearbook of
2007–2008, edited by Jeffrey Eric Jenkins. New York: Limelight Editions, 2009.
Bloom, Ken. American Song: The Complete Musical Theatre Companion, 2nd Edition. New York: Schirmer Books, 1996.
Bradley, Edwin M. The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 Through 1932. Jefferson,
NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1996.
Chapman, John (editor). Theatre ’55. New York: Random House, 1955. (Note: This volume covers the 1954–1955 Broad-
way season.)
Day, Barry (editor). Noel Coward: The Complete Lyrics. Woodstock, NY: The Overlook Press, 1998.
Fordin, Hugh. The Movies’ Greatest Musicals: Produced in Hollywood USA by The Freed Unit. New York: Frederick
Ungar Publishing Co., 1975.
Ganzl, Kurt. The British Musical Theatre Volume II 1915–1984. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Gottlieb, Robert, and Robert Kimball. Reading Lyrics. New York: Pantheon Books, 2000.
Green, Stanley. Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre. New York: Da Capo Press, 1980.
Green, Stanley (editor). Rodgers and Hammerstein Fact Book: A Record of Their Works Together and with Other Col-
laborators. New York: The Lynn Farnol Group, 1980.
Hirschhorn, Clive. The Hollywood Musical: Every Hollywood Musical from 1927 to the Present Day. New York: Crown
Publishing, Inc., 1981.
Kimball, Robert (editor). The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1983.
Kimball, Robert (editor). The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.
Kimball, Robert, Barry Day, Miles Kreuger, and Eric Davis (editors). The Complete Lyrics of Johnny Mercer. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.
Kimball, Robert, and Linda Emmet (editors). The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001.
Kimball, Robert, and Steve Nelson (editors). The Complete Lyrics of Frank Loesser. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.
Nathan, George Jean. The Theatre Book of the Year 1947–1948. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948.
Norton, Richard C. A Chronology of American Musical Theatre (3 volumes). New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Sanders, Ronald. The Days Grow Short: The Life and Music of Kurt Weill. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980.
Seeley, Robert, and Rex Bunnett. London Musical Shows on Record 1889–1989: A Hundred Years of London’s Musical
Theatre. Harrow, UK: General Gramophone Publications, 1989.
Sondheim, Stephen. Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954–1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies,
Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010.
Sondheim, Stephen. Look, I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981–2011) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies,
Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.
Suskin, Steven. More Opening Nights on Broadway. New York: Schirmer Books, 1997.
Suskin, Steven. Show Tunes: The Songs, Shows and Careers of Broadway’s Major Composers. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2000.
469
470 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Theatre World. As of this writing, the most recent edition of this important annual is Theatre World, Volume 68, 2011–
2012, edited by Ben Hodges and Scott Denny. Milwaukee, WI: Theatre World Media, 2013.
Note: Virtually all the brief newspaper quotes in this book come from the annual series New York Theatre Critics’ Re-
views. Each volume includes the complete newspaper reviews of all plays and musicals that opened on Broadway during
a calendar year (later volumes include Off-Broadway productions as well as occasional magazine reviews). Each review
includes name of critic and publication as well as the date of the review and the headline of the review.
Index
Aaah Oui Genty!, 76–77 Alice in Wonderland, 159–61

Abbott, Charles, 135–36 Aljoe, Tony, 298
Abbott, George, 164, 385, 387 Allan, Ted, 387
Abbott, Loretta, 190 Allard, Martine, 200
Abbott, Tom, 3, 94 Allen, Dave, 101–2
Aberbach, Julian and Jean, 401 Allen, Debbie, 3–5, 279, 281, 362, 364
Abrahao, Roberto, 352 Allen, Guy, 389
Acker, Mitch, 102 Allen, Jay Presson, 185, 335
Ackerman, Robert Allan, 376 Allen, Lewis, 26, 174
Act III Communications, Inc., 401 Allen, Mana, 308
Adams, David, 145 Allen, Norma Bradley, 224
Adams, Lee, 71 Allen, Peter, 376
Adams-Evans, Carolene, 285 Allen, Ralph, 289
Addinsell, Richard, 159, 161 Allen, Ross, 299
Adler, Christopher, 158, 208 Allen, Sarita, 285
Adler, Jerry, 133, 141 Allen, Timothy, 167
Adler, Richard, 385 Aller, John, 294
Adlmuller, Fred, 206 Alley, Laura, 371
Adrian, 39 Almy, Brooks, 288, 324, 385–86
The Adventures of Duddy Kravitz, 219 Alperin, Y., 50
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 243 Altieri, Stefanco, 258
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, 243 Alyson, Eydie, 94
Adzima, Nanzi, 63 Amador, Juan Jose, 301
Ain’t Misbehavin’, 372–74 Amaro, Richard, 381, 409
Ajar, Emile, 326 Amen Corner, 189–91
Akers, Andra, 55 America–Italy Society, 57, 258, 261
Akers, Karen, 127 The American Dance Machine, 274–75
Albee, Fred, 93 American DanceMachine, Inc., 274
Alberghetti, Anna Maria, 255 An American in Paris, 145, 250
Albert, Eddie, 165 American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA), 52,
Alchieri, Gerolamo, 258 164, 224, 353
Alden, Jerome, 341, 343 America’s Sweetheart, 244–45
Alderfer, Eric, 96 Ames, Leon, 415
Aldredge, Theoni V., 5, 15, 17, 40, 44, 57–58, 74, 101, 112, Amos, Keith Lorenzo, 189
161, 183, 186, 201, 321, 341, 357, 423 Amsterdam, Morey, 94
Aldredge, Tom, 338 Anania, Michael, 1, 297, 324, 371, 385, 407
Aleichem, Sholem, 94 Anders, Darlene, 225
Alexander, Cheryl, 112, 261, 398 Anderson, Arthur, 5
Alexander, Cris, 116 Anderson, Elman, 81
Alexander, Jason, 107, 202, 381, 385 Anderson, Keith, 413–14
Alford, Larry, 265 Anderson, Leroy, 185
Alfred, William, 119–20 Andersson, Benny, 357
471
And Now, Noel Coward, 306 Atwell, Rick, 231

Andreas, Christine, 312 Auberjonois, Rene, 426
Andres, George Lee, 162 Aubert, Jeanne, 333
Andrew, Thomas, 5, 44, 101, 289, 326 Augustin, Lynn, 367
Andrews, George Lee, 284 Aulisi, Joseph G., 193, 319, 381
Andrews, Jennifer Lee, 343 Austin, Beth, 57
Andrews, Nancy, 117 Austin, Ivy, 299, 324
Andreyko, Helena, 299, 401 Avera, Tom, 74
Andrini, Kathy, 217 Avian, Bob, 112, 321
Andrisano, Gui, 11 Aylesworth, John, 428
Angela, June, 231 Azenberg, Charles, 166–67
Anker, Charlotte, 57 Azenberg, Emanuel, 116, 212, 319, 372, 381
Annie, 211 Aznavour, 166–67
Anouilh, Jean, 86
ANTA, 52, 164, 224, 353 Babatunde, Obba, 11, 32–33, 112
Anthony, Eugene J., 164 The Babe, 110
Antoon, A. J., 201 Baby, 196–98
Anything Goes, 331–34 Bacall, Lauren, 74–76
Apollo Group, 51 Backus, Richard, 105
Applause, 75 Baerg, Theodore, 288–89, 326
Applegate, Christina, 282 Baffa-Brill, Diana, 181
An April Song, 86–87 Baier, Frank, 261
Archbold, Schellie, 289 Bailey, Adrian, 376, 418
Archer, Jeri, 117 Bailey, Bernard, 174
Archer, Julie, 350 Bailey, Dennis, 235
Ard, Ken, 409 Bailey, Hillary, 90
Ariel, Raymond, 50 Bailey, Melissa, 193
Arlen, Harold, 389 Bailey, Obie, 174
Arlt, Lewis, 65 Baird, Quin, 279, 376
Armen, Rebecca, 160 Bajano, Valeria, 257
Armitage, Richard, 291 Baker, Raymond, 126
Armstrong, Louis, 366–67 Baker, Rita, 141
Armstrong, Vanessa Bell, 337 Baker, Word, 123
Arnell, Patricia, 136 Bakula, Scott, 355, 360–61
Arnold, Barry, 120 Balanchine, George, 164–65
Aron, Solo-Moise, 50 Baldwin, Bryant, 231
Arons, Ellyn, 265 Baldwin, James, 189
Aronson, Boris, 94, 334 Ball, Lucille, 183
Aronson, Henry, 393 Ball, Michael, 223, 316
Aronstein, Martin, 25, 87 Ballard, Kaye, 117
Arouet, François-Marie, 153–54, 186, 221, 287, 403 Balmain, Pierre, 13–14
Arsenault, Darlene, 304 Balzac, Honore de, 9
Arthur, James, 231 Ban, Akira, 410
Arthur Shafman International, Ltd., 47, 54, 76 Banderas, Antonio, 129
Asbury, Claudia, 217–18 Bandier, Martin, 156
Asbury, Cleve, 3, 233 The Band Wagon, 145, 250
Asher/Krost Management, 370 Banjo Dancing, or The 48th Annual Squitters Mountain
Ashman, Howard, 308 Song Dance Folklore Convention and Banjo Contest
Assaf, Michele, 231, 393 . . . and How I Lost, 51–52
Astaire, Adele, 175 Banks, Ernie, 337
Astaire, Fred, 175–76 Baral, Vicki, 299, 353
Astor, Mary, 415 Barandes, Janice, 261
Atherton, William, 15 Barandes, Martin, 261, 362
Atkins, Cholly, 378, 380 Baranski, Christine, 214, 340
Atkins, Nikki Feirt, 275 Barbara Cook / A Concert for the Theatre, 319–20
Atkinson, Brooks, 80, 154–55, 165, 255 Barber, Jean, 254, 288
Atkinson, David, 80, 422 Barbour, Thomas, 89
Atkinson, Rowan, 298–99 Barcelo, Randy, 259, 372, 398
Attenborough, Richard, 121 Barden, Doug, 367
INDEX 473
Bargonetti, Steve, 84 Beatty, John Lee, 63, 119–20, 126, 160, 196, 343, 372
Barkan, Mark, 115 Beatty, Talley, 31–32, 147
Barker, Sheila D., 272 Beaubian, Susan, 289, 321
Barnes, Clive, 2–4, 9–12, 15–16, 20, 24, 27, 37, 39, 42, Beaufort, John, 5, 14, 16, 20, 22, 25, 27, 46, 53, 57, 60, 62,
46, 49, 52–53, 57–58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 64, 70, 76–78, 85, 95, 97, 102–3, 108, 111, 115, 118–19,
80–81, 83–85, 102–3, 105–6, 109, 111, 113–15, 117–19, 126, 128, 140, 152, 161, 163, 166, 172–73, 175–76, 185,
121–22, 124, 126, 128, 131, 140, 142, 144, 148, 150, 189–90, 192, 194, 196, 201, 205, 209, 216, 225, 227–28,
152, 158–59, 161, 163, 169, 171–72, 175–78, 183–84, 231, 243, 249, 253, 257, 260, 264, 269, 271, 273, 277,
188, 190, 192, 194–95, 197, 199, 201, 203, 205, 209, 281, 292–93, 296, 305, 307, 309, 312, 315–16, 320, 331,
211, 213, 216, 226–29, 231, 234, 236, 238, 241, 243, 335, 337, 339, 342–43, 348, 351, 353, 355, 359, 363,
248–49, 253, 257, 260, 262, 264, 267–69, 271, 274, 378, 384, 388, 394, 406, 414, 417, 424, 427
276–77, 279, 281, 291–93, 295–96, 299–300, 302–3, 305, Bebeto, 352
307, 309, 313, 315, 318, 323, 327–30, 332, 337, 342–43, Becaud, Gilbert, 326
345–46, 348, 353–54, 356, 359, 361, 364, 378, 380, 384, Becker, Kitzi, 47
388, 391, 394–95, 404, 406, 409–10, 412, 414–15, 417, Beckman, Donald, 153, 186
422, 424, 427 Beddow, Margery, 267
Barnes, Elaine, 25 Beechman, Laurie, 120, 396
Barnes, Irving, 267 Beers, Francine, 119
Barnes, Rob, 156 Beery, Wallace, 421
Barnum, 15–17 Behr, Randall, 191
Barnum, H. B., 31, 147 Beicola, 352
Baron, Evalyn, 36, 200, 224, 242 Beiderbecke, Bix, 88–89
Barr, Kathy, 326 Beigelman, Mark, 127, 200
Barre, Gabriel, 393 Bekins, Richard, 13
Barrett, Brent, 3, 422 Belden, Ursula, 224
Barrett, James Lee, 405 Bell, Vanessa, 112
Barrett, Joe, 299 Belland, Bruce, 54
Barrett, Lorraine, 120 Belson, Jerry, 308
Barry, B. H., 241, 408 Belwin Mills Publishing Corp., 68
Barry, Gene, 183–84 Belzer, Rick, 86, 102
Barry, John, 133 Benanti, Laura, 340
Barry, Philip, 13, 15 Ben-Ari, Neal, 327, 357
Barry Manilow at the Gershwin, 392 Benati, Laura, 129
Barrymore, John, 421 Benet, Stephen Vincent, 143
Barrymore, Lionel, 421 Benham, Dorothy, 381
Barton, Steve, 344 Beniades, Ted, 218
Bartsch, Michael, 365 Benichou, Maurice, 191
Baruch, Steven, 343 Benjamin, P. J., 45–46, 69, 267
Basile, Giovan, 257 Bennett, Michael, 112–14, 321, 357
Baskerville, Patricia, 167 Benson, Jodi, 308, 390, 396
Bastos, Soraya, 352 Benson, Sally, 413
Bates, Kathy, 133 Bentley, Robert, 402
Bathe, Clare, 84 Bentley, Ronald, 186, 251, 370
Batten, Tom, 79 Berg, Amelie, 10
Battle, Hinton, 69, 71, 200–201, 312 Berg, Barry, 23
Batutis, Dennis, 34, 79 Bergesio, Franco, 258
Bauer-Theussl, Franz, 207 Bergeson, Scott, 99, 146, 156, 186, 254, 287, 374, 403
Baum, L. Frank, 215, 389 Berglund, Michael, 316
Baum, Vicki, 420 Berkeley, Busby, 40
Bautier, Michele, 311 Berlin, Irving, 9, 385
Bayer, Patricia, 261 Berlind, Roger, 201, 277, 372, 381, 426
Beach, Gary, 81, 135, 185, 195 Berlind, Roger S., 68, 127
Beal, John, 319 Berlingieri, Osvaldo, 256
Beame, Abraham, 260 Berman, Gail, 120
Bean, Reathel, 195 Berman, Marjorie, 224
Beane, Douglas Carter, 250 Berman, Shelley, 47
Beasley, Kenyatta, 367 Bernardi, Herschel, 94–95, 188
Beaton, Cecil, 96 Bernhard, Arnold, 233
Beatts, Ann, 235 Bernhardt, Melvin, 126
Bernstein, Douglas, 259 Blakemore, Michael, 426

Bernstein, Elmer, 161 Blane, Ralph, 413
Bernstein, Leonard, 3–4, 153, 155, 186, 221, 287, 402–3 Blank, Larry, 57, 77, 131, 341
Beron, Elba, 256 Blasetti, Pamela, 329
Berry, Mary Sue, 39 Blau, Eric, 67
Bertacca, Uberto, 258 Blau, Renee, 193
Bert Stratford Productions, 231 Blaymore, Enid, 23
Beruh, Joseph, 73 Blazer, Judy, 133
Besser, Gedalia, 394 Blevins, 25
Beudert, Mark, 323, 375–76, 403 Blitenthal, D., 50
Bevan, Alison, 289, 326 Blitzstein, Marc, 417–18
Bibb, Leon, 68 Bloch, Ivan, 52, 196, 412
Biddle, Christine Mortimer, 231 Bloch, Sonny, 412
Big Apple Circus, 15 Blount, Helon, 24, 74
Big Deal, 277–79 Blue, Peggie, 193, 215
Bigelow, Susan, 126, 302–3, 313–14 Blues in the Night, 139–40
Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 241–43 Blum, Joel, 428
Bigsby & Kruthers, 51 Blume, Robert R., 102
Bilabel, Barbara, 207 Blumenkrantz, Jeff, 416
Bilik, Jerry, 367 Blunt, Emily, 340
Biller, Kenneth, 353 Blyth, Ann, 44, 255
Billig, Robert, 247, 314 Bo, Facundo, 10
Billings, James, 125, 156, 221, 255, 326, 371 Bobby, Anne Marie, 204, 308
Billings, Jef, 229 Bobley, Peter A., 110
Billington, Ken, 6, 13, 47, 55, 77, 94, 96, 139, 148, 153, Bocanha, Luis, 352
186, 208, 217, 221–22, 225, 239–41, 270, 287, 304, 311, Bock, Jerry, 94
324, 326, 329, 403, 410, 413 Bodine, Mark, 54
Billion Dollar Baby, 381 Bodo, 398
Billy Bishop Goes to War, 26–27 Boetticher, Budd, 376
Bingo!, 110 Bogaev, Paul, 316, 357
Binotto, Paul, 89, 222 Bogan, Karne, 120
Birch, Patricia, 153, 186, 221, 287, 299, 326, 390, 401, 403 Bogardus, Stephen, 3
Bircher, Betsy, 269, 369 Bogart, Humphrey, 284
The Birdcage, 185 Bogart, Neil, 110
Birkenhead, Susan, 284 Bogyo, Peter, 393
Bishop, Billy, 26 Boles, John, 325
Bishop, Randy, 11 Bolger, Ray, 165
Bishop, Ronald, 86 Bolton, Guy, 63, 208, 331
Bissell, Richard, 385, 387 Bond, Chris, 170–71
Bittner, Jack, 123 Bond, Christopher, 222, 324, 407
Bizet, Georges, 191 Bond, Louis G., 285
Bizyk, Reizi, 50 Bonvissuto, Bruce, 27
Bjornson, Maria, 344–46 Boockvor, Steven, 89
Black, David, 36 Bookman, Kirk, 284
Black, Don, 133, 161, 252 Boone, Debby, 143–44
Black and Blue, 257, 378–80 Borge, Victor, 425
Black Broadway, 20–23 Borges, Yamil, 327
Blackinton, David, 27 Borodin, Alexander, 254, 288
Blackstone!, 25–26 Boros, Frank J., 61
Blackstone, Gay, 25 Borracha, 352
Blackstone, Harry, 25–26 Borstelmann, Jim, 385
Blackstone Magik Enterprises, Inc., 25 Bortnick, Evan, 191
Blackwell, Charles, 199 Bosquet, Thierry, 289, 326
Blagaich, Rosalie, 370 Bostwick, Barry, 132, 244
Blake, Eubie, 23 Bottari, Michael, 418
Blake, Josephine, 203, 282 Boublil, Alain, 314, 316
Blake, Josh, 204, 294 Boudreau, Robin, 59
Blake, Richard H., 418–19 Bourneuf, Stephen, 73, 418
Blake, Robin, 405 Bova, Joseph, 40
INDEX 475
Bove, Mark, 3 Brown, Dave, 36

Bowab, John, 181, 281 Brown, Georgia, 87–88, 327, 416–17
Bowden, Joyce Leigh, 156 Brown, Jeb, 71
Bowen, Will, 298 Brown, Julius Richard, 31, 147
Bowers, Clent, 233 Brown, Ka-Ron, 156
Boyd, Julianne, 57, 59 Brown, Nacio Herb, 247
Boyd, Julie, 86 Brown, Ralph, 378
Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Newark, Inc., 350 Brown, Rita, 283
Bradford, Alex, 31, 147 Brown, Ruth, 140, 189, 378, 380
Bradley, Edwin M., 64 Brown, Slade, 71
Bragin, Ted, 27 Brown, Vanessa, 392
Braham, David, 232 Brown, William F., 215
Bramble, Mark, 15–17, 40, 225–26, 284 Brown, Zack, 164, 369
Brand, Gibby, 116 Browne, Robert M., 57
Brasington, Alan, 61 Browning, Susan, 242
Braun, Patricia, 158 Brubaker, Robert, 349
Braun, Ralph, 34 Bruck, Arnold, 193
Braunstein, Alan, 210 Bruneau, Ralph, 195
Brawley, Betty, 25 Brunetti, David, 140
Brazelton, Conni Marie, 337 Brush, Bob, 110
Brecher, Irving, 413 Bryan, Wayne, 244
Brecho, 352 Brynner, Kathy Lee, 230
Brecht, Bertolt, 416 Brynner, Yul, 230–31
Brel, Jaques, 67–68 Bubbles, John W., 21–22
Brennan, Eileen, 231 Buchholz, Fred, 122
Brennan, James, 267 Buchholz, Horst, 133
Brennan, Maureen, 123–24, 311 Buck, Denis, 305
Breslin, Tommy, 79 Buckley, Betty, 153, 252, 263, 312, 362, 365
Brett, Jason, 51 Buckley, Robert A., 171
Breuer, Lee, 350–51 Bucksey, Colin, 8
Brian, Donald, 147 Buell, Bill, 110, 390
Brickhill, Joan, 413–14 Buffaloe, Katharine, 77, 120
Brickhill-Burke Productions, 413 Bufman, Zev, 3, 48, 103, 110, 120, 198, 261, 265
Bricusse, Leslie, 136 Bulmash, Jay S., 360
Bridge, Andrew, 209, 344, 346 Bunce, Alan, 356
Brigadoon, 48–50, 275–76 Bunnell, Jane, 251
Briggs, Bunny, 378 Bunt, George, 90
Briggs, John R., 141 Burbridge, Ed, 11
Brightman, Sarah, 253, 344, 346 Burbridge, Edward, 367
Bring Back Birdie, 71–73 Burch, Shelly, 127
Brisson, Frederick, 177 Burge, Gregg, 69, 252
Broad, Jay, 141 Burke, Louis, 413
Broadhurst, Jeffrey Lee, 381 Burmester, Leo, 314
Broadway Follies, 73–74 Burney, Steve, 36
Brocksmith, Roy, 27 Burns, Karla, 171–72
Brode, David B., 338 Burrell, Deborah, 112, 291
Broder, J. Scott, 412 Burrell, Teresa, 289
Broderick, George, 289 Burroughs, Lisa, 285
Broderick, Matthew, 35 Burrows, Abe, 79–80
Bronfman, Edgar M., 27 Burt, John, 393
Bronskill, Reginald, 405 Burton, Kate, 160
Bronson, Marty, 285 Burton, Richard, 37, 39, 86, 106
Brooks, David, 81 Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre, 396
Brooks, Donald, 177 Busby, Michelle, 304
Brooks, Peter, 191–92 Busch, Ernest, 417
Brosten, Harve, 360 Bussert, Meg, 34–35, 39, 48–49, 105
Brown, Anne, 169 Butler, Gerald, 346
Brown, Barry, 183, 423 Butler, Michael, 11
Brown, Candy, 239 Butler, Rhoda, 131
Button, Jeanne, 244, 401 Caron, Leslie, 133

