All About Us (musical)

Infobox Musical
name= All About Us
subtitle=


caption=
music=John Kander
lyrics=Fred Ebb
book=Joseph Stein
basis=Thornton Wilder's play
"The Skin of Our Teeth"
productions= 1999 Arlington, Virginia
2006 New York City reading
2007 Westport, Connecticut
awards=

"All About Us" is a musical with a book by Joseph Stein, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander. The musical has played in regional theatres but has not been produced yet in New York City.

Based on Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic comedy "The Skin of Our Teeth", it finds the prehistoric Antrobus family and their maid Sabina dealing with life's trials and tribulations, including the Ice Age, a great flood, and a devastating war as they traverse the centuries in a testament to human will and resilience.

Originally entitled "Over and Over", the musical had its first professional staging in January-February 1999 at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, with a cast that included Dorothy Loudon, David Garrison, and Mario Cantone [Davidson, Susan. [http://www.curtainup.com/overando.html "Some Thoughts on Over and Over",] , curtainup review, February 10, 1999] . Sherie Rene Scott replaced Bebe Neuwirth shortly before the opening in the role of Sabrina. That role had been done by Bernadette Peters at a first reading. Chip Crews wrote: "It's a little hard to imagine Neuwirth as Sabina. Remember, for that first reading, the team used Bernadette Peters in the role, and Kander says she was terrific. There may be parts in which both actresses would score, but not many." [Crews, Chip. "Washington Post", "Revise And Shine?; Signature's 'Over & Over': Change Is in the Air", January 31, 1999, p.G1] Critical reception was lukewarm, and the creative team reworked it in a number of workshop productions, at one point reverting to Wilder's original title, but never felt it was ready for Broadway. Following Ebb's death in 2004, the project was abandoned.

A reading of a revamped version, rechristened "All About Us", was held on January 17, 2006 in New York City, with Eartha Kitt and Karen Ziemba among the participants. The Westport Country Playhouse presented a full staging with Kitt, Cady Huffman, and Shuler Hensley from April 10-28, 2007. [Pincus-Roth, Zachary. [http://www.playbill.com/news/print.asp?id=106969 "New Kander & Ebb Musical Is All About Us",] Playbill article, March 30, 2007] In her review in the "New York Times", Sylviane Gold praised Kitt ("Is there anything that can't be saved by Eartha Kitt? She's demonstrating that there is indeed a good reason for "All About Us") but said of the show " [it] never achieves the critical mass that transforms a collection of discrete numbers into an all-embracing universe." [ [http://theater2.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/22artsct.html] "New York Times", April 22, 2007]

References

External links

* [http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/10551 Theatremania review]
* [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117933357.html?categoryid=33&cs=1 "Variety" review, April 16, 2007]
* [http://www.allaboutusthemusical.us/press.html Press and other information]
* [http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/8832 Theatremania article]