A Broadway Musical

A Broadway Musical

Infobox Musical
name= A Broadway Musical


image_size= 150px
caption= Original cast recording
music= Charles Strouse
lyrics= Lee Adams
book= William F. Brown
basis=
productions= 1978 Broadway
awards=

"A Broadway Musical" is a musical with a book by William F. Brown, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse. The Broadway production closed after 14 previews and only one performance on December 21 1978.

The plot about a sleazy white theatre producer's attempt to adapt an African American writer's serious play for a commercial stage musical was inspired by Adams and Strouse's real-life experiences with their 1964 Broadway production of "Golden Boy". The star of the musical-within-the-musical ("Sneakers", about a basketball star) closely resembles "Golden Boy" star Sammy Davis, Jr. When the star opts to leave the show, the playwright - who from the start had resisted turning his work into a musical - steps in and takes on the lead role in order to save the production.

Background and production

The creators hoped that the backstage story about the making of a musical would cash in on the success of "42nd Street" and "A Chorus Line" as well as the popularity of the black-themed musical, including Brown's own "The Wiz", which was still running at the time. But Brown's much-criticized book is a cliched spoof of show business lawyers, idealistic young playwrights, glitzy Las Vegas performers, blue-haired matinee ladies, and the black-themed musical itself. "The Wiz" proved to be Brown's only success.Gilvey, John Anthony. "Before the Parade Passes by: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical". (2005) St. Martin's Press ISBN 0312337760]

Following a dismal October-November tryout with Helen Gallagher and Julius LaRosa at the theatre in the Riverside Church in Morningside Heights, the producers fired most of the cast and creative personnel, including director/choreographer George Faison. [Mandelbaum, page 138] Gower Champion was called in to rescue the Broadway-bound production with only a month to go, but he feared that the show's defects were too serious to remedy and insisted on receiving a "Production supervised by" credit only.

After 14 previews, the Broadway production opened and closed at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on December 21 1978. It lost $1 million. [ [http://www.flyrope.com/sections/shows/index.php?var=100000639 Information about casts and songs in both productions and the show's loss] ] The cast included Patti Karr (replacing Gallagher), Alan Weeks, Larry Marshall, Warren Berlinger (replacing LaRosa), Loretta Devine, Jackée Harry, and Tiger Haynes.

Julius Novick of "The Village Voice" called it "the best Broadway musical since "Platinum"," a disaster that had opened the month before. Critic and theatre historian Ken Mandelbaum has described the show as "a genuine turkey... hopeless... [a] well-meaning but fatally underpowered evening. The Charles Strouse-Lee Adams score had its moments...." [ [http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=514458 Information from the Broadway.com website] ]

A cast album was recorded before an audience during a live performance in December 1978. [ [http://www.castalbums.org/recordings/8120 Cast recording] ]

ong list

;Act I
*Broadway, Broadway
*A Broadway Musical
*Smoke and Fire
*Lawyers
*Yenta Power
*Let Me Sing My Song
*A Broadway Musical (Reprise)

;Act II
*The 1934 Hot Chocolate Jazz Babies Revue
*Let Me Sing My Song (Reprise)
*It's Time for a Cheer-Up Song
*You Gotta Have Dancing
*What You Go Through
*Don't Tell Me
*Together

Characters and original broadway cast

*Richie Taylor's Lawyer - Sydney Anderson
*Rehearsal Pianist - Gwen Arment
*Policeman, Nathaniel - Nate Barnett
*Eddie Bell - Warren Berlinger
*Stephanie Bell - Gwyda DonHowe
*Shirley Wolfe - Anne Francine
*Richie Taylor's Lawyer - Michael Gallagher
*Melinda Bernard - Jackée Harry
*Sylvester Lee - Tiger Haynes
*Louie - Reggie Jackson
*Maggie Simpson - Patti Karr
*Kumi-Kumi - Christina Kumi Kimball
*James Lincoln - Irving Allen Lee
*Richie Taylor - Larry Marshall
*Junior - Robert Melvin
*Richie's Secretary - Jo Ann Ogawa
*Jake - Martin Rabbett
*Lonnie Paul - Larry Riley
*Big Jake - Albert Stephenson
*Stan Howard - Alan Weeks
*Smoke & Fire Back-Up Singer - Loretta Devine

Reference and notes

*"Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops" by Ken Mandelbaum, published by St. Martin's Press (1991), pages 136-38 (ISBN 0-312-06428-4)

External links

* [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3910 Internet Broadway Database entry]
* [http://www.empireclubfoundation.com/details.asp?FT=yes&SpeechID=1267 Recollections about the show from co-producer Garth Drabinsky]
* [http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=2759 Production information from the Lortel archives]
* [http://www.charlesstrouse.com/shows/index.html Information about this and other Strouse musicals]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops —   …   Wikipedia

  • I Am What I Am (Broadway musical song) — I Am What I Am is a song originally featured on the Tony Award winning Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles (1983–1987). The song is found on the finale number of the play s first act, and performed by the character of Albin Mougeotte. The song… …   Wikipedia

  • Broadway theatre — Broadway theater,Although theater is the preferred spelling in the U.S.A. (see further at American and British English Spelling Differences), the majority of venues, performers, and trade groups for live dramatic presentations use the spelling… …   Wikipedia

  • Broadway by the Bay — Broadway by the Bay, also known as the San Mateo Civic Light Opera , is a community theatre company in San Francisco, California, United States. It began as the San Mateo Community Theatre, a community group established by the San Mateo… …   Wikipedia

  • Broadway Rhythm — (1944) is an MGM Technicolor musical film. It was produced by Jack Cummings and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film was originally announced as Broadway Melody of 1944 to follow MGM s Broadway Melody films of 1929, 1936, 1938, and 1940. The movie… …   Wikipedia

  • Musical theatre — The Black Crook (1866), considered by some historians to be the first musical[1] Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – …   Wikipedia

  • Musical film — Film poster for Top Hat (1935) The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film s characters, though …   Wikipedia

  • Broadway Melody of 1936 — Infobox Film name = Broadway Melody of 1936 caption = original film poster director = Roy Del Ruth producer = John W. Considine Jr. writer = Moss Hart starring = Jack Benny Eleanor Powell Robert Taylor Una Merkel Buddy Ebsen music = Nacio Herb… …   Wikipedia

  • Musical — ► adjetivo 1 MÚSICA De la música. 2 MÚSICA Se aplica a aquello en que la música interviene como elemento esencial. 3 MÚSICA Que tiene el carácter de la música, que es armonioso: ■ tiene una voz muy musical. ► adjetivo/ sustantivo masculino 4 CINE …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Broadway — Broad|way a street in New York City where there are many theatres. Broadway and the area around it is the centre of the city s theatre industry ▪ The new show will open on Broadway next month. ▪ a Broadway musical …   Dictionary of contemporary English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”