Buzzell, Edward, 124 Carosi, Mauro, 257
Bye Bye Birdie, 72 Carpenter, Constance, 2
Byers, Michael, 218 Carpenter, Larry, 393
Byrd, Debra, 227, 392 Carr, Allan, 183
Byrne, Barbara, 212 Carr, Catherine, 15
Byrne, Richard, 402 Carragher, Bernard, 174
Carrasco, Manuela, 301
Caballero, Christophe, 381 Carrie, 361–65
Cabaret, 334–36 Carriere, Jean-Claude, 191
Cable, Howard, 218 Carroll, Danny, 40
Cacoyannis, Michael, 187–88 Carroll, David (David-James), 121, 143, 267, 357–59, 420
Caddick, David, 344 Carroll, Diahann, 22
Cadiff, Andrew, 353 Carroll, Lewis, 159
Cady, David, 107 Carroll, Ronn, 141, 423
Caesar, Sid, 117, 411–12 Carroll, Vinnette, 31, 147
Caffey, Marion J., 259 Carten, Bob, 115
Cagan, Steven, 87 Carter, Bobby John, 423
La Cage Aux Folles, 183–86 Carter, Helena Bonham, 224
Cahill, James, 426 Carter, Nell, 21–23, 361, 372–73
Cahn, David, 183 Carter, Rosanna, 83
Cahn, Sammy, 86, 366 Cartwright, Mindy, 381
Caird, John, 314 Carvalho, Nilze, 352
Caldwell, Zoe, 132 Caryl, Jeanne, 37, 105
Cale, Bennett, 393 Casanave, Carolyn, 244
Calhern, Louis, 44 Case, Ronald, 418
Calhoun, Jeff, 143 Casnoff, Philip, 357–59
Callahan, Dennis, 183 Cason, Barbara, 307
Callan, Chris, 325 Cason, Yvette, 396
Callaway, Liz, 196, 225, 227, 330, 366 Cason, Yvette Louise, 321
Camelot, 37–40, 105–6 Cassel, Walter, 325
Cameron Mackintosh, Inc., 252 Cassidy, Jack, 50, 165
Campana, Joyce, 297, 324, 370–71, 385, 402, 407 Cassidy, Patrick, 235
Campbell, Bill, 389 Cassidy, Shaun, 396
Campbell, David, 289 Castel, Nico, 156
Campbell, Patton, 42, 98, 250, 323 Castelli, Victor, 381
Can-Can, 79–81 Castle, Joyce, 155, 186, 223, 275, 324
Canciones de Mi Padre, 370–71 Castles, Lynn, 25
Candide, 153–55, 186–87, 221, 287–88, 402–3 Cates, Gene, 231
Cannon, Reuben, 337 Cathey, Dalton, 307
Canterbury Tales, 1–3 Catlett, Mary Jo, 141
Cantone, Mario, 330 Cats, 151–53
Cantor, Arthur, 88, 270, 298 Cava, Frank, 376
Cantor, Eddie, 330 Cavett, Dick, 274
Cantrell, Roger, 191 CBS, 299
Capone, Al, 244–45 Cea, Patrick, 99
Capone, Clifford, 135 Ceballos, Arthur, 370
Cara, Irene, 374 Ceballos, Rene, 151, 409
Cara, Jim, 27 Cedar, Larry, 88
Carcano, Emilio, 9 Censored Scenes from King Kong, 8–9
Carey, David, 50, 319 Cervantes, Yvonne, 370
Carey, Ron, 123 Cerveris, Michael, 223
Cariou, Len, 177–78, 341, 343 Cesario, Michael J., 23
Carl, Barry, 98 Chadman, Christopher, 125, 156, 161, 166, 277, 355, 376
Carle, Cynthia, 126 Chakiris, George, 4, 255
Carlisle, Kevin, 25, 392 Chalmers, Cary, 102
Carlisle, Kitty, 100 Chalmers, Toni-Maria, 272
Carmichael, Hoagy, 88–89 Chamberlain, Douglas, 283
Carnelia, Craig, 125–27 Champion, Gower, 40–42
INDEX 477
Champion, Marge, 366 Clark, Ron, 310

Champion, Tom, 86 Clarke, Caitlin, 170
Chan, Donald, 334 Clarke, Charlene, 304
Chan, Eric Y. L., 331 Clarke, Gerald, 85, 97, 121–22, 166, 185, 302
Chandler, Jamie Beth, 362 Clarke, Hope, 239
Chanel, Lili, 93 Clayton, Jan, 231
Chaney, David, 396 Clayton, Philip, 316
Chaney, Lon, 378 Cleavage, 141
Channing, Carol, 118 Cleaver, Robin, 162
Channing, Stockard, 203 Clement, Maris, 186, 403
Chaplin, 217–18 Clemente, Rene, 151
Chapman, David, 110, 141, 187, 227, 334 Clifton, John, 319–20
Chapman, Gary, 277 Close, Glenn, 15
Chapman, John, 154, 375 Coates, Edith, 155
Chappell, Vickie D., 32 Coates, Norman, 261, 418
Charisse, Cyd, 50, 422 Cobb, 110
Charisse, Zan, 424 Cochren, Felix E., 83, 189
Charlie and Algernon, 45–47 Coco, James, 116–17
Charlton, T. C., 393 Coe, Peter, 209, 211
Charmoli, Tony, 74 Coe, Richard, 367
Charnin, Martin, 110, 412 Cogan, David, 11
Chartwell Communications, Inc., 101 Coghill, Nevill, 1
Chase, L. Everett, 413 Cohan, George M., 123, 234
Chase, Lonnie, 413 Cohan, Jamey, 63
Chase, Mary, 136 Cohen, Alexander H., 18, 191
Chastain, Don, 177 Cohen, Douglas M., 218
Chatfield, Emily Knapp, 224 Cohen, Jamie, 99, 381
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 1 Cohen, Jason Steven, 204, 263
Cheek, JEan, 189 Cohen, Jay J., 83
Chekhov, Anton, 18 Cohen, Lawrence D., 361, 365
Chen, Lynn, 313 Cohen, Ron, 24, 32, 37, 55, 73–74, 83, 103, 105, 122, 140,
Chen, Tina, 201 142, 159, 182, 209, 211, 216, 225, 228–31, 234, 260,
Chenoweth, Kristin, 35 269, 299, 303, 305, 307, 309, 332
Chéri, 133 Cohen, Steven A., 348
Cherry, Dorothy, 13 Cohenour, Patti, 263, 344
Cherry, Nora, 231 Colaneri, Joseph, 186, 221–22, 250–51, 254, 275, 287–88,
Chess, 357–59 297, 323–24, 326, 349, 370–71, 374, 385, 402–3, 407
Chevalier, Maurice, 80, 147 Cole, Gilbert, 135
Chew, Bruce, 123 Cole, Newton, 274
Child, Alan, 5 Cole, Nora, 147
Childs, Kirsten, 265 Coleman, Charles, 139
Chita, 352 Coleman, Charles H., 215
Cho, Irene, 381 Coleman, Cy, 15, 17, 116–17, 279, 281, 390–91, 426, 428
Christian, Robert, 65 Coleman, Felicia Y., 285
A Christmas Carol, 135–36 Coleman, Jim, 181, 297, 323–24, 371
Chryst, Gary, 6, 47 Coleman, Marilyn, 337
Chu Chem, 387–89 Coleman, Robert, 80, 155
Chwatt, Richard, 200 Coles, Charles “Honi,” 21, 176
Ciccone, Sandra, 304 Colette, 131–33
Cilento, Wayne, 55, 196, 265, 277, 396 Colette Collage, 132–33
Cindy Pritzker, Inc., 247 Colker, Jerry, 353, 355
Circle in the Square Theatre, 269, 369, 394, 407 Collins, Joan, 121
Citadel Theatre, 218, 284 Collins, Pat, 196, 244, 372
Citarella, Joseph A., 99 Collins, Rise, 140
City of Angels, 425–28 Collins, Stephen, 8
Ciulla, A. C., 316 Colson, Kevin, 336, 357
Clarey, Cynthia, 191 Colston, Robert, 40
Clark, James, 6, 47, 254, 288, 349 Colt, Alvin, 73
Clark, Peggy, 23 Columbia Artists Theatricals Corp., 25
Columbia Pictures Stage Productions, Inc., 161 Cowan, Marge, 198

Comden, Betty, 148, 247 Coward, Noel, 305–7
Comin’ Uptown, 135–36 Cox, Catherine, 61, 89, 196, 305, 307
Comissiona, Sergiu, 313, 323–24, 326, 349 Cox, Veanne, 308
Committed Artists Production, 347 Craig, Noel, 177
Compagnie Philippe Genty, 76 Crain, Stephen, 110, 141
Conaway, Jeff, 261 Cranshaw, Bob, 84
Concert Productions International, 401 Crawford, Ellen, 130
Concheta, 352 Crawford, Joan, 421
Condon, Bill, 114 Crawford, Michael, 17, 46, 344–46
Cone, Michael, 48, 294 Cribbins, Bernar, 333
Conforti, Tony, 102 Crigler, Lynn, 63, 123, 237
Congdon, James, 196 Crinkley, Richmond, 52
Conklin, John, 125, 131, 156 Criswell, Kim, 311, 334
Connecticut Theatre Foundation, Inc., 86 Critt, C. J., 115
Connell, Gordon, 242 Crivello, Anthony, 261–62, 314
Connell, Jane, 181, 291 Cronin, Dan, 57
Conniff, Richard, 309 Crook, Mervin, 43, 98
Connolly, Michael, 77 Crosby, Bing, 333
Conried, Hans, 255 Crosby, Kim, 265, 338, 340
Conroy, Jarlath, 395 Cross, Glen, 341
Constant, Marius, 191 Crothers, Sam, 239, 259, 326, 420
Cook, Barbara, 319–20, 365 Crouse, Russell, 331
Cook, Carole, 40 Crouse, Timothy, 331
Cook, Jill, 55 Crowe, Russell, 316
Cook, Roderick, 74, 305 Crowningshield, Keith, 420
Cook, Victor Trent, 393 Crowther, Bosley, 325
Cooke, Malcolm, 193 Crumb, Ann, 129, 296
Cooke, Sally, 67 Crutchfield, Will, 251, 289, 323, 375, 403, 407
Coombs, Kristi, 193 Cruz, Penelope, 129
Cooper, Chuck, 189 Cryer, David, 325
Cooper, Marilyn, 75–76 Cry for Us All, 119
Cooper, Pamela, 235 Cucchiara, Tony, 260
Cooper, Patricia, 224 Cuervo, Alma, 8, 126, 224
Cooper-Hecht, Gail, 329 Cuka, Frances, 210
Copes, Juan Carlos, 256 Cullman, Joan, 89, 103, 201
Copperfield, 77–79 Cullum, John, 405
Corbeil, Claude, 125 Cummings, Alan, 336
Corden, James, 340 Cummings, Claudia, 251
Corio, Ann, 93–94 Cummins, Rick, 134
Corliss, Richard, 195–96, 201, 214 Cumpsty, Michael, 214
Correia, Don, 55, 117–18, 166, 247, 249 Cunningham, Billy, 102
Corry, John, 2, 47, 77, 90 Cunningham, Dennis, 2, 9, 14, 19, 46, 49, 58, 66, 78, 80,
Corsaro, Frank, 32, 254, 288 83–85, 97, 103, 105–6, 108, 120–21, 126, 129, 131, 144,
Corsini, Attilio, 258 150, 161, 169–71, 173, 177–78, 185, 189, 191–92, 194–
Cortes, Jose, 301 96, 198–99, 201, 203, 205, 209, 214, 216
Cortinovis, Jean, 68 Curlee, Karen, 25
Cosmo, Eleonora, 258 Curran, Homer, 99
Cossa, Dominic, 5, 43, 98, 101 Curry, Jack, 312, 320, 323
Costa, Mary, 155 Curry, John, 48, 316, 318
Costa-Greenspon, Muriel, 125, 187, 298, 313, 349–50, 403 The Curse of an Aching Heart, 119–20
Costallos, Suzanne, 187 Curt, Fred, 143
Cothran, Robert, 289 Curtis, Ann, 291
Cotillard, Marion, 129 Curtis, June, 193
Coughlin, Bruce, 126 Curtis, Keene, 132
Courson, Robert, 176, 412 Curtis, Richard, 298
Cousins, Michael, 289, 324, 326, 407 Curtis-Hall, Vondie, 84, 112
Cowan, Irv, 198 Cusanelli, Joseph, 79
INDEX 479
Cutler, John, 341 Davies, Marion, 64

Cuzzoni, Dino, 352 Davies, Stephen, 65
Czardas Princess, 207–8 Davies, Victor, 304
Davis, Bruce Anthony, 277
Dabdoub, Jack, 135 Davis, Buster, 13
Da Costa, Morton, 35 Davis, Cherry, 185
D’Agostino, Antonella, 257 Davis, Clive, 126
Dailey, Dannul, 401 Davis, Daniel, 185
Dalapozza, Adolph, 206 Davis, Edward H., 289
Dale, Cynthia, 283 Davis, Harris, 43, 98
Dale, Grover, 353, 381 Davis, Henrietta Elizabeth, 167
Dale, Jim, 15–17, 293 Davis, Jeffrey Bryan, 230
Dale, Laurence, 191 Davis, Lindsay W., 263
Daly, Tyne, 423–25 Davis, Luther, 254, 288, 420, 422
Damashek, Barbara, 224–25 Davis, Mary Bond, 353
d’Amboise, Charlotte, 252–53, 362 Davis, Michael, 73–74, 294
d’Amboise, Christopher, 252–53 Davis, Michael Rees, 370, 374–75, 407
d’Amboise, Jacques, 253 Davis, Paul, 206
Damian, Michael, 121 Davis, Peter G., 7, 48, 98–99
d’Amico, Suso Cecchi, 277 Davis, Sammy, Jr., 282
Damn Yankees, 110 Davis, Wayne, 285
Damone, Vic, 255 Dawsen, 193
Dana, F. Mitchell, 305 Day, Doris, 387
Dance a Little Closer, 177–79 Day, Edith, 325
Dane, Faith, 424 A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, 17–20
Dangerfield, Rodney, 348 Day-Lewis, Daniel, 129
Dangerous Games, 408–10 Deakin, Ian, 284
Dangerous Music, 396–97 de Almeida, Antonio, 125
Daniele, Graciela, 59–60, 187, 201, 244, 263–64, 408 Dean, Laura, 195
Danielli, Isa, 257 Dearing, Judy, 367
Daniels, Barbara, 206 Deayton, Angus, 298–99
Daniels, Danny, 200–201 de Boer, Ed, 158
Dankworth, Jacqueline, 282, 340 Decareau, Dick, 299
Dankworth, John, 133 DeCristo, Al, 327
Danner, Braden, 210, 317 Dee, Janie, 175
Danner, Dorothy, 171 Deems, Mickey, 332
Danova, Cesare, 422 Deer, Joe, 274
Dansby, William, 222 Degunther, Joe, 133
Dansicker, Michael, 65 De Guzman, Jossie, 3–4
Dante, Ron, 116 DeHaven, Gloria, 239
Dantuono, Michael, 225 Deitch, Belle M., 418
Danyliw, Annastasia, 304 De Koven, Reginald, 2–3
D’Arcy, Mary, 247 Delano, Lee, 412
Darr, Deborah, 153, 221, 287 Delavan, Mark, 223, 407
Darrow, Harry Silverglat, 90 Delavault, Helene, 191
Da Silva, Howard, 160 Del Duca, Lennie, Jr., 102
d’Aubigny, Theodore Baudouin, 258 de Liagre, Alfred, Jr., 164
Dauscha, Wolfgang, 207 Delmar, Elaine, 270–71
David, Clifford, 121 DeLorenzo, Michael, 231
David, Daniel, 141 Delsener, Ron, 166, 355, 376, 403
David, Michael, 338, 350 DeLuca, John, 361
Davidge, D. Scot, 143 DeMain, John, 3
Davidson, Gordon, 88 de Menil, François, 126
Davidson, Ian, 18 De Mille, Agnes, 48, 144, 275
Davidson, John, 343 De Mone, Richard, 93
Davies, Andrew, 36 de Mora, Robert, 235
Davies, Howard, 65 Dench, Judi, 129, 152, 336
Davies, Irving, 270 De Niro, Robert, 284
Dennehy, Dennis, 329 Dlamini, Khumbuzile, 347

Dennen, Barry, 336 Dlamini, Lindiwe, 347
Dennis, Carol, 215 Dlamini, Ntomb’khona, 347
Dennis, Patrick, 116, 181 Dlugos, Gregory J., 329
Dennis, Ronald, 174 Dobish, Gail, 375–76
Denniston, Leslie, 13 Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?, 130–
Denver Center, 131, 171, 224 31
De Paoli, Sandro, 258 Doboujinsky, Rostislav, 10
De Pass, Paul, 48, 103, 141, 200 Doctorow, E. L., 295
de Paul, Gene, 143 Dodge, Marcia Milgrom, 349
Depp, Johnny, 224, 340 Dodger Productions, 122, 241, 350
Derricks, Cleavant, 31, 112, 114, 277 Dodgson, Charles Lutwidge, 159
DeSal, Frank, 187 Dolan, Judith, 107–8, 120, 153, 186, 221, 287, 403
The Desert Song, 324–26, 406–7 Dold, Karl Heinz, 207
De Shields, André, 217, 227–28, 311, 372–73 Dolf, John, 79, 183
De Simone, Ofelia, 257 Dolgoy, Sholem, 428
De Simone, Roberto, 257 Dollar, Darren, 401
Desrocher, Tom, 398 A Doll’s Life, 148–50
Dessyllas, Pantelis, 206–7 Dome/Cutler-Herman Productions, 37, 96, 105
D’Estainville, Kim, 9 Dome Productions, 77
de Tarr, Seiza, 276 Domingo, Placido, 98
Detweiler, Lowell, 393 Don, Carl, 86
Devine, Erick, 407, 412 Donahue, Theodore P., Jr., 36
Devine, Loretta, 112, 114, 277 Donald, Donald K., 256, 299, 301, 378
De Vittorio, Giuseppe, 257 Dondi, Ruggero, 258
Devlin, Jon, 145 Dondlinger, Mary Jo, 407
Devo, 284 Donen, Stanley, 143, 247, 387
Devora, A., 276 Donkin, Eric, 15
Dewar, John, 314 Donlon, Brian, 342
Dexter, John, 89–90, 416 Donnell, Colin, 333
Diaz, Justino, 313–14 Donnelly, Donal, 395
Diaz, Mary Louise, 370 Donnelly, Dorothy, 42, 98, 250, 323
Dibble, Peter Davis, 276 Donnelly, Ken, 23
Dick Clark, Inc., 156 Donnelly, Tom, 155
Dickens, Charles, 77, 135, 209, 263 D’Onofrio, Benny, 304
Dickerson, Glenda, 11 Donovan, Jason, 121
Dickson, Barbara, 357 Donsch, Karl, 206–7
Dickson, Stephen, 99 Don’t Get God Started, 336–37
Die Fledermaus, 5–6, 44–45, 101, 206, 289, 326 Doonesbury, 195–96
Diehl, Crandall, 96 Dorfman, Andrew, 156
Diener, Joan, 255, 422 Dorfman, Stanley, 87
Dietrich, Gary, 99 Double Feature, 19
Dietrich, Marlene, 66, 82, 307 Doug Henning and His World of Magic, 229–30
Dietz, Susan, 353 Dougherty, J. P., 225
Dillehay, Kaylyn, 1 Douglas, Suzzanne, 416
Dillon, Denny, 174 Dovey, Mark, 133
Dillon, Sandy, 156 Doyle, John, 223
DiMartino, Giuseppe, 261 Drahosch, Peter, 207
Dimino, Richard, 145 Drake, Donna, 267
Dimitrov, Olga, 136 Drake, Tom, 415
Di Nola, Anna Lisa, 258 Drake, William A., 420–21
DioGuardi, Joseph, 193 Draper, Kate, 18
Diot, Andre, 9 Dreamgirls, 111–14, 321–23
DiPasquale, Frank, 183 The Dream Team, 110
Disipio, Fred, 156 Dream Time, 29
Dix, Richard, 171 Dreyfuss, Richard, 219
Dixon, Ed, 225 Drivas, Robert, 116, 198
Dixon, Mort, 40 Driver, Donald, 73–74, 103, 105
Dlamini, Dumisani, 347 Driver, John, 61, 341
INDEX 481
Driving Miss Daisy, 244–45 Edmunds, Kate, 45

