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Clear filtersBravo Giovanni is a musical with a book by A. J. Russell, lyrics by Ronny Graham, and music by Milton Schafer. It is based upon Howard Shaw's 1959 novel, The Crime of Giovanni Venturi. The musical was conceived as a vehicle for opera star Cesare Siepi, and the story concerned a family-owned Italian restaurant's efforts to compete with a restaurant chain.
Breakfast at Tiffany's is a musical with music and lyrics by Bob Merrill and a book originally by Abe Burrows but rewritten during pre-Broadway tryouts by Edward Albee. It is based on the 1958 Truman Capote novella and 1961 film of the same name about a free spirit named Holly Golightly.
New Yorkers Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas have travelled to the Scottish Highlands on a game-hunting vacation, but they get lost on their first night out. They begin to hear music ("Brigadoon") coming from a nearby village that does not appear on their map of the area. They head over there to get directions back to their inn and find a fair in progress ("McConnachy Square"), with villagers dressed in traditional Scottish tartan. Andrew MacLaren and his daughters arrive at the fair to purchase supplies for younger daughter Jean's wedding to Charlie Dalrymple. Archie Beaton's son Harry madly loves Jean and is depressed at the thought of her marrying another, unable to find comfort in Maggie Anderson's devotion to him. One of the girls asks Jean's older sister Fiona when she'll marry, and Fiona answers she's waiting for the right person ("Waitin' for My Dearie"). Tommy and Jeff wander into the village and ask where they are; Archie informs them that they are in "Brigadoon". Fiona invites the wanderers to have a meal and rest at the MacLaren home. Flirtatious dairymaid Meg Brockie immediately falls for Jeff and leads him off. Charlie Dalrymple appears, rejoicing in his impending nuptials. He shares a drink with Tommy, toasting to a Mr. Forsythe whom he thanks for "postponing the miracle". When Tommy asks what that means, Fiona shushes him and leads him away as Charlie celebrates the end of his bachelorhood ("Go Home with Bonnie Jean"). Tommy tells Fiona that he has a fiancée, Jane, in New York, but he's in no hurry to marry her, and Fiona reveals that she likes Tommy very much. Tommy insists on accompanying Fiona to gather heather for the wedding ("The Heather on the Hill"). Meanwhile, Meg takes Jeff to a place in the forest with a shack and a cot. She tells him she's "highly attracted" to him, but he spurns her advances, wanting only to sleep. She reflects on her "eventful" love life ("The Love of My Life"). At the MacLarens', Jean's friends help her pack her things to move into Charlie's home ("Jeannie's Packin' Up"). Charlie arrives to sign the MacLarens' family Bible. He wants to see Jean; told that it's bad luck to see her on the wedding day, he begs for her to come out anyway ("Come to Me, Bend to Me"). Tommy and Fiona return with a basket full of heather, and Fiona goes upstairs to help Jean dress for the wedding. Jeff arrives wearing a pair of Highland trews (trousers); apparently his own pants have been damaged on a "thistle". Jeff finds that Tommy is so happy that he can barely contain it ("Almost Like Being in Love"). Tommy notices that all the events listed in the family Bible, including Jean's wedding, are listed as if they had happened 200 years earlier. When he asks Fiona about this, she sends him to the schoolmaster, Mr. Lundie. Fiona, Tommy, and Jeff arrive at Mr. Lundie's home, where he relates a story that the two New Yorkers can hardly believe: to protect Brigadoon from being changed by the outside world, 200 years ago the local minister prayed to God to have Brigadoon disappear, only to reappear for one day every 100 years. All citizens of Brigadoon are forbidden to leave the town, or it will disappear forever. Tommy asks hypothetically if an outsider could be permitted to stay. Mr. Lundie replies, "A stranger can stay if he loves someone here – not jus' Brigadoon, mind ye, but someone in Brigadoon – enough to want to give up everythin' an' stay with that one person. Which is how it should be. 'Cause after all, lad, if ye love someone deeply, anythin' is possible." The group leaves to go to the wedding, which opens with the clans coming in from the hills. Mr. Lundie marries Charlie and Jean, and they perform a traditional celebratory wedding dance. Sword dancers appear, led by Harry, and they perform an elaborate dance over their weapons. All the town joins in the dance, but it abruptly halts when Jean screams as Harry tries to kiss her. In anguish over Jean's wedding, he announces that he's leaving the town (which would end the miracle, causing Brigadoon to disappear forever into the Highland mists) and sprints away. The men of the town, including Tommy and a reluctant Jeff, frantically try to find Harry before he can depart the town ("The Chase"). Suddenly an agonized scream is heard. Harry, who appears to have fallen on a rock and crushed his skull, is found dead by the other men. Deciding not to tell the rest of the town until the next morning, the men carry Harry's body away. Fiona and her father arrive to see if everything is all right. As Mr. MacLaren leaves, Tommy sees Fiona, and they embrace. She reveals her love for him, and he tells her he believes he feels the same way ("There But For You Go I"). Fiona reminds him that the end of the day is near, and Tommy tells her he wants to stay in Brigadoon with her. They go to find Mr. Lundie. Meanwhile, in the village, Meg tells about the day her parents were drunkenly married ("My Mother's Wedding Day"), and the townsfolk dance until the sound of Highland pipes pierces the air. The gaiety is interrupted as Archie Beaton enters carrying Harry's body, led by the pipers playing a lament. Maggie, who loved Harry, performs a funeral dance for her unrequited love. The men of Brigadoon help Archie carry his son to the burial place. Tommy finds Jeff and announces his intention to stay. Jeff thinks the idea is absurd and argues with Tommy until he has convinced him that Brigadoon is only a dream. Jeff also reveals that he tripped Harry and accidentally killed him. Fiona and Mr. Lundie arrive, and Tommy, shaken by Jeff's confession, tells Fiona that he loves her, but he can't stay; he still has doubts ("From This Day On"). Fiona tells Tommy, as she fades away into darkness, that she will love him forever. Four months later, Jeff is drinking heavily at a hotel bar in New York. Tommy, who has been living on a farm in New Hampshire, enters and greets Jeff, but is still in love with Fiona and cannot stop thinking about her. His fiancée Jane Ashton, a beautiful socialite, talks to him about their impending wedding, but everything she says causes him to hear Fiona's voice and dream of Brigadoon ("Come to Me, Bend to Me" (reprise) and "Heather on the Hill" (reprise)). Tommy tells Jane that he cannot marry her, and she argues with him, but he continues to daydream about his true love ("Go Home With Bonnie Jean" (reprise) and "From This Day On" (reprise)). Jane leaves, and Tommy tells Jeff that he wants to return to Scotland, although he knows the village will not be there. The pair return to the spot where they found Brigadoon and, as they expected, see nothing there. Just as they turn to leave, they hear the music again ("Brigadoon"), and Mr. Lundie appears and says, "My my! You must really love her. You woke me up!" Tommy waves goodbye to Jeff and disappears with Mr. Lundie into the Highland mist to be reunited with Fiona.
Jamie, a twenty-four-year-old who came to New York City to fulfill his dream of being a writer, now finds himself in a frightfully boring job in the "factual verification department" of Gotham Magazine under tight-lipped boss Clara. Jamie soon discovers the party-scene of New York where he meets characters like Tad, who brings Jamie into a world of cocaine, sex and all-night partying at the Odeon club. Jamie indulges but eventually finds himself spinning out of control. His wife Amanda, a model, leaves him to follow her dream in Paris. He loses touch with his brother, Michael, who is left confused and alone since the death of their mother, and Jamie loses his job. Drugs and partying get the better of Jamie, as he starts to be haunted by hallucinations, while Chuck Bean, the number one reporter in town, worms his way into Jamie's brain. Jamie spirals out of control as the hallucinations and reality start to crumble. Tad introduces Jamie to his cousin, Vicky. It is meant to be nothing but a one-night engagement, but Jamie finds himself drawn to the rationality, innocence and philosophical tendencies of Vicky. He soon decides to turn his life around, forgetting about Amanda, deserting Tad, reconnecting with Michael, being with Vicky and finally restarting the novel he once gave up on.
In 1946, editor Alice Murphy greets the audience and tells them that, instead of overseeing other people's stories, she is going to tell her own ("If You Knew My Story"). One year earlier, in the town of Hayes Creek, serviceman and aspiring writer Billy Cane returns home after serving in World War II. He reunites with his father and his childhood friend Margo before learning that his mother has died ("She's Gone"). Several weeks later, Billy visits Margo and tells her he is going to submit his stories to The Asheville Southern Journal ("Bright Star"). Upon arriving at the offices of the Journal, he finds himself rebuffed by employees Daryl and Lucy. However, Alice finds herself charmed by a brazen lie that Billy tells and considers accepting his stories. She later declines Lucy's invitation to a dance, but privately reflects on a time when she would have gone to a dance ("Way Back in the Day"). Flashing back to 1923, a sixteen-year-old Alice flirts with Jimmy Ray Dobbs in her hometown of Zebulon, North Carolina ("Whoa, Mama"). When Alice returns home later that night, her parents reprimand her while pondering her unfortunate future. ("Firmer Hand/Do Right") Meanwhile, Jimmy Ray returns home only to be lectured by his father, Mayor Josiah Dobbs, on what the future holds for him ("A Man's Gotta Do"). In 1945, upon receiving encouragement from Alice in the form of a ten dollar check, Billy decides to settle down in Asheville and dedicate his time to writing. Margo reflects that she had other hopes for her future with Billy, but she decides to put her hopes aside and be supportive of his dreams ("Asheville"). In 1923, Alice and Jimmy Ray make their way to the riverbank ("What Could Be Better"). Sometime later, Alice goes to see the town physician, Doctor Norquist after feeling ill only to learn she is pregnant. Jimmy Ray proposes after learning of her pregnancy, but she is persuaded by Doctor Norquist and Mayor Dobbs to wait to get married in favor of staying in a remote cabin until giving birth. She divides her time in isolation between knitting a sweater for the baby and talking about their child with Jimmy Ray when he visits ("I Can't Wait"). Shortly after giving birth to a baby son, Alice and her mother learn that Mayor Dobbs and Alice's father have supposedly put the child up for adoption. Alice tries to make her father change his mind, but is bullied and demeaned by the room of men who have barged in and overpowered her, and who take her son from her ("Please, Don't Take Him"). Mayor Dobbs departs with the baby in a valise and boards the train to Hayes Creek before throwing the valise into the river when no one is looking ("A Man's Gotta Do [Reprise]"). In 1924, Alice prepares to attend college in Chapel Hill and privately yearns to find her son. Meanwhile, in 1945, Margo talks with her friends about how she misses Billy ("Sun Is Gonna Shine"). Back in 1924, Jimmy Ray tells his now ailing father that he is going to meet Alice in Chapel Hill. When Mayor Dobbs confesses what happened to the baby, Jimmy Ray decides to stay with his father after realizing he can't possibly tell Alice the truth ("Heartbreaker"). In 1946, Daryl and Lucy encounter a creatively frustrated Billy while sharing an after-work drink and try to cheer him up, culminating in Lucy and Billy sharing a drunken kiss ("Another Round"). The next day, Alice tells Billy that one of his stories is set to be published in the Journal. He confesses that he has been writing about Hayes Creek before inviting her to see where his stories take place. She agrees to do so after a planned visit to Raleigh to complete some unfinished business. In Raleigh, Alice requests permission to look through adoption papers drafted during the period when her son would have been registered. After failing to find what she is looking for, Alice encounters Jimmy Ray and learns about Josiah's actions. Believing their son to be dead, the two reaffirm their love for each other ("I Had a Vision"). Back in Hayes Creek, Billy tells Margo that he's moving back home before realizing that she's the girl for him ("Always Will"). In Zebulon, Alice reconciles with her father after he apologizes for allowing Josiah to take the baby away from her. Not wanting to continue his distress any longer, she tells him the child was adopted by a good family and is living a successful life. She makes her way to Hayes Creek and sees Billy's childhood home where she discovers the baby sweater she sent with her son, discovering that she is Billy's birth mother as his father explains how he found Billy as a baby in the river, but Billy is too shocked to process it and runs off ("So Familiar/At Long Last"). A few weeks later, after Alice has told Jimmy Ray that their child is still alive, Billy and Margo approach them in Asheville and Billy apologizes to Alice, accepting her as his mother and meeting Jimmy Ray for the first time. In order to fend off a flirtatious Lucy, Margo introduces herself as Billy's fiancée, much to Billy's pleasant shock, followed by Jimmy Ray proposing to Alice ("Finale").
Bring Back Birdie is a 1981 musical with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams, and a book by Michael Stewart. It is a sequel to the 1960 musical Bye Bye Birdie, which was written by the same team. Taking place twenty years after Bye Bye Birdie, it focuses on a scheme for rock 'n' roller Conrad Birdie, who had disappeared after being discharged from the U. S. Army, to make a comeback on a Grammy Awards broadcast.
