Good News (musical)

Infobox Musical
name= Good News
subtitle=


caption= Original 1927 Broadway Program
music= Ray Henderson
lyrics= B.G. DeSylva
Lew Brown
book= Laurence Schwab
B.G. DeSylva
basis=
productions= 1927 Broadway
1930 Film
1947 Film
1974 Broadway revival
1993 Wichita
awards=

"Good News" is a musical with a book by Laurence Schwab and B.G. DeSylva, lyrics by DeSylva and Lew Brown, and music by Ray Henderson.

The show opened on Broadway in 1927, the same year as "Show Boat", helping to mark a new era of book musicals. It spawned two films and a Broadway revival and still is performed regularly. It proved to be DeSylva, Brown, and Henderson's biggest hit out of a string of topical musicals. [ [http://www.michaelgruberlibrary.com/News/NewsHist.html Information from the Michael Gruber Library] ]

Productions

The original Broadway production, directed by Edgar MacGregor and choreographed by Bobby Connolly, opened on September 6 1927 at The 46th Street Theatre, where it ran for 557 performances, which was a very successful run, as few if any Broadway shows had reached 500 performances since 1919's "Irene". The cast included John Price Jones as Tom Marlowe, Mary Lawlor as Connie Lane, Gus Shy as Bobby Randall, and Inez Courtney as Babe O'Day.

In the 1970s, Producer Harry Rigby, who started the Broadway nostalgia craze with his revivals of "No, No, Nanette" and "Irene", decided "Good News" would be the ideal choice for his next project. After a try-out in Boston, a nationwide tour for almost a year and 51 previews, a lavish revamped production (with a number of songs interpolated from other sources) directed by Abe Burrows and choreographed by Donald Saddler opened on December 23 1974 at the St. James Theatre where, having failed to charm the critics as its predecessors had, it ran for only 16 performances. This version emphasized the more senior characters, at the expense of the college student characters who had made the 1927 version popular. It also moved the setting from the Twenties into the Depression era Thirties. The cast included Alice Faye, Gene Nelson, and Stubby Kaye. Saddler was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography.

In 1993, Mark Madama and Wayne Bryan revised the book for the Musical Theatre of Wichita, and their version has enjoyed many productions since. [ [http://www.music.umich.edu/performances_events/productions/past/01-02/uprod-goodnews.html Information about the 1993 production] ] A studio cast recording of this adaptation was released in 1995. [ [http://www.jayrecords.com/recordings/goodnews/recording.htm 1995 cast recording] ]

MGM released two film versions, the first in 1930 and a remake in 1947.

ynopsis

Original 1927 version

World War I is over, the Roaring Twenties have arrived, women have won the right to vote, and college campuses, such as fictional Tait College, are as much a social scene as an academic one. Football is the big game, and star player Tom Marlowe is a prime catch. All the girls are interested in Tom, and vice-versa, although one society climber seems to have him in hand. Studious part-time school librarian Connie Lane doesn't seem to have a chance and stays out of the fray. When Marlowe fails a final exam, he needs a tutor to help him pass so he can play in the big game on Saturday. Connie is selected to help keep his nose to the grindstone, and the two fall for each other. The couples' romance can only endure if the team wins the big game.

Revised 1993 version

; Act ITait College is still caught up in the social scene of the Roaring Twenties, and star football player Tom Marlowe is expected to lead the football team to victory ("Good News"). Of course, since Tom is the star football player, "He's a Lady's Man", according to the sorority girls. Tom is currently romancing Patricia Bingham, the daughter of one of the college's wealthiest benefactors. The football team spends most of its time practicing for the big game on Saturday against archrival Colton College ("The Football Drill"). Meanwhile, Bobby Randall, a substitute on the football team, is pleasantly shocked when Babe O'Day, a stylish flapper, pusues him. Babe has broken up with Beef Saunders, her old boyfriend, and is looking for a new man ("Button Up Your Overcoat").

Tom neglects his studies and fails his astronomy final, which he had to pass to play in the big game on Saturday. Charlotte Kenyon, his astronomy professor, agrees to give Tom one more chance to pass the exam. Professor Kenyon tells Connie Lane, a studious girl, about her lost college romance with a football player (who is now the Tait football coach), and Connie wishes she could fall in love ("Together/My Lucky Star"). Football Coach Johnson, meanwhile, tells team trainer Pooch that he and Professor Kenyon dated and broke up in college ("Together"). They ask Patricia if she can help Tom study, but since she has to choose new drapes for the sorority house she recommends Connie instead. Connie and Tom meet at the library to study, and the students enjoy walking after dark "On the Campus". Tom and Connie are initially uncomfortable working together, but soon they find they have a lot in common and similar philosophies of life ("The Best Things In Life Are Free"). Coach Johnson pretends to be in love with Professor Kenyon, hoping she will not grade Tom's second exam as hard ("You're The Cream in my Coffee"). She thinks he's singing earnestly at first, but soon realizes he's trying to manipulate her and leaves angrily.