Dror, Liat, 394 Edson, Jerome, 120
Drummond, Jack, 185 Edwa, 218
Dubin, Al, 40 Edwards, Burt, 230
DuBose, Dorothy, 167 Edwards, Cynthia, 370, 402
DuBose, Heyward, 167 Edwards, Germaine, 285
Duddy, 218–19 Effron, David, 101
I Due Sergenti, 258–59 Effron, Howard P., 102
Duff, Michael, 261 Eggerth, Marta, 131
Duke, Patty, 415 Eglevsky, Marina, 48
Duke, Peter, 193 Ehlers, Stephen, 389
Duke, Vernon, 86 Ehrler, Anita, 265
Dulaine, Pierre, 420 Ehrlich, Jon, 396
Dumaresq, William, 204–5 Eichelberger, Ethyl, 416
Dumas, Alexandre, 225 Eichorn, William, 146, 186
Dunaway, Faye, 119–20 Eigsti, Karl, 120, 189
Duncan, Amy, 373 Eikenberry, Jill, 57–59
Duncan, Todd, 169 Eilber, Janet, 28–29
Dunham, Clarke, 153, 186, 221, 239–41, 287, 329, 403 Eisenberg, Avner, 395
Dunlop, Christopher, 76 Eisenhauer, Peggy, 401, 408
Dunlop, Frank, 37–38, 105, 163 Eisler, David, 99, 153, 221, 287–88
Dunne, Irene, 173 Elg, Taina, 127
Dunning, Jennifer, 257 Elias, Rosalind, 222
Dunnington, Steve, 225 Elias, Tom, 141
Dunnock, Mildred, 132 Eliot, T. S., 11, 151–53
Dupuy, Diane Lynn, 304 Elkins, Hillard, 87
Duquette, Tony, 39 Ellington, Duke, 68–71
Durang, Christopher, 428 Ellington, Mercedes, 13, 69, 272
Durante, 428–29 Ellington, Mercer, 69–70
Du Shon, Jean, 139–40 Elliott, Harvey, 270
Dvorsky, George, 193 Elliott, Shawn, 67–68
Dyer, Ada, 215 Elliott, William, 59
Dyer, Sharon, 283 Ellis, Antonia, 353
Ellis, Chris, 291
Eads, Paul, 59 Ellis, James, 401
Eagan, Michael, 13 Ellis, Scott, 23, 202
Earle, Edward, 45 Ellis, Sheila, 31
Earley, Dyanne K., 365 Elton, Ben, 298, 346
Easley, Bill, 367 Elvis: A Rockin’Remembrance, 401–2
East, Virginia Clark, 145 Elvis & John, 402
Easterbrook, Randall, 23 Emhan, Inc., 55
Easter Parade, 145 Emmons, Beverly, 10–11, 18, 65, 116, 126, 195, 355, 376
Eastmond, Barry, 83 Emmons, David, 51
Easton, Sheena, 78 Emonts, Ann, 103
Ebb, Fred, 74–76, 187, 201, 203, 334, 336 Empire State Institute for the Performing Arts, 299
Ebersole, Christine, 37, 106 Engel, David, 183
Eckart, William and Jean, 181 English, Ellia, 227
Eckert, Thor, Jr., 7, 314 Ensminger, Morgan, 13
Eckhart, Janis, 146, 289, 374 Entertainment Group, 376
Eddinger, Neil, 250, 323, 349 EPI Products, 413
Eddleman, Jack, 375 Epps, Sheldon, 139
Eddy, Nelson, 19, 298, 326, 376 Epstein, Alvin, 416–17
Edelman, Gregg, 282, 334–36, 340, 426 Epstein, Dasha, 360, 372
Eden, Barbara, 255 Erickson, Mitchell, 298
Les Editions Musicales et Artistiques (EMA), 326 Esposito, Giancarlo, 337
Edley, Zaida Coles, 83 Estevao, Eliana, 352
Edmead, Wendy, 151 Estey, SuEllen, 407
Edmonds, Christopher, 204 Estrada, Elsa, 370
Edmonton Journal, 284 Estrin, Melvyn, 120
Evans, Daniel, 214 Fielding, Fenella, 132

Evans, David, 48, 183 Fields, Chip, 337
Evans, Edith, 87 Fields, Dorothy, 279, 281
Evans, Joseph, 101, 146 Fierstein, Harvey, 183, 185–86, 376
Evans, Lloyd, 5, 44, 101, 289, 326 Fifth Avenue Productions, 338, 350
An Evening with Dave Allen, 101–2 Filips, Jan, 218
An Evening with Robert Klein, 369 Fingerhut, Arden, 170
Everhart, Rex, 331 Finkel, Elliot, 355, 412
Everly, Jack, 171 Finklehoff, Fred F., 413
Ewing, Jon, 185 Finn, Terry, 107
Ewing, Tim, 132 Finn, William, 408, 410
Eyen, Tom, 112, 114, 321, 396 Fiorello!, 260
Fipke, Wayne C., 284
Fabian, Robert, 36 The First, 110–11
Faison, George, 81, 167, 215, 285 First Durante Tour Company, 428
Faison, Sandy, 45, 126 Firth, Tazeena, 148
Falabella, John, 55, 139, 319 55th Street Dance Theatre Foundation, Inc., 274
Falcone, Marc, 321 Fisher, Carrie, 8–9
Famous People Players, 304 Fisher, Jules, 156, 183, 201, 252, 277, 294, 370, 376, 401,
Fancy, Richard, 247 408, 420, 423
Fargue, Annie, 156 Fisher, M. Anthony, 241, 338
Faria, Arthur, 73, 84, 372 Fisher, Paula, 338
Farkas, Jonathan, 174, 183, 201, 239, 277, 376 Fisher Theater Foundation, 45, 103
Farr, Kimberly, 13 Fishko, Robert S., 8
Farr, Rex, 231 Fitch, Robert, 130
Farrell, Kevin, 94 Fite, Mark, 141
Farrington, Ralph, 31 Fitts, Dudley, 350
Farwell, Jonathan, 230 Fitzgerald, Clarice Swan, 341
Faske, Paul, 193 Fitzgerald, Robert, 350
Fata, Wesley, 261, 398 Fitzhugh, Ellen, 239
Fay, Frank, 137 Fitzhugh, Louise, 200
Fay, Tom, 353 Fitzpatrick, Any, 304
Faye, Denise, 252 Five Blind Boys of Alabama, 350
Faye, Joey, 239 The Five O’Clock Girl, 63–64
Fazah, Adib, 250 Flaiano, Ennio, 127, 279
Fearless Frank, 36–37 Flamenco puro, 257, 301–2
Feiden, Robert, 126 Flaningam, Louisa, 141
Feinberg, Marty, 289 Flasher, Pete, 8
Feingold, Michael, 416 Flatt, Ernest O., 289, 291, 428
Feinstein, Michael, 355–56, 376 Flavin, Tim, 175
Feld, Eliot, 99, 101 Die Fledermaus, 5–6, 44–45, 101, 206, 289, 326
Feld, Irvin, 15, 225 Fleisher, Michelle, 398
Feld, Kenneth, 15, 367 Fleming, Conn, 27
Felder, Clarence, 170 Fleming, John P., 21
Feldstein, Mark, 200 Fleming, Victor, 389
Fellini, Federico, 127, 279 Fletcher, Dan, 274
Fenton, James, 314 Fletcher, Robert, 143, 176
Ferber, Edna, 171 Flett, Sharry, 283
Fergie, 129 Flower, Chris, 54
Ferland, Danielle, 212 Flowers, Michael, 208
Ferrell, Andy, 1 Floyd, Tony, 341
Ferrell, Tyra, 84 Flying Karamazov Brothers, 176–77, 276
Ferren, Bran, 212 The Flying Karamazov Brothers, 176–77
Ferrer, José, 255 Foard, Merwin, 181
Ferrier, Robert, 370, 402 Foley, John, 122
Ferris, Geoffrey, 209 Folger Theatre Group, 45
Fetherston, Drew, 388 Follows, Ted, 15
Fiddler on the Roof, 94–96 Fontana, Franco, 352
Field, Ron, 109, 294, 334 Fontanne, Lynn, 178
INDEX 483
Ford, Paul, 35, 403 Friebus, Florida, 159, 161

Ford, Phil, 93 Friedberg, William, 326
Ford, Steven, 337 Friedheim, Eric, 270
Forestieri, Marcel, 71–72 Friedman, David, 86, 120
Forlow, Ted, 302 Friedman, Maria, 121, 140, 214, 336
Forrest, George, 99, 254, 288, 420, 422 Friedrich Kurz Royal Shakespeare Company, 362
Forste, Allegra, 313 Friend, Rupert, 133
Forster, John, 302 Friml, Rudolf, 225
Forster, Rudolph, 418 Frishberg, David, 88
Forsyth, Bruce, 118 Frontiere, Georgia, 198
Forsyth, Frederick, 346 Fry, Stephen, 291
42nd Street, 40–42 Frye, Dwight, 177
Foss, Harlan, 6, 45, 47 Fryer, Robert, 107, 148
Fosse, Bob, 117–18, 134, 209, 241, 277–79, 281–82, 335, Fuentes, Ruben, 370
386–87 Fujii, Timm, 387
Foster, Sutton, 333 Fujima, Eiken, 410
Fotopoulos, Mark, 233 Fulbright, Peter, 298
Fountain, Clarence, 350 Fuller, Larry, 6, 47, 107–8, 126, 148, 222, 324
Four, Wilmor, 341 Funn, Charles, 367
Fournier, Jean-Pierre, 284 Funny Face, 175–76
Fowler, Beth, 196, 223, 237, 341, 407 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, 382
Fox, Chester, 398 Furber, Douglas, 291
Fox, Manheim, 68 Furlong, James, 349
Fox, Robert, 37 Furst, Timothy Daniel, 176, 276
Foxx, Jamie, 114 Furth, George, 107
Foy, Kenneth, 423 F.W.M. Producing Group, 252
Franchi, Sergio, 129 Fylan, N., 428
Francine, Anne, 181
Francis, Allan, 13 Gable, Clark, 178
Frank, Aldo, 166 Gaff, Billy, 102
Frank, Doug, 193 Gahres, James Allen, 407
Frankel, Kenneth, 135 Gaines, Davis, 297–98
Frankel, Richard, 343 Gal, Nir Bel, 394
Franklin, Nancy, 45 Galantich, Tom, 426
Franks, Laurie, 204 Gale, Andy, 294
Franz, Joy, 338, 340 Galindo, Ramon, 162
Fraser, Alison, 360–61 Gallagher, Gina, 357
Fraser, Ian, 217 Gallagher, Peter, 148
Fratti, Mario, 127 Gallin, Sandy, 217
Frazier, Michael, 84, 158, 239, 353 Gallo, Paul, 52, 263, 308, 331, 426
Freas, Dianna, 231 Galloway, Jane, 123
Fredericks, Richard, 45 Gambacorta, Lee, 21
Fredrik, Burry, 1 Gannon, Joe, 392
Fredyberg, James B., 196 Garber, Victor, 116–17
Freed, Arthur, 247 Garbo, Greta, 421
Freedman, Gerald, 3, 5, 44, 99–101, 244, 275–76, 289, Garcia, Lalo, 370
313–14, 326 Garcia Lorca, Federico, 197
Freedman Panter, Ltd., 170 Gardiner, John, 136
Freeman, Carroll, 156 Gardiner, John Eliot, 147
Freeman, Morgan, 350 Gardner, Herb, 89–90
Freeman, Virginia, 45 Garfeld, Marcelle, 87
Freidman, David, 133 Gargiulo, Terese, 141
Freidman, Peter, 65 Gari, Brian, 329–30
French, Bruce, 88 Garland, Jamil K., 31, 147
French, Jack, 208 Garland, Judy, 415
French, Timothy, 428 Garland, Marc, 343
Freshwater, Kim, 274, 329 Garland, Patrick, 96–97
Frey, William, 316 Garner, Luvenia, 167
Freydberg/Bloch Production, 196 Garnett, Chip, 133
Garrett, Betty, 25, 413 Gigi, 133, 145, 249

Garrett, Tom, 34 Gilb, Melinda, 247
Garrison, David, 18 Gilbert, Alan, 96, 133
Garrison, Jon, 323 Gilbert, Barbara, 196
Gary, Romain, 326 Gilbert, Tony, 407
Gastine, Claudie, 10 Gilbert, W. S., 59, 447
Gatchell, R. Tyler, Jr., 151, 209, 252, 366 Gile, Bill, 146
Gatchell & Neufield Ltd., 357 Giles, Nancy, 259
La Gatta Cenerentola, 257–58 Gilford, Jack, 334
Gay, John, 416 Gilford, Madeline Lee, 294
Gay, Noel, 291 Gill, Bob, 156
Gaye, Alisa, 321 Gill, Brendan, 58
Gaynes, George, 80 Gill, Elijah, 31, 147
Gaynor, Mitzi, 333 Gill, Ray, 110
GeBauer, Judy, 90 Gillaume, Michel, 76
Geddes, B. Alan, 428 Gillespie, Robert, 36
Gee, Simone, 387 Gilliam, Paula Hutter, 311
Geffen, David, 151 Gilman, Sondra, 68
Geffen Records, 112 Gingold, Hermione, 35
Gelbart, Larry, 425, 428 Giordano, Tyrone, 243
Geld, Gary, 405 Giraud, Maurice, 166
Gelfer, Steven, 151 The Girl in Pink Tights, 80
Gemignani, Paul, 107, 148, 201, 212, 222, 239, 250, 275, Giuffre, Joe, 389
288, 308, 313, 324, 338, 381 Giulivo, Lello, 257
Gems, Pam, 65–66 Glazener, Janet, 265
Gendron, Lynn, 145 Gleason, Joanna, 338, 340–41
Genee, Richard, 5, 44, 101, 206, 289, 326 Gleason, John, 101
Genevieve, 80 Glennon, Jean, 288–89
Gennaro, Peter, 3, 89, 116, 250, 416 Glickman, Will, 326
Geno, Alton, 141 Glockner, Eleanor, 426
Gentles, Avril, 171 Glover, Savion, 379
Genty, Mary, 76 Goldblum, Jeff, 81
Genty, Philippe, 76 Golden, Annie, 235
Geoffreys, Stephen, 204 Golden, Emily, 191
Geoly, Guy, 405 Golden, Ruth, 251, 287, 370, 402
George, Hal, 187 Goldman, Byron, 381
George-Henry, 360 Goldstein, Jess, 45, 52
Georgia Brown & Friends, 87–88 Goldstein, Joel, 189
Gerard, Annie-Marie, 418 Goldwyn, Samuel, 169
Gerard, Danny, 302 Goler, Lauren, 120, 308, 329
Gerard, Gil, 189 Golman, Daniel A., 130
Gerard, Jeremy, 265 Goodall, Howard, 298–99
Gerber, Jonathan S., 261 Goodman, Michael, 211
Gershwin, George, 167, 174 Goodman, Peter, 314
Gershwin, Ira, 167, 173 Goodman, Walter, 259, 360–61
Gerstacker, Franz, 206–7 Goodrich, Frances, 143
Gerstacker, Friedrich, 50 Goodspeed Opera House, 237
Gersten, Bernard, 167, 276, 331, 347 Goodwin, Maggie, 250
Gesser, Samuel, 218 Gordon, Barry H., 23
Getter, Philip M., 18 Gordon, Judy, 15
Getz, Mara, 353 Gordon, Lawrence, 308
Geva, Tamara, 165 Gore, Michael, 361
Ghetto, 394–95 Gorski, Virginia, 144
Giagni, D. J., 233–34, 341 Gosch, Dan, 398
Giambattista, Ann Marie, 145 The Gospel at Colonus, 350–52
Gibson, David Warren, 279 Goss, Dick, 135
Gibson, Karen, 57 Gottfried, Martin, 188
Gibson, Virginia, 144 Gottschall, Ruth, 334, 418
Gibson, William, 299 Gould, Martin, 143
INDEX 485
Gould, Peter David, 87 Grigsby, Peter R., 365