On her last day of junior year, Campbell Davis prays to be named the captain of the Truman High School cheerleading squad ("What I Was Born to Do"). She gets the job, and her first duty is to replace the graduating members. Campbell's boyfriend, Steven calms her down with a song the two of them made to ease her from her new stress as captain ("Happy Kitties"). Her friend Skylar looks forward to tryouts ("Tryouts"). Other members of the squad include Kylar, Skylar's all-time follower, and Steven - Campbell's cute and worshipping boyfriend. Nerdy, chubby outcast Bridget doesn't make the cut, but Campbell takes a risk on adorable sophomore Eva. As the rest of the squad heads off to celebrate, Campbell reflects on the difficulties to come and dreams of "One Perfect Moment". At summer Cheer Camp, Eva's nervousness threatens the squad's chance to win the coveted Spirit Stick, an honor that indicates an upcoming Nationals win. To boost Eva's confidence, Campbell takes her aside and names her the Sophomore Spirit Leader – which means if Campbell were to lose her position, Eva would be third in the "line of succession" after Skylar and Kylar. After Campbell lifts Eva's spirits, Truman triumphs and celebrates their Spirit Stick win. ("What I Was Born To Do (Reprise)") Two weeks before the end of summer Campbell receives a letter with terrible news: she's been redistricted to inner-city Jackson High School. A horrified Kylar informs her that "they don't even have a squad!" Despite her attempts to stay at Truman, Campbell's fate is sealed. Her dream is gone. Even Steven cannot console his girlfriend. So, Campbell heads to her new school with nervousness and sadness. ("One Perfect Moment (Reprise)") Campbell arrives ("Welcome to Jackson") and discovers that Bridget has been redistricted as well. Intimidated and amazed, the pair is wowed by an impromptu performance by Jackson's resident dance crew ("Do Your Own Thing"). The day continues, as Campbell feels out of place and intimidated by everyone at Jackson. Campbell and Bridget meet the Queen Bees of Jackson High: Nautica, La Cienega and the head of the crew, Danielle. Bridget is an unexpected hit at Jackson – especially with the hormonal Twig who loves her curves. Campbell offers her talents to the crew, but a verbal slip-up turns the Jackson women against her. Danielle firmly explains that they are dancers and not cheerleaders ("We Ain't No Cheerleaders") – and the group lets Bridget in the crew. Skylar, Kylar, Eva, and Steven all call Campbell from Truman. Eva talks about how Campbell's old uniform fits perfectly and how she thinks Truman can win Nationals under Skylar's leadership. Steven tries to sing the Happy Kitties song over the phone, but is sent to voicemail. Later, Bridget consoles a discouraged Campbell and takes her to the Burger Pagoda where Danielle works. Campbell tries to make amends, but Danielle is unmoved and is still furious with Campbell, despite her attempts to explain. As she's leaving the Pagoda, Campbell confronts a pair of entitled rich girls harassing Danielle. Impressed and amused by Campbell's fire, Danielle reconsiders and offers Campbell a one-time chance to dance with the crew, dressed in an old leprechaun mascot suit ("Friday Night, Jackson"). After a shaky start, Campbell kills it as the leprechaun – and catches the eye of Randall, the smooth school D.J. An impressed Danielle gives Campbell an official spot on the Jackson crew. Later that night, Skylar and Kylar share shocking news, a slip-up in Skylar's grades means she can't be captain, and Kylar has contracted mono. By the rules of succession, Eva is now captain. Campbell grows suspicious ("Something Isn't Right Here") – and a visit to Eva's house seems to confirm her suspicions. Eva has taken on Campbell's appearance, and Campbell discovers Steven 'studying' there as well. Unconvinced by their explanations, Campbell breaks up with Steven and feverishly goes to Skylar and Kylar, who accuse her of paranoia and jealousy. Assessing the situation with Bridget, Campbell learns that Eva's mother is on the school board that decided on the redistricting. Outraged and certain of a conspiracy, Campbell decides to get back at Eva by assembling a squad at Jackson and crushing her at Nationals ("Bring It On"). Campbell approaches a reluctant Danielle about creating a cheerleading squad at Jackson. When Campbell lies and says that a Nationals win includes college scholarships for each winning member and a chance to be on live television, Danielle agrees to join her and assemble a squad. Using some convincing, they assemble of squad of girls and boys all to be on the squad, including Twig and Cameron. ("It's All Happening"). The Jackson Cheerleading Team has their first practice. Before, Campbell has a vision where she is back at Truman suddenly and Eva turns into a demon. Randall snaps her out of it, and they begin. Danielle informs Campbell they have a routine planned, which involves many moves the judges would deduct points for. Weeks later at the Regional Competition, Truman watches Jackson perform. While Eva, Steven, and Kylar are wowed, Skylar is smugly convinced that Truman will win ("Better"). Though Jackson wins enough points for a Nationals slot, they take second to Truman. Campbell meets up with Eva and Truman after the competition, and she has another vision in which all of the team turn into demons. Back at school, Twig asks Bridget on a date and Bridget shyly declines. This calls for an intervention from Nautica and La Cienega, who argue that it's no big deal when it comes to her insecurities ("It Ain't No Thing"). Her self-esteem boosted, Bridget chases after Twig. Randall asks Campbell on a picnic date on the cliffs above their town. She happily accepts, but moments later runs into a furious Jackson crew. Danielle has discovered that Campbell lied about the college scholarships as a Nationals prize and breaks up the squad. It's over, and so is their friendship. ("What Was I Thinking?") Upset and disgusted with herself, Campbell shows up for the date with Randall. After some pointed and playful ribbing, he encourages her to enjoy her high school years and stop worrying so much about her past mistakes ("Enjoy the Trip"). Meanwhile, Skylar, Kylar, and Eva discuss the dissolution of the Jackson cheerleading team, and Eva privately celebrates being made captain and the diabolical means she used to make it happen, revealing to the audience that she had orchestrated the entire change of leadership — blackmailing her mother into transferring Campbell, hacking into the school system to give Skylar a failing grade, and intentionally infecting Kylar with mono — confirming that Campbell was right about her suspicions ("Killer Instinct"). At Jackson, Bridget sports a hickey courtesy of her new boyfriend Twig. Campbell pulls Danielle aside and offers a profuse, pained apology. Danielle is still hurt by the lie, but acknowledges the joy their work brought her. Campbell explains that the experience changed her to the point where she no longer felt any ambition to go to Nationals – their friendship should have always been the most important thing. Despite her conflicting feelings, Danielle confesses that she misses Campbell and her friendship as well and decides to continue working together, meaning Nationals is back on ("We're Not Done"). At Nationals, Truman performs their routine exceptionally ("Legendary"). As the squad recovers, Eva runs into Campbell – Jackson is on deck to perform. Shocked at Campbell's presence, Eva tries — and fails — to undermine her confidence. Eva's efforts escalate as the rest of Jackson looks on, and she eventually reveals her villainous behavior, justifying her actions by claiming that they got Truman first place, which, in her mind, is more important than sportsmanship ("Eva's Rant"). Now on the mat, Jackson offers an exuberant, mind-blowing routine that breaks many of the fundamental rules of cheerleading, but inspires wild applause from the arena ("Cross the Line"). Jackson is sure they won, before being told by Bridget that they had broken many rules and gone outside of bounds multiple times. As the results are read, Campbell holds hands with everyone in Jackson, wondering if this is her moment. The hopes of winning are quickly shattered as the results say that Truman High School has won Nationals once again. After Eva comes in with the trophy, celebrating in her own insane way, Randall surprises Campbell, offering her his Pinewood Derby trophy from Cub Scouts, which he has repurposed with a Sharpie to credit her with "first place for everything that matters." With Eva gone, the Truman and Jackson squads celebrate their true victory: friendship ("I Got You").
Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk is a musical that debuted Off-Broadway at the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater in 1995 and moved to Broadway in 1996. The show was conceived and directed by George C. Wolfe, and featured music by Daryl Waters, Zane Mark and Ann Duquesnay; lyrics by Reg E. Gaines, George C. Wolfe and Ann Duquesnay; and a book by Reg E. Gaines. The choreography was by Savion Glover.
Broadway to Tokio has a loose plot in which a mummified Cleopatra awakes inside a New York City museum and discovers her heart is missing. She first searches New York City for her heart, and then continues her quest west; first taking a train to California and then a ship to Japan. The action of the musical takes place inside the Eden Musée in New York City; Longacre Square in Tenderloin, Manhattan; aboard a train on the inside of a Pullman car; Golden Gate, San Francisco; aboard a Pacific Mail Steamship; and in the city of Tokyo (spelled Tokio in this work).
Using the play within a play structure, Brooklyn focuses on a group of five ragtag homeless musicians known as the City Weeds. The group periodically transforms a street corner under the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge into a stage where they present their play about a Parisian singer, Brooklyn, named after the New York City borough from which her wayward father Taylor hailed. Orphaned when her depressed mother Faith hangs herself, the girl is sent in quick succession to live in a convent, where she discovers her vocal talents, becomes a star, performs at Carnegie Hall, sets out in search of her father (who she discovers is a drug-addicted Vietnam War vet), and engages in a competition with local diva Paradice at Madison Square Garden. From the original Broadway souvenir program: Once upon a time, a famous young Parisian came to America to search for the Father she never knew. Her only clue, her name... Brooklyn. The "Reigning Diva of the Decade", Ms. Paradice is threatened by Brooklyn's new-found fame. She challenges Brooklyn to a "Battle Of The Divas" at Madison Square Garden. Brooklyn accepts to deliver the Father she has yet to find. Feeling the soul of the city that bears her name, Brooklyn is moved by a street performer who plays a rusty old crowbar as if it were a Golden Saxophone. The Streetsinger leads Brooklyn to her father. She learns the truth of who he is and where he's been. Although our "Wicked Witch Of The Hood" Ms. Paradice is about to wreak havoc with our heroine and her father, she doesn't mind if you love to hate her, because after all that's still love. Moments before showtime, the wicked Ms. Paradice confronts Brooklyn's Father she comes bearing gifts. The "Battle Of The Divas" begins. Ms. Paradice takes the stage. She warns America not to turn its back on her now or they call "Kiss My Black Ass!" Brooklyn finds herself center stage, abandoned by her Father. The crowd roared, the votes poured in. Paradice Won! Brooklyn was just another face in the crowd. However, in that crowd was another face. "So you gotta ask yourself, do you believe in happy endings?"
Brownstone is a musical written by Josh Rubins (book and lyrics), Andrew Cadiff (book) and Peter Larson (music). It centers on a group of five people living in a brownstone apartment in New York City. Brownstone's characters include Claudia, a young lady getting over a breakup; Howard, a writer struggling with his current novel; his wife Mary, who desperately wants children; Joan, a big-time lawyer whose boyfriend lives in Maine; and Stuart, a bright-eyed youngster just excited to finally be in New York. The musical is sung-through with little dialogue.
In 1956, with the support of Lubbock, Texas, radio DJ, Hipockets Duncan, Buddy and his two friends form a Country & Western band – Buddy Holly & the Crickets – and begin a career in music. After a difficult start at Decca Records in Nashville, they sign a contract with up-and-coming, innovative record producer Norman Petty, who is based in Clovis, New Mexico. Buddy Holly & the Crickets start to record hits from the studio built in Norman's backyard, among them "That'll Be the Day", which climbed the charts to number one. Buddy Holly & the Crickets became the hottest act in the country and began a national tour. Buddy and his band go to New York where they perform at the Apollo Theater in New York City, making history as the first white band to perform there. While recording in New York, Buddy proposes to Maria Elena Santiago, the Puerto Rican receptionist of his music publisher after a courtship of all of five hours. Newly married and ambitious, he shifts focus to New York and a rift develops between him and the Crickets. After a declaration of home truths during a recording session, the band split and Buddy unexpectedly finds himself having to pursue a solo career. Buddy joins The Winter Dance Party of 1959, a bus tour through the Midwest quenching the teenage thirst for the "new music called Rock 'n' Roll" The tour is hard work, the weather conditions appalling and the performers are alternating between sleeping in the luggage racks and dropping into hospital to be treated for frostbite. The story ends on February 3, 1959, after a rocking concert with the "Big Bopper" J.P. Richardson and Ritchie Valens at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Buddy makes the fateful decision to break his promise to his pregnant wife not to fly, as he and the other two headliners board a small plane and take off into the night destined for their next show. During a snow storm, in the dead of night, the plane crashes and spares no survivors.
Buena Vista Social Club is a 2023 stage musical, with a book by Marco Ramirez and featuring the music recorded by the ensemble musician group Buena Vista Social Club. The musical is set in Havana, Cuba and spans time from the 1950s to the 1990s, following the lives of four prominent musicians, the effect communism and the rise of Fidel Castro had on musicians at the time, and their eventual collaboration in 1997 on the landmark album Buena Vista Social Club. The music in the show is presented entirely in the Spanish language, with the musical styles of son, danzón, and bolero represented in the musical score.
In 1929, playwright David Shayne is finally getting his first play God of Our Fathers produced on Broadway. The producer, Julian Marx, has enlisted the wealthy gangster Nick Valenti to pay for the show. Valenti wants to have his dim-witted and untalented girlfriend, Olive Neal, star as one of the leads. Valenti has assigned his strong-arm gangster Cheech to watch over Olive. Surprisingly, Cheech comes up with great ideas for improving the play. However, aging diva Helen Sinclair, the real star of the show, romances the younger David, who already has a girlfriend, Ellen. Meanwhile, the leading man, Warner Purcell, has his eye on Olive.
Sean, the emcee of the show, introduces us to the Burlesque Lounge, a burlesque venue in New York, owned by Tess ("Welcome to Burlesque"). We are also introduced to the stars of the lounge: Daphne, Queenie, twins Spring and Summer, Sophia and Nikki, who is late again, so Tess finishes the number instead. In her small town in Iowa, Ali is rehearsing with her choir ("Something's Got A Hold On Me") and she keeps stepping out of line, loudly riffing to the song. Ali confides in Miss Loretta, her choir teacher, and shows her a letter from her recently deceased mother with information about her biological mother, Theresa. Miss Loretta encourages Ali to travel to New York to meet her. After sending her a letter, Ali gets on a bus to the Big Apple, hoping to find her place ("Got It All From You"). Back at the Burlesque Lounge the show continues with a couple of short numbers from Dafne ("What Are Clothes") and Queenie ("Pretty Girls Only"). Ali arrives and briefly speaks to Jackson, the bar manager, then sneaks backstage looking for Theresa, now known as Tess, but is rudely dismissed by her, when trying to tell her she's her daughter. Nikki arrives late again and performs her solo after an argument with Tess about always being late and drinking too much ("Sugar Daddy Diet"). In the audience is Vince, Tess's ex-husband and part owner of the Burlesque lounge, who wants for Tess to buy his share of the lounge, but is also dismissed, as Tess has no time nor money for him. Ali is waiting for Tess after the show, but Jackson reveals she already left and offers Ali to crash on his couch for the night. As they get to know each other more, the two share a classic rom-com moment in Jackson's apartment ("Too Soon"), which ends when Jackson receives a call from his girlfriend Natalie. The next day, after the twins burlesque number ("Dirty Martini"), Jackson hires Ali as a waitress at the Burlesque, with a warning that Tess hates waitresses whose goal is to star in the Burlesque. While cleaning tables Ali cannot resist but bursting into song ("Don't Make Me Sing"), catching everyone's attention. Sean introduces Ali to the history of burlesque as a genre, after her comment about the Burlesque being a strip club ("Big"). The show-stopping number is interrupted by Tess scolding Sean for overspending and Tray, one of the dancers, for always wearing the girls outfits. Tess shares with Sean that the Burlesque is in deep financial trouble but she is determined to continue fighting ("You Haven't Seen the Last of Me"). After closure, Vince sneaks in Tess's office and finds the final notice from the bank and Ali's letter. He decides to use the information against his ex-wife ("Ammo"). At Jackson's apartment, Ali and Jack are growing closer. Jack walks in on Ali performing one of his songs, she is embarrassed at first, but then asks him to play the song on the keyboard ("Show Me How You Burlesque - pre reprise"). Impressed by her vocal talent, Jack convinces Ali she should be performing at the Burlesque lounge. The next day when Nikki is late again, she refuses to perform the first number ("Wagon Wheel Watusi") and says she will wait for her solo. This escalates into an argument with Tess, who fires her. During the dance number Vince tells Ali he knows the truth about her. Ali is about to tell Tess the whole truth, when Jack interrupts her and says she should be performing. Tess dares her to sing for the Burlesque audience and Ali surprises everyone with incredible talent ("Tough Lover"). Back at the Burlesque Lounge, Tess has agreed to make some changes to the show, adding new ideas suggested by Ali ("Express"). Ali has grown closer to the girls, is planning a gender reveal party for Sophia's baby and welcomes Tray, who now goes as Chardonnay, into the girls dressing room. A new number is shown, including ("Bump & Grind"), which features a heavily pregnant Sophia. Vince secretly hears a conversation between Sean and Tess, where she mentions a deposit she has saved for her daughter. He convinces Nikki to impersonate Ali, by stealing her driver's licence and key to the deposit box and collect the money from the bank, while Ali is performing at the Burlesque ("Bad Girl/Good Girl"). After the show, Ali and Tess share a moment backstage, with Tess sharing how she loves the performers as her own daughters and showing Ali how to put on make-up ("Make-Up"). Jack sings a song about Natalie ("Natalie") and the two break-up over the phone. Ali and Jack get together, with Ali also slowly becoming the star of the Burlesque ("Bound to You"). After spending the night together, Jack walks in naked, offering Ali a snack ("Cookie"). Nikki meets with Vince with a briefcase in hand, but, before giving him the money, demands to know what he's hiding. He is reticent at first, but reveals Ali's secret once he sees the briefcase is empty. With the impending end of the Burlesque, Ali suggests a big night, with new dresses made by Queenie, and new numbers, including one choreographed and inspired by Sean ("Bigger"). Vince lies to Ali saying Tess knew about her all along, but was using her for her talent. He then tells Tess Ali is her daughter and was using her to get onstage. Ali runs away, so the show cannot continue leading to the end of the lounge. Backstage, Tess is heartbroken ("Make-Up (reprise)"). Nikki finds Ali and gives her the money, convincing her to return to the lounge and join her revenge plot against Vince. Nikki has called him to the lounge under false pretence. Tess and Ali join in, making him confess, while Jackson films everything ("Call Mamma Daddy"). Tess and Ali clear the air and everyone welcomes Ali back ("Welcome to Burlesque (reprise)"). Ali insists to use the money for the lounge, as she has finally found a place to call home ("Got it All From You (reprise)"). Three months later the Burlesque lounge is thriving again ("Epilogue") and everyone unites for the final number ("Show Me How You Burlesque").
