Fiorello!

Infobox Musical
name = Fiorello!
imagesize = 180px


caption = Original Logo
music = Jerry Bock
lyrics = Sheldon Harnick
book = Jerome Weidman
George Abbott
basis = Life of New York City mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia
productions = 1959 Broadway
1994 Broadway concert
awards = Tony Award for Best Musical (1960)
Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1960)

"Fiorello!" is a Pulitzer Prize-winning musical about New York City mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, a reform Republican who took on Tammany Hall. The book is by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott, with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock. It is one of only seven musicals to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Productions

"Fiorello!" opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on November 23, 1959, moved to The Broadway Theatre on May 9, 1961, and closed on October 28, 1961 after 795 performances. It was directed by Geoge Abbott with choreography by Peter Gennaro. Tom Bosley originated the role of LaGuardia in the original Broadway cast, opposite veteran character actor Howard Da Silva as the Republican machine boss Ben Marino. Frank Kelly, [http://www.geocities.com/bockharn/Bock_and_Harnick.html The "Unofficial" Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick Appreciation Page] , accessed 7 March 2007.]

A concert production of "Fiorello!" was performed at the first Encores! New York City Center concert series in February 1994. [Holden, Stephen. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E6D71238F932A25751C0A962958260&scp=1&sq=Fiorello%21&st=nyt "Review/Theater; La Guardia Administration In a Dramatic Comeback",] "New York Tmes", February 11, 1994]

Plot summary

The story follows the life of Fiorello H. La Guardia, during World War One and ten years later. As Mayor of New York City La Guardia reforms city politics by breaking the Tammany Hall Political machine.

Background and analysis

The musical contains several songs built around a group of machine politicians: "Politics and Poker", in which Republican machine politicians try to pick a congressional candidate in a district they consider hopeless, while playing a game of poker; "The Bum Won", in which these same politicians commiserate with one another after LaGuardia has won the election without their support; and "Little Tin Box", in which they imagine a series of Tammany politicians attempting to explain to a judge that their wealth came from their scrupulous habits of saving ("I can see Your Honor doesn't pull his punches/ And it looks a trifle fishy, I'll admit,/ But for one whole week I went without my lunches/ And it mounted up, Your Honor, bit by bit./ Up Your Honor, bit by bit.") In "I Love a Cop", woman factory worker describes her hapless situation of having fallen in love with a policeman who was called out against a strike by her union; "The Name's La Guardia" has LaGuardia campaigning in English, Italian and Yiddish. There is also a ragtime number, "Gentleman Jimmy" about "bon vivant" mayor James J. "Jimmy" Walker, and "Marie's Law" in which Marie proposes a "law" about how husbands should treat their wives ("Every girl shall have a honeymoon, which will last at least a year,/ During which aforesaid honeymoon, every care shall disappear…").

Besides the inevitable invention of some peripheral characters, the musical plays a bit fast and loose with some basic facts of LaGuardia's life. In fact, LaGuardia's first wife, Thea (played by Ellen Hanley in the original Broadway production), died after only three years of marriage, but the fictional Thea lives another eight years, so that her death can be one more calamity during LaGuardia's unsuccessful 1929 mayoral campaign; also, the script downplays LaGuardia's generally successful congressional career to make him seem more of an outsider and increase the triumph of his eventual mayoral victory in 1933.

ongs

;Act I
* On the Side of the Angels
* Politics and Poker
* Unfair
* Marie's Law
* The Name's LaGuardia
* The Bum Won
* I Love a Cop
* I Love a Cop (reprise)
* Till Tomorrow
* Home Again;Act II
* When Did I Fall in Love
* Gentleman Jimmy
* Gentleman Jimmy (reprise)
* The Name's LaGuardia (reprise)
* Little Tin Box
* The Very Next Man
* Politics and Poker (reprise)
* The Very Next Man (reprise)
* The Name's LaGuardia (reprise)

An additional song, "Where Do I Go from Here?" (originally written for Marie to sing in Act I) was cut out of town; it can be heard on the Liz Callaway album "Lost In Boston" (Varese Sarabande VSD-5475). "Till Tomorrow" and "Unfair" were written "on spec" before Bock and Harnick were hired for the show. "Little Tin Box" was added on the road in Philadelphia.

Critical response

In his review for the "New York Times", Brooks Atkinson wrote: "...It is exciting; it is enjoyable and it is decent...Jerry Bock has set...a bouncy score...As the writer of lyrics, Sheldon Harnick is in an unfailingly humorous frame of mind...Under Mr. Abbott's invincible stage direction, the whole show comes alive with gusto...The cast could not be more winning or in better voice." [Atkinson, Brooks. "New York Times", "Little Flower Blooms Again", November 24, 1959, p. 45]

Louis Calta wrote: "Fiorello! is the town's latest stage hit...the attraction earned flowery praise from all of the New York drama critics." [Calta, Louis. "New York Times", "Fiorello! Gets Landslide Vote", November 25, 1959, p. 19]

Original Cast Album

* "Fiorello!", was originally released on Capitol Records, later on Broadway Angel (CD #ZDM 7243 5 65023 2 1).

Awards and nominations

*Tony Award
*Best Musical (winner) (tie with The Sound of Music)
*Best Featured Actor in a Musical::Tom Bosley (winner)::Howard Da Silva (nominee)
*Best Scenic Design (Musical) (William and Jean Ekhart) (nominee)
*Best Choreography (nominee)
*Best Direction of a Musical (winner)
*Best Conductor and Musical Director (Hal Hastings)(nominee)
*Pulitzer Prize for Drama (winner)

References

External links

*
* [http://www.mtishows.com/show_home.asp?ID=000216 Fiorello!] at Music Theatre International
* [http://www.tonyawards.com/p/tonys_search Tony Awards listing for 1960, Musical]