Goulding, Edmund, 420 Grilikhes, Michel M., 389
Goulet, Robert, 39 Grimes, Jerry, 156
Gourlay, Eileen, 118 Grimes, Scott, 217
Goz, Harry, 357 Grimes, Tammy, 40, 94
Graae, Jason, 130, 311, 330 Grimes, Taryn, 237
Grabber, Ariel, 393 Grind, 239–41
Grade, Lord, 107, 316 Groban, Josh, 359
Graff, Lillian, 324–25, 385 Groenendaal, Cris, 186–87, 212, 221–22, 251–52, 287–88,
Graff, Randy, 315, 426, 428 313, 324, 334, 344
Graff, Todd, 196 Groener, Harry, 88, 103, 105, 126–27, 151, 233–34, 307
Graham, Deborah, 360–61 Gropman, David, 26, 84
Graham, Stephen, 26 Gross, Shelly, 71
Grahame, Gerald, 5 Grossman, Larry, 148, 150, 208, 239
Grahame, Kenneth, 267 Grosvenor, Lucie D., 135
Grammer, Kelsey, 185, 214 Group TSE, 9, 11
Grammis, Adam, 135 Grove, Betty Ann, 164
Granata, Dona, 88 Grover’s Corners, 365–66
The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein, 125, 155–56 Grubman, Patty, 420
Grand Hotel, 420–23 Gruelle, Johnny, 299
Granger, Rashaan, 367 Gruenewald, Thomas, 237
Granoff, Perry B., 319 Guardino, Harry, 74
Grant, Cary, 5 Guber, Lee, 71, 294
Grant, Faye, 247 Guber/Gross Productions, 208
Grant, Malcolm, 254 Guida, Maria, 59
Grant, Micki, 31–34, 147 Guignard, Lisa, 96
Graves, Yolanda, 289 Gulack, Max, 360
Gray, Dolores, 255 Gunn, Nathan, 39
Gray, John, 26 Gunn, Nicholas, 244
Gray, Kevin, 387 Gunton, Bob, 223, 327, 349, 407
Gray, Kristen, 398 Guss, Jonathan, 250, 374
Gray, L. Michael, 147 Gussow, Mel, 9, 12, 14–15, 19–20, 25–26, 32–33, 54–55,
Grayson, Kathryn, 325 73–74, 97, 167, 228–29, 268, 277, 290–91, 307, 328, 330,
Green, Adolph, 148, 247 393
Green, Al, 147–48 Guthrie, Constance, 152
Green, Brian Lane, 393 Gutierrez, Gerald, 119, 123–24
Green, David, 341, 385 Gutrick, Tinka, 274–75, 401
Green, Diana, 166 Guy, Jasmine, 235
Green, Jonathan, 186, 326, 349 Gwillim, Jack, 96
Green, Martyn, 2, 155 Gyllenhammar, Birgitta, 87
Greenberg, Steven A., 15 Gyngell, Paul, 362
Greenblatt, Kenneth D., 127, 183, 239, 420 Gypsy, 383, 423–25
Greenblatt, Sandra, 420 Gyse, Alisa, 272
Greene, Ellen, 133
Greenfield, Debra, 102 H. M. Tennent, Ltd., 88
Greenstein, Michal, 50 Haarlem Nocturne, 227–29
Greenwald, Raymond J., 305, 390 Haberman, Linda, 183, 277
Greenwich, Ellie, 235–36 Hackady, Hal, 341
Gregory, Cynthia, 5–6, 44 Hackett, Albert, 143
Gregory, Don, 37, 77, 96, 105 Hackett, Buddy, 35
Gregory, Gillian, 291, 294 Hadebe, Congo, 347
Gregory, Michael Scott, 312 Hadley, Jerry, 101, 173, 251, 256
Gregus, Lubitza, 412 Haege, Jeana, 423
Greig, Grace, 389 Haffner, Carl, 5, 44, 101, 206, 289, 326
Grey, Clifford, 225 Hager, Larry, 10
Grey, Joel, 6–7, 333–35 Hager, Louis Busch, 122, 350
Grieg, Edvard, 99–100 Haines, Howard, 107
Grier, David Alan, 110–11 Haines, Jim, 387
Griffith, Thomas, 110 Hale, Alice M., 309
Halevy, Ludovic, 5, 44, 101, 125, 156, 191, 206, 289, 326 Harrold, Jack, 43, 125, 146, 153, 186, 221, 251, 255, 287,
Hall, Abraham Oakley, 260 297, 323, 326
Hall, Adelaide, 21–22 Harry, Deborah, 170
Hall, Phil, 141 Hart, Charles, 344, 346
Hall, Philip Baker, 88 Hart, Jack, 25
Hall, Steve, 102 Hart, John N., Jr., 57
Hall, Steven F., 132 Hart, Linda, 412
Hallett, Jack, 110 Hart, Lorenz, 164
Halley, Sharon, 370–71, 402, 407 Hart, Moss, 38, 107
Halliday, Robert, 325 Hart, Tony, 234
Hamer, Nigel, 405 Hartford Stage Company, 244
Hamill, Mark, 233–34 Hartley, Cathy, 396
Hamilton, Lawrence, 215, 272 Hartley, Susan, 174
Hamilton, Patrick, 329 Haruhiko, 410
Hamilton, Roger, 13 Harvey, Lawrence, 39
Hamlisch, Marvin, 208, 308 Harvey, Michael, 110
Hammerstein, Oscar II, 171, 230, 297, 312, 324, 371, 407 Harwood, C. William, 167
Hampton, Christopher, 133 Hashimoto, Kazuakira, 410
Hanan, Stephen, 59, 151 Hassard, Donald, 385
Hanayagi, Hagi, 410 Hassell, Dennis, 284
Hanayagi, Yoshijiro, 410 Hateley, Linzi, 121, 362, 365
Hancock, Sheila, 223 Hathaway, Anne, 316
Hands, Terry, 362, 364 Hauptman, William, 241, 243
Handwerger, Roshi, 181 Hauptmann, Elisabeth, 416
Hankerson, Barry, 336–37 Hauser, Frank, 269
Hanning, Geraldine, 103 Hauser, Kim, 202
Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates, 415 Hausman, Elaine, 48
Hansen, Kim, 304 Hawkins, Ira, 289, 327
Happy New Year, 13–15 Hawkins, John, 1
Harbach, Otto, 324, 407 Hawkins, Judine, 329
Harburg, E. Y., 389 Hawn, Goldie, 118
Hardwick, Mark, 122 Hayama, Kiyomi, 410
Hardy, William-Keebler, Jr., 31 Hayes, Helen, 86, 137
Hargate, Bill, 229 Hayes, Ted, 115
Hariton, Gerry, 299, 353 Hays, David, 71
Harlekyn U.S.A. Company, 158 Hays, Rex, 74, 349
Harley, Margot, 119 Hays, Rex D., 420
Harman, Barry, 359–61 Haze, Ralf Paul, 147
Harman, Paul, 314 Head, Helaine, 65
Harmony, 392 Head, Murray, 357
Harner, Bud, 392 Hearn, George, 148, 150, 183–85, 223, 254–55, 284, 395,
Harney, Ben, 112, 114 413
Harnick, Sheldon, 94, 135–36, 192 Heartaches of a Pussycat, 9–11
Harper, Wally, 18, 48, 127, 193, 319, 420 Heath, Bruce, 69
Harrell, Gordon Lowry, 225, 277, 398, 426 Heath, D. Michael, 316
Harrigan, Edward, 232, 234 Hebert, Rich, 156
Harrigan ‘n Hart, 232–35 Heckel, Jean-Louis, 76
Harrington, Charlene, 164 Heeley, Desmond, 37, 105, 275, 313
Harris, Albert, 311–12 Heifner, Jack, 133, 235
Harris, Dale, 384 Heikin, Nancy, 59
Harris, Frank, 36–37 Heineman, Victor, 229
Harris, Joseph, 148, 279 Heinfling, Martin, 183, 294
Harris, Julie, 160 Hellberg, Heinz, 207
Harris, Margaret, 189 Hellman, Jerome, 416
Harris, Niki, 18–19 Hellman, Lillian, 154
Harris, Richard, 39, 105 Helmsley, Leona and Harry, 260
Harrison, Llewellen, 337 Helpmann, Robert, 131
Harrison, Rex, 38, 96–97 Helward, Dale, 119
Harrison, Stafford, 11 Hemphill, A. Marcus, 83
INDEX 487
Hemsley, Gilbert V., Jr., 42, 98–99, 125, 131, 146, 156, Hodge, Douglas, 185
167, 186, 250–51, 323 Hoeffler, Charles E., 32
Henahan, Donal, 43, 100–101, 125, 146, 154, 206, 221–23, Hoffert, Paul, 3
251, 255, 325 Hoffman, Philip, 81, 126
Henderson, Florence, 100 Hofsiss, Jack, 42, 98, 125, 156, 250, 323
Henderson, Luther, 372 Hogya, Giles, 90
Henderson, Mark, 298 Holden, Stephen, 62, 122, 232, 269, 312, 337, 348–49, 353,
Henig, Andi, 210, 242 369, 371, 392, 411
Henning, Debby, 229 Holder, Geoffrey, 215
Henning, Doug, 162–63, 229–30 Holdridge, Lee, 302–3
Henry, Judith, 189 Holgate, Danny, 32
Henry, William A. III, 236, 241, 249, 253, 264, 266, 281, Holgate, Ron, 23
292, 309, 316, 318, 332, 335, 339, 345–46, 359, 364, Holiday, Melanie, 207
380, 385, 408, 417, 422, 424, 427 Holland, Bernard, 186–87, 208, 288, 323–24, 326, 370, 407
Hensel, Howard, 191 Holland, Dennis, 34
Henson, Nicky, 39 Holliday, David, 55
Henzel, Richard, 365 Holliday, Jennifer, 112, 114, 285–86
Hepburn, Audrey, 97, 133, 176 Holliday, Jennifer-Yvette, 31–32
Herbert, Jocelyn, 416–17 Holloway, Stanley, 97
Herbert, Victor, 374–75 Holm, Hanya, 96
Here’s Where I Belong, 244 Holmes, Rupert, 263, 265, 330
Herman, Jerry, 18, 181, 183–84, 186, 265–67 Holmes, Scott, 202, 270–71
Herman Van Veen: All of Him, 158–59 Holt, Ednah, 166
Herrera, John, 361 Holt, Fritz, 55, 183
Herrmann, Keith, 57–58, 359, 361 Holton, Mary C., 116
Hersey, David, 107, 151, 153, 314, 316, 357 Holzer, Adela, 398
Herson, Milton, 230 Hombert, Terri, 265
Herzl, Robert, 207 Homolka, Oscar, 100
Hess, Rodger H., 63 Honky Tonk Nights, 289–91
Hess, Roger, 401 Hooper, Tom, 316
Heuchling, Peter, 130 Hopkin, Jacob Mark, 181
Hewes, Henry, 231 Hopkins, Linda, 378, 380
Hewett, Peggy, 18–20 Horn, Roderick, 210
Hey Marilyn, 194 Horne, Geoffrey, 107, 109
Hibiki, Mito, 410 Horne, Lena, 84–86, 217
Hickey, Louise, 407 Horner, Paul, 198
Hicks, Marva, 285 Hornung, Richard, 261
High Button Shoes, 382–83 Horowitz, Jimmy, 102
High Society, 15 Horowitz, Joseph, 6
Hill, Richard, 1 Horvath, Jan, 279
Hillman, Gerald (Paul), 90 Horwitt, Arnold B., 185
Hillman, Nancy Tribush, 90 Horwitz, Murray, 227, 372
Hinderyckx, Les, 365 Horwood, Craig Revel, 175
Hindman, James, 426 Hoshko, John, 418
Hines, Gregory, 21–22, 69–70 Hoshour, Robert, 360–61
Hines, Johnny, 124 Hostetter, Paula, 374
Hines, Maurice, 71, 272, 274, 367 Hostettler, Andy, 34
Hirsch, Caroline, 298 Hotchner, A. E., 390–91
Hirschfeld, Abe, 418 The Hot Corner, 110
Hirschfeld, Susan, 393 Hotopp, Michael, 48, 141, 200
Hirschhorn, Joel, 77, 143 Hotopp, Michael J., 103
Hoagy, Bix & Wolfgang Beethoven Bunkhaus, 88–89 Hoty, Dee, 63, 426
Hoback, James, 191 Hoty, Tony, 423
Hobe, 58 Houdina, Mary Jane, 302
Hobson, I. M., 210 Hould-Ward, Ann, 212, 233, 338
Hobson, Valerie, 231 House, Eric, 283
Hochman, Larry, 130 Houseman, John, 119
Hodapp, Ann, 36 Houston Grand Opera, 171
Hodes, Bernard, 143 Howard, Cheryl, 177
Howard, Karen, 196 Insull, Sigrid, 1

Howard, Mel, 256, 301, 378 Into the Light, 302–4
Howard, Peter, 15, 27, 177, 196, 233, 270, 302, 385 Into the Woods, 338–41
Howard, Ronny, 35 Iredale, Jane, 267
Howard, Sydney, 333 Irosch, Mirjana, 207
Howes, Sally Ann, 231 Iruzubieta, Raquel, 10
Hoylen, Anthony, 261 Irving, George S., 164, 291
Hoyt, Lon, 156, 396 Iscove, Rob, 77
Hubbard, Bruce, 172 Isherwood, Christopher, 334
Hubbard, Elizabeth, 177 Ishida, Masaya, 410
Hubbard, Hugh J., 57 Ishihama, Hideo, 410
Huckleberry Finn, 243 Issac, Gerald, 297, 371
Huddleston, David, 110–11 Is There Life after High School?, 125–27
Hudgins, Marilyn, 418 Italian Government, 257–58, 261
Hudson, Jennifer, 114 It’s So Nice to Be Civilized, 32–34
Hudson, Judith, 54
Hudson, Kate, 129 J. C. Associates, 196
Huffstodt, Karen, 147, 186 Jablonski, Carl, 131
Hughes, Allen, 288, 297–98 Jackie Mason’s “The World According to Me!”, 310–11
Hughes, Allen Lee, 224 Jackman, Hugh, 316
Hughes, Michaela K., 164 Jackness, Andrew, 355, 376
Hughes, Rhetta, 189, 321 Jackson, David, 174
Hugill, Randy, 1–2 Jackson, Ethel, 147
Hugo, Victor, 314 Jackson, Jerry, 143
Huguely, Jay, 141 Jackson, Mahalia, 285–86
Hulce, Thomas, 124 Jackson, Michael, 217
Hull, Josephine, 137 Jackson, Veda, 193
The Human Comedy, 204–6 Jacobs, Sander, 420
Hume, Nancy, 341, 343 Jacobson, Henrietta, 388
Humm, 359, 364 Jacobson, Steven, 3
Hummel, Mark, 71, 110 Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, 67–68
Humphries, Barry, 210–11, 356 Jamerson, Thomas, 146, 186
Hunter, Tab, 415 James, Jessica, 116
Hunter, William Gregg, 156 James, Rian, 40
Huntington, Rex, 93 James, Stephen, 18
Hurst, Howard, 405 James, Terry, 105
Hurst, Sophie, 405 Jamieson, James, 48, 275
Husmann, Ron, 79 Jamison, Judith, 69–70
Hussien, Ahmed, 103 Jampolis, Neil Peter, 136, 284, 302, 310, 378, 412
Husson, Albert, 283 Janek, James, 31, 215
Huston, Walter, 239 Janeway, Ashley, 254, 288
Hutchinson, Josephine, 160 Janik, Ada, 134
Hutson, Eric, 291 Jans, Alaric, 130
Hutton, Bill, 120–21 Jaroslow, Lori Ada, 94
Hyman, Phyllis, 69 Jaroslow, Ruth, 94
Hymes, Virginia, 167 Jaua, Zobeid, 10
Hynd, Ghretta, 350 Jay, Brian, 413
Hynes, Elizabeth, 98, 146, 251 Jay, Stephen, 353
Jay-Alexander, Richard, 314
Iannucci, Michael P., 93 Jeanmaire, Zizi, 79–81, 333
Ibsen, Henrik, 148 Jeffrey, Terry Mike, 401
I Due Sergenti, 258–59 Jeff Satkin, Inc., 93
Ikeda, Thomas, 313 Jellison, John, 135, 196, 267
Imai, Naoji, 410 Jenbach, Bela, 207
Inacent Black, 83–84 Jenkins, Daniel H., 242–43
Incrocci, Agenore, 277 Jenkins, David, 42, 65, 98–99, 250, 311, 323, 349, 390
Ingalls, James F., 204 Jennings, Donald, 3
Ingster, Peter, 405 Jennings, Ken, 259
Insideoutandallaround with Shelley Berman, 47 Jerome, Howard, 218
INDEX 489
Jerome, Timothy, 81, 132, 291, 420 Julia, Raul, 127, 129
Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood, 270–72 Julien, Jay, 32
Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, 381–85
Jerry, Philip, 409 Kabler, James, 193
Jerry’s Girls, 265–67 Kadokawa, Haruki, 416
Jeter, Michael, 420, 422–23 Kagan, Richard M., 308
Jillette, Penn, 343–44 Kahn, E. J., Jr., 232
Jimmy, 260 Kahn, Madeline, 155
Jiranek, David, 119 Kahn, Michael, 171–72
Jo-Ann, Ebony, 367 Kaiser, Georg, 6, 47
Joe Silverman Associates Ltd., 299 Kalem, T. E., 5, 14, 16–17, 19–20, 38, 52, 57, 64, 76, 108,
Johann, Cameron, 127 114, 120, 129, 152, 169, 175, 209
Johanson, Jane, 428 Kales, Elisabeth, 206–7
Johanson, Robert, 1–2, 297, 324–25, 371, 407 Kalfin, Robert, 134
John, Tom H., 193, 198 Kalish, Larry, 32
John Annunziato Productions, 102 Kalman, Emmerich, 207
Johns, Glynis, 86 Kalmar, Bert, 63
Johns, Kurt, 357 Kaluski, Yankele, 50
Johns, Martin, 291 Kaman, Brian, 3
Johnson, Alan, 110, 208, 376 Kamen, Michael, 11
Johnson, Bernard, 115 Kaminska, Ruth T., 50
Johnson, Betty, 237 Kander, John, 74–76, 187, 201, 203, 334
Johnson, David Lawrence, 204 Kane, Donna, 413
Johnson, Doug, 122 Kanfer, Stefan, 163
Johnson, Jeff, 398 Kanin, Fay, 239
Johnson, Linda, 389 Kanin, Michael, 74
Johnson, Mary Lea, 148, 239, 259, 326, 420 Kanouse, Lyle, 217
Johnson, Mel, Jr., 202 Kantor, Kenneth, 48, 324
Johnson, Reginald Vel, 83 Kantor, Mary, 408
Johnson, Tommi, 272 Kantrowitz, Jason, 393
Johnson, Van, 35, 50 Kapp, Peter, 355
Johnston, Donald, 77 Kapp, Richard, 341
Johnston, Justine, 291 Karbi, Ras, 11
Jolivet, Jacques, 10 Karczykowski, Richard, 207
Jolivet, Tyrone, 167 Karnilova, Maria, 71–72, 94–95
Jones, Bill, 156 Karrie, Peter, 357
Jones, Cliff, 194 Kasha, Al, 77, 143
Jones, David, 211 Kasha, Lawrence, 74, 143
Jones, Dean, 302–3 Kaslan Productions, Inc., 143
Jones, Don, 61, 200, 387 Kassir, John, 355
Jones, Elinor, 132 Katsaros, Doug, 310
Jones, Leilani, 140, 239, 241 Katz, Arthur, 241
Jones, Reed, 3, 141–42, 151 Katz, Natasha, 289, 423
Jones, Roy L., 321 Katz, Raymond, 217
Jones, Sabra, 159 Kauahi, Norman Wendall, 376
Jones, Shirley, 35, 50 Kaufman, Andy, 170–71
Jones, Steven, 360 Kaufman, Bill, 305
Jones, Tom, 131, 133, 365 Kaufman, George S., 107
Jongerius, Gerard, 158 Kaufman, Martin R., 420
Jordan, Tenita, 112 Kaur, Vidya, 90
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Kay, Stanley, 272
120–21 Kaye, Judy, 81, 103, 105, 133, 344, 346, 385–86
Joslyn, Betsy, 133, 148, 150 Kaye, Ronna, 130
Jouannest, Gerard, 68 Kaye, Stubby, 239
Jourdan, Louis, 80 Kaye, Tom, 193
Joy, James Leonard, 237 Kaye, Toni, 289, 428
Jude, Patrick, 45, 102, 261 Kays, Alan, 186
Juggling and Cheap Theatrics, 276–77 Kazantzakis, Nikos, 187
Jujamcyn Theatres, 174, 201, 338, 420, 426 Kazuko Hillyer International, 206–7
Keagy, Grace, 23, 75 King, Woodie, Jr., 11

Keating, Barry, 392, 394 The King and I, 230–31, 382
Kedrova, Lila, 187–89, 336 Kingsley, Dorothy, 143
Keegan, Ted, 407 King Street Productions, 174
Keel, Howard, 144, 255 Kipness, Joseph, 89
Keene, Christopher, 254, 275 Kirk, Alyson, 237
Keeth, Trevor, 244 Kirk, Bonnie, 146, 153, 186
Kehoe, Marc, 398 Kirk, Kelby, 274
Kehoe, Sheila, 222 Kirk, William, 222, 324
Keil, Mary, 393 Kirkpatrick, Sam, 267
Keith, Paul, 171 Kismet, 254–56, 288–89
Kelly, Daren, 74 Kissel, Howard, 2–3, 10, 14, 22, 27, 35, 38, 46, 49, 57, 60,
Kelly, David Patrick, 126 66, 72, 76, 78, 80, 85, 97, 102, 106, 108, 111, 113–14,
Kelly, Gene, 50, 165, 247 117, 144, 152, 161, 166, 170, 183–84, 189, 192, 197,
Kelly, Glen, 177 200, 205, 213–14, 226, 236, 238, 241, 243, 249, 253,
Kelly, Kevin, 175 264, 267–68, 271, 273, 277, 279, 291, 296, 299–300,
Kelly, Mark M., 99 302–3, 305, 307, 309, 312, 315, 318, 322, 327–28, 330,
Kelman, Charles D., 79 335, 337, 339, 342–43, 345–46, 348, 354–56, 359, 361,
Kelton, Pert, 35 363–64, 373, 378, 380, 384, 388, 391, 395, 404, 409–10,
Kendrick, Anna, 340 414, 417, 419, 421–22, 424, 427
Kennedy, Cheryl, 46, 97 Kisselgoff, Anna, 302
Kennedy, Jacqueline, 107 Kitt, Eartha, 255–56
Kennedy Center, 3, 45, 103, 123, 131, 164, 171, 177, 224, Kladitis, Manny, 181, 230
237, 299, 314, 353 Klaisner, Fred, 365
Kenneth-John Productions, Inc., 187, 196, 201, 265 Klaris, Harvey J., 127, 200
Kenneth-Mark Productions, 170, 174 Klausner, Terri, 69, 307
Kenny, Sean, 209 Klein, Alvin, 136
Kent, Barry, 39 Klein, Robert, 269, 369
Kent, Gordon, 90 Klein, Sally, 107
Kent, Roberta, 392 Kleinsma, Simone, 282
Kenyon, Laura, 127 Klemperer, Werner, 334
Kermoyan, Michael, 231 Klezmer Group, 51
Kern, Jerome, 171, 270–72 Kline, Kevin, 59–61
Kernan, David, 270 Klotz, Florence, 148, 198, 239, 241, 265, 294, 326, 426
Kerr, Deborah, 231 Knee, Allan, 329
Kerr, Walter, 4, 10, 27, 35, 80, 155, 255 Knepler, Paul, 147
Kessler, William H., Jr., 390 Knight, Eric, 186
Keyes, Daniel, 45 Knoblock, Edward, 254, 288
Keyes, Ralph, 126 Knowles, Beyonce, 114
Khoury, Pamela, 103 Knudson, Kurt, 119
Khuzwayo, Mhlathi, 347 Kobayashi, Kohei, 410
Kidd, Billy, 392 Kobler, John, 244
Kidd, Michael, 34–35, 144, 209, 308 Koch, Edward I., 259–60
Kidman, Nicole, 129 Kodama, Ai, 410
Kief, Garry C., 392 Kohan, Buz, 208
Kiley, Richard, 135 Kolinski, Joseph, 225, 227, 314
Killmer, Nancy, 160 Koller, Dagmar, 206
Kim, Willa, 69, 71, 217, 252, 376, 378 Koloc, Bonnie, 204
Kimball, Robert, 21 Koltai, Ralph, 362
Kimbrough, Charles, 89 Komack, James, 193
Kimmelman, Michael, 323, 325 Konecky, Isobel Robins, 45
Kindley, Jeffrey, 125 Kopit, Arthur, 127–28
King, Carlotta, 325 Koppelman, Charles, 156
King, Charles, 64 Korberg, Tommy, 357, 359
King, Dennis, 226 Korthaze, Richard, 237
King, Donna, 151 Korwin, Devra, 87
King, Everett, 119 Kosarin, Michael, 259
King, Mabel, 32–33, 217 Koslow, Ira, 370
King, Stephen, 362 Kowal, James, 408
INDEX 491
Kozinn, Allan, 370, 372, 375, 386, 402–3 Land, David, 120
Krakowski, Jane, 129, 420 Landau, Emily, 241
Kramer, Eric, 284 Landay, David, 143
Kramer, Milton, 51 Landay, David S., 74
Kramer, Mimi, 363–64 Landesman, Heidi, 241–43, 338
Kramer, Terry Allen, 291 Landesman, Rocco, 241, 338
Krane, David, 267, 407 Landon, Margaret, 230
Krauss, Marvin A., 161, 183, 294, 321, 328, 360, 376, 401, Landrum, Kenny, 102
420 Lane, Lupino, 293
Kravat, Jerry, 259, 319 Lane, Nathan, 162, 267
Krebs, David, 116, 123 Lane, Stewart F., 3, 74, 79, 170, 183
Kreis, Robert, 96 Lang, Barbara, 148
Kretzmer, Herbert, 314, 316 Langer, Lawrence, 5
Kreuger, Miles, 173 Langford, Bonnie, 424–25
Krieger, Henry, 112–13, 200, 321, 396 Langley, Noel, 389
Krieger, Mitchell, 101, 186 Langner, Christine, 151
Kristen, Ilene, 259 Langton, Diane, 203
Krok, Loren, 413 Lankston, John, 48, 153, 186–87, 221–22, 251, 287, 370,
Kroll, Jack, 12, 14, 16–17, 19–20, 49, 53, 60, 66, 70, 76, 402–3
108, 114, 117, 119–20, 122, 126, 128, 152, 161, 163, Lansbury, Angela, 181–83, 424
166, 171–73, 175–76, 178, 189, 196–97, 199, 201, 203, Lansbury, Edgar, 73
205, 209, 213, 234, 236, 243, 249, 253, 279, 281, 295, Lanza, Mario, 44, 326
316, 346, 351, 363, 384, 427 Lapidus, Ted, 166
Kroner, John, 1 Lapine, James, 212–14, 338–41
Krones, Fred H., 139 Lapotaire, Jane, 65–67
Krupska, Dania, 134 Lardner, James, 29
Kubala, Michael, 193 Lardner, Ring, Jr., 74
Kuchwara, Michael, 378 Large, Norman, 5–6, 45, 47, 101
Kughn, Richard, 302 Large, Norman A., 148
Kuhlman, Kim, 145 Larkin, Peter, 73, 195, 201, 203, 277
Kuhn, Judy, 263, 294, 357–59 Larner, Elizabeth, 210
Kuhn, Kitty, 73 Larsen, Liz, 94, 393
Kulukundis, Eddie, 8 Larsen, Ray, 65
Kurland, Jerry, 93 Larsen, Robert R., 390
Kurtz, John Henry, 102 Larson, Lisby, 63
Kyme, 289 Lascelles, Kendrew, 11
Kyte, Mary, 52, 308 Laser Media, Inc., 302
Late Nite Comic, 329–30
LaBelle, Patti, 147–48 Latessa, Dick, 294
La Cage Aux Folles, 183–86 Latouche, John, 153, 186, 221, 287, 402
Lacey, Franklin, 34, 349 Latowicz, Karol, 50
LaChanze, 323 La Tragedie de Carmen and Carmen, 191–92
Lacy, Terry, 254, 288 Laughing Room Only, 310
Laderman, Ezra, 194 Laune, Robert E., 285
Lafaille, Michel, 158 Laurenson, Diana, 145
LaFletche, Michel, 428 Laurents, Arthur, 3–4, 183, 185, 423
La Fosse, Robert, 385 Lavie, Raul, 256
La Gatta Cenerentola, 257–58 Lavine, Audrey, 81
LaGuardia, Fiorello, 260 Lawless, Sue, 63–64
LaGuerre, Irma-Estel, 230 Lawrence, Beth, 193
Lahr, Bert, 333 Lawrence, Burke, 405
Laine, Cleo, 133, 263 Lawrence, Gertrude, 231
Laird, Marvin, 73, 103 Lawrence, Jack, 84
Laizer Productions, 87 Lawrence, Jerome, 181
Lam, Zoie, 387 Lawrence, Stephanie, 194
LaManna, Raphael, 187 Lawson, Carol, 134, 426
Lambert, Patricia, 35 Layton, Joe, 15–16, 71, 156, 158, 225, 233–34, 284
Lamos, Mark, 244 Lazarus, Frank, 18
Lan, David, 394 Lazarus, Milton, 99–100
Leach, Archie, 5 Levy, Mark, 401