But Never Jam Today is a musical with music by Bert Keyes and Bob Larimer, lyrics by Larimer, and a book by both Larimer and Vinnette Carroll. The musical is based on the works of Lewis Carroll, and takes its title from the "jam tomorrow" discussion in Carroll's 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass.
By Jeeves, originally Jeeves, is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and lyrics and book by Alan Ayckbourn. It is based on the series of novels and short stories by P. G. Wodehouse that centre around the character of Bertie Wooster and his loyal valet, Jeeves. Premiering on April 22, 1975, at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, the show flopped initially, running for only a month. After an extensive rewrite, the show was produced in 1996 in both London and America, and premiered on Broadway in 2001.
In the land of the Amazons the women rule and do battle while the men stay at home, mind the children, and buy new hats. An army of Greek soldiers, led by Theseus and Hercules, arrives in search of the Sacred Girdle of Diana, currently in the hands of reigning Queen Hippolyta. Accompanying them is war correspondent Homer, author of a recent bestseller called The Iliad. The Greek warriors are captured by the Amazons, and romance blossoms between Theseus and Antiope, the warrior-leader of the Amazons. A subplot involves Hippolyta's foppish husband Sapiens, forced on her by his wealthy mother, in exchange for financing the war against the Greeks, who employs his "non-traditionally-male wiles" to get his way with the opposite sex.
By the Beautiful Sea is a musical with a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and music by Arthur Schwartz. Like Schwartz's previous musical, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, also starring Shirley Booth, the musical is set in Brooklyn just after the start of the 20th century (1907). By the Beautiful Sea played on Broadway in 1954.
New York–based songwriter Albert Peterson finds himself in trouble when his client, hip-thrusting rock and roll superstar and teen idol Conrad Birdie, is drafted into the Army, leaving his heavily indebted firm Al-Mae-Lou Music (a spoof of the real-life Aldon Music) in jeopardy. Albert's secretary, Rose "Rosie" Alvarez, comes up with a last-ditch publicity stunt to have Birdie record and perform a song before he is sent overseas. Having been stuck in a sort of romantic limbo for eight years, she longs for the Albert she once knew, an aspiring English teacher, before he wrote Birdie's first hit and abandoned those plans to pursue the seedier music industry ("An English Teacher"). Rose's plan is to have Birdie sing "One Last Kiss" (a song she assigns Albert to write on the spot) and give one lucky girl, chosen randomly from his fan club, a real "last kiss" on The Ed Sullivan Show before going into the Army. In Sweet Apple, Ohio, all the teenagers are catching up on the latest gossip about 15-year-old Kim MacAfee and Hugo Peabody going steady ("The Telephone Hour"). Kim reflects on how happy she is with her maturity, believing at 15 she has fully reached adulthood ("How Lovely to Be a Woman"). She quits the Conrad Birdie fan club over the phone because of the new milestone happening in her life. Her best friend Ursula is shocked. Kim reconsiders when, after a lengthy phone conversation with Ursula, she receives the phone call telling her that she has been chosen to be Birdie's last kiss before going into the armed forces. Meanwhile, Conrad, Albert and Rosie prepare to go to Sweet Apple. A crowd of teenage girls sees them off at the New York City train station, although one girl is sad because she thinks that by the time Conrad gets out of the army, she will be too old for him. Albert advises her to be optimistic ("Put On a Happy Face"). Soon, tabloid reporters arrive with questions about the seedy details of Conrad's personal life, but Rosie, Albert and the girls answer for him, hoping to protect his reputation and bankability ("Normal American Boy"). Conrad receives a hero's welcome in Sweet Apple, and Hugo worries that Kim likes Conrad more than she likes him, but Kim assures Hugo that he is the only one she loves ("One Boy"). Conrad shocks the town's parents and drives the teenage girls crazy with his performance of "Honestly Sincere", which causes all of the girls (including Edna, the mayor's wife) to faint. Conrad becomes a guest in the MacAfee house and irritates Kim's father, Harry, by being rude and selfish. Harry does not want Kim to kiss Conrad, until Albert tells him their whole family will be on The Ed Sullivan Show. Kim, Harry, Kim's mother Doris, and younger brother Randolph sing Sullivan's praises ("Hymn for a Sunday Evening"). Albert's overbearing mother, Mae, comes to Sweet Apple to break up her son's relationship with Rosie (she objects to Rosie's Hispanic heritage). She introduces Albert to Gloria Rasputin, a curvy blonde she met on the bus who could replace Rosie as his secretary. Gloria, a tap dancer, secretly hopes that a connection with Albert could be her way into show business. Mae sings "Swanee River" as Gloria tap-dances (usually depicted as her making a fool of herself). Albert gives Gloria a typing job. Rosie is furious, and fantasizes about violent ways to murder Albert ("One Hundred Ways Ballet"), but instead comes up with a better idea: she convinces Hugo to sabotage the last kiss. Since both Rosie and Hugo are jealous and angry, they plot to ruin Conrad's appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. On the broadcast, Conrad sings "One Last Kiss", and as he leans in to kiss Kim, Hugo runs onstage and punches him in the face, knocking Conrad unconscious. Rosie dumps Albert who, trying to cover for the mishaps of the evening, then leads a chorus of "Normal American Boy". Despite plans to re-film the broadcast, Rosie and Kim resolve to leave Albert and Hugo, lamenting their stupidity for having fallen in love ("What Did I Ever See in Him?"). Conrad, with no visible effects from being knocked out, decides he wants to go out and have a good time on his last night as a civilian, and encourages the Sweet Apple teens to party ("A Lot of Livin' to Do"). Kim sneaks out of her house and joins her friends. Conrad, Kim, and all the teenagers, except Hugo, head for the Ice House, "where people go when they want to be alone." Hugo goes to Maude's Roadside Retreat, the town bar, hoping to get drunk, but grumpy proprietor Charles F. Maude sees that he's underage and refuses to serve him. When Harry discovers Kim has run away, he and Doris lament how disobedient kids are these days ("Kids"). Rosie ends up at Maude's Roadside Retreat and starts flirting with other men, but Albert phones her and begs her to return to him ("Baby, Talk to Me"). Rosie interrupts a Shriners meeting in Maude's private dining room. She flirts with all the Shriners, and they begin a wild dance. Hugo and Albert rescue Rosie from the crazed Shriners, and Albert finally stands up to his mother, telling her to go home. Mae leaves, but not before lamenting the sacrifices she made for him ("A Mother Doesn't Matter Anymore"). Hugo tells the MacAfees and the other parents that the teenagers have gone to the Ice House, and they all declare that they do not know what's wrong with their kids ("Kids Reprise"). Randolph joins in, stating that his older sister and the other teens are "so ridiculous and so immature". The adults and the police arrive at the Ice House and arrest Conrad for attempted statutory rape. Kim, who unconvincingly claimed to be in her late 20s to Conrad, claims she was intimidated and gladly returns to Hugo. After a reconciliation with Albert, Rosie tells Mae that she will marry Albert despite Mae's racist objections, and despite being a natural-born American citizen from Allentown, Pennsylvania, she will deliberately play up her Hispanic heritage if it annoys Mae that much ("Spanish Rose"). Albert bails Conrad out of jail and arranges for him to sneak out of town dressed as a middle-aged woman, presumably so he can report for Army induction as scheduled; in turn, Conrad offers Albert a lifetime contract for bailing him out. Albert gets Mae to leave Sweet Apple on the same train, getting his mother and Conrad out of his life for good. Albert tells Rosie they're not going back to New York; they're going to Pumpkin Falls, Iowa, a small town in need of a (married) English teacher. Albert professes that everything is rosy with Rosie ("Rosie"), and they go off together happily engaged.
Act I Little Joe is dying. Lucifer Jr prepares to bring his soul to hell (Little Papa Satan). Little Joe protests, and his wife Petunia’s praying causes the Lawd's General to appear (The General's Entrance). The General proclaims that Heaven will grant Little Joe six more months of life, and if he can redeem himself during that time, he will be let into heaven (The Man Upstairs). Little Joe becomes conscious again and Petunia rejoices (Taking a Chance on Love). During Joe's recovery, Lucifer Jr attempts to ruin Petunia and Little Joe by claiming that Little Joe owes him a large amount of money in gambling debts. Petunia says she will gamble with him to pay back the debt. She accuses him of cheating and chases him away. Little Joe comes out of the house, and for the first time is kind to Petunia. Petunia is ecstatic (Cabin in the Sky). The Pastor welcomes Little Joe back to the Church (Holy Unto the Lord/Dem Bones). In Hell, Lucifer Jr comes up with a plan to tempt Little Joe and delivers a broadcast to the other members of Hell (Do What You Wanna Do). He gives Little Joe a sweepstakes ticket, which Petunia lets Joe keep (Finale Act I). Act II The Act begins with a prologue with the Lawd’s General describing the nature of temptation (Fugue). Little Joe and Petunia are very happy and dream of moving far away where they can be alone (My Old Virginia Home on the Nile). Lucifer Jr sends Little Joe a dream featuring the alluring Queen of Sheba (Vision Ballet). The Lawd’s General tells Little Joe to throw away the ticket (It's Not So Bad to Be Good). Joe's former lover, Georgia Brown, shows up and vamps him (Love Me Tomorrow). Petunia walks in on this and throws Little Joe out (Love Turned the Light Out). Little Joe flees to a Cafe (Cafe Dance: Lazy Steps and Boogy Woogy). Georgia Brown follows him (Honey in the Honeycomb). Petunia also shows up and, in an attempt to win Joe back, demands $1000 and says she is leaving for "Savannah". In the resulting tumult, Petunia and Little Joe are killed. Both are let into Heaven as their deaths caused Georgia Brown to reform and join the church (Finale Act II).
A three-act German operetta about the historical figure Cagliostro, with roles including Empress Maria Theresa, Count Cagliostro, the Italian street singer Lorenza, and Cagliostro’s aide Blasoni.
Annie's husband John dies from leukaemia at an early age. Her close friend, Chris, wants to purchase a comfortable sofa for the visitors' lounge in the hospital where John was treated. She hits upon the idea of printing a calendar featuring some of the members of the Knapely branch of the Women's Institute, discreetly posing nude while engaged in traditional WI activities, such as baking and knitting, in order to raise funds. Her proposal is initially met with great scepticism, but she eventually convinces ten women to participate in the project with her. They enlist one of the hospital workers, an amateur photographer named Lawrence, to help them with the calendar.
Caligula, subtitled "An Ancient Glam Epic", is a stage musical about the notorious Roman Emperor Caligula in the style of 1970s glam rock. The musical's book, music, and lyrics are by Eric Svejcar. The musical was selected as a finalist for the 2003 Richard Rodgers Award. It was first presented publicly in May 2004 in a concert production at the Zipper Theatre in New York City. The first full production was presented at the 2004 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) as one of the first shows of the inaugural festival. The production received the Golden NYMF audience award and played an extended run beyond the festival at the Theatre At St. Clements in New York City. The production was directed by Michael Unger and starred Euan Morton. Subsequent workshop productions were presented in 2006 at the Actors Studio in New York City as well as further development in conjunction with Lafayette College in Easton, PA. The latter workshop productions starred Braden Tilghman as General Cassius Chaerea and Euan Morton as Emperor Caligula. In July 2009, a staged reading was presented (starring Morton, Anastasia Barzee, David Edwards, Autumn Hurlbert, and Matt Bogart) at New World Stages in NYC.
Sally Adams, a wealthy widow from Oklahoma, lives in Washington, D.C., where she is known as "the hostess with the mostest," famed for throwing the best parties in town. Despite her complete lack of experience, she is tapped as ambassador to the tiniest country in Europe, the Grand Duchy of Lichtenburg. The young press attaché Kenneth Gibson accompanies her as her aide. Sally is disappointed to find that Lichtenburg's foreign minister, Cosmo Constantine, is a formal and standoffish person who refuses to accept America's offer of foreign aid. She hatches a plot to get Cosmo promoted to the office of prime minister, thinking that he can be replaced by a foreign minister more open to her American manners and way of thinking. Meanwhile, Kenneth meets Princess Maria, daughter of the duke and duchess. Her parents are planning to marry her to a wealthy suitor whose fortune will help the duchy financially. Despite the fact that she is forbidden to speak to commoners, the princess and Kenneth fall in love. Cosmo learns of Sally's plans for him and resigns his position, opening the way for the country's first general election in twenty years. Sally openly campaigns for Cosmo to become prime minister, and is recalled to Washington for interfering in another country's internal affairs. However, the spirit of democracy has awakened in Lichtenburg: Cosmo is elected prime minister and the duke and duchess grant permission for Maria and Kenneth to marry.
Call Me Mister is a revue with sketches by Arnold Auerbach and words and music by Harold Rome. The title refers to troops who are happily returning to civilian life and no longer want to be addressed by their military ranks. The Broadway production, directed by Robert H.
Calling All Stars is a 1934 musical revue with music by Harry Akst, lyrics by Lew Brown, and orchestrations by Hans Spialek and Conrad Salinger. The production opened on Broadway at the Hollywood Theatre on December 13, 1934 with a cast led by Lou Holtz, Phil Baker, Mitzi Mayfair, Everett Marshall, Sara Mildred Strauss, Patricia Bowman, Judy Canova, Peggy Taylor, Martha Raye, Jack Whiting, Estelle Jayne, Harry McNaughton., and Ella Logan in her American debut. The production closed after 36 performances on January 12, 1935.