The next morning, Tom takes his make-up exam as the students nervously wait to find out if he can play in the big game or not. Babe insists that they can't let school depress them and teaches everyone the latest dance, "The Varsity Drag". Tom passes the test and tells Connie that he couldn't have passed it without her help, declaring that with her, he's "Lucky In Love". Babe tells Bobbie she's in love with him, and even though Bobby's scared of Beef (who still considers Babe his girl), he agrees that they might be "Lucky In Love" too. Patricia interrupts Connie and Tom and tells Tom that her father is going to double his donation to the athletic department if Tait wins the big game and Tom marries Pat. Connie is shocked, and Tom is dumbstruck as the students joyously sing another chorus of "Lucky in Love".

;Act IIIt's Saturday, which means "Today's the Day" of the big game against Colton. Pat and the sorority girls are terribly excited about the game, but are briefly saddened when they realize this is the last football game they will ever attend as students ("The Girl of the Pi Beta Phi")! Bobby stops by the sorority Open House (after all, they might have sandwiches) and commits to Babe ("Never Swat A Fly"), but only if they win the game. The students head to the Big Game singing "The Tait Song" as Pat tries to pressure Tom into marrying her. Tom feels that Tait's whole athletic program is at stake, and tells Connie he can't stay with her. Connie decides that she will "Just Imagine" Tom is still there with her.

The game begins, and Tom is so upset about Connie that by halftime, Tait is far behind Colton. Pooch urges the team to "Keep Your Sunny Side Up", while Professor Kenyon tries to persuade Babe and Connie to pursue Bobby and Tom ("Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries"). Tait wins the big game, and the happy couples, Tom and Connie, Bobby and Babe, and Coach Johnson and Professor Kenyon, all end up together ("Finale").

ong list

Original 1927 production

;Act I
* Opening Chorus (Students)
* He's a Ladies' Man (Flo, Boys and Girls)
* Flaming Youth (Babe O'Day, Millie, Windy, Boys and Girls)
* Happy Days (Tom, Jim, Ben, Pete)
* Just Imagine (Connie Lane, Millie and Girls)
* The Best Things in Life Are Free (Tom Marlowe and Connie Lane)
* On the Campus (Sylvester, Flo, Windy, Millie and Ensemble)
* Varsity Drag (Flo, Millie, Sylvester, Windy, Boys and Girls)
* Baby! What? (Babe O'Day and Bobby Randall)
* Lucky in Love (Connie Lane and Tom Marlowe)
* Tait Song (Kearney, Johnson, George, and Company)
* Finaletto (Company);Act II
* Girl of the Pi Beta Phi (Patricia Bingham and Girls)
* Today's the Day (Girls)
* In the Meantime (Bobby Randall and Babe O'Day)
* Good News (Flo, Boys and Girls)
* Finale (Company)

Revised 1993 production

;Act I
* Overture and Opening Chorus (Orchestra and Students)
* Good News (Students)
* He's A Lady's Man (Millie, Flo, Tom and Girls)
* The Football Drill (Tom, Pooch and Boys)
* Button Up Your Overcoat (Babe, Bobby)
* Together/My Lucky Star (Prof Kenyon, Connie, Coach)
* Sour Apples (Coach Johnson, Prof Kenyon, Students)
* On The Campus (Students)
* The Best Things In Life Are Free (Connie, Tom)
* You're the Cream In My Coffee (Coach Johnson, Prof Kenyon)
* The Varsity Drag (Babe, Students)
* Lucky In Love (Tom, Connie,Patricia, Babe,Bobby, Students) ;Act II
* Today's The Day (The Sorority Girls of Pi Beta Phi)
* The Girl Of The Pi Beta Phi (Patricia, Sorority Girls)
* Never Swat a Fly (Bobby And Babe)
* Tait Song (Students)
* Just Imagine (Connie)
* Dream Ballet (Connie, Tom, Patricia and Students)
* Keep Your Sunny Side Up (Pooch, Football Team)
* Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries (Prof Kenyon, Babe, Connie)
* Finale (Company, Orchestra)

Notes

References

* [http://www.michaelgruberlibrary.com/News/NewsHist.html History of the show]
* [http://www.michaelgruberlibrary.com/News/NewsSongs.html Information about the 1993 version]

External links

*
* [http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950202/02020022.htm Review of the 1993 version]