Leach, Wilford, 59–60, 204–5, 263–65 Lewenstein, Oscar, 36
Leader of the Pack, 235–36 Lewis, Adair, 222
Leaf, Sven, 43 Lewis, Alde, Jr., 277
Leary, David, 65 Lewis, Jenifer, 114, 156
Leber, Steven, 116, 123 Lewis, Jim, 408
Lebowsky, Stanley, 79, 151, 291 Lewis, John Richard, 241
LeBrock, Kelly, 78 Lewis, Marcia, 327
Lecat, Jean-Guy, 191 Lewis, Vicki, 130, 231, 267
Ledbetter, William, 125, 156, 251, 275, 324, 349, 407 Lewis, William, 155
Lederer, Charles, 254, 288 Leyden, Leo, 291
Lee, Baayork, 174 Libertella, Jose, 256
Lee, Ellen, 272 Libin, Claire, 269
Lee, Eugene, 107–8, 133, 222, 324 Libin, Paul, 269, 369, 394, 407
Lee, Franne, 81, 156, 222, 231, 324 Libowitzky, Hervig, 302
Lee, Gypsy Rose, 423 Lichtefeld, Michael, 407
Lee, Jack, 174, 420 Lida, David, 316, 320, 339, 345–46, 348, 351
Lee, Jae Woo, 230 Light, Ronald, 196
Lee, Judith, 218 Ligon, Kevin, 312
Lee, Peggy, 198–99 Lily Turner Attractions, 67
Lee, Pinky, 94 Lim, Paul Stephen, 37
Lee, Robert E., 181 Lincoln Center, 276, 331, 347
Lee, Valerie, 218 Linden, Hal, 332
Leeds, Doug, 231 Lindsay, Howard, 331
LeFrak, Francine, 127, 174 Lindsay, John, 260
Le Gallienne, Eva, 159 Lindsay, Robert, 291–93
Legrand, Michel, 135 Lindsey, Kathleen, 261
Legs Diamond, 376–78 Liniva Productions, Inc., 267
Lehar, Franz, 146, 186, 207, 251, 370, 402 Link, Richard, 161
Leiber, Jerry, 218 Link, William, 163
Leigh, Carolyn, 116, 118 Linn, Bambi, 159–60
Leigh, Mitch, 86, 119, 230, 387 Linn-Baker, Mark, 195
Leight, Warren, 259 Lion, Margo, 416
Leighton, David, 153, 156 Lipson, Paul, 95
Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, 84–86 Little, Cleavon, 121
Lennon, Julian, 78 The Little Comedy, 359–61
Lenya, Lotte, 417–18 Little Johnny Jones, 123–24
Leon, Tania, 204 A Little Like Magic, 304–5
Leon, Victor, 146, 186, 206, 251, 370, 402 Little Me, 116–18
Leonhart, Jay, 198 The Little Prince and the Aviator, 133–34
Lerner, Alan Jay, 37, 39, 48, 96, 105, 134, 177, 275 Little Prince Productions, Ltd., 133
Lerner, Elizabeth, 39 Little Tramp, 218
Leroux, Gaston, 344 Litwin, Burton L., 68, 311
LeRoy, Mervyn, 124 Livitz, Barbara, 308
Lesenger, Jay, 99 Lloyd, Linda, 112
Lesko, John, 40, 209 Lloyd, Lisbeth, 402
Les Miserables, 314–16 Lloyd Webber, Andrew, 120, 151–53, 252–53, 316, 318,
Lester, Hugh, 45 344–46
Lester, Mark, 211 Lo, Randon, 120
Lester, Todd, 3, 162, 316–17 Lobban, Lynn, 224
LeTang, Henry, 69, 378, 380 Lobel, Adrianne, 174
Levin, Charles, 89 Lockhart, Calvin, 11
Levin, Kathy, 423 Loeb, Charles, 319
Levine, Marc, 392 Loesser, Frank, 35, 55–57, 192
LeVine, Marilynn, 378 Loewe, Frederick, 37, 48, 96, 105, 134, 275
Levinson, Fred, 55 Loewinger, Guggi, 206
Levinson, Richard, 161, 163 Loftin, Robert, 353
Levitt, Sandy, 50 Logan, John, 224
Levy, Jacques, 195 Logan, Joshua, 39–40, 234, 312
INDEX 493
Logan, Nedda Harrigan, 232, 234 Macklin, Albert, 195

Lohner-Beda, Fritz, 147 MacLaine, Shirley, 80, 208–9, 282
Lom, Herbert, 231 MacNamara, John, 428
LoMonaco, Thomas, 103 MacRae, Gordon, 325
Long, William Ivey, 127, 130, 200, 308, 353, 390, 396 MacShane, Anita, 147
Loos, Anita, 133 Madeira, Marcia, 34, 127, 193, 222
Lopez, Priscilla, 18, 20 Madero, Ralph, 32
Lopez, Sal, 370 Madison Square Garden Productions, 401
Loquasto, Santo, 247, 420, 423 Mages, Libby Adler, 130
Lord, James, 9 Maggart, Brandon, 89
Loren, Sophia, 129 Magic Promotions, Inc., 401
Lorick, Robert, 199 Magid, Larry, 272
Lortel, Lucille, 347 Magid, Paul David, 176, 276
Lorwin, Liza, 350 Maginnes, Molly, 171
Loudon, Dorothy, 265–66 Maguire, Michael, 316
Louise, Merle, 340 Mahaffey, Valerie, 36
Love, Darlene, 235, 362, 364 Mahon, Kristen, 423
Love, Edward, 8 Mahony-Bennett, Kathy, 103
Love Never Dies, 346 Maibaum, Norman, 87
Lowe, Jackie, 200 Mail, 353–55
Lowey, Marilyn, 302 Maillard, Carol Lynn, 32
Lubitsch, Ernest, 44, 147 Main, Marjorie, 415
Lubovitch, Lars, 338 Mais, Michele, 327
Luby, Roger, 110 Maitland, Dexter, 93
Lucas, Craig, 250 Major, Aja, 274, 329
Lucas, Jamilah, 208 Makarova, Natalia, 164, 166
Lucas, Roxie, 233 Los Malambos, 73
Lucero, Urbanie, 370 Malas, Spiro, 101, 156
Luckham, Claire, 170–71 Malden, Karl, 424
Ludd, Patricia, 99 Malkin, Sam, 218
Ludgin, Chester, 323 Mallard, David E., 407
Ludwig, Ken, 250 Mallow, Tom, 31, 215
Lum, Alvin, 387 Malone, Maggie, 427
Lumbard, Dirk, 164 Malone, Mike, 11
Lumpkin, Bruce, 420 Maltby, Richard, Jr., 196, 252–54, 372
Luna, Jovita, 256 Maltin, Leonard, 100
Lundell, Kert, 115, 405 Mame, 181–83
Lunt, Alfred, 178 Mamoulian, Rouben, 239
LuPone, Patti, 80, 210, 223, 316, 331–32, 424 Manchester, Melissa, 252
LuPone, Robert, 29, 329–30 Mancini, Al, 429
Luskin, Jean, 120 Mandel, Frank, 297, 324, 371, 407
Lussa, Raymond, 34 Mandel, Howie, 79
Lustig, A., 50 Mandracchia, Charles, 420
Lutgenhorst, Manuel, 6, 47 Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Dress Casual, 403–5
Lynch, Tom, 52 Manfredini, Harry, 141
Lyndeck, Edmund, 148, 162 Manhattan Rhythm, 145–46
Lyng, Nora Mae, 267, 334 Manilow, Barry, 392
Lynn, Joe, 112 Manim, Mannie, 347
Lynn, Jonathan, 81 Mann, Edward, 189
Lynne, Gillian, 151–52, 344 Mann, Terrence, 314
Lynne, Michael, 181 Mann, Terrence V., 15
Mann, Theodore, 269, 369, 394, 407
MacDermot, Galt, 204–5 Manning, Frankie, 378, 380
Macdonald, Brian, 218 Manning, Irene, 325
MacDonald, Jeanette, 19, 147, 298, 376 Manoff, Dinah, 235
MacGeorge, Jim, 218 Manuel, 370
MacKaye, Percy, 3 Manuscript Productions, 196
Mackintosh, Cameron, 151, 209, 314, 344 Marble, Carolyn, 299
Mackintosh, Robert, 181 Marble Arch Productions, 13
Marceau, Yvonne, 420 Mastrantonio, Mary Elizabeth, 77, 103, 204, 214
Marcell, Joseph, 79 Mastrocola, Frank, 202
Marcelli, Rino, 257 Matalon, Vivian, 48–49, 200–201
March, Richard, 284 Mathews, Carmen, 77, 214
Marcovicci, Andrea, 217 Mathis, Claude, 93
Marcum, Kevin, 314 Matsumoto, Yuri, 410
Margoshes, Steven, 135, 193, 298 Matthews, Brian, 77
Marie, Julienne, 45 Matthews, Hale, 13
Marilyn, 192–94 Matz, Jerry, 327, 395
Marini, Giovanna, 258 Matz, Peter, 229
Marini, Marilu, 9–10 Mauceri, John, 153, 164, 221, 252
Marks, Walter, 73–74 Mauldin, Randolph, 187
Mark Taper Forum, 88 Maurer, Michael, 207, 302
Marlay, Andrew, 297, 349, 371, 374 Maurstad, Toralv, 100
Marlowe, 102–3 Mavin Productions, Inc., 130
Maronex, James, 130 Maxwell, Mitchell, 139
Marre, Albert, 86, 119, 249, 387 May, William, 193
Marriner, Gregg, 1 Mayer, Timothy S., 173
Marriott’s Lincolnshire Theatre, 365 Mayerson, Fred, 241
Marsee, Susanne, 146, 156, 186, 251, 254–55, 288, 323, Mayerson, Frederic H., 338
374 Mayes, Sally, 391
Marsh, Howard, 44 Maynard, Gaylord, 73
Marshall, Anthony D., 159 Mayor, 259–60
Marshall, Edward, 360 Mazo, Joseph H., 249, 302
Marshall, Ken, 3 Mazzie, Marin, 365
Marshall, Larry, 103, 167, 277 McAllen, Kathleen, 120
Marshall, Rob, 129, 189, 264, 340 McAloney, Michael, 136
Martens, Lora Jeanne, 57 MCA Music Entertainment Group, 316
Martin, Andrea, 79 McAnuff, Des, 241, 243
Martin, Christopher, 405 McArt, Jan, 418
Martin, Elliot, 233 McAteer, Kathryn, 259
Martin, George N., 263 McAvin, Andy, 37, 105
Martin, Glenn, 171 McBride, Michele, 370, 402, 407
Martin, Hugh, 413 McBroom, Amanda, 88
Martin, James, 37 McCabe, Eileen, 23
Martin, Leila, 344 McCallum, Martin, 314
Martin, Mary, 334 McCann, Elizabeth I., 65
Martin, Nicholas, 160 McCarroll, Earl, 1
Martin, Ruth, 5, 44, 101, 125, 156, 289, 326 McCarthy, Jeff, 308
Martin, Thomas, 5, 44, 101, 125, 156, 289, 326 McCarthy, Sheila, 136
Martin, Virginia, 117–18, 121 McCarthy, Sobhan, 357
Martini, Richard, 31 McCarty, Michael, 135, 341
Martino, Mark, 103 McClain, John, 155
Martins, Peter, 164, 252 McClatchy, J. D., 366
Marvin, Mel, 52 McClelland, Kay, 338, 426
Marx, Chico, 20 McConnell, Lynda, 321
Marx, Groucho, 20 McCormick, Michael, 244
Marx, Harpo, 20 McCown, Marjorie, 385
Maryanne, 297 McCready, Kevin, 79
Masekela, Hugh, 346 McCutcheon, Bill, 331, 334
Masella, Arthur, 186, 221–22, 287, 324, 349 McDermott, Sean, 316
Masella, Joni, 120 McDonald, Annette R., 261
Masiell, Joe, 67–68 McDonald, J. T., 392
Maslansky, Harris, 126 McDonald, Quentin H., 261
Mason, Jackie, 310–11 McDonough, Joe, 389
Mason, Karen, 141 McDonough, Marty, 57
Masten, Fritz, 288 McDonough, Stephen, 237
Masteroff, Joe, 334 McDougall, Gordon, 284
Masterson, Mary Stuart, 129, 160 McDowell, Robbin, 25
INDEX 495
McDuffie, Alvin, 11 Menard, Raymond, 313

McElroy, Michael, 243 Menefee, Pete, 208
McFadden, Gene, 83 Menken, Alan, 136, 219
McFadden, Michael, 136 M2 Entertainment, Inc., 139
McFarland, Robert, 6, 47 Menzel, Idina, 359
McFerren, Scott, 135 Mercado, Hector Jaime, 3–4, 151
McGavin, Darren, 111, 231 Mercer, Johnny, 40, 143
McGill, Bruce, 174 Meredith, Burgess, 160
McGillin, Howard, 263, 331, 333 Mergenthaler, D. J., 229
McGiveney, Michael, 54, 229 Merimee, Prosper, 191
McGiveney, Owen, 54 Merlin, 161–63
McGlinn, John, 173, 334 Merman, Ethel, 332–33, 424
McGough, Roger, 267 Merrick, David, 40–41, 211
McGourty, Patricia, 59, 122, 195, 241 Merrick, Mike, 37, 77, 96, 105
McGovern, Maureen, 97, 417 Merrill, Bob, 237
McGreevey, Annie, 81 Merrily We Roll Along, 106–9
McGuire, William Anthony, 225 Merritt, Theresa, 217
McHattie, Stephen, 395 The Merry Widow, 146–47, 186, 206–7, 251–52, 370, 402
McInerney, Bernie, 119 Mess, Suzanne, 146, 186, 218, 251, 324, 370, 402, 407
McIntyre, Stephen, 405 Metzler, Lawrence, 87
McKayle, Donald, 68, 312 Meyer-Forster, Wilhelm, 42, 98, 250, 323
McKee, Joseph, 297, 326, 371, 403 Meyers, T. J., 396
McKee, Lonette, 110–11, 171–72 Meyers, Timothy, 46
McKee, Richard, 5, 289, 349–50, 370, 402–3 Mhlongo, Ndaba, 347
McKenzie, James B., 86 Micacchion, Al, 123
McKenzie, Julia, 340 Michael Feinstein in Concert, 355–56
McKinley, Philip William, 324–25, 407 Michael Feinstein in Concert/Isn’t It Romantic, 376
McKinney, John, 133 Michael Kleinman Productions, 200
McKnight, Sharon, 393–94 Michaels, Lisa, 261
McLaglen, Andrew V., 405 Michaels, Patricia, 193
McLain, John, 164, 231, 398 Michel, Carolyn, 412
McLaughlin, J., 116 Michele, Linda, 324–25
McLean, Ann, 25 Michell, Keith, 185
McLean, Sammis, 135 Michels, Lloyd, 27
McLennan, Ron, 282 Michener, Charles, 5, 85
McLernon, Pamela, 77 Michener, James A., 312
McMartin, John, 13–15, 282, 340 Mieholes, Nicky, 8
McMillian, Larry, 63 Migenes, Julia, 256, 296
McNally, Terrence, 201, 203 Miglietta, John, 160
McNamara, Rosemary, 224 Mignini, Carolyn, 52
McNeely, Anna, 123 Milbro Productions, 201
McPhillips, Tom, 272, 285 Milchan, Arnon, 32
McQueen, Armelia, 372 Miles, Bernard, 285
McRobbie, Peter, 263 Miles, Sarah, 265
Meadows, Christine, 374, 403 Milford, Jim, 71
Meadows, Kristen, 36 Miller, Amy, 130
Me and My Girl, 291–94 Miller, Craig, 15, 63, 237, 267, 360
Medin, Harriet, 96 Miller, Gregory, 83
Medjuck, Joe, 161 Miller, James M., 141
Meehan, John, 6 Miller, John, 198
Meet Me in St. Louis, 145, 249–50, 413–15 Miller, Lawrence, 127, 170, 254, 288
Meibach, Ina Lea, 225 Miller, Marsha Trigg, 141
Meilhac, Henri, 5, 44, 101, 125, 146, 156, 186, 191, 206–7, Miller, Maxine, 136
251, 289, 326, 370, 402 Miller, Roger, 241, 243
Mellon, James J., 3 Millius, Michael G., 232
Melnick, Peter, 428 Mills, Erie, 153, 287–88
Melnik, Bertha, 67 Mills, Stephanie, 215–16
Melotti, Joe, 392 Milner, Ron, 336–37
Meltzer, Andrew, 42 Milton, Alton, 29
Minami, Roger, 410 The Moony Shapiro Songbook, 81–83