In the 1981 revision of the stage musical, the action starts at the end of the plot as Arthur is about to fight Mordred. Arthur asks that Merlin take his memory back to the beginning and the rest of the musical is told in flashback from this frame story. This was a device adopted from the 1967 film adaptation. The 1981 revision also changes the sequence of some scenes especially in Act II. What follows is a synopsis of the original 1960 version. King Arthur is nervous about his upcoming arranged marriage and is hiding in a tree. Merlin the Magician, his wise tutor, calls Arthur down to warn the young king that he must learn to think for himself. Merlin, who lives backward in time and remembers the future as well as the past, knows he will soon be separated from Arthur. Merlin persuades Arthur to climb down and chides him for his unkingly behavior. Arthur then left alone, ponders both his subjects and his own feelings about the intended nuptials (“I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight?”). Arthur hears someone coming and scampers up the tree again. Guenevere, Arthur's intended bride, comes to the woods. She does not like the idea of being Queen, preferring to live the life of an ordinary nobleman's daughter (“Simple Joys of Maidenhood”). She stumbles into Arthur, who initially calls himself “Wart” (his childhood nickname), and then, hearing of her reluctance to marry, tells her of the joys of life in Camelot (“Camelot”). It is love at first sight, and they almost kiss but are interrupted when Arthur's attendants come upon the two of them. He is revealed as the King. He tells Guenevere the story of how he pulled the sword from the stone and became king, and she finally agrees to marry him. The wizard Merlin is amused by this development, but his joy turns to sorrow as his memories of the future begin to fade. Merlin realizes that Nimue, a beautiful water nymph, has come to draw him into her cave for eternal sleep (“Follow Me”). He begs Nimue for answers, as he has forgotten if he has warned Arthur about two important individuals, Lancelot and Mordred. His memories fade permanently, though, and he is led away. Five years later, Arthur sits with Guenevere in his study, discussing his views on knights and chivalry. He explains that he wishes to create a new kind of knight — one that does not pillage and fight but tries to uphold honor and justice. He is eventually inspired, with Guenevere's help, to establish the Round Table with the motto “might for right.” Within a few years, Arthur's idea leads to the Knights of the Round Table being renowned all over England, and their fame even spreads to France. A young, pretentious and over-religious French prince from Joyous Garde named Lancelot du Lac has heard of the Round Table and is determined to come to Camelot and join Arthur's knights, confident that he is perfect for the post (“C’est Moi”). King Pellinore, an elderly man who was a friend of Arthur's family, also comes to Camelot to witness Arthur's greatness for himself. He inadvertently wanders into the May Day festivities organized by Guenevere (“The Lusty Month of May”). On learning who he is, Guenevere orders a guestroom to be prepared, and has one of the knights escort him to the castle. Pellinore becomes part of the family — he is still present at the musical's conclusion, many years later. As Pellinore departs, King Arthur arrives with Lancelot, and introduces him to the company. Guenevere is put off by Lancelot's boastful manner and her attempts to draw him into conversation seem only intended to prove him wrong about his apparently unrealistic claims about his own prowess. The knights and ladies of the court watch in amusement. Guenevere incites three of the knights — Sir Dinadan, Sir Sagramore, and the burly Sir Lionel — to challenge Lancelot to a joust (“Then You May Take Me to the Fair”). Arthur (who, unlike everybody else, is friendly with Lancelot) is dismayed by this, and is at a loss to understand a woman's ways — though he cannot be angry with Guenevere (“How to Handle a Woman”). In the jousting match, Lancelot easily defeats all three knights. He wounds Sir Lionel, who fights him last, so badly that the crowd thinks he is dead. But the dismay of the crowd turns to awe as Lancelot's distraught cries for Sir Lionel to live seem to resurrect a dead man. Whether it is an actual miracle or not, the entire court believes it to be one, and all the knights and ladies bow or curtsy to Lancelot, paying homage to him as he passes by. Guenevere curtsies to him, too, and as he kneels before her, their eyes lock, and both seem to realize something that neither understood before. Arthur notices their silent exchange. In the scenes that follow, Guenevere is torn between her new love for Lancelot and her love and loyalty for Arthur. She wishes Lancelot would leave Camelot (“Before I Gaze at You Again”). In spite of Lancelot's boasts that he is immune to pleasures of the flesh, he is also madly in love with Guenevere and also torn by the conflict between that love and his devotion to Arthur, who makes Lancelot a Knight of the Round Table. Arthur, realizing that Lancelot and Guenevere have feelings for each other, hopes it will blow over and soliloquizes to his sword Excalibur that they will rise to the challenges they will all face together. Many years later, Guenevere and Lancelot are still tormented by their unfulfilled love. She implores him to discontinue the romance, but Lancelot will not leave her (“If Ever I Would Leave You”). They both believe that Arthur is not aware of it. Nevertheless, she remains faithful to Arthur and helps him in carrying out the affairs of State. Mordred, Arthur's illegitimate son, comes to Camelot to dishonor the King and tries to gain the throne for himself. Arthur puts him in charge of the knights’ training program, not knowing that Mordred is there to destroy the Round Table in revenge against Arthur for abandoning him, and that he detests the idea of being a Knight (“The Seven Deadly Virtues”). Arthur begins to feel the strain of ruling England, and both he and Guenevere wonder what commoners do without any such responsibilities (“What Do The Simple Folk Do?”). Mordred, meanwhile, has devised a plan to ruin Arthur and his kingdom permanently. He enters an enchanted glade where his aunt, the sorceress Morgan le Fay, dwells in an invisible castle. Morgan has a sweet tooth, and though she likes Arthur, Mordred manages to bribe her with a large supply of sweetmeats to build one of her invisible walls around Arthur for one night, so that when he goes on his hunting trip the next day, he will not be able to get back to the castle (“The Persuasion”). Meanwhile, Mordred incites the Knights to remember their former days of fighting and pillaging and turns them against Arthur (“Fie On Goodness!”). With Arthur gone, Lancelot, unable to stop himself, visits Guenevere in her chambers, as Mordred fully suspected he would. They kiss passionately (“I Loved You Once in Silence”). However, Lancelot and Guenevere's affair and Mordred's machinations come to a head when Mordred and some of the Knights of the Round Table interrupt, accuse Lancelot of treason, and try to take him prisoner. Lancelot fights them off and escapes, but Guenevere is arrested, tried, found guilty of treason by reason of her infidelity, and sentenced to be burned at the stake (“Guenevere”). At the execution, Arthur watches from a distance as Mordred taunts him for his failures; he is torn between upholding his law and doing his duty as a king, or sparing Guenevere, whom he still loves in spite of everything. At the last moment, Lancelot arrives with an army, rescues Guenevere and takes her off with him to France. But in the process, Lancelot has been forced to kill some of the other knights, leaving the survivors vowing revenge. For the sake of his own honor and that of Camelot, Arthur must now wage war against Lancelot. Mordred has taken up his own army against Arthur, back in England. The war takes a terrible toll on Camelot, as more than half of the Knights of the Round Table are killed. Before the final battle, Arthur meets Lancelot and Guenevere. Lancelot and Guenevere's relationship has foundered, doubtless because of their guilty consciences. Guenevere has become a nun, and the Round Table is now broken. They offer to face up to justice in England, but Arthur will not see Guenevere burned or Lancelot beheaded. He forgives them both, and they depart separately. That night in camp, Arthur meets a young stowaway named Tom of Warwick (likely Sir Thomas Malory), who has come to join the Round Table. His speech reminds Arthur of the idealism and hope that he had as a young king, and inspires him. Arthur knights Tom and sends him back to England to grow up there, that he might pass on to future generations the ideals of chivalry and Camelot ("Camelot" (reprise)). The Aaron Sorkin-penned revision of the book excises all magic, makes Merlin a sage, and Morgan le Fay a scientist heralding the Age of Enlightenment as well as Mordred's mother and Arthur's ex-partner, and removes the character of Nimue. The new book also underscores democracy and a more egalitarian society. Act I begins with Arthur’s retinue alert, waiting for the arrival of Guenevere's carriage from France as part of a peace treaty, and critiquing her flouting of tradition by disembarking at the bottom of the hill instead of atop. Guenevere is more contemporary and is cold to Arthur in their meeting, replacing their love-at-first-sight encounter. She seems bound by duty in/to her marriage, rather than love, and serves as an advisor to Arthur rather than a mere consort. Despite this, near the conclusion of Act II, a tearful Guenevere admits to Arthur that she has loved him since their first meeting and wishes he could see himself the way she has. The knights are mistrustful of Guenevere because she is a French foreigner.
In Paris in 1893, the dance-hall in Montmartre owned by La Môme Pistache, Bal du Paradis, is being threatened with closing by a self-righteous judge, Aristide Forestier. He is offended by the scandalous but popular dance that the attractive dancers perform at the dance-hall, the "Can-Can." The judge sends the police to harass the owner and dancers, but the police like the dancers so much that they are reluctant to testify against them in court. The judge decides to gather evidence himself, and takes a trip to the club. Once there, he and the owner, La Môme, fall in love. He tries to keep his identity a secret but the girls recognize him. He sees the Can-Can and gets photographic evidence of its scandalousness. La Môme and the dancers are sent to jail. One of the dancers, Claudine, a laundry girl by day, has been pursued by Hilaire, an art critic, who plans to host an elaborate ball at the club. Claudine, who loves a sculptor, Boris, arranges to have dinner with Hilaire so that her sculptor will receive a favourable review. Now, with the proprietress and dancers locked up, the ball cannot go forward. The judge is struggling with the conflict between his moral scruples and his love for La Môme. Eventually, he concedes that "obscenity is in the eye of the beholder". He urges her to escape, but a journalist gets a photograph of him kissing her – a scandal for him! Hilaire criticises Boris's sculptures, and the cowardly artist manages to challenge the critic to a duel before fainting. Eventually, Hilaire writes a gushing review of Boris's work. Judge Aristide loses his judgeship and is disbarred, but La Môme and the girls all go to court with him and all win their cases.
Candide travels from Westphalia through war, Lisbon, Paris, Buenos Aires, Eldorado, Suriname and Venice, repeatedly confronting disasters that undermine Dr. Pangloss’s optimism. After losing and finding Cunegonde amid the upheavals, Candide rejects the promise that all is for the best and resolves to build a meaningful life with the others through practical work.
Before the first act there is a prologue in which Chaucer explains to the audience that the telling of the tales is the suggestion of Harry Bailey, innkeeper at The Tabard in Southwark, where the pilgrims gather before riding to the tomb of Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. Chaucer and Bailey, who is referred to as "the Host", ride with them and the latter strives to keep matters running smoothly as each pilgrim tells his or her tale and hands on the story-telling to the next. The show draws on five of the tales, opening with glimpses of Chaucer, the Host and the tellers of the tales as seen in Chaucer's General Prologue. The first tale in the show is from the bawdy fabliau The Miller's Tale, in which two young men vie to seduce the young wife of an older carpenter. One of them succeeds, but has a hot iron pressed into his buttocks by the other, and in the ensuing hullaballoo the carpenter, tricked into sleeping in a bathtub suspended from the rafters, tumbles down onto the attic floor. After an episode from The Nun's Priest's Tale – featuring the cock Chanticleer, his wife, the hen Pertelote, and the fox who hopes to eat Chanticleer – there is another tale about two young men seeking to seduce a married woman, taken from The Reeve's Tale (called The Steward's Tale in this version). The theme persists in the section drawn from The Merchant's Tale, in which the elderly Januarie is deceived by his young wife, May, and her lover, Damyan, after Januarie goes blind. His sight is suddenly restored and he sees the two in flagrante, leaving May with some explaining to do, which she just about manages. The Squire tries to raise the tone with a song in praise of chivalry, but the Wife of Bath is unimpressed. In her prologue, and throughout the show, she dismisses celibacy as something God does not call for, and her tale tells of a knight accused of rape, who is condemned to discover what women most desire. He turns to an ugly old witch who tells him that the answer is sovereignty over men. As promised, he marries her and has the sense to give her the answer she hopes for when asked if he would wish her ugly yet faithful or beautiful and fickle. He insists that the choice has to be hers; her youth and beauty are restored and they live "in perfect bliss" ever after. By contrast with Chaucer's original, which ends, unfinished, while the pilgrims are still en route to Canterbury, the show has them arriving there. In The Stage, the reviewer R. B. Marriott wrote of "a finely conceived scene at Becket's tomb: simple yet gripping, a holy moment in perfect harmony with the rest of the story, and investing the characters with an extraordinary human vividness".
Christopher Jolly cannot marry Polly until he finds his birth certificate and learns his age. Captain Billy returns to his village after years as a pirate and reunites with his wife, who thought him dead. Jolly learns Billy is his uncle and Billy confirms his age, allowing him to marry Polly. Billy settles down as a soap salesman.
Louie is lonely because his family has moved to a new neighborhood ("New Kid in the Neighborhood"). Playing with his toy airplane, Red, Louie decides to travel to his old neighborhood. He makes a diorama out of a shoebox. Looking into it through the purple cellophane, he imagines that he and Red are on their way ("Big Red Plane"). A sinister gang, consisting of a broom, flower, monster and mouse, plan to trick Louie ("We've Got a Welcome for Louie"). He arrives in his old neighborhood, but it is deserted and dark; his friends do not answer him when he calls. A whistle shrieks, and dark shapes chase Louie ("Shadows"). The gang of creatures drag Louie to their hideaway. Louie is frightened, but he eventually realizes that the creatures are Louie's old friends in Halloween costumes. Everyone celebrates Captain Louie's return ("Trick or Treat"). Julio, a new kid, meets everyone. As they are all about to go trick-or-treating, one of the gang, Ziggy, observes that someone has moved into Louie's old house. The indignant kids decide to "trick" the new occupant of Louie's house ("Looza on the Block"). But it turns out that the new occupant is Julio. Then, the group insists on going to Ziggy's house. It is in a disinvested neighborhood, and Ziggy is embarrassed because his family is too poor to buy Halloween decorations and candy. Louie suggests that the kids help Ziggy to decorate his house ("Spiffin' Up Ziggy's"). Louie eventually suggests that the group go trick-or-treating by plane ("Captain Louie"). Soon, it is time for Louie to leave, and he says goodbye to his friends ("Home Again"). He arrives back in his new neighborhood, gathers his courage and dresses as "Captain Louie" in his Red airplane. Louie's Halloween costume is popular in his new neighborhood, and he makes new friends ("Finale: New Kid In The Neighborhood, Reprise").
Careless Rapture is a 'musical play' by the Welsh composer Ivor Novello and lyrics by Christopher Hassall. It premiered on 11 September 1936 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It ran for 295 performances, a relatively modest success given Novello's other major successes. Written as another large-scale extravaganza (including a fair on Hampstead Heath and an on-stage earthquake), it followed Novello's hugely successful Glamorous Night of 1935. Careless Rapture is the tale of an actress, Penelope Lee, engaged to the wealthy Sir Robert Alderney, but who is the object of Rodney's half-brother Michael's affections. Set in London, and ending up in China, Michael finally wins Penelope's affections by rescuing her from an earthquake. Novello himself took the speaking part of Michael in the original production, which also starred Dorothy Dickson as Penelope Lee, Zena Dare as Phyllida Frame and Olive Gilbert as Mme Simonetti. Ivy Tresmand later took over the part of Penelope Lee. The production was directed by Leontine Sagan.
Carib Song is a 1945 Broadway musical with book and lyrics by William Archibald and music by Baldwin Bergersen. It opened at the Adelphi Theatre on September 27, 1945, and closed on October 27 after 36 performances. It was billed as "A Musical Play of the West Indies in Two Acts and Thirteen Scenes". The show focuses heavily on "Trinidadian folklore, ritual, and ethnographic dance".
Carmelina is a musical with a book by Joseph Stein and Alan Jay Lerner, lyrics by Lerner, and music by Burton Lane.
Parachute maker Carmen Jones makes a play for a "fly boy" Air Force man, Joe, who is in love with sweet Cindy Lou and about to marry her on a day pass when Carmen gets into a fight with another woman. Joe's pass is cancelled in order for him to drive her to the next town to be handed over to the non-military police. Instead, Carmen charms him and escapes, and he is put in the stockade for not delivering her to the authorities. While Carmen waits for Joe to be released from military prison, she hangs around Billy Pastor's jive cafe where she encounters boxer Husky Miller, who is instantly besotted with Carmen, calling her "heatwave". Carmen initially is uninterested, but her friends Frankie and Mert know that their invitation from Husky's manager to see him fight in Chicago depends on Carmen's being there, too. Joe, having been released from the stockade, turns up at the cafe the same evening. At first, his prospects seem to be looking up, as his connections have put Joe back on track for aviator school. Carmen lays down a guilt trip, protesting that a long-distance relationship with Joe away at school just isn't what she had in mind. He immediately gets into a fight with his sergeant, who is making a move on Carmen, as well as putting pressure on Joe. Starting the fight would have been enough to put Joe back in military prison for years, but the fight goes badly, and the sergeant ends up apparently dead. Carmen makes Joe hide the body because desertion seems better than a lengthy sentence. The train ticket to Chicago originally given to Carmen offers them a way of avoiding the MPs. After a few days hiding in a seedy hotel with no money and no future with Joe, Carmen pays a visit to her two friends, now covered in diamonds and furs, at Husky's training camp. She only is looking for a loan, but they try to draw her to give up Joe and "go with the money" by staying with Husky. Later, at Husky's apartment, Frankie reads Carmen's "cards", and reveals the nine of spades - the card of death. In the belief that her days are numbered, Carmen gives in to Husky's advances, abandoning Joe for the luxurious life Husky can offer her. Cindy Lou comes to look for Joe, but he is still in love with Carmen and spurns Cindy Lou. The night of Husky's title fight, Joe tries to convince Carmen to return to him, but when she rejects him, he kills her, thus making the card's prophecy a reality.
Carmen up to Data is a musical burlesque with a score written by Meyer Lutz. Set in Seville, the piece was a spoof of Bizet's 1875 opera Carmen. The libretto was written by G. R. Sims and Henry Pettitt. After a tryout in Liverpool in September 1890, the piece premiered at the Gaiety Theatre, London, on 4 October 1890, produced by George Edwardes. It starred Florence St. John in the title role, Letty Lind as Mercedes, Jenny Dawson as Escamillo, Maria Jones as Michaela, Blanche Massey as Morales, Horace Mills as Remendado, E. J. Lonnen as José and Arthur Williams as Captain Zuniga. The piece was a success and toured throughout the English-speaking world, reaching Australia by 1892.
Carnival is a musical, originally produced by David Merrick on Broadway in 1961, with the book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The musical is based on the 1953 film Lili, which again was based on the short story and treatment titled "The Seven Souls of Clement O'Reilly" by Paul Gallico. The show's title originally used an exclamation point (as Carnival!); it was eventually dropped during the show's run, as director Gower Champion felt it gave the wrong impression, saying, "It's not a blockbuster. It's a gentle show."
Carnival in Flanders is a musical with a book by Preston Sturges, lyrics by Johnny Burke, and music by Jimmy Van Heusen. Based on the 1934 French comedy film La Kermesse Héroïque, it is set in 1616 in the small Flemish village of Flackenburg, where a Spanish duke and his entourage descend upon the community. The mayor plays dead, hoping that his ruse will force the visitors to depart, but the duke sets his sights on the man's "widow" and begins to woo her. The musical had a brief run on Broadway in 1953. The musical is the source of the song "Here's That Rainy Day", which has become a standard.
Caroline, or Change is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics and book by Tony Kushner. The score combines spirituals, blues, Motown, classical music, and Jewish klezmer and folk music.
Two young female millworkers in 1873 Maine visit the town's carousel after work. One of them, Julie Jordan, attracts the attention of the barker, Billy Bigelow ("The Carousel Waltz"). When Julie lets Billy put his arm around her during the ride, Mrs. Mullin, the widowed owner of the carousel, tells Julie never to return. Julie and her friend, Carrie Pipperidge, argue with Mrs. Mullin. Billy arrives and, seeing that Mrs. Mullin is jealous, mocks her; he is fired from his job. Billy, unconcerned, invites Julie to join him for a drink. As he goes to get his belongings, Carrie presses Julie about her feelings toward him, but Julie is evasive ("You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan"). Carrie has a beau too, fisherman Enoch Snow ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow"), to whom she is newly engaged. Billy returns for Julie as the departing Carrie warns that staying out late means the loss of Julie's job. Mr. Bascombe, owner of the mill, happens by along with a policeman, and offers to escort Julie to her home, but she refuses and is fired. Left alone, she and Billy talk about what life might be like if they were in love, but neither quite confesses to the growing attraction they feel for each other ("If I Loved You"). Over a month passes, and preparations for the summer clambake are under way ("June Is Bustin' Out All Over"). Julie and Billy, now married, live at Julie's cousin Nettie's spa. Julie confides in Carrie that Billy, frustrated over being unemployed, hit her. Carrie has happier news—she is engaged to Enoch, who enters as she discusses him ("(When I Marry) Mister Snow (reprise))". Billy arrives with his ne'er-do-well whaler friend, Jigger. Billy is openly rude to Enoch and Julie, then leaves with Jigger, followed by a distraught Julie. Enoch tells Carrie that he expects to become rich selling herring and to have a large family, larger perhaps than Carrie is comfortable having ("When the Children Are Asleep"). Jigger and his shipmates, joined by Billy, then sing about life on the sea ("Blow High, Blow Low"). The whaler tries to recruit Billy to help with a robbery, but Billy declines, as the victim—Julie's former boss, Mr. Bascombe—might have to be killed. Mrs. Mullin enters and tries to tempt Billy back to the carousel (and to her). He would have to abandon Julie; a married barker cannot evoke the same sexual tension as one who is single. Billy reluctantly mulls it over as Julie arrives and the others leave. She tells him that she is pregnant, and Billy is overwhelmed with happiness, ending all thoughts of returning to the carousel. Once alone, Billy imagines the fun he will have with Bill Jr., until he realizes that his child might be a girl and reflects soberly that "you've got to be a father to a girl" ("Soliloquy"). Determined to provide financially for his future child, whatever the means, Billy decides to be Jigger's accomplice. The whole town leaves for the clambake. Billy, who had earlier refused to go, agrees to join in, to Julie's delight, as he realizes that being seen at the clambake is integral to his and Jigger's alibi ("Act I Finale"). Everyone reminisces about the huge meal and much fun ("This Was a Real Nice Clambake"). Jigger tries to seduce Carrie; Enoch walks in at the wrong moment, and declares that he is finished with her ("Geraniums In the Winder"), as Jigger jeers ("There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman"). The girls try to comfort Carrie, but for Julie all that matters is that "he's your feller and you love him" ("What's the Use of Wond'rin'?"). Julie sees Billy trying to sneak away with Jigger and, trying to stop him, feels the knife hidden in his shirt. She begs him to give it to her, but he refuses and leaves to commit the robbery. As they wait, Jigger and Billy gamble with cards. They stake their shares of the anticipated robbery spoils. Billy loses: his participation is now pointless. Unknown to Billy and Jigger, Mr. Bascombe, the intended victim, has already deposited the mill's money. The robbery fails: Bascombe pulls a gun on Billy while Jigger escapes. Billy stabs himself with his knife; Julie arrives just in time for him to say his last words to her and die. Julie strokes his hair, finally able to tell him that she loved him. Carrie and Enoch, reunited by the crisis, attempt to console Julie; Nettie arrives and gives Julie the resolve to keep going despite her despair ("You'll Never Walk Alone"). Billy's defiant spirit ("The Highest Judge of All") is taken Up There to see the Starkeeper, a heavenly official. The Starkeeper tells Billy that the good he did in life was not enough to get into heaven, but so long as there is a person alive who remembers him, he can return for a day to try to do good to redeem himself. He informs Billy that fifteen years have passed on Earth since his suicide, and suggests that Billy can get himself into heaven if he helps his daughter, Louise. He helps Billy look down from heaven to see her (instrumental ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey"). Louise has grown up to be lonely and bitter. The local children ostracize her because her father was a thief and a wife-beater. In the dance, a young ruffian, much like her father at that age, flirts with her and abandons her as too young. The dance concludes, and Billy is anxious to return to Earth and help his daughter. He steals a star to take with him, as the Starkeeper pretends not to notice. Outside Julie's cottage, Carrie describes her visit to New York with the now-wealthy Enoch. Carrie's husband and their many children enter to fetch her—the family must get ready for the high school graduation later that day. Enoch Jr., the oldest son, remains behind to talk with Louise, as Billy and the Heavenly Friend escorting him enter, invisible to the other characters. Louise confides in Enoch Jr. that she plans to run away from home with an acting troupe. He says that he will stop her by marrying her, but that his father will think her an unsuitable match. Louise is outraged: each insults the other's father, and Louise orders Enoch Jr. to go away. Billy, able to make himself visible at will, reveals himself to the sobbing Louise, pretending to be a friend of her father. He offers her a gift—the star he stole from heaven. She refuses it and, frustrated, he slaps her hand. He makes himself invisible, and Louise tells Julie what happened, stating that the slap miraculously felt like a kiss, not a blow—and Julie understands her perfectly. Louise retreats to the house, as Julie notices the star that Billy dropped; she picks it up and seems to feel Billy's presence ("If I Loved You (Reprise)"). Billy invisibly attends Louise's graduation, hoping for one last chance to help his daughter and redeem himself. The beloved town physician, Dr. Seldon (who resembles the Starkeeper) advises the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success or be held back by their failure (words directed at Louise). Seldon prompts everyone to sing an old song, "You'll Never Walk Alone". Billy, still invisible, whispers to Louise, telling her to believe Seldon's words, and when she tentatively reaches out to another girl, she learns she does not have to be an outcast. Billy goes to Julie, telling her at last that he loved her. As his widow and daughter join in the singing, Billy is taken to his heavenly reward.
Act I Opening in a high school gym, the gym teacher, Miss Lynn Gardner, is leading her girls' gym class in a strenuous workout ("In"). After class, the girls head to the locker room and have fun teasing a less attractive, plump girl named Carrie White. The girls start to shower while talking about boys and their plans for the upcoming prom ("Dream On"). Carrie has her first period in the shower and, not understanding what is happening, thinks she is bleeding to death. The other girls taunt her mercilessly until Miss Gardner hears the commotion, and slaps Carrie to end the frenzy, causing her to break a lightbulb overhead with telekinesis. Miss Gardner sends the girls away, and explains menstruation to Carrie before sending her home. On the way out of the gym, Sue Snell and Chris Hargensen talk about what just happened in the locker room. Sue expresses guilt for tormenting Carrie, but Chris mocks her and continues to insult Carrie. Carrie is hurt by their name-calling and teasing, but dreams of being vindicated and gaining respect from her peers ("Carrie"). Carrie's mother Margaret is fervently praying ("Open Your Heart") when Carrie arrives home. As she recounts the incident, Margaret, believing it to be a sign of sin, condemns Carrie and forces her into the cellar to pray for forgiveness ("And Eve Was Weak"). That night, many of the high school students are at the drive-in theater, including Sue and her boyfriend Tommy Ross and Chris and her boyfriend Billy Nolan. Sue tells Tommy that she is still upset about what she and the other girls did to Carrie in the locker room, while Chris complains about Carrie to Billy ("Don't Waste the Moon"). At home, Carrie and Margaret pray separately, with Carrie seeking comfort and Margaret strength to protect her daughter. Margaret apologizes for hurting Carrie and assures that she loves her unconditionally ("Evening Prayers"). The next day, Miss Gardner orders the girls to apologize to Carrie. Sue complies, but Chris refuses, resulting in her prom ban. Enraged, Chris vows revenge. Miss Gardner encourages Carrie to believe she deserves happiness ("Unsuspecting Hearts"). Feeling remorse, Sue asks Tommy to take Carrie to prom instead of her, and he reluctantly agrees ("Do Me a Favor"). At the same time, Chris asks Billy to help her get revenge on Carrie. Tommy later surprises Carrie at her home, asking her to the prom. After initial hesitation, she accepts. When she tells Margaret ("Invited"), Margaret forbids her to go, insisting men only seek to take advantage of girls, including her own father ("I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance"). Carrie reveals her supernatural powers, declaring to her mother that she is determined to attend the prom. Act II While at a pig farm during a storm, Chris, Billy, and several of his friends slaughter a pig to collect its blood for their prank, while Billy warns Chris to think about her actions ("Out for Blood"). Back at the high school, preparations are underway for prom night. Sue is faced with resentment from her peers over Carrie attending the prom, but resolves to do what she feels is right ("It Hurts to be Strong"). Carrie joyfully prepares for prom, using her powers to animate her belongings ("I'm Not Alone"). Margaret tries one more time to convince Carrie not to go to the prom ("Carrie II"), but Carrie doesn't listen and leaves for the prom with Tommy. Alone, Margaret laments her past and plans to save Carrie from damnation by sacrificing her ("When There's No One"). At the gym, prom night begins ("Wotta Night"). The students are impressed by Carrie’s transformation. Miss Gardner, serving as chaperone, encourages her to enjoy the evening ("Unsuspecting Hearts (Reprise)"). Carrie hesitates to dance, but Tommy persuades her ("Heaven"). As the votes for Prom King and Queen are cast, the main cast reflects on the night's emotions. Tommy and Carrie are crowned and celebrated as the students salute them ("Alma Mater"). Billy and Chris reveal their prank, dumping a bucket of pig's blood on Carrie. Shocked and humiliated, Carrie rages and unleashes her telekinetic power, closing off the gym exit and killing everyone present, while sparing a horrified Sue ("The Destruction"). Outside, Carrie is greeted by her mother, as Margeret lures Carrie in and sings her to sleep before stabbing her fatally, believing her daughter will be saved from God's wrath. Carrie retaliates with her powers, killing Margaret, then mourns her actions. Sue, the sole survivor and witness, goes to Carrie and comforts her as she dies. As the show ends, Carrie reaches her hand out to the audience, as the lights fade to black ("Carrie III (Finale)"). Act I Sue Snell, haunted by the events of her high school years, recalls the night of May 28 as she and her classmates appear in her memory — her boyfriend Tommy Ross, spoiled bully Chris Hargensen, Chris' delinquent boyfriend Billy Nolan, and social outcast Carrie White — each struggling with insecurity and a longing to belong. After gym class, Carrie experiences her first period in the shower. Frightened and unaware of what’s happening, she cries for help, while the other girls, led by Chris, cruelly taunt her until Miss Lynn Gardner intervenes. At the height of Carrie’s hysteria, an overhead light bulb bursts. Dismissed early, she leaves school humiliated, her classmates mocking her as she goes ("Carrie"). At home, Margaret White listens to an evangelical broadcast while sewing ("Open Your Heart"). When Carrie tells her about the incident, Margaret insists it is a sign of sin and locks her in a closet to pray for forgiveness ("And Eve Was Weak"). Meanwhile at a party, Chris brags about the locker room incident and mocks Carrie, but Sue begins to feel remorse. Chris insists that cruelty is part of life, while Billy supports her behavior ("The World According to Chris"). Disgusted, Sue leaves. At home, Carrie begins to sense strange powers within her and accidentally moves objects with her mind, hinting at her telekinetic power. Margaret releases her from the closet, and the two share a rare moment of tenderness ("Evening Prayers"). In English class, Mr. Stephens praises a poem Tommy has written, and has him recite his work ("Dreamer in Disguise"). When the teacher asks the unruly students for reactions, Carrie volunteers, but is met with ridicule. When Sue later tries to apologize, Carrie mistakes it for mockery and storms off ("Once You See"). Miss Gardner punishes the girls for their cruelty, demanding apologies to Carrie. Chris refuses, hurling insults until she’s suspended and banned from prom, while Sue ends their friendship as she defends Carrie. Despite Carrie's plea to let Chris go to prom, Miss Gardner insists Chris face the consequences, encouraging Carrie to believe that her life can change ("Unsuspecting Hearts"). Guilty and wanting to make amends, Sue convinces Tommy to invite Carrie to prom as an act of kindness. At the same time, Chris plots revenge and enlists Billy’s help ("Do Me a Favor"). Alone in the library, Carrie tests her abilities and learns she can move objects with her mind. Later, Tommy visits Carrie’s home to invite her to prom. When she tells Margaret, her mother forbids it, recalling her own experiences with men ("I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance"). Their argument escalates, and Carrie’s powers close the windows away from the storm outside, terrifying Margaret as Carrie insists she will go to prom and will not be stopped. Act II As prom preparations begin, excitement fills the school. Chris and Billy sneak into the gym to set up their cruel prank with a bucket of pig’s blood ("A Night We’ll Never Forget"). Miss Gardner warns Sue and Tommy not to harm Carrie, but Tommy reassures Sue that he understands her intentions, and the two share a moment alone in the gym ("You Shine"). Carrie readies herself for the prom, filled with hope that her life will finally change ("Why Not Me?"). Margaret tries to dissuade her, believing she must protect her daughter from sin ("Stay Here Instead"). When Tommy arrives, Carrie departs, radiant in her prom gown. Left alone, Margaret turns to scripture, convinced that her daughter must be sacrificed ("When There’s No One"). At the gym, students arrive in their finest clothes, buzzing with excitement ("Prom Arrival"). Miss Gardner praises Carrie’s transformation, reminiscing about her own prom ("Unsuspecting Hearts – Reprise"). Tommy convinces Carrie to dance, and the crowd warms up to her as the night unfolds ("Dreamer in Disguise – Reprise"). Hidden above, Chris and Billy prepare their trap while Sue sneaks in and notices Chris' partner-in-crime Norma swapping prom ballots ("Prom Climax"). Tommy and Carrie are crowned Prom King and Queen as the school salutes them ("Alma Mater"). Sue realizes what’s about to happen and tries to warn Miss Gardner, but is pushed out, having been wary of her forgoing her attendance to prom in favor of Carrie. Chris gives the signal, and Billy releases the bucket, drenching Carrie in blood. Laughter erupts, and Carrie’s humiliation ignites her rage. Using her powers, she seals the exits and destroys everything in the gym, killing everyone inside ("The Destruction"). Sue watches helplessly as her classmates die while the school burns down. Carrie returns home, still covered in blood, and collapses into her mother’s arms ("Carrie – Reprise"). Margaret soothes her, then stabs her, believing she is saving Carrie’s soul. In pain, Carrie stops her mother’s heart with her powers. Sue arrives too late to save her and cradles Carrie as she dies. The fallen students reappear in memory, and they, alongside Sue, offer a final reflection on guilt and forgiveness as the show completes its circle in an "ever repeating nightmare loop" ("Epilogue").