Mineo, John, 187, 401 Moore, Barbara, 145
Miner, Worthington, 165 Moore, Charlotte, 413
Mines, Madeleine, 374 Moore, Crista, 296
Minich, Peter, 206 Moore, Dana, 409
Minnelli, Liza, 202–3 Moore, Grace, 298
Minnelli, Vincente, 50, 255, 413, 415 Moore, Gregory, 323
Minskoff, Jerome, 79, 177, 193, 225, 277, 279, 370 Moore, Hasel, 258
Mintz, Alan, 302–3 Moore, Jerry R., 31, 147
Mintz, Melanie, 236 Moore, Judith, 212
Miranda, Carmen, 353 Moore, Maureen, 130
Mirvish, David, 136 Moore, Melba, 83
Mirvish, Edwin, 136 Moore, Peter, 102
Les Miserables, 314–16 Moore, Robert, 74
Misovye, Charles, 365 Moore, Tracey, 405
Missimi, Dominic, 365 Moose Murders, 363
Missimi, Nancy, 365 Mor, 366
Miss Liberty, 383 Mordente, Lisa, 102
Mitchell, Adrian, 88 More, Julian, 81, 326
Mitchell, Brian (Stokes), 353 Moreau, Jean-Luc, 17
Mitchell, David, 15, 17, 71–72, 79, 177, 183, 233, 376 Moreno, Rita, 4
Mitchell, Fanny Todd, 5 Morgan, Cass, 122, 205
Mitchell, Gregory, 409 Morgan, Dennis, 325
Mitchell, Jerry, 381 Morgan, Helen, 173
Mitchell, Lauren, 338 Morgan, James, 407
Mitchell, Robert, 387 Morgan, Randy, 34
Mitchell, Robert D., 86 Morgan, Roger, 73, 133, 291, 328
Mitchell, Ruth, 3, 94, 107, 239, 326, 334 Morley, Robert, 100
Mitchell, Thomas, 163 Morley, Ruth, 32, 87
Mitch Leigh Company, 181, 230, 387 Moroz, Barbara, 233
Mitsubishi, 410 Morris, Anita, 127
Mittoo, Jackie, 11 Morris, Libby, 425
Mitzman, Marcia, 223, 275, 313, 324, 390 Morrisey, Bob, 299
Miyake, Kiki, 416 Morrison, Ann, 29, 107
Mlaba, Pat, 347 Morrow, Doretta, 255
M.M.G. Arena Productions, 389 Morrow, Queen Esther, 285
Moenkhaus, William, 88–89 Morse, Robin, 71
Moffatt, John, 133 Mortman, Mike, 310
Molaskey, Jessica, 214 Morton, Joe, 289
Molina, Alfred, 95 Morton, Winn, 25
Monahan, Debi, 193 Mort Sahl on Broadway!, 328–29
Monicelli, Mario, 277 Mosher, Gregory (C.), 276, 331, 338, 347
Moniz, Susan, 361 Mosley, Robert, Jr., 167
Monk, Chris, 170 Moss, Jeffrey B., 259
Monk, Debra, 122 Mostel, Josh, 416
Monk, Isabell, 350 Mostel, Zero, 95
Monroe, Donna, 71 Mottle, Sonja, 207
Monroe, Marilyn, 193–94 Moya, Bobby, 376
Montalban, Ricardo, 282 Moyes, Patricia, 86
Montalvo, Frank, 131 M P I Productions, Ltd., 93
Montevecchi, Liliane, 127, 129, 420 Muenz, Richard, 37, 39, 105, 385–86, 402
Montgomery, Barbara, 83, 200 Mulcahy, Lance, 61–62
Montoya, Antonio, 301 Muller, Herman-Jay, 413
Montoya, Pilar, 301 Munderloh, Otts, 174
Montoya, Rosario, 301 Muni, Paul, 422
Montresor, Beni, 294, 296 Munnik, Rob, 158
Moody, Naomi, 167 Munro, Janet, 87
Moody, Ron, 210–11 Munro, Leigh, 43, 98–99, 101, 125, 221–22, 251, 287–89,
Moon, Marjorie, 83 297–98, 323, 326, 349–50, 370–72
INDEX 497
Munsel, Patrice, 147 Nelson, Miriam, 88

Muraoka, Alan, 353 Nelson, Nels, 378
Murin, David, 139 Nelson, Portia, 165
Murphy, Donna, 205, 231, 263, 396 Nelson, Randy, 176, 276
Murphy, Eddie, 114 Nelson, Richard, 8, 57, 103, 200, 212, 215, 233, 338, 353,
Murphy, Jack, 161 357, 403
Murphy, Mary, 428 Nelson & Sixta, 353
Murray, Don, 40 Nemeth, Sandor, 207
Murray, Mary Gordon, 116, 141 Nemetz, Lenora, 385–86
Murray, Peg, 335 Nemy, Enid, 366
Musical Chairs, 23–24 Neofitou, Andreane, 314
Music-Hall Sidelights, 133 Nero, Franco, 39
The Music Man, 34–36, 349–50 Nesbitt, Cathleen, 97
Musky, Jane, 261 Nettleford, Rex, 11
Musser, Tharon, 40, 81, 88, 112, 114, 161, 265, 321, 341, Neubarer, Nicholas, 261
390, 396 Neufeld, Mace, 176
Mutual Benefit Companies, 338 Neufeld, Peter, 151, 209, 252, 366
Myers, Pamela, 340 Neuwirth, Bebe, 117, 279, 281, 283
Myers, Stanley, 87 Neville-Andrews, John, 268
My Fair Lady, 96–98 Newborn, Scott, 24
Myles, Glenn, 93 Newley, Anthony, 217–18
My One and Only, 173–76 Newman, Daisy, 167
The Mystery of Edwin Drood, 263–65 Newman, Edwin, 2
My Three Angels, 283–84 Newman, Molly, 224
Newman, Paul, 366
Nadel, Barbara, 15 Newman, Peter, 90
Nadel, Norman, 211 Newmar, Julie, 144
Nahat, Dennis, 5–6, 44 The New Moon, 297–98, 371–74
Naismith, Laurence, 155 The News, 261–63
Nakagawa, Kikue, 410 New York City Opera Company, 5–6, 42, 44, 47, 98–99,
Namara, Ltd., 170 101, 125, 146, 153, 156, 186, 221–22, 250–51, 254, 275,
Napier, John, 151–53, 314, 316, 319 287–89, 297, 313, 323–24, 326, 349, 370–71, 374, 385,
Naples, Charlie, 93 402–3, 407
Napoli, Jeanne, 193 New York Music Company, 259
Nason, Brian, 416 New York School for Circus Arts, 15
Natel, Jean-Marc, 314 New York Shakespeare Festival, 59, 204, 263
Nathan, George Jean, 66 Nezhad, Eric, 11
National Alliance of Musical Theatre Producers, 365 Ngema, Mbongeni, 346–47
Naughton, James, 426, 428 Ngema, Nhlanhla, 347
Naughty Marietta, 374–76 Nicastro, Michelle, 163
Navarro, Ramon, 44 Nicely, Susan, 385
Nease, Byron, 181 Nicholas, Fayard, 378, 380
Nederlander, Charlene, 170 Nicholas, Harold, 115
Nederlander, James, 73, 170, 177 Nicholas, Howard, 380
Nederlander, James L., 328, 376, 392 Nichols, Mike, 26, 185
Nederlander, James M., 3, 34, 74, 79, 84, 87, 89, 94, 123, Nichols, Robert, 237
127, 131, 148, 161, 171, 183, 209, 217, 229, 239, 279, Nichtern, Claire, 74
291, 348, 370, 392, 408, 416 Nicoletti, Odette, 257
Nederlander, James M., Jr., 191 Nielsen, Don, 353
Nederlander, Joseph Z., 302 Nielsen, Inga, 5–6, 45
Nederlander Organization, 208 Nieves, Maria, 256
Neely, Claudia, 268 Nigro, Robert, 126
Neenan, Audrie, 119 Nimrod and the Tower of Babel, 397–98
Neil, Roger, 90 Nine, 127–30
Neill, William, 6–7, 47 Nishizaki, Mayumi, 410
Nelsen, Don, 22–23, 97, 121, 148, 177, 228–29, 406, 412 Niska, Maralin, 5–6, 45
Nelson, Bob, 348 Nissenson, Gloria, 418
Nelson, Doug, 276 Nixon, Marni, 97
Nelson, Kenneth, 133 Nobody Don’t Like Yogi, 110
A Noel Coward Revue, 307 O’Steen, Michael, 413

Noel Coward’s Sweet Potato, 306–7 Osterman, Lester, 89–90
Nolen, Timothy, 222, 239, 241, 288, 324 Osterman, Phillip, 174
Norman, Monty, 81 Ostermann, Curt, 274
Northmore, Jack, 218 Ostrow, Stuart, 27, 81
Norzar Productions, Inc., 68 Otey, Louis, 407
Nouri, Michael, 80 Oura, Mizuki, 410
Nowak, Christopher, 122 Owens, Frank, 21, 272
Nugent, Nelle, 65 Owens, Traci, 99
Null, Panchali, 187 Oxley, Leonard, 378
Nunes, Paul, 376
Nunn, Trevor, 151–53, 314, 316, 357 Pabst, G. W., 418
Nurock, Kirk, 225 Pace Theatrical Group, 381, 401, 423
Nussbaum, Mike, 130 Paganini, Niccolo, 252
Page, Ken, 372
Oba Oba, 352–53 Page, Stan, 40
Obolensky, Chloe, 191 Page, Tim, 156, 251–52, 288–89, 298
O’Brien, Conal, 267 Pageant, 310
O’Brien, Edmond, 308 Paige, Elaine, 129, 152, 223, 231, 333, 357
O’Brien, Jack, 167 Painter, Charlene, 229
O’Brien, Margaret, 415 Painter, Walter, 426
O’Brien, Maria, 308 The Pajama Game, 385–87
O’Brien, Marlane, 218 Pakledinaz, Marty, 83
O’Brien, Timothy, 148 Pallo, Imre, 5–6, 44, 251, 289, 326, 370, 402
Ockrent, Mike, 291, 298–99 Palmer, Elizabeth, 224
O’Connor, Donald, 71–72, 136, 171, 333 Palmer, Peter, 326
Oditz, Carol, 126, 141 Palmer, Robert, 148, 158
O’Dowd, Frank, 71 Papp, Joseph, 59–60, 204, 206, 263
Offenbach, Jacques, 125, 156 Pappas, Evan, 428
O’Gorman, Michael, 74 Pappas, Theodore, 374, 385
Oh, Brother!, 103–5 Paramount Pictures, 420
O’Haire, Patricia, 24, 158 Paramount Theatre Productions, 174
Ohara, Hirotoshi, 410 Parcher, William, 251, 289, 324–26, 371–72, 374, 407
O’Hara, Paige, 171 Pareles, 401
O’Hare, Denis, 282 Parichy, Dennis, 51, 119, 343
Oh Coward!, 305–7 Paris, Myrna, 223
O’Horgan, Tom, 398–99 Parish, Mitchell, 311–12
Oken, Stuart, 51 Park, R. Vincent, 261
Okun, Alexander, 326 Parker, Alecia, 187, 227, 334
Oliver!, 209–11 Parker, Alecia A., 135
Once on a Summer’s Day, 398 Parker, Bernard, 337
O’Neill, Eugene, 237 Parker, F. William, 88
One Night Stand, 89–90 Parker, Howard, 71
Onrubia, Cynthia, 252, 381 Parks, Hildy, 18, 191
On the Town, 381, 384 Parlato, Dennis, 357
Onward Victoria, 57–59 Parrinello, Richard, 143, 230
On Your Toes, 164–66 Parrish, Cheryl, 374
Opel, Nancy, 212 Parry, William, 37, 105, 302
O’Quinn, Terrance, 119 Parsons, Estelle, 59
Orano, Roberto Ivan, 258 Parsons, Jennifer, 224
Orbach, Jerry, 40 Pascal, Adam, 359
Orezzoli, Hector, 256–57, 301, 378, 380 Paskow, Karen, 200
Orfeo, 408–10 Pastoria, Andre, 164
Orloff, Penny, 6, 47, 98, 148 Patinkin, Mandy, 212, 256
Ornadel, Cyril, 285 Patterson, Howard Jay, 176, 276
Ortega, Kenny, 193 Patterson, Kelly, 279
O’Shea, Milo, 413 Patterson, Raymond, 225
O’Shea, Tessie, 73 Patterson, Richard, 284
Osmond, Donny, 121, 123–24 Paul, Linda, 145
INDEX 499
Paul, Tina, 135, 201, 408 Piaf, Edith, 64–68

Paulson, Harold, 417 Piazzolla, Astor, 408, 410
Peacock, Michon, 131 Picon, Molly, 388
Pearce, Alice, 117 Pidgeon, Walter, 415
Pearle, Gary, 52 Pieces of Eight, 284–85
Pearson, Pauletta, 61 Piemontese, Renato, 257
Pearson, Sybille, 196 Pierre, Olivier, 36
Pedley, Ron, 392 Pigliavento, Michele, 331
Pedrazzini, Horatio, 10 Pigott, Colin, 270
Peg, 198–99 Pilbrow, Richard, 27
Peil, Mary Beth, 129, 214, 230 Piller, Heinar, 283
Peldon, Courtney, 413 Pine, Chris, 340
Pender, Stephen, 32 Pinelli, Tullio, 127, 279
Pendleton, Austin, 219 Pinkney, Mikell, 83
Pene du Bois, Raoul, 11, 131 Pipino il Breve, 260–61
Penn, Sean, 284 Pippin, Donald, 74, 183–84, 349
Pennington, Diane, 177 The Pirate, 145, 250
Pennington, Gail, 116 The Pirates of Penzance, 59–61
Pennini, Thomas, 120 Pit, 365
Penn & Teller, 343–44 Pitchford, Dean, 361
Penny by Penny: The Story of Ebenezer Scrooge, 135–36 Piven, Marc, 116
Peppiatt, Frank, 428 Pizzarelli, Bucky, 198
Pepusch, Johann, 416 Platoff, Barbara, 87
Peralta, Craig, 143 Plautus, 103
Perenchio, Jerrold, 302 Playhouse Square Center, 350
Perez, Luis, 408–9 Play Me a Country Song, 141–42
Perfectly Frank, 55–57 Playwrights Horizons, 212
Perkins, Patti, 61 Plummer, Christopher, 87
Perkinson, Coleridge Taylor, 32 Plunkett, Maryann, 291, 293
Perlman, Bonnie, 418 Poddubiuk, Christina, 428
Perry, Douglas, 146, 251 Podell, Rick, 429
Perry, Louis, 43, 98, 250, 254, 288, 323, 349 Pogue, David, 390
Perry, Lynette, 422 Poindexter, Karen, 418
Perry, William, 267 Poiret, Jean, 183
Perryman, Al, 189 Polito, Jon, 119
Peter, Michael, 235 Pomahac, Bruce, 413
Peter Pan, 383 Pomerantz, John, 183
Peters, Bernadette, 212, 252–54, 338–39, 424 Pomerantz, John J., 239
Peters, Michael, 112, 236, 321 Pond, Helen, 146, 171, 186, 251, 305, 370, 402
Peters, Stephenie, 90 Pondel, John, 392
Peterson, Claudette, 156, 186–87, 221, 287–89, 323, 326 Pontillo, Larry P., 23
Peterson, Eric, 26 Poole, Wakefield, 71
Peterson, Kirk, 331 Poppell, Jack, 207
Peterson, Lenka, 224 Porgy and Bess, 167–69
Peterson, Nora, 126 Porretta, Frank, 100, 155
Petina, Irra, 100, 155 Porteous, Cameron, 428
Petit, Roland, 79, 81 Porter, Cole, 13, 79, 331–32
Petrucci, Donalyn, 94 Porter, Mike, 8
Pettiford, Valarie, 239, 277 Porterfield, Christopher, 192
Pfeiffer, Michelle, 133 Portman, Rachel, 134
The Phantom of the Opera, 344–46 Portnoy, Gary, 193
Philips, Mardi, 289, 311 Poster, Kim, 420
Philips, Mary, 407 Postlethwaite, Todd, 284
Phillips, Andy, 89, 416 Potter, Dennis, 427
Phillips, Arlene, 316 Potts, Nancy, 119, 130, 167, 285
Phillips, Lloyd, 416 Powell, Jane, 144, 415
Phillips, Lou Diamond, 231 Powell, Michael, 31, 147, 285
Phillips, Tim, 83 Powell, Shezwae, 282
Piaf, 64–67 Powers, John R., 130
Praed, Michael, 226–27 Ralph, Sheryl Lee, 11, 112

Preece, K. K., 1 Ramey, Samuel, 256
Preminger, Otto, 169 Ramsey, Marion, 239, 272, 274
Prendergast, Shirley, 115, 189, 337 Randolph, Robert, 123, 143, 279, 281
Prescription: Murder, 163 Rankin, Kenny, 269
Presley, Elvis, 401–2 Ranson, Molly, 365
Pressley, Brenda, 81, 112, 140 Raphael, Gerrianne, 412
Preston, Barry, 63–64 Raposo, Joe, 299–301
Preston, Robert, 35, 183 Rapp, Anthony, 133
Preto, Toco, 352 Rapposelli, Michael, 398
Pretty Faces, 310 Rasch, Albertina, 226
Price, Don, 102 Rascoff, Joseph, 401
Price, Henry, 43, 45, 98, 125 Raskin, Judith, 326
Price, Lonny, 39, 107, 218–19, 428 Rasmuson, Judy, 135
Prince, Faith, 118 Rasmussen, Zora, 170, 235
Prince, Harold, 6–7, 47, 83, 107, 109, 148, 150, 153–54, Rathburn, Roger, 63
186, 221–22, 239, 287–88, 324, 326–28, 334, 344–46, Rauber, Francois, 68
403 Rauch, William, 259
Prince of Central Park, 418–20 Ravitz, Mark, 156
Producer Circle Company, 326 Ray, Aldo, 284
Prom Queens Unchained, 310 Ray, Gene Anthony, 362
Provenza, Sal, 103, 230 Raylor, Ron, 226
Prowse, Juliet, 80, 282 Really Useful Company Limited, 151, 252
Prudhomme Productions Ltd., 189 Really Useful Theatre Company, Inc., 344
Prunczik, Karen, 40 Ream, Frank, 288
Pryce, Jonathan, 129, 336 Reams, Lee Roy, 40
Pryor, Richard, 217 Reardon, John, 131
Pudenz, Steve, 385 Redel, Jessica, 5, 44, 98, 101, 323
Pugh, Richard Warren, 77 Redfield, Liza, 45, 244
Pugh, Ted, 63–64 Redgrave, Vanessa, 39
Pump Boys and Dinettes, 122–23 Redsecker, John, 319
Purdham, David, 133 Reed, Alyson, 103, 177, 193, 334–35
Purdom, Edmund, 44 Reed, Bill, 169
Pursley, David, 331 Reed, Carol, 211
Puzzo, Peter, 191 Reed, Vivian, 32–33
A Reel American Hero, 90–91
Quast, Philip, 214 Reese, Della, 140
The Queen of Basin Street, 185 Reeve, Scott, 153, 186, 221
Quick Change, 54–55 Reggae, 11–13
Quilley, Denis, 155, 185, 223, 357 Reid, Alexander, 362
Quilters, 224–25 Reiffel, Lisa, 299
Quinn, Anthony, 187–89 Reigert, Peter, 8
Quinn, Brian, 116 Reijinders, Nard, 158
Quinn, James, 130–31 Rein, Martin I., 311
Quinn, Patrick, 305 Reina, Mark, 208
Quinton, Dolores, 193 Reinhardt, Gottfried, 6
Reinhardt, Max, 6
Raab, Cheryl, 141 Reisman, Jane, 378
Rabinowitz, Robert, 156, 401 Reissa, Eleanor, 50
Rackmil, Gladys, 3, 55 Reitman, Ivan, 161
Radio City Music Hall, 167, 410 Remme, John, 79, 160, 423
Radomsky, Saul, 81 Renard, Jules, 360
Ragan, Michael, 143 Renderer, Scott, 170
Raggedy Ann, 299–301 Rennagel, Marilyn, 74, 130
Rags, 294–97 Renzi, Mike, 198
Railton, Jeremy, 389, 392 Resnik, Regina, 334
Raines, Ron, 131, 156, 171–72 Reynolds, Charles, 25, 161
Raitt, James, 274, 311 Reynolds, George Edward, 360
Raitt, Kathleen, 420 Reynolds, Jeffrey, 143
INDEX 501
Rhodes, Betty, 67 Robbins, Tom, 244