Revue operetta based on the life of eighteenth-century Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova.
Castles in the Air is a musical comedy, with a book and lyrics by Raymond Wilson Peck and music by Percy Wenrich (additional lyrics by R. Locke). The story concerns two young men, Monty Blair and John Brown, who mistake an exclusive Westchester resort for an inn. They decide to pretend to be nobility, and Monty introduces John as a Latvian prince. Evelyn's uncle Philip decides to teach her a lesson about social climbing by taking her to Latvia, intending to expose John as an impostor. The plan backfires, though, because John really is a prince. The musical opened on Broadway in the Selwyn Theatre on September 6, 1926. It moved to the Century Theatre on December 6, 1926. The production was directed by Frank S. Merlin and choreographed by John Boyle and Julian Mitchell. It starred J. Harold Murray as John and Vivienne Segal as Evelyn. On June 29, 1927, a production opened in London, at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
The musical follows the events of books from both the Cat Kid Comic Club and Dog Man series, including Dog Man: Fetch 22 and the first book of Cat Kid Comic Club. Rather than tell one linear story, most of the songs describe events that happen within comics written by the characters. The opening of the musical shows Molly Pollywog and 21 mind-controlled psychokinetic tadpoles turned evil using their powers to 'destroy the city and stuff', as Sarah Hatoff reports that this very well could be "The End" of the world. Li'l Petey, as his superhero identity Cat Kid, treats Molly and the tadpoles with compassion, and invites to join "The Cat Kid Comic Club", where he can teach them to express themselves by creating their own comics. Flippy, a bionic fish who was once turned evil through mind control, sees himself in the tadpoles, and decides to adopt all of them. The tadpoles grow into frogs, but two of them – Melvin and Naomi – argue throughout. The first comic, written by Melvin, is about a toothbrush who wishes to be a lawyer for dinosaurs, and goes to 'lawyer school' and builds a time machine to go back 67 million years and defend an iguanodon teenager falsely accused of eating a baby ("Dennis the Toothbrush Lawyer for Dinosaurs"). Naomi says she thinks Melvin's idea was dumb, and Flippy sends her to time-out rock. The second comic follows an aptly named "Supa Fail" who tries to be helpful by bringing back a restaurant-owner his stolen toothpick, and accidentally destroys the entire world instead. Frog Poppy writes of "The Cute, Little, Fluffy Cloud of Death" who is bullied by the sun for being creepy, but befriends a ghost girl and her skelopup, who all ignore the sun until he goes away. The next comic tells the tale of "Chubbs McSpiderbutt", who gets bitten by Jake the Spider, causing spider legs to grow from his butt, which he decides to use for good. Chubbs and Jake, as his sidekick, encounter the evil members of the not very nice club – Dr. Pasty McSprinkles and Scott the Worm – but we are left on a cliffhanger as to how the story ends. Flippy, having read all of these comics, believes that the comics are too full of potty humour, creepy characters, or cartoon violence, deeming them awful, which makes the frogs upset. He laments about being the "Worst Dad Ever". Meanwhile, Naomi and Melvin get into a musical argument, which devolves from petty insults into Naomi criticising Melvin for not standing up for her when she was treated differently for being a girl. Melvin runs away, exclaiming about a new comic idea, and Naomi is annoyed by his sudden departure ("All About You"). Another frog, Starla, is interested in poetry, so writes a haiku about nature which she turns into a comic ("Birds, Flowers, Trees"). Melvin reveals his new comic is called "My Sister, Naomi", and retells the incident where she was mistreated and lets her stand up and speak for herself. Everyone celebrates their getting along and sings and dances at "The Mega-Gigantic, Humonga-Normous Comic Club Party!"
In the 1960s, Frank Abagnale Jr., a young con man, is cornered at the Miami International Airport by FBI Agent Carl Hanratty and his team. Hanratty asserts that there's no use in running, as his men are trained to shoot. Before his arrest, Frank pleads with Hanratty to allow him to inform the people in the airport why they're beating at him, though Hanratty only wants to know how he passed the bar exam in New Orleans to pose as a lawyer. Frank promises to tell him all his secrets if they allow him to tell his story ("Live in Living Color"). A reluctant Hanratty agrees. In a home in New Rochelle, New York, Frank lives with his parents Frank Abagnale Sr. and Paula Abagnale. His parents met in Montrichard, France, during World War II. Paula was performing at a diner and noticed Frank Sr. among the soldiers in the audience ("The Pinstripes Are All That They See"), marrying him soon after. Due to money shortages, Frank is unable to attend private school, nonetheless wearing his school jacket to public school. He is taunted there as looking like a substitute teacher, which gives Frank an idea; a few days later, the principal informs his parents that Frank has been teaching French class at the school while their teacher is absent. One day, Frank walks home from school to find his mother dancing with one of Frank Sr.'s friends. She pleads with him not to tell Frank Sr., but a distraught Frank is soon in court, with Paula and Frank Sr. fighting over custody of him. Frank decides to run away ("Someone Else's Skin"). He soon learns to create fake checks, cashing them at banks across the country and successfully conning millions of dollars. While entering a New York City hotel, Frank notices several attractive women, all of them stewardesses; he decides to become a pilot. After creating a fake ID card, he finds a co-pilot job at Pan American World Airways. The workers express the joys of a life in the skies ("Jet Set"). Hanratty finds several fake checks on his desk in Washington, D. C. He and Agents Branton, Dollar, and Cod are assigned to track down the writer of these fake checks ("Live in Living Color [Reprise]"). Hanratty gives a word of wisdom to whoever wrote the checks: "Don't Break the Rules." Frank enjoys his pilot job, remembering how his dad always said that "women love a man in uniform," as "The Pinstripes Are All That They See." Feeling homesick, he visits Frank Sr., upset to find out that he had to close his store to save money. Frank offers him several checks to improve his financial situation, but Frank Sr. declines, believing that Frank should be happy with his success and not worry about him ("Butter Outta Cream"). Meanwhile, Hanratty sorts through leftover items from the hotel Frank had just stayed at, looking for ("The Man Inside the Clues.") Hanratty tracks Frank to a hotel room in Los Angeles, but Frank escapes after tricking Hanratty into believing that Frank is a Secret Service agent named Barry Allen. Frank attends a holiday party for the airport staff ("Christmas Is My Favorite Time of Year") but ultimately feels lonely, calling Hanratty on a pay phone for comfort. Hanratty, realizing the culprit is just a kid, reveals that he, too, has no one to spend Christmas with ("My Favorite Time of Year"). Frank comes across another staff party, this time for a hospital. When asked what his job is by one of the doctors, Frank lies that he is a pediatrician at the Death Valley Children's Hospital, working with "snot-nosed kids" and calling himself "Dr. Connors." Feeling sorry for him, the doctor finds him a job at the Atlanta General Hospital, surrounded by nurses who are ready to take the ("Doctor's Orders"). Hanratty is still searching for Frank, going through missing person reports ("Live in Living Color (reprise)"). He eventually finds the house of Paula and her new husband, questioning her on the whereabouts of Frank. She tells him not to worry, as does Frank Sr. Both plead with Frank: ("Don't Be a Stranger"). While talking to Frank Sr. at a bar, Hanratty realizes that both men had overbearing fathers ("Little Boy Be a Man"). Meanwhile, Frank has fallen in love with one of the nurses, Brenda Strong, though she finds him intimidating. He tells her he has seen the "Seven Wonders," but none of them compare to her beauty. Brenda brings Frank to meet her family in New Orleans, where he lies that he's a lawyer, a doctor, and a Lutheran to impress her father. Her father does not believe him but permits him to be with Brenda after Frank admits how much he loves her. Brenda's parents, Carol and Roger Strong, tell Frank that they have a "family sing-along" each night after dinner; they turn on the television to the song "((Our) Family Tree"), after which Frank proposes to Brenda, and she accepts. Shortly before the engagement ceremony, Frank discovers Hanratty has figured out where he is. He admits the truth to Brenda, telling her his real name: Frank William Abagnale Jr. He promises to return after escaping from Hanratty. Just as he leaves, Hanratty enters, asking Brenda where Frank went. She laments that she loves Frank and would never tell on him ("Fly, Fly Away") but is tricked into doing so shortly thereafter. The story returns to the opening scene, where Frank is cornered in the airport. The agents escort passengers out of the area as Frank threatens to run. Hanratty states that he doesn't want to use force but would have to if Frank ran. Hanratty informs Frank that his father is dead; a drunken Frank Sr. had fallen downstairs at the bar, breaking his neck. Realizing he has nobody, Frank gives in to Hanratty ("Goodbye"). Although sentenced to fifteen years in prison, Frank is released after seven. Shortly after his release, he is hired by Hanratty and the FBI to track down others who committed crimes like his. Hanratty and Frank embrace, noting that their partnership is "Strange But True." Hanratty then makes Frank keep his promise, telling him how he passed the New Orleans bar exam. Frank tells a surprised Hanratty that he didn't cheat: "I studied."
Catch My Soul is a rock musical produced by Jack Good and adapted from Shakespeare’s Othello. It premiered in Los Angeles in 1968 and later played in the United Kingdom.
After the overture, a tribe of cats known as the Jellicles gather on stage and describe themselves and their purpose ("Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats"). The cats (who break the fourth wall throughout the show) then notice that they are being watched by a human audience, and proceed to explain how the different cats of the tribe are named ("The Naming of Cats"). This is followed by a ballet solo performed by Victoria to signal the beginning of the Jellicle Ball ("The Invitation to the Jellicle Ball"). At this moment, Munkustrap, the show's main narrator, explains that tonight the Jellicle patriarch Old Deuteronomy will make an appearance and choose one of the cats to be reborn into a new life on the Heaviside Layer. Munkustrap introduces the first contender Jennyanydots ("The Old Gumbie Cat"), a large tabby cat who lazes around all day, but come nighttime, she becomes active, teaching mice and cockroaches various activities to curb their naturally destructive habits. Just as Jennyanydots finishes her song, the music changes suddenly and Rum Tum Tugger makes his extravagant entrance in front of the tribe ("The Rum Tum Tugger"). He is very fickle and unappeasable, "for he will do as he do do, and there's no doing anything about it". Then, as Rum Tum Tugger's song fades, a shabby old grey cat stumbles out wanting to be reconciled; it is Grizabella. All the cats back away from her in fear and disgust and explain her unfortunate state ("Grizabella: The Glamour Cat"). Grizabella leaves and the music changes to a cheerful upbeat number as Bustopher Jones, a fat cat in "a coat of fastidious black", is brought to the stage ("Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town"). Bustopher Jones is among the elite of the cats, and visits prestigious gentlemen's clubs. Suddenly, a loud crash startles the tribe and the cats run offstage in fright. Hushed giggling sounds signal the entrance of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, a pair of near-identical cats. They are mischievous petty burglars who enjoy causing trouble around their human neighbourhood ("Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer"). After they finish, they are caught off-guard and confronted by the rest of the cats. Finally, the Jellicle patriarch, Old Deuteronomy, arrives before the tribe ("Old Deuteronomy"). He is a wise old cat who "has lived many lives" and is tasked with choosing which Jellicle will go to the Heaviside Layer every year. The cats put on a play for Old Deuteronomy ("The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles"), telling a story about two dog tribes clashing in the street and subsequently being scared away by the Great Rumpus Cat. A moral from Old Deuteronomy is interrupted by a second loud crash, presumably from Macavity, which sends the alarmed cats scurrying. After a quick patrol for Macavity, Old Deuteronomy deems it a false alarm and summons the cats back as the main celebration begins ("The Jellicle Ball"), in which the cats sing and display their "Terpsichorean powers". During the Ball, Grizabella reappears and tries to dance along, but her age and decrepit condition prevent her from doing so ("Grizabella: The Glamour Cat (Reprise)"). As a result, she is once again shunned by the other cats, but that does not stop her from vowing to return for another chance to be in the spotlight while a guilty Old Deuteronomy looks on ("Memory (Prelude)"). After the Jellicle Ball, Old Deuteronomy gathers his tribe to contemplate the nature of happiness. Jemima (also known as Sillabub), the youngest of all Jellicles, understands the patriarch is referring to Grizabella, and passes the message on to the rest of the tribe ("The Moments of Happiness"). Gus – short for Asparagus – shuffles forward as the next cat to be introduced ("Gus: The Theatre Cat"). He was once a famous actor but is now old and "suffers from palsy which makes his paws shake". He is accompanied by Jellylorum, his caretaker, who tells of his exploits. Gus then remembers how he once played the infamous pirate captain, Growltiger ("Growltiger's Last Stand"). He tells of Growltiger's romance with Lady Griddlebone, leading to the pirate's capture by a horde of Siamese cats and his execution by walking the plank. Back in the present, after Gus exits, Skimbleshanks is seen sleeping in the corner ("Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat"). He is the cat who is unofficially in charge of the nightly train from London to Gallowgate, and it will not depart unless he is aboard. Within his song, a whole steam train engine is assembled out of objects in the junkyard. With a third crash and an evil laugh, the "most wanted" cat Macavity appears. He is the so-called "Napoleon of Crime" who always manages to evade the authorities. Macavity's henchmen capture Old Deuteronomy and take off with the patriarch in tow. As Munkustrap and his troop give chase, Demeter and Bombalurina explain what they know about Macavity ("Macavity: The Mystery Cat"). When they are finished, Macavity returns disguised as Old Deuteronomy, but his cover is blown by Demeter and he ends up getting beaten by Munkustrap and Alonzo. Macavity holds his own for a time, but as the rest of the tribe begin to gang up and surround him, he shorts out the stage lights and escapes in the resulting confusion. After the fight, Rum Tum Tugger calls upon the magician Mr. Mistoffelees for help ("Magical Mr. Mistoffelees"). Known as the "original conjuring cat", Mr. Mistoffelees can perform feats of magic that no other cat can do. He displays his magical powers in a dance solo and uses them to restore the lights and bring back Old Deuteronomy. Now, the "Jellicle choice" can be made. Before Old Deuteronomy can make his decision, Grizabella returns to the junkyard and he allows her to address the gathering. Her faded appearance and lonely disposition have little effect on her song ("Memory"). With acceptance and encouragement from Jemima and Victoria, her appeal succeeds and she is chosen to be the one to go to the Heaviside Layer and be reborn into a new Jellicle life ("The Journey to the Heaviside Layer"). A tyre rises from the piles of junk, carrying Grizabella and Old Deuteronomy partway towards the sky; Grizabella then completes the journey on her own. Finally, Old Deuteronomy closes the show by giving his final speech to the audience ("The Ad-dressing of Cats"). Notes:
Celebration is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt. The musical fable, employing a nearly bare stage, explores the contrasts between youth and old age, innocence and jaded corruption, love and ambition, and poverty and wealth. It was presented on Broadway in 1969 and was not a financial success. Although the critics found the show interesting, it did not develop a broad following among audiences. The show has been revived occasionally.
Marie, called Cendrillon, lives as a servant in her father’s household. A prince visits disguised as a beggar, then as his valet, and invites the family to a ball. Her fairy godmother transforms a pumpkin, animals, and her clothes so she can attend, but warns her to return by midnight. At the ball the Prince recognizes her, and they fall in love before she flees, leaving a slipper behind. The Prince searches the household; when the slipper fits Marie, he asks her to marry him, and her family apologizes.
Chaplin: The Musical, formerly titled Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin, is a musical with music and lyrics by Christopher Curtis and book by Curtis and Thomas Meehan. The show is based on the life of Charlie Chaplin. The musical, which started at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2006, debuted at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2010, and then premiered on Broadway in 2012.
Charlie and Algernon is a musical with a book and lyrics by David Rogers and music by Charles Strouse. It is based on the 1966 novel Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. It received its premiere on December 21, 1978, at The Citadel Theater, in Edmonton, Canada.
Charlie Bucket wins a rare invitation to tour Willy Wonka’s mysterious chocolate factory. Alongside four other children, he encounters extraordinary inventions and tests of character that gradually reveal the purpose of the visit.
Set in Victorian England, Charlotte Sweet spotlights Charlotte, a girl with one of the highest and most beautiful soprano voices in the world. Because of her father's debts, she is forced to leave Ludlow Ladd, her Liverpool sweetheart, and join Barnaby Bugaboo's “Circus of Voices”: a troupe of freak voices including low-voiced Katinka Bugaboo, fast-voiced Harry Host, bubble-voiced Cecily Macintosh, and Skitzy Scofield (with dual personalities and voices). Becoming the troupe's biggest sensation, Charlotte is mercilessly exploited by Barnaby until she has a vocal breakdown. Thereupon, Barnaby and his wife Katinka addict Charlotte to helium balloons in order to maintain her high notes. Only Ludlow Ladd can rescue her.
In 1928 Herbert Fields wrote a libretto based on Pettit's book in which the Grand Eunuch's son, Li-Pi, and his wife, Chee-Chee, are forced into exile when the Grand Eunuch announces his plan for Li-Pi to become a eunuch and take his father's place as the Grand Eunuch. Chee-Chee is captured and rescued, and Li-Pi is captured and rescued, and finally the musical ends happily.
Chess is a 1986 musical with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of the pop group ABBA, lyrics by Ulvaeus and Tim Rice, and book by Rice. The story involves a politically charged, Cold War–era chess tournament between two grandmasters, one American and the other Soviet, and their fight over a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other. Although the protagonists were not intended to represent any real individuals, the character of the American grandmaster was loosely based on Bobby Fischer, while elements of the story may have been inspired by the chess careers of Russian grandmasters Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov. Chess allegorically reflected the Cold War tensions present in the 1980s. The musical has been referred to as a metaphor for the Cold War, with the insinuation that the Cold War is itself a manipulative game. Released and staged at the height of the strong anti-communist agenda that came to be known as the "Reagan Doctrine", Chess addressed and satirized the hostility of the international political atmosphere of the 1980s. As with other productions such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita—both of which Rice developed with Andrew Lloyd Webber—a highly successful concept album was released prior to the first theatrical production in order to raise money. In the case of Chess, the concept album was released in late 1984 while the show opened in 1986 in London's West End, where it played for three years. A much-altered US version premiered on Broadway in 1988 with a book by Richard Nelson, but survived only for two months. Chess is frequently revised for new productions, many of which try to merge elements from both the British and American versions, but was not revived in the West End until 2019. Chess was revived on Broadway in 2025 with a new book by Danny Strong, and it closed on June 21, 2026. Chess placed seventh in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the UK's "Number One Essential Musicals".
Children of Eden is a 1991 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John Caird. The musical is based on the Book of Genesis, with Act I telling the story of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, while Act II deals with Noah and the flood. Though commercially the musical has had very little success, it is popular in community and regional theatres worldwide, due to its ability to accommodate a large or small cast, religious subject, and its universal themes of family and love. The show's publisher, Music Theatre International, reports that Children of Eden is one of its top 20 most frequently licensed properties.
Children's Letters to God was a Drama Desk Award nominated Off-Broadway musical that was based on the best selling book by Stoo Hample, music by David Evans, and lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen.
In Gaul in 567, King Chilpéric visits the woods to consult the Druids about his next battle. He meets shepherd Landry and Landry’s fiancée Frédégonde, takes a fancy to her and brings both to court. As Chilpéric prepares to marry the Spanish princess Galswinthe for political reasons, Brunehaut plots to kill the couple and take the throne, while Frédégonde and Landry become entangled with other lovers. On the wedding night, several plots to murder the women go awry amid confusion in the bridal chamber. Chilpéric returns victorious from battle, rescues Galswinthe, pardons Frédégonde and lets the other plotters off with comic punishments.
The junkyard manager Coggins recounts the last race of the British champion race car, the Paragon Panther, which was contested against the Vulgarian Vulture in the 1910 British Grand Prix: the Panther crashed after Vulgarian spies sabotaged it ("Opening"). Years later, the Panther sits in a junkyard, forgotten by all save the young siblings Jeremy and Jemima Potts, who are enamored with Coggins' tales and the car's history. They are shocked when Coggins tells them he plans to scrap it, but he promises to save the Panther for them if they can purchase and move it within a few weeks. Truly Scrumptious, daughter of the wealthy Lord Scrumptious, arrives at the junkyard seeking a spare part, but upon finding the truant children, takes them home to their father, the widowed inventor Caractacus. Meanwhile, two Vulgarian spies, Boris and Goran, acting under the direction of their leader, autocratic Baron Bomburst, have discovered the location of the Panther and make plans to purchase the car before the children. Truly arrives at the Potts household, an old windmill, with the children and lectures Caractacus on their improper upbringing before leaving; as he prepares a meal for the children ("You Two"), they tell him about the plans to scrap the Panther and he promises to purchase the car for them. Caractacus's father, Grandpa Potts, recounts the family's troubles ("Them Three") and after trying some of his son's inventions, realizes he has devised a candy that can be played like a flute. The next day, Caractacus goes to Lord Scrumptious's candy factory to sell the design and raise the money needed for the Panther. Truly helps the Potts family make their sales pitch ("Toot Sweets"), but the demonstration ends in disaster as the musical boiled sweets unintentionally summon many stray dogs who invade the factory. Boris and Goran decide to pass themselves off as locals ("Think Vulgar" / "Act English") as they realize the patriotic Coggins will never sell the Panther to Vulgarians. Dispirited from the Scrumptious Sweet Factory debacle, Caractacus sings a lullaby to the children ("Hushabye Mountain") and decides to try selling another invention tomorrow. In the morning, Caractacus brings another invention, his automatic hair-cutting machine, to a local fair ("Come to the Funfair"), but the first demonstration again goes awry, as the hapless inventor's machine shaves the prospective client nearly bald. Caractacus escapes the wrathful client by joining a spirited morris dance group ("Me Ol' Bamboo") and the hair-cutting machine is sold instead to a turkey farmer, who plans to use it to pluck and cook his birds, giving Caractacus the money he needs to purchase the Panther. After purchasing the derelict racer and towing it home, Caractacus performs an intensive restoration while Grandpa and the children maintain the household ("Posh!"); after several days, Caractacus emerges from the workshop with the beautifully refurbished car, which they decide to take for a drive with Truly. Collectively, they rename the car Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for the unusual noises made by the engine ("Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"), and the four go for a seaside picnic. During the picnic, the children confess their love to Truly ("Truly Scrumptious"), who reciprocates and realizes she has feelings for Caractacus as well; distracted by their emotions, the adults fail to notice they have become stranded by the rising tide, but Chitty demonstrates its amphibious capabilities by transforming into a boat ("Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (nautical reprise)) as the Vulgarians attempt to capture the car and the Potts make a clean escape with Truly. Learning the car is also a boat both infuriates Baron Bomburst and renews his desire to own it. The Vulgarians arrive at the Potts family windmill first, though, and believing mistakenly that Grandpa is responsible for the wonders of Chitty, they hook his hut from an airship, kidnapping him inside. The rest of the family arrive with Truly in time to see them taking off with Grandpa. Speeding in pursuit, Chitty goes over a cliff but in another remarkable display, transforms into an aircraft ("Chitty Takes Flight") and follows the airship, hut, and Grandpa back to Vulgaria. Upon his arrival in Vulgaria ("Vulgarian National Anthem"), Grandpa is forced by Baron Bomburst to give the Baron's car floating and flying capabilities like Chitty, working with other inventors previously kidnapped by the Baron. After learning they have failed for years to accomplish this, Grandpa despairs but is cheered by his fellow prisoners, who see their failures merely as learning experiences ("The Roses of Success"). Chitty arrives shortly afterwards bearing Truly and the three remaining Potts; the Toymaker hustles them into his workshop just as the Childcatcher rushes to their landing site, suspecting the presence of children, who are banned in Vulgaria ("Kiddy-Widdy-Winkies"). As Caractacus learns that to comply, the citizens of Vulgaria have sent their children underground to live in the sewers, the Childcatcher tricks Truly and imprisons Jeremy and Jemima. Caractacus, Truly, and the Toymaker devise a plan to rescue the children and Grandpa; having learned of Vulgaria's misery, Caractacus and Truly vow to end the Baron's rule ("Teamwork"), while the Baron and Baroness prepare for his birthday party ("Chu-Chi Face"). The Baroness's party plans come to fruition ("The Bombie Samba") as the Toymaker brings in Truly and Caractacus, disguised as dolls that sing and dance ("Doll on a Music Box" / "Truly Scrumptious" (reprise)), distracting the Baron as the children of Vulgaria rush from the sewers and overpower the Baron's henchmen. The Potts children and Grandpa are rescued ("Us Two" / "Chitty Prayer"). The Toymaker banishes the Baron and Baroness from Vulgaria and the children from underground are reunited with their families ("Teamwork" (reprise)). Caractacus and Truly declare their love for each other as they fly home to England ("Chitty Flies Home").
Chris and the Wonderful Lamp is a stage work in three acts with music by John Philip Sousa and both book and lyrics by Glen MacDonough that is based on the 1895 children's novel of the same name by Albert Stearns. Both the stage work and the novel are a reimagining of the Aladdin folktale within an American context; with the premise of the story being the purchase of Aladdin's lamp by an American boy, Chris Wagstaff, in an antique shop in Connecticut. Chris's wishes with the lamp lead to adventures in New York City, San Francisco, on a ship at sea, and ultimately the fictional kingdom of Etheria where Chris awakens and meets Aladdin who has been in an enchanted sleep for centuries.
The musical is based on the book My Indian Family, which tells the story of an Austrian woman who travels to India to spend time with her daughter and her Indian son-in-law. While in India, the daughter dies and the mother-in-law steps in to help the widowed husband find a new bride. The musical follows some of the broad strokes of the book, but with significant changes including a love story between the mother-in-law (Christine) and the widowed son-in-law. Christine arrives in India to visit her daughter Mary-Anne, and her daughter's husband, Dr Rashil Singh ("Welcome Song/My Indian Family"). She discovers though that her daughter has died in childbirth, along with the child, her widowed doctor husband racked with sorrow and guilt over not being able to save her life ("A Doctor's Soliloquy"). Aided by Dr Singh's Auntie and Uncle, Christine takes on the mother's duty to find a new wife for her son-in-law ("How to Pick a Man a Wife" and "The Lovely Girls of Akbarabad"), but instead finds herself falling in love with him ("Room in My Heart"). As Act I ends, Christine and the Doctor sing of their love for each other ("I Never Meant to Fall in Love"). Act II opens on explorations of the perceived cultural peculiarities of India ("Freedom Can Be a Most Uncomfortable Thing" and "Ireland Was Never Like This"), before exploring the unrequited love a local girl, Sita Roy, has for Dr. Singh ("He Loves Her"). Sita works in the doctor's clinic and notes that the locals have stopped coming to the doctor's dispensary, due to Christine's presence, so Sita implores Christine to leave. Christine tells the doctor of her discomfort with the situation, but he asks her to marry him and she agrees ("Christine"). As the ceremony is prepared in which Christine is to reveal the wife she has chosen for Dr. Singh, she decides that she cannot stay after all ("I Love Him"). At the ceremony, she shocks everyone by choosing Sita Roy to be his bride. She tells Dr. Singh she must return to Ireland ("The Woman I Was Before"), which she does, slipping away while Sita and Dr. Singh's wedding is taking place.
In a small town in South America, Bayardo San Roman, a newly married man rejects Angela Vicario, his young bride when he discovers that she is not a virgin. She returns to her family home, where they make her reveal her lover. She names Santiago, the best friend of her brothers, who is innocent. They are determined to avenge the family honor by killing their best friend: a "death foretold."
Chu Chem is a musical with a book by Ted Allen, lyrics by Jim Haines and Jack Wohl, and music by Mitch Leigh.
Setting: Baghdad, Palace of Kasim Baba The wealthy merchant Kasim Baba (brother of Ali Baba) is preparing to give a lavish banquet at his home for a wealthy Chinese merchant, Chu Chin Chow, who is on his way from China. The robber chieftain, Abu Hasan, wishes to add to his riches the property of Kasim. Abu Hasan forces his captive, the beautiful Zahrat al-Kulub, to spy for him in Kasim's house, disguised as a slave girl, by holding her lover hostage. She is nearly found out several times. Zahrat sends a message to Abu Hasan, letting him know about the banquet. Hasan arrives at Kasim's palace in disguise as Chu Chin Chow, whom his gang has robbed and murdered. He tries to glean information that will enable him to rob his host. Meanwhile, the slaves tell Ali Baba, Kasim's poor, lazy brother, about Hasan's secret cave and the password "open sesame". Ali Baba enters the lair and helps himself to some of the thieves' treasure. The greedy Kasim persuades his brother to tell him where his sudden wealth came from and slips out to see what he can find at Hasan's cave. Kasim finds the treasure but is captured by Abu Hasan and put to death. Hasan and his forty thieves plan an attack on Baba household on the occasion of the wedding of Ali Baba's son Nur al-Huda Ali and the slave girl Marjanah. Finally, on the eve of the attack, Zahrat gets her revenge by disposing of Hasan's men using boiling oil, stabbing Abu Hasan to death, and generally saving the day. Zahrat and her lover are reunited, Ali Baba gets Kasim's widow, Alcolom, and all ends happily.
Church Basement Ladies (CBL) is a musical comedy series following the members of a Midwestern church and their relationships as they organize food and solve the problems of their rural Minnesotan town. The setting involves many characters of American-Nordic diaspora, with each of the titular ladies married to a man of Norwegian heritage. Among those prolific in the church are Vivian Snustad, the eldest Basement Lady and widow, Karin Engleson, mother and renowned cook, Mavis Gilmerson, a farmer's wife, Beverly Signe Engleson, Karin's daughter, and Pastor E.L. Gunderson, the leader of the church and friend to the Ladies. The series and its entries were non-chronically-produced, though rightsholder and production company In The Basement Productions includes an in-universe chronological timeline on their website.
At Les Halles, aristocrat Antonin ends his relationship with Zénobie and helps the farm-girl Ciboulette. A fortune-teller predicts Ciboulette will marry a man found under a cabbage after a woman turns white and she receives a death notice in a tambourine. Antonin is found asleep in Ciboulette’s vegetable cart, and he pretends to be a farm steward to escape the eight suitors arranged by her family. After jealousy separates them, Ciboulette disguises herself as a Spanish singer and helps Antonin recognize his love for her; the prophecy is fulfilled and they reunite.