Rhodes, Erik, 132 Robert Fox Ltd., 357
Rhodes, Evan H., 418, 420 The Robert Klein Show!, 269
Rhyne, Sylvia, 407 Roberts, Andy, 8
Ria, Robin, 313 Roberts, Ruth, 36, 230
Ribeiro, Alfonso, 200–201 Roberts, Sarah, 347
Riberdy, Allen, 297, 371 Roberts, Tony, 275
Ricciadelli, John, 193 Robertson, Cliff, 46
Rice, Nicholas, 218 Robertson, Liz, 178, 270–71
Rice, Tim, 120, 357 Robert Stigwood Organization Ltd., 120
Rich, Adina, 50 Robeson, Paul, 173
Rich, Alan, 7, 192 Robin, Jean-Claude, 227
Rich, Frank, 13, 16–17, 24, 36, 38, 42, 46, 49, 51, 53, Robinson, Christine, 270
56–60, 62, 64, 66, 70, 72, 75–76, 78, 80, 83–85, 102–3, Robinson, Edward G., 100
105–6, 108, 111, 114–15, 117, 119–21, 124, 126, 128, Robinson, Jackie, 111
130, 140, 142, 144, 150, 152, 159–63, 166, 170–72, 175– Robinson, Janet, 193
76, 178, 182, 184, 188, 190, 192, 194, 196–97, 199, 201, Robinson, Louise, 11
203, 205, 209, 211, 213, 216, 225–26, 230, 234, 236, Robinson, Mabel, 32
238, 241–43, 248–49, 253, 260, 262, 264, 266–67, 271, Robinson, Roger, 189
274, 279, 281, 292–93, 296, 299–300, 303, 309, 315, 318, Robman, Steven, 88
320, 322, 327–28, 332, 335, 340, 342–43, 345–47, 351, Roche, Tami, 93–94
354–55, 358, 363–64, 373, 377–78, 380, 384, 391, 395, Rockne, Michael J., 34
404, 406, 408–10, 412, 414, 417, 419, 421–22, 424, 427 Rock ‘n Roll! The First 5,000 Years, 156–58
Richards, David, 358, 363–64 Rockwell, John, 98, 147, 207, 221, 276, 287–88, 313, 324,
Richards, Evan, 77 372
Richards, Jess, 90 Rodgers, Chev, 46, 387
Richards, Martin, 148, 183, 239, 259, 326, 420 Rodgers, Eileen, 332
Richardson, Claibe, 119–20 Rodgers, Richard, 164, 230, 312
Richardson, Daryl, 215 Rodney Dangerfield on Broadway!, 348
Richardson, Natasha, 336 Rodriguez-Arias, Alfredo, 9, 11
Richardson, Ron, 242–43 Roe, Charles, 5, 43
Richert, Wanda, 40 Roerick, William, 13
Richler, Mordecai, 218–19 Roffman, Frederick S., 375
Richter, Caspar, 206 Rogers, David, 45
Riddell, Richard, 241, 243 Rogers, Ginger, 183
Ridge, John David, 77, 96 Rogers, Jay, 141
Riebling, Tia, 308 Rogers, Ken Leigh, 174
Rifkin, Ron, 336 Rogers, Robert, 267
Rigby, Harry, 131 Rogers, Wayne, 116
Rigdon, Kevin, 394 Rogosin, Roy M., 54
Rigg, Diana, 131 Rolfing, Tom, 123
Riley, Larry, 61 Roller, Theo, 50
Rinehimer, John, 261 Rollnick, William D., 387
Ringham, Nancy, 96–97, 416–17 Romance Romance, 359–61
The Rink, 201–3 Romberg, Sigmund, 42, 98, 250, 297, 323–24, 371, 407
Rinker, Kenneth, 27, 29, 296 Romeo, Max, 11
Ripamonte, Roberto, 258 Romoff, Woody, 135
Ritchie, Michael, 308 Rondi, Brunello, 127
Ritman, William, 57–58 Ronstadt, Linda, 59, 370–71
Rivera, Chita, 71–72, 129, 162, 202–3, 265, 282 Rooney, Mickey, 239
Rizzo, Michael, 231 Roos, Casper, 48
RLM Productions, Inc., 267 Roosevelt, Theodore, 341–43
Robare, Mary C., 164 Ropes, Bradford, 40
The Robber Bridegroom, 244–45 Rorem, Ned, 366
Robbins, Carrie, 110, 299 Rosa, Dennis, 131
Robbins, Carrie F., 36 Rosales, Rebecca, 374
Robbins, Dana, 392 Rosario, Adrian, 279
Robbins, Jana, 132 Rose, George, 59, 263, 265
Robbins, Jerome, 3–5, 11, 94, 230, 381–85, 423 Rose, Gina, 229
Rose, Howard, 311 Rupnik, Kevin, 244

Rose, L. Arthur, 291 Ruprecht, David, 55
Rose, Michael, 36 Russell, Catherine, 269, 369
Rose, Philip, 189, 330, 405 Russell, Jenna, 214
Rose, Susan R., 120 Russell, Robert, 237
Rosegarten, Rory, 329 Russell, Rosalind, 117, 424
Rosenberg, Irene, 57 Ryack, Rita, 174, 204
Rosenblum, Joshua, 331 Ryder, Ric, 398
Rosenfeld, Jyll, 310 Ryder, Richard, 299
Rosenfeld, Lois F., 15 Ryerson, Florence, 389
Rosenfeld, Maurice, 15
Rosenfeld, Sydney, 5 Sabella, Ernie, 123
Rosenfield, Lois F., 247 Sabin, David, 177
Rosenfield, Maurice, 247 Sabo, Judy, 136
Rosenstock, Milton, 34, 136 Saddler, Donald, 13–14, 42, 98, 136, 146, 164, 186, 250,
Rosenthal, Jean, 3 323, 341
Rosenthal, Leo, 193 Saffer, Lisa, 403
Ross, Adrian, 186, 251, 370, 402 Sahl, Mort, 328–29
Ross, Diana, 216 Saint, Eva Marie, 366
Ross, Jamie, 307 Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de, 133
Ross, Jerry, 385 St. Louis, Louis, 326
Ross, Jonathan, 284 Sakall, S. Z. “Cuddles,” 43–44
Ross, Philip Arthur, 164 Saks, Gene, 294
Ross, Stanley Ralph, 217 Salesky, Brian, 98
Ross, Stephen, 218, 283, 405 Salisbury, Fran, 11
Ross, Stuart, 392 Sallis, Peter, 336
Ross, Ted, 217 Salmon, Scott, 183–84
Rossi, Cheryl-Ann, 308 Salsberg, Gerry, 283
Rosson, Arthur, 124 Saltonstall, Stella, 94
Rossum, Emmy, 346 Saltzman, Avery, 385–86
Rost, Leo, 102 Sams, Jeremy, 394
Roston, Karen, 302, 412 Samson, Susan Madden, 239
Rotenberg, David, 261 Samuel, Peter, 294
Roth, Ann, 99, 247 Sanders, Ronald, 7
Roth, Mary Robin, 398 Sandifur, Virginia, 55
Rothstein, Edward, 45, 101 Sandlin, Dorothy, 325
Rounseville, Robert, 155 Sandt, Severn, 393
Roush, Matt, 327 San Juan, Olga, 308
Routledge, Patricia, 136 Sant’Angelo, Giorgio, 84
Rowan Atkinson at the Atkinson, 298–99 Santos, Jaime, 352
Rowe, Hansford, 247 Santos, Loida, 45
Rowen, Glenn, 98, 250, 254, 288, 323 Sanvoisin, Michel, 10
Royal, Reginald, 286 Sapp, R. LaChanze, 321
Royal Pardon Productions, 52 Sappington, Margo, 141–42, 195, 275
Royal Shakespeare Company, 364 Sarafina!, 346–48
Roza, 326–28 Sarandon, Chris, 8
Rozan, Micheline, 191 Saroyan, William, 204–5
Rubin, Arthur, 79, 191, 217, 229, 279, 328, 376, 392, 408, Satchmo, 367–68
422 Satkin, Jeff, 93
Rubin, Steven, 360 Saurova, Eva, 191
Ruby, Harry, 63 Savage, Lesley, 23
Rudel, Julius, 6, 47, 416 Savage, Tom, 23
Rudkin, David, 197 Savin, Ron Lee, 231
Rudy, Lisa, 145 Saviola, Camille, 313
Ruffa, Mario, 352 Say, Darling, 387
Ruffelle, Frances, 315–16 Sayan, Levon, 166
Ruggles, Charles, 333 Say Hello to Harvey!, 136–37
Rule, Daniel R., 98–99, 125, 153, 156, 186, 221 Scarpelli, Furio, 277
Rupert, Michael, 61, 283, 353 Scarpelli, Glenn, 231
INDEX 503
Schafer, Lawrence, 283 Seesaw, 260

Schafer, Scott, 299 Seetoo, Keelee, 387
Scharer, Jonathan, 355, 376 Segal, David F., 87
Scharf, Michael, 15 Segal, Vivienne, 226, 325
Scheeder, Louis W., 45, 362 Segall, Ricky, 217
Schickel, Richard, 197 Segawa, Kae, 410
Schier, Ernest, 29, 388 Segovia, Claudio, 256–57, 301, 378, 380
Schierhorn, Paul, 261 Segovia, Yolanda, 55, 112
Schifter, Peter Mark, 390 Sekiya, Toshiaki, 410
Schimmel, John, 122 Selch, Frederick R., 141
Schimmel, William, 394 Selden, Albert, 94
Schissler, Jeffrey, 208 Seligsohn, Leo, 412
Schlefer, Mark, 319 Sellars, Peter, 174–75
Schlesinger, Alice Maria, 206–7 Semmelman, Jim, 413
Schlissel, Jack, 9 Senator Joe, 398–99
Schmarak, Todd, 365 Senft, Gerhard, 206–7
Schmidt, Douglas W., 167, 217–18, 308, 401 Senn, Herbert, 146, 171, 186, 251, 305, 370, 402
Schmidt, Harvey, 131, 365 Seplow, Evan, 71
Schneider, Helen, 395 Serota, Vivian, 55
Schneider, Jana, 263 Serra, Raymond, 102
Schneider, John, 422 Serrano, Eduardo, 301
Schneider, Stanley, 87 Serreau, Genevieve, 9
Schnitzler, Arthur, 360 Sesma, Thom, 388–89
Schnugg, Tad, 285 Setzer, Milton, 25
Schollin, Christina, 100 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, 143–45, 249
Scholtz, Christa, 133 Sevra, Robert, 45
Schonberg, Claude-Michel, 314, 316 Seymour, James, 40
Schonberg, Harold C., 425 Shade, Jeff, 279
Schreiber, Avery, 79, 390 Shaffer, Victoria, 337
Schrock, Jackie, 25 Shafman, Arthur, 61
Schroder, William, 31, 147 Shaiman, Marc, 227–28
Schuler, Duane, 275, 313, 349 Shakespeare, William, 3, 61, 103
Schulman, Susan H., 407 Shakespeare’s Cabaret, 61–62
Schumacher, Joel, 346 Shalom Yiddish Musical Comedy Theatre, 50
Schuman, Howard, 8 Shamash, Beba, 407
Schuman, Patricia, 191 Shaper, Hal, 285
Schuster, Alan J., 139 Shapiro, Debbie, 27–28, 55, 139–40, 187, 385
Schwab, Buddy, 37 Shapiro, Laura, 292–93, 422
Schwab, Laurence, 297, 371 Shapiro, Mel, 136
Schwartz, Bonnie Nelson, 270 Shapiro, Nat, 68
Schwartz, Bruce, 1 Sharaff, Irene, 3, 155, 230, 281
Schwartz, Paul, 362 Sharma, Barbara, 429
Schwartz, Stephen, 294 Sharp, Christopher, 12, 25–26, 33, 58, 77, 84, 115, 121,
Schwartz, Suzanne J., 196 131, 158, 190, 194, 196, 262, 301
Scott, Les, 160 Sharp, Jeffrey Day, 337
Scott, Michael, 13 Shaw, Bob, 59, 204, 263
Scott, Zachary, 231 Shaw, David, 366
Scoullar, John, 134 Shaw, George Bernard, 96
Scruggs, Sharon, 141 Shaw, Reta, 415
Seabrooke, Christopher, 413 Shaw, Robert, 241
Seader, Richard, 305 Shawn, Michael, 57, 59
Seal, Elizabeth, 386 Shawn, Peter, 412
Seale, Polly, 389 Shearer, Norma, 44, 178
Seaton, Johnny, 401 Sheehan, Michael, 45
Seawell, Brockman, 224 Sheffield, Buddy, 141
Seawell, Donald R., 164 Sheffield, David, 141
Sebesky, Don, 418 Sheffield, Dick, 141
Secombe, Harry, 100, 211 Shell, Claudia, 162
Secter, David, 3 She Loves Me, 136
Shelton, Reid, 2 Silva, Larry J., 52

Shenandoah, 405–6 Silver, Joan Micklin, 296
Shepard, Richard, 146, 388 Silver, Joshua, 139
Shepard, Richard F., 51, 93, 95, 305, 310, 389 Silver, Phillip, 218
Shepherd, Gwen, 140 Silverlake, or A Winter’s Tale, 6–8, 47–48
Sheppard, Susan, 94 Siman, Barbara, 259–60
Sher, Gloria Hope, 83 Simenon, Georges, 427
Sherman, Albert, 221, 371 Simmons, Bonnie, 59
Sherman, Arthur, 403 Simmons, Stanley, 34, 48, 84, 230
Sherman, Garry, 189 Simon, George T., 27
Sherwin, Mimi, 1 Simon, John, 359, 363–64
Sherwin M. Goldman Productions, 167 Simon, Neil, 116, 279, 281, 326
Sherwood, Gale, 326 Simon, Robert A., 5
Sherwood, Robert E., 177 Sinatra, Frank, 80, 108, 333, 366
Shevelove, Burt, 13 Sing, Mahalia, Sing!, 285–86
Shields, Robert, 73 Singer, Reuben, 86, 178
Shimberg, Hinks, 341, 393 Singin’ in the Rain, 145, 247–50
Shimono, Sab, 181 Siretta, Dan, 63, 123–24, 237
Shion, Yu, 410 Sirk, Douglas, 7
Shipley, John, 54 Skelton, Thomas, 37, 48, 79, 84, 105, 123, 143, 171, 177,
Shire, David, 196 181, 198, 285
Shirley MacLaine on Broadway, 208–9 Skelton, Thomas R., 367
Shlenker, Sidney, 103, 119–20 Skina, Eve, 52
Shlenker, Sidney L., 148, 308 Skovhus, Boje, 147
Shoctor, Joseph H., 284 Slater, Christian, 34, 77, 162
Shol, 29 Slater, Glenn, 346
Shore, Allen M., 289 Sloane, Joyce, 136
Shorenstein, Carole J., 74, 79, 209 Sloman, John, 259–60
Short, Bobby, 21–23 Sloman, P. K., 413
Short, Martin, 118 Slutsker, Peter, 164, 247
Showalter, Max, 232 Slyde, Jimmy, 378
Show Boat, 171–73 Small, Mary, 116
Showpeople, 270 Small, Neva, 88, 140
Shubert Organization, 48, 65, 112, 151, 204, 212, 215, 233, Small, Ralph, 428
252, 277, 319, 326, 347, 357, 372, 381, 426 Smalls, Alexander, 167
Shubert Performing Arts Center, 237 Smalls, Charlie, 215
Shulman, Milton, 365 Smart, Jean, 66
Shuman, Mort, 67–68 Smartt, Michael V., 167
Sibley, Harper, 193 Smile, 308–10
Siccardi, Richard, 423 Smith, Carrie, 378, 380
Sid Caesar & Company: Does Anybody Know What I’m Smith, Christian, 98, 250, 289, 313, 323, 326
Talking About?, 411–12 Smith, Craig, 174
Siders, Irving, 321 Smith, David Rae, 43, 98, 250, 297, 323, 371
Sieden, Cyndia, 403 Smith, Ernest Allen, 23
Siegel, Joel, 8–9, 12–14, 20, 25, 27, 33, 35, 49, 52, 57–58, Smith, Greg, 193
64, 72–74, 78, 83, 85, 97, 110, 113, 126–29, 131, 140, Smith, John, 208
144, 150, 159, 177–78, 185, 192, 194–95, 197–99, 203, Smith, Marjorie, 39
205, 209, 211, 214, 234, 241, 243, 253, 267–68, 281, Smith, Oliver, 3, 39, 87, 96, 155, 374
295, 316, 318, 327–29, 332, 344, 354, 380, 385, 391, Smith, Rex, 59, 204, 422
394, 414–15 Smith, Richard Jay, 311
Siegel, Marcia B., 302, 384 Smith, Sheila, 63
Siena, Jerold, 289 Smuin, Michael, 68, 217, 331, 334, 370
Sierck, Detlef, 7 Smythe, Russell, 206
Signoret, Simone, 328 Sneed, Sherman, 84
Silberman, Joel, 376, 418 Snow, Leida, 103
Silliman, Maureen, 126 Sobol, Edna, 394
Sills, Beverly, 5–6, 42, 44, 47, 98–99, 101, 125, 146, 153, Sobol, Joshua, 394
156, 186, 221–22, 250–51, 254, 275, 287–89, 297, 313, Sokol, Marilyn, 390, 412
323–24, 326, 349, 370–71, 374, 385–86 Solis, Alba, 256
INDEX 505
Solms, Kenny, 57 Staunton, Imelda, 223, 340

Solomon, Renee, 50 Stazo, Luis, 256
Soloway, Leonard, 13 Stearns, David Patrick, 271, 332, 339, 351, 356, 359, 361,
Solway, Larry, 283 363, 373, 380, 391, 414, 417, 422, 427
Somlyo, Roy A., 18, 191 Steele, Brian, 323
Sommer, Kathy, 360 Steele, Carole, 166
Sondheim, Stephen, 3, 5, 107–9, 153, 186, 212–14, 221–23, Steele, Tommy, 250
287, 324, 338–41, 402, 407, 423 Steen, Jan, 3
Sondheimer, Hans, 5, 44, 101, 289, 326 Stein, Bob, 269, 369
Song & Dance, 252–54 Stein, Joseph, 94, 187, 237, 294
Song of Norway, 99–101 Stein, Leo, 146, 206–7, 251, 370, 402
Sophisticated Ladies, 68–71 Steinberg, Lillian, 196
Sophocles, 350 Steinbrenner, George M. III, 376
Soreanu, Mary, 50–51 Steiner, Rick, 241, 338
Soriero, Patrice, 311 Steiner, Steve, 331
Sousa, John Philip, 341 Stephens, Linda, 365
Sousa, Pamela, 360 Stephens, T. A., 193
Southbrook Group, 209 Stephenson, Albert, 18–19
South Pacific, 312–14 Steps in Time, 275
Sovec, John, 389 Stern, Eric, 89, 284, 294, 376, 423
Sparberg, Herschel, 426 Sterritt, David, 158, 214, 329
Sparks, Richard, 298 Stevens, George, 74
Sparrow, Carol, 221 Stevens, Marti, 131
Spear, David, 161 Stevens, Rise, 231
Spellman, Larry, 412 Stevens, Roger L., 164, 314
Spencer, Charles, 365 Stevens, Ronald “Smokey,” 83
Spencer, David, 219 Stevens, Tony, 55, 267
Spewack, Sam and Bella, 283 Stevenson, Robert Louis, 284
Spialek, Hans, 165 Stewart, James, 137, 333
Spiering, Frank, 429 Stewart, John, 323–24
Spillane, Mickey, 426 Stewart, Larry, 32
Spina, James, 148 Stewart, Michael, 15, 40, 71–72, 232, 284
Spiner, Brent, 212, 226 Stewart, Robert A., 196
Spirit Will Productions, Inc., 83 Stewart, William, 244
Spivak, Allen, 272 Stilgoe, Richard, 151, 316, 344
Spooner, John, 208 Stillman, Bob, 420
Sporn, Michael, 74 Sting, 416
Sprague, Jonathan, 167 Stites, Kevin, 365
Springer, Ashton, 83 Stitt, Don, 130
Sprinsock, Eben, 276 Stockwell, Rick, 353
Squarciapino, Franca, 79 Stoeckle, Robert, 1
Stabile, Bill, 398 Stoller, Mike, 218
Stage and Screen Music, Inc., 136 Stone, Andrew L., 100
Stage Promotions (Four)/Strada Holdings, 316 Stone, Edward, 234
Stage Promotions Limited & Co., 291 Stone, Elly, 68
Stahl, Mary Leigh, 217 Stone, Peter, 74, 76, 173
Staller, David, 334 Stoneburner, Sam, 110
Stanley, Gordon, 341 Storey, Richard David, 273
Stanley, Kim, 133 Stothart, Herbert, 389
Stanley, Mark W., 206–7, 254, 288, 297, 324, 371, 407 Stout, Mary, 77
Stanley, Pat, 63–64 Stovall, Count, 83
Stardust, 311–12 Strahammer, Silvia, 207
Starger, Martin, 107, 316 Straiges, Tony, 77, 212, 215, 338, 408
Starkie, Martin, 1 Strasberg, John, 159
Starlight Express, 316–19 Strasberg, Susan, 86
Starmites, 392–94 Stratas, Teresa, 294–96
Starobin, Michael, 263 Stratford, Bert, 23
Stasio, Marilyn, 25, 32–33, 54, 77, 95, 97, 166, 225, 249, Strauss, Edward, 167
303, 343, 374, 377 Strauss, Johann, 5, 44, 101, 206, 289, 326
Strauss, Marilyn, 122 Tamir, Moshe, 50

Strayhorn, Dan, 32 Tandet, A. Joseph, 133–34
Strayhorn, Danny, 289 Tandy, Jessica, 245
Streep, Meryl, 340 Tango, 408–10
Streetheat, 231–32 Tango Argentino, 256–57
Strickland, Bruce, 83 Tani, Masazumi, 410
Strickler, Dan, 135 Tanna, Robert, 162
Stripling, Byron, 367 Tanner, Tony, 120, 418
Stritch, Elaine, 165 The Tap Dance Kid, 199–201
Stroman, Susan, 23–24 Tassin, Christen, 423
Strong, Edward, 350 T.A.T. Communications Company, 81
Strouse, Charles, 45, 71, 177–78, 259–60, 294, 296 Tate, Grady, 84, 198
Strunk, George, 420 Tate, Robert, 287–88, 403
Strunsky, Michael, 169 Tatum, Marianne, 225, 227, 234
Stuart, Mary Ellen, 252 Taubman, Alfred, 89
Stuart, Michel, 18, 127, 200 Taubman, Howard, 211
The Student Prince, 42–44, 98–99, 250–51, 323 Tautkus, Richard, 145
Studer, Cheryl, 147 Taverne, Joost, 158
Studley, Kate, 122 Taylor, Holland, 132
Sturiale, Grant, 428 Taylor, Jim, 389
Sturm, Jason, 387 Taylor, Morris, 141
Styne, Jule, 89–90, 284, 423 Taylor-Corbett, Lynne, 61, 357
Sudhalter, Richard M., 23, 88 Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Fly Trap, 170–71
Sugawara, Hiroshi, 416 A Teaspoon Every Four Hours, 310
Sullivan, Arthur, 59, 447 Teatro Stabile di Catania, 261
Sullivan, Dan, 68 Teddy & Alice, 341–43
Sullivan, Gary, 227 Teeter, Lara, 143, 164, 166
Sullivan, Ian, 86 Teijelo, Gerald M., Jr., 127
Sullivan, Jo, 55 Teller, 343–44
Sullivan, K. T., 244 Telson, Bob, 350
Sullivan, Paul, 215 Temple, Paul N., 177
Summerhays, Jane, 291 Tenniel, John, 160
Summer Holiday, 239 Terfel, Bryn, 223
Summer Share, 359–61 Tessler, Allan, 3
Sunday in the Park with George, 212–15 Testa, Mary, 193
Suntory International Corp., 381, 426 Tetirick, Robert, 1
Suppon, Charles, 376 Thacker, Russ, 130, 307
Suskin, Steven, 415 Thalheimer, Norman, 193
Susskind, David, 217 Tharp, Twyla, 247–48
Sutton, Henry, 116 Thau, Harold, 176, 412
Swados, Elizabeth, 29, 161, 195–96 Theatre Now, 101
Sweeney Todd, or The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, 171, Theatre Off Park, 311
222–24, 324, 407–8 Theodore, Lee Becker, 3, 100, 274–75
Sweet Charity, 279–83 Thigpen, Lynne, 52
Sweet Will, 62 This Was Burlesque, 93–94
Swenson, Swen, 118 Thomas, Philip Michael, 11
Swing, 27–29 Thompson, Emma, 223
Symonette, Lys, 6–7, 47 Thompson, Evan, 426
Szarabajka, Keith, 195 Thompson, Fred, 63
Thompson, Jeffrey V., 272
Tabachnick, Ken, 370, 374, 385, 402 Thompson, Keith, 141
Tackaberry, Celia, 279 Thompson, Weyman, 321
Takara, Junko, 410 Thomsen, Mark, 288
Takarazuka, 410–11 Thorne, Raymond, 341
Take Me Along, 237–39 Thorngren, Jane, 371–72, 407
Take Me Out, 110–11 Thornton, Mary C., 304
Talese, Maryanne, 297–98 Thorpe, Richard, 44
Tambornino, Jeff, 302 3 Knights Ltd., 357
INDEX 507
The Three Musketeers, 225–27 Tyeska, James, 167

3 Penny Opera, 416–18 Tyrone, Keith, 376
Thurston, Ted, 57
Tibbett, Lawrence, 298 Ubarry, Hechter, 387
Tilley, Martin, 36 Udell, Peter, 189, 405
Tilton, Jim, 135 Ueda, Shinji, 410
Timbuktu!, 255 Uggams, Eloise, 140
Time Remembered, 86–87 Uggams, Leslie, 139, 265
Timerman, Alec, 331 Uhry, Alfred, 27, 123, 244–45
Timoyko, Naanim, 256 Ulissey, Catherine, 99
Tine, Hal, 265 Ullett, Nick, 291
Tinker, Jack, 365 Ullman, Robin, 201
Tintypes, 52–54 Ullman, Tracey, 340
Tipton, Jennifer, 26, 59, 69, 160, 247, 381 Ulvaeus, Bjorn, 357
Titus, Alan, 45, 146, 251 Unger, Gladys, 5
TM Productions, Inc., 241 Universal Pictures, 195
Tobin, joan F., 52 Up Front Productions, 141
Toguri, David, 8 Up in Central Park, 260
Toibin, Niall, 36–37 Uptown...It’s Hot!, 272–74
Tokar, Michael, 413 Urban Arts Theatre, 147
Tokoro, Harumi, 410 Urbanski, Douglas, 171
Tokyo Broadcasting System International, Inc., 423 Urich, Tom, 24
Tom, Lauren, 195 Ustinov, Peter, 284
Topol, Chaim, 95
Toro, Puli, 5, 45, 101 Valdez, Danny, 370
Torres, Donald, 181 Valdez, Luis, 370
Torti, Robert, 316 Valenti, Michael, 103, 105, 289
Toser, David, 123, 145, 237, 305 Valentine, James, 37, 105, 160
Touda, Ikuei, 410 Van, Bobby, 165
Towers, Constance, 231 Van Bridge, Tony, 283
Tozzi, Giorgio, 326 Van Camp, Julie, 29
Tracy, Teresa, 329–30 Vance, Dana, 170
La Tragedie de Carmen and Carmen, 191–92 Vance, Dick, 27
Trainer, David, 366 van der Horst, Ellen, 158
Tribe, Julia, 284 van der Laarse, Cees, 158
Triplett, Sally Ann, 362 Vanderline, Debra, 186
Tronto, Rudy, 23 van der Wurff, Erik, 158
Trott, Karen, 284 van Druten, John, 334
Troup, Stuart, 356 Van Dyke, Dick, 34–35
Trudeau, Garry, 195 Van Dyke, W. S., 376
Truly Blessed: A Musical Celebration of Mahalia Jackson, Van Eeden, Ron, 158
286 Van Heusen, James (Jimmy), 366
Trussel, Jacque, 43, 98–99 Van Norden, Peter, 123
Tschudin, Michael, 11 Vanoff, Nick, 310, 426
Tsoutsouvas, Sam, 86 Van Peebles, Mario, 115
Tucker, Robert, 405 Van Peebles, Melvin, 11, 115
Tucker, Tanya, 123 Van Treuren, Martin, 247
Tune, Tommy, 18, 20, 127–30, 174–76, 185, 420–23 van Veen, Herman, 158–59
Tunick, Jonathan, 159, 161 Vargas, Angelita, 301
Turnage, Wayne, 171 Vaux, Adrian, 394
Turnbull, Laura, 412 Velez, Lorraine, 321
Turner, 193 Veljohnson, Reginald, 289
Turner, Geraldine, 333 Venturelli, Frederick C., 119
Twain, Mark, 241, 243 Ventures West Capital, Inc., 26
Twentieth Century-Fox Theatre Productions, Inc., Vera-Ellen, 165
126 Verdon, Gwen, 280–81
Twiggy, 174–75, 307 Vereen, Ben, 239, 282
Twine, Linda, 84, 241 Vernon, Michael, 36
Viacom International, Inc., 176 Walters, Kelly, 15

Vickers, Larry, 208, 239 Walton, Jim, 55, 107, 109, 311, 407
The Victor Borge Holiday Show on Broadway, 425 Walton, Tony, 18, 88, 116, 235–36, 331, 370–71, 420–21
Vidnovic, Martin, 48–49, 131, 196, 231, 330 Waltz of the Stork, 115
Vienna Volksoper Company, 206–7 Wanamaker, Zoe, 65
Viertel, Thomas, 343 Wann, Jim, 122
Vilanch, Bruce, 355, 376 Warncke, Margaret, 102
Villani, Virgilio, 257 Warner, Sherman, 350
Vinocur, Burt, 90 Warner Theatre Productions, Inc., 65, 74, 116, 122, 148
Vinovich, Stephen, 244 Warnick, Steven, 393
Visitor, Nana, 174 Warrack, David, 283, 405
Vitella, Sel, 418 Warrack Productions, 283
Vivino, Jimmy, 235 Warren, Harry, 40
Voelpel, Fred, 71 Wasserlof, Rudolf, 206
Voltaire, 153–54, 186, 221, 287, 403 Waterbury, Marsha, 308
von Gontard, Gert, 6, 47 Waters, Bernard, 254
Von Mayrhauser, Jennifer, 8, 196 Waters, Ethel, 85
Von Stade, Frederica, 173 Watling, Dilys, 223
Vos, Richard, 170 Watson, Janet, 241, 313
Vosburgh, David, 148, 334 Watson, Susan, 133
Vosburgh, Dick, 18 Watt, Douglas, 2, 4, 9–10, 12, 14, 17, 20, 25–27, 32–33, 38,
42, 46, 51, 53, 55, 57–58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 72, 74, 76–78,
Waara, Scott, 366, 390, 426 80, 83–85, 95, 101–3, 105–6, 108, 111, 113–15, 117,
Wachtel, Jeffrey, 51 119–20, 124, 127, 129, 131, 140, 142, 144, 150, 152,
Wade, Stephen, 51–52 159, 161–63, 166, 171–72, 175, 178, 183–84, 188, 191–
Waechter, Eberhard, 207 92, 194–97, 199, 201, 203, 205, 209, 211, 213, 216, 225,
Wagner, Chuck, 226, 340 227, 229, 231, 234, 236, 238, 241, 243, 249, 253, 257,
Wagner, Robin, 27, 40, 74, 89, 112, 161, 252, 321, 341, 260, 262, 264, 268, 271, 273–74, 279, 281, 291, 293,
357, 359, 381, 396, 426, 428 295, 299, 305, 307, 309, 312, 314, 320, 322, 328, 335,
Waites, Thomas G., 170 339, 342, 345, 347, 354, 361, 363, 380, 384, 388, 391,
Waits, Tom, 161 394, 404, 409–10, 414–15, 417, 421–22, 424, 427
Waldman, Robert, 27, 244 Watts, Richard, 155
Waldorf, Wilella, 100 Waxman, Jeff, 195
Wales, Judee, 231 Weales, Gerald, 155
Walker, Bonnie, 334, 423 Weatherly, Michael M., 390
Walker, Diana, 288 Weatherspoon, David, 215
Walker, Dianne, 378 Weaver, Danyelle, 409
Walker, Douglas, 23 Webb, Marti, 253
Walker, Fred, 34, 84 Weeks, Alan, 103, 121
Walker, James J., 260 Weidman, John, 244–45, 331
Walker, John, 398 Weil, David, 119
Walker, Kary M., 365 Weilandich, G. Russell, 3
Walker, Natalie, 102 Weill, Kurt, 6–7, 47, 416
Walker, Peter, 232 Wein, George, 21
Wallace, George D., 111 Weiner, France, 193
Wallace, Lee, 239 Weiner, John, 183
Wallace, Timothy, 63 Weintraub Entertainment Group, Inc., 316
Wallach, Allan, 291–92, 296, 299–300, 303, 307, 309, 312, Weiss, Gordon Joseph, 395
315, 318, 320, 323, 327–28, 330, 335, 337, 339, 342–44, Weiss, Julie, 65
346, 348 Weiss, Marc B., 61, 110, 141, 176, 187, 201, 227, 272, 299,
Waller, Kenneth H., 217 334
Waller, Thomas “Fats,” 372–74 Weissenbach, James, 109
Wallis, Shani, 211 Weissler, Barry and Fran, 135, 147, 187, 227, 334, 423
Walser, Lloyd, 5–6, 42, 44, 47, 98–99, 125 Weitz, Eric, 124
Walsh, James, 195 Weitzenhoffer, Max, 122
Walsh, Ken, 283 Welch, Elisabeth, 21–22, 270–71
Walsh, Michael, 169 Welch, Ken, 392
Walsh, Thommie, 18, 130–31, 174, 176 Welch, Mitzie, 392
Walston, Ray, 2 Welch, Patricia, 230
INDEX 509
Welchman, Harry, 325 Willson, Michael, 370, 402

Welcome to the Club, 390–92 Wilson, Billy, 133, 161, 177
Wells, Christopher, 234 Wilson, Edith, 21–22
Wells, Deanna, 365 Wilson, Edwin, 3–5, 12, 14, 16, 22, 27, 33, 35, 42, 46, 49,
Wells, Deanna D., 308 53, 60, 66, 70, 74, 85, 111, 118–20, 129, 152, 163, 166,
Wells, Patricia, 101 175, 185, 189, 192, 197, 203, 213, 225, 234, 236, 243,
Wells, Stephen, 353 249, 267, 277, 279, 281, 292, 299, 301, 309, 312, 318,
Wells, Tico, 231 320, 329–32, 339, 342, 355–56, 361, 380, 384, 394–95,
Wentworth, Scott, 390 408, 414, 417, 422, 424, 427
Wenz, Carol, 90 Wilson, John S., 22, 67, 356
Werner, Fred, 279 Wilson, Josephine, 285
West, Rebecca, 230 Wilson, Julie, 378
Westenberg, Robert, 187, 338 Wilson, Lester, 225, 239
Westergaard, Louise, 68, 311 Wilson, Patrick, 346
Weston, Jack, 89 Wilson, Peter, 270, 298
West Side Story, 3–5, 382 Wilson, Robert, 161
Wexler, Stanley, 223, 313, 324, 349 Wilson, Trey, 52, 110
Wheeler, Hugh, 6–7, 42, 47, 98, 133, 153, 186, 221–22, Winans, Be Be, 337
250, 287, 323–24, 402, 407, 413 Winans, Marvin, 336
Whitaker, Julian, 401 Wind in the Willows, 267–69
White, Cynthia, 140 Winer, Linda, 249, 253, 260, 262–64, 266–67, 276, 281,
White, John S., 42, 146 291, 293, 295–96, 299–301, 305, 307, 309, 351, 354–55,
White, Kathleen, 229 358, 361, 363–64, 373–74, 379–80, 384, 393, 395, 404,
White, Lillias, 322–23 406, 408–10, 414–15, 417, 419, 422, 424, 427
White, Michael, 8 Winkler, Richard, 31, 147, 259, 319
White, Miles, 86 Winston, Hattie, 200
White, Onna, 181, 227, 389 Winston, Lee, 34
White, Richard, 275–76, 297–98, 313, 324–25, 370–72, 374, Winters, Nancy, 225
407 Wipf, Alex, 36
White, Roxanna, 90 Wise, Robert, 4
White, Sheila, 211 Wise, Scott, 385
White, Stanley, 200 Wish Me Mazel-Tov, 50–51
White, T. H., 37, 105 Wisnet, Charles, 11–12
White, Terri, 15 Witham, John, 341
Whitecap Productions, Inc., 362 Witham, Tricia, 1
Whitehead, John, 83 Witt, Phil, 334
Whitfield, Alice, 68 Witter, William C., 15
Whiting, Jack, 165, 333 Wittop, Freddy, 225, 267
Whitmore, James, 343 The Wiz, 215–17
Widney, Stone, 177 The Wizard of Oz, 250, 389
Wilbur, Richard, 153, 186, 221, 287, 402 WNET/Thirteen, 159
Wild, Jack, 211 Wodehouse, P. G., 208, 225, 331
Wilder, Carrie, 57 Wohl, Jack, 387
Wilder, Thornton, 365 Wolf, Peter, 25, 34, 181, 215, 230
Wildhorn, Frank, 161 Wolf, Richard, 429
Wilkinson, Colm, 314, 316 Wolfe, John Leslie, 275
Williams, Bart, 389 Wolfe, Leslie-Anne, 23
Williams, Diane, 365 Wolff, Art, 343
Williams, Frieda, 227 Wolff, Richard G., 201
Williams, John, 365 Wolfington, Iggie, 35
Williams, K. R., 396 Wolf Trap Productions, 48
Williams, Michelle, 336 Wolpe, Lenny, 259–60, 302
Williams, Sam, 176, 276 Wolsk, Eugene V., 94, 247
Williams, Vanessa, 340 Woman of the Year, 74–76
Willis, Gordon, 247 A Wonderful Life, 136
Willis, Susan, 210 Wonderful Town, 185
The Will Rogers Follies, 17 Wood, Natalie, 424
Wills, Mary, 54 Woodard, Charlaine, 372
Willson, Meredith, 34–36, 349 Woodeson, Nicholas, 65
Woodjetts, Stephen, 283 Yoshimura, Leo, 222

Woods, Carol, 140 Yossiffon, Raquel, 50
Woods, Sheryl, 99, 172, 276 Youmans, William, 242
Woolf, Edgar Allen, 389 Young, David, 302
Wootten, Anne, 218 Young, Rida Johnson, 374
Worley, Jo Ann, 419 Yount, Kenneth M., 387
Worman, Martin, 285 Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, 31–32, 147–48
Wright, Ben, 338–40 Yule, Don, 125, 153, 186, 221, 275, 287–88, 403
Wright, Bob, 147 Yuskis, Antonette, 208
Wright, Gary Landon, 237
Wright, Helena-Joyce, 189 Zacharias, Emily, 387
Wright, Mary Catherine, 52 Zahn, Claudia, 349
Wright, Nicholas, 134 Zakariasen, Bill, 314
Wright, Robert, 99, 254, 288, 420, 422 Zaks, Jerry, 52–53, 331
Wright, Samuel E., 200, 390 Zaslow, Michael, 59
Wright-Bey, Marvin, 337 Zeller, Mark, 387
Wylie, John, 420 Zelno, Christopher, 393
Wyman, George, 250, 323 Ziegfeld, Florenz, 226
Wyman, Nicholas, 96, 344 Ziemba, Karen, 312, 341
Wynn, Ed, 415 Zien, Chip, 338, 340
Zimbler, Jason, 405
Xifo, Raymond, 426 Zimmerman, Edward, 6, 43, 47, 98, 250, 323
Zimmerman, Mark, 48
Yaker, Elaine, 196 Zink, 397
Yakim, Moni, 67 Zinn, Randolyn, 212, 254, 288
Yamada, Taku, 410 Zippel, David, 193, 426, 428
Yarin, Peter, 313 Zipprodt, Patricia, 27, 89, 94, 160, 212, 277, 279, 281, 283,
Yarnell, Lorene, 73 334, 338, 408
Yeager, Barbara, 235 Zizi, 81
Yerxa, Alison, 350 Zorba, 187–89
Yeston, Maury, 127–30, 185, 420, 422 Zorina, Vera, 165
York, Donald, 79, 116 Zottola, Glenn, 27
York, Michael, 79, 133 Zweigbaum, Steven, 267
About the Author
Dan Dietz was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at the University of Virginia, and the subject of his graduate thesis
was the poetry of Hart Crane. He taught English and the history of modern drama at Western Carolina Uni-
versity and then later served with the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Education Depart-
ment. He is the author of Off-Broadway Musicals, 1910–2007: Casts, Credits, Songs, Critical Reception and
Performance Data of More Than 1,800 Shows (2010), which was selected as one of the outstanding reference
sources of 2011 by the American Library Association. He is also the author of The Complete Book of 1940s
Broadway Musicals (2015), The Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals (2014), The Complete Book of
1960s Broadway Musicals (2014), and The Complete Book of 1970s Broadway Musicals (2015), all published
by Rowman & Littlefield.
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The Complete Book of

1980s Broadway Musicals

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BROADWAY MUSICALS OF THE 1980s

Aaah oui Genty! 76 Candide (1983) 186

Durante 428 Kismet (1985) 254

Peg 198 and the dance-musical Dance

WEST SIDE STORY

SILVERLAKE, OR A WINTER’S TALE

CENSORED SCENES FROM KING KONG

Theatre: Princess Theatre

Theatre: Biltmore Theatre

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Theatre: St. James Theatre

A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD/A NIGHT IN THE UKRAINE

Book and Lyrics: Dick Vosburgh

A Night in the Ukraine

Theatre: Majestic Theatre

BILLY BISHOP GOES TO WAR

YOUR ARMS TOO SHORT TO BOX WITH GOD

IT’S SO NICE TO BE CIVILIZED

THE MUSIC MAN

Theatre: Princess Theatre

THE STUDENT PRINCE

CHARLIE AND ALGERNON

Theatre: Helen Hayes Theatre

INSIDEOUTSIDEANDALLAROUND WITH SHELLEY BERMAN

SILVERLAKE, OR A WINTER’S TALE

BANJO DANCING, OR THE 48TH ANNUAL SQUITTERS

Theatre: John Golden Theatre

Sketches and Musical Numbers

Theatre: Martin Beck Theatre

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE

THE FIVE O’CLOCK GIRL

Play: Pam Gems

JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING IN PARIS

BRING BACK BIRDIE

Theatre: Martin Beck Theatre

Theatre: Nederlander Theatre

Sketches and Musical Numbers

WOMAN OF THE YEAR

Theatre: Palace Theatre

The musical was presented in two acts.

AAAH OUI GENTY!

Sketches and Musical Numbers

Theatre: ANTA Theatre

THE MOONY SHAPIRO SONGBOOK

Theatre: Morosco Theatre

Theatre: Biltmore Theatre

LENA HORNE: THE LADY AND HER MUSIC

GEORGIA BROWN & FRIENDS

HOAGY, BIX & WOLFGANG BEETHOVEN BUNKHAUS

ONE NIGHT STAND

A REEL AMERICAN HERO

The musical was presented in two acts.

THIS WAS BURLESQUE

Theatre: Princess Theatre