Cinder Ellen up too Late is a musical burlesque written by Frederick Hobson Leslie (writing under the pseudonym A. C. Torr) and W. T. Vincent, with music arranged by Meyer Lutz from compositions by Lionel Monckton, Sidney Jones, Walter Slaughter, Osmond Carr, Scott Gatti, Jacobi, Robertson, and Leopold Wenzel. Additional lyrics were written by Basil Hood. The show was a burlesque of the well-known pantomime and fairy tale, Cinderella. The piece was first produced in Melbourne, Australia at the Princess's Theatre on 22 August 1891 and then in Sydney, on 5 October at the Theatre Royal. It then debuted in London at the Gaiety Theatre in London and ran from 24 December 1891 until 9 July 1892, a total of 181 performances. It was revised and revived later in 1892. The production was directed by Walter Raynham, with choreography by Katti Lanner and Willie Warde and costumes by Wilhelm. Nellie Farren created the title role in Australia; in London the part was played by Kate James and then Letty Lind. The piece was re-written during the run; some characters were dropped and new ones were introduced. The cast included Sylvia Grey as Linconzina and Florence Levey as Fettalana (the stepsisters), E. J. Lonnen as Prince Belgravia, Arthur Williams as Sir Ludgate Hill, and Fred Leslie as "a servant". Adelaide Astor had the small role of Templina and later the larger one of Fettalana, and Topsy Sinden danced in the piece. Lottie Collins sang her sensationally popular song, "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay" as an interpolation in the show every evening. The title was a "playful allusion" to the real first name, Ellen, of the Gaiety's famous star, Nellie Farren. After the company's return from Australia, and before the opening of Cinder Ellen in London, Farren experienced an attack of rheumatic fever which aggravated her spinal disease. She had to withdraw from the London production of Cinder Ellen. Her illness progressively crippled her, and Farren rarely performed after this. Farren's withdrawal left Kate James to open in the title role in London.
A contemporary pantomime retells Cinderella’s story with pop songs, audience participation and comedy for children and adults.
Cinders is a musical in two acts with music by Rudolf Friml and both book and lyrics by Edward Clark. It re-sets the Cinderella fairy tale in 1920s era New York City. It premiered at the Garrick Theatre in Philadelphia on March 12, 1923, and later that month toured to the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. It moved to Broadway where it opened at the Dresden Theatre on April 3, 1923. It ran for 31 performances, and closed on April 28, 1923. Cinders starred Nancy Welford in the title role. It was both produced and staged by Edward Royce. Others in the cast included W. Douglas Stevenson as John Winthrop, Margaret Dale as Mrs. Horatio Winthrop, Queenie Smith as Tillie Olsen, George Bancroft as Great Scott, Fred Hillebrand as Slim Kelly, John H. Brewer as Major Drummond, Lillian Lee as Miss Breckenridge, Kitty Kelly as Tottie, Estelle Levelle as Lottie, Eden Gray as Ninette, Roberta Beatty as Mrs. Delancey Hoyt, Edith Campbell-Walker as Mme. Duval, Mary Lucas as Geraldine, and Thomas Fitzpatrick as the Butler.
Cindy is a musical with music and lyrics by Johnny Brandon, and a book by Joe Sauter and Mike Sawyer. It ran off-Broadway at the Gate, Orpheum, and Cricket Theatres (not simultaneously) in 1964 and 1965. It is an adaptation of the story of Cinderella. It was produced by Chandler Warren and Philip Temple, by arrangement with Stuart Wiener and Jerry Grace.
City of Angels is a satirical musical comedy with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by David Zippel, and a book by Larry Gelbart. The show takes a critical look at Hollywood through the eyes of Stine, a successful writer who is adapting his latest novel into a film.
Dennis Lee’s poems become a staged musical meditation on Toronto and Canadian identity. Public spaces, shared history, and the obligations of citizenship connect private reflection with questions about the country’s future.
Cliff – The Musical was a musical based on the life of Sir Cliff Richard which was staged at The Prince of Wales Theatre, London from 17 March 2003 to June 2003. The show was written by Mike Read and Trevor Payne, with Payne directing. Four performers played the part of Richard.
As the show begins, Hillary Rodham Clinton introduces herself and her husband, William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton. She reveals that Bill is actually two personalities, WJ and Billy, and that she is the only person who can see both of them ("Overture"). With help from Hillary, WJ and Billy win the 1992 presidential election ("Awful-Awesome"). After arriving at the White House, WJ states his plans to be a serious and successful president, Hillary states her plan to be loved by the American people, and Billy states his plan to "get some tail" ("The Me I See"). In order to remain focused on his job, WJ starts ignoring Billy's fun-loving urges. Just a few days after being inaugurated, the media starts reporting on the Whitewater scandal, despite the fact that nobody who is reporting has any idea what the scandal actually is, and are just stretching the story out to gain viewers ("The Day After That"). Kenneth Starr is hired to investigate the scandal. Starr announces to the audience that he doesn't actually care about the American people or the Whitewater scandal, he's just in it for the fame ("A Starr is Born"). Hillary becomes increasingly worried that Billy will use his new office to cheat on her. As WJ reassures Hillary that he'll control Billy, Billy seduces White House intern Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office ("Lie to You"). In order to comfort Hillary, WJ tells her that she can write the country's new healthcare plan. Republican Newt Gingrich is infuriated by this, and he works with Ken Starr to rally other Republicans and take control of the Congress majority ("Say Nay"). During an encounter with Billy in the Oval Office, Monica Lewinsky exclaims that she can't believe she's having an affair with the president ("Monica's Song"). WJ finds out about this and confronts Billy, starting an argument between the two. Hillary finds out about their fight and explains to them that "the public likes it better when politicians work together" ("Both Ways"). After settling his differences with Billy, WJ confronts Newt Gingrich and convinces him to pass Hillary's healthcare bill. WJ and Billy are reelected in the presidential election of 1996, but Billy is the only one that takes the oath of office, which means Billy is able to start ignoring WJ as payback for the beginning of their first term ("Both Ways (Reprise)"). As his second term begins, Billy celebrates in the Oval Office, while Linda Tripp secretly collects evidence of his affair with Monica ("What Could Go Wrong?"). Linda's evidence becomes public, but Billy attempts to convince the American people that the affair never happened ("That Woman, Miss Lewinsky"). Since he is officially the president, Billy must give the State of the Union address, a job WJ had previously done. Billy can't resist making sexual innuendos while writing his speech, so Hillary is forced to write the address and let Billy take all the credit ("State of the Union"). Having been abandoned by Billy and the American people, WJ reflects on all the things he was hoping to accomplish in his second term ("A Place Called Hope"). Monica, whom Billy has also abandoned, looks back on how confident he made her feel during their affair ("Monica's Song (Reprise)"). Hillary becomes increasingly angry at both WJ and Billy for the things they do behind her back. Though she still loves them, she decides she can't handle the stress anymore and tells the audience that she plans to divorce them ("Enough"). Meanwhile, Kenneth and Newt lead the movement to impeach and remove Billy from office ("Sexual Relations"). Hillary is visited by a vision of Eleanor Roosevelt, who tries to convince her to stay with Billy and WJ, but Hillary misinterprets Eleanor and instead decides that she's going to run for president ("Brew It for Your Country"). Billy and WJ realize that their legacy will not be the work they did to advance universal healthcare, but instead, they will always be remembered for Billy's affair ("The Me I See / What Could Go Wrong? (Reprise)"). WJ and Billy forgive each other and apologize to Hillary. The three decide that the only way to ensure that Billy remains in office is to reveal to the world that William Jefferson Clinton is, in fact, two people. Newt is hesitant to forgive the Clintons but is forced to when WJ reveals Newt's affair with Calista Bisek. The Senate votes to keep Billy in office and Hillary announces her 2008 candidacy for president ("Finale").
Film star Clivia Gray travels to the South American republic of Boliguay to make a movie. She becomes involved in political complications and falls in love with the Boliguayan president, whom she ultimately marries.
Clorindy, or The Origin of the Cake Walk is a one-act musical by composer Will Marion Cook and librettist Paul Laurence Dunbar. The piece premiered in 1898 and was the first Broadway musical with an all-black cast. It starred the famous African-American performer Ernest Hogan. Popular songs from the show included "Who Dat Say Chicken In Dis Crowd" (one of the first documented uses of the well-known "Who Dat?" comedy motif) and the finale, "Darktown Is Out Tonight".
Closer Than Ever is a musical revue in two acts, with words by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by David Shire. The revue contains no dialogue, and Maltby and Shire have described this show as a "bookless book musical." The show was originally conceived by Steven Scott Smith as a one act revue…
The story is narrated by retired rock icon and actress Billie Trix (Frances Barber), who otherwise has a fairly small part in the story. The opening number, "My Night", is sung by Billie and the rest of the cast, and is used to introduce the characters. Shell Christian (Stacey Roca), is going to see her estranged father, Vic Christian (David Burt), for the first time in years. Vic, who is gay, left Shell and her mother during her childhood, and now runs a successful gay club in London. Meanwhile, Straight Dave (Paul Keating), who has just arrived from Ireland, is working as a bartender at Vic's club, although his ambition is to be a dancer at the club. After seeing and speaking to her father, Shell meets Dave, and they immediately fall in love. Record producer Bob Saunders (Paul Broughton) is a friend of Billie Trix and a regular at Vic's club. He sees Dave dancing and decides he wants to sign him for a boy band he is forming. He makes an offer to Dave, who has no interest in signing; however, Saunders continues to pressure Dave into working for him. Dave meets and falls in love with drug dealer Mile End Lee (Tom Walker), who deals at Vic's club. Shell is devastated when she discovers that Dave is gay, although part of her has suspected it all along. Meanwhile, Vic discovers Lee dealing drugs in his club and confiscates the drugs. Lee is worried he will be killed for losing the drugs. At this point, everyone gets high on ketamine – Shell is still upset about Dave; Lee is worried about being killed; Dave is frustrated that Lee has withdrawn from him; and Billie, a habitual user, needs no excuse. Lee has a drug overdose and dies. At Lee's funeral, Dave sings a song, "For All of Us". A few months later, Dave is apparently back on the road to success and sings "Positive Role Model" to end the show on a high. (The 2015 and 2019 productions replaced "Positive Role Model" with "Vocal" as the closing song, and the 2024 production used "For Every Moment").
Mr. Boddy acts as host as he invites the audience to play "The Game" while introducing each of the other characters. He then brings three audience members onstage to choose one card each from one of three stacks, representing six suspects, six rooms, and six weapons. These selected cards, unseen by the selectors, cast, or the audience, are placed in an oversized envelope marked "Confidential", which is displayed on stage for the duration of the musical and opened to reveal the cards near the end. Mr. Boddy instructs the audience on how to play along. Between scenes throughout the musical, Mr. Boddy gives rhyming clues, which provide the audience with information they may jot down on a form supplied to them and use to solve the mystery. In the kitchen, Mrs. White prepares dinner and argues with Mr. Boddy over her forced servitude to pay debts because he once helped her son. She laments "Life Is a Bowl of Pits". In the billiard room, Mr. Boddy's business partner, Mr. Green, clashes with him over missing funds. In the ballroom, Col. Mustard and Mrs. Peacock engage in an affair, but are caught by Mr. Boddy. Over drinks in the lounge, Miss Scarlet and Mr. Green are revealed to have been business partners of Mr. Boddy's and former lovers, and that Mr. Boddy double-crossed them both and unceremoniously dumped Miss Scarlet. They muse revenge and that "Everyday Devices" such as a wrench and lead pipe are dangerous when used for the wrong reasons. In the study, Prof. Plum recounts how Mr. Boddy ruined his family fortune to Mrs. White while she tries to unsuccessfully flirt with him. In the conservatory, Mrs. Peacock plans to add Mr. Boddy to her growing list of dead husbands ("Once a Widow"). After dinner, Mr. Boddy invites his guests and staff to fulfill their destiny — murdering him. They search through "Corridor and Halls" for the right combination of suspect, room and weapon. Mr. Boddy is soon found dead ("The Murder"), the cause of which is unknown ("After the Murder"). Mr. Boddy miraculously revives to introduce a new character, a hard-nosed, attractive Detective. As she searches the mansion for clues, the suspects nervously speculate "She Hasn't Got a Clue". She returns with six possible weapons – a wrench, candlestick, lead pipe, knife, revolver and rope – found in six rooms: the lounge, kitchen, ballroom, conservatory, billiard room, and study. All of these have the suspects' fingerprints on them, which were made between 9:00 PM and midnight, the latter of which is the time of Boddy's murder. After the suspects tell her how they used the "Everyday Devices", the Detective questions Prof. Plum, who tries to seduce her ("Seduction Deduction"). After his attempts fail, she in turn interrogates Col Mustard, Mr. Green, Miss Scarlet, Mrs. Peacock, and Mrs. White, as each speculates that she is a "Foul-Weather Friend". As the Detective prepares to make her accusation, the Suspects cry "Don't Blame Me" and panic at "The Final Clue". She reveals the random killer, location, and weapon as per the three cards drawn earlier, and the killer confesses. Then, it is revealed that the previously stated murderer was only an accomplice, and that the true murderer is Professor Plum. He is then revealed to be a disguised "dorky school teacher", as the true Plum is disguised as a piano player in the orchestra. The suspects ponder life beyond the mansion, but are compelled by Mr. Boddy to repeat their fate and continue playing "The Game".
Cher Horowitz is a popular, wealthy teenager living a picture perfect life in Beverly Hills ("Perfect"). Her father, Mel, is a lawyer and the two live in a mansion, sometimes joined by Josh, Cher's ex-step-brother. Tai, a new girl from New York, arrives at in town and Cher decides to make her her new project, making her popular ("New Girl").
Set between early autumn of 1953 and late spring of 1954, fashion designer Coco Chanel, after fifteen years of retirement, decides to return to the world of haute couture and reopen her Paris salon. With her new collection derided by the critics, she faces bankruptcy until buyers from four major American department stores - Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, Best & Company, and Ohrbach's - place orders with her. She becomes involved with the love life of one of her models, and flashbacks utilizing filmed sequences recall her own past romantic flings. Adding humor to the proceedings is a highly stereotypical rude gay designer who tries to impede Chanel's success. The finale is a fashion show featuring actual Chanel designs from 1918 to 1959.
Come Fly Away is a dance revue conceived, directed and choreographed by Twyla Tharp, around the songs of Frank Sinatra. The musical, set in a New York City nightclub, follows four couples as they look for love. It premiered on Broadway in March 2010 after tryouts in Atlanta and has received mostly warm reviews.
Come Summer is a Broadway musical with a book and lyrics by Will Holt and music by David Baker, based on Rainbow on the Road by Esther Forbes and vocal arrangements by Trude Rittmann.
The musical takes place in 1941, in Keijō (Seoul), Korea, Empire of Japan. The musical is about young Korean women from a small town in Korea who are ostensibly enlisted to work in a factory in Japan by a Japanese agent. Goeun, Youngsun, Namsoon, Malsoon, Soonja, and Jinju are forced to service soldiers in Indonesia. Minsik creates a way to take the women back to Korea. To empower the female characters, Kim rewrote part of the script in 2018, making the female characters, rather than the male soldier, plot their escape from the military brothel. The 2019 production of the musical has also reduced the violent scenes.
Coming Thro' The Rye is a "satiretta" or musical in two acts with both lyrics and book by George V. Hobart and music by A. Baldwin Sloane and J. Sebastian Hiller.
In the early 1990s, Furth and Sondheim revised the libretto, cutting and altering dialogue that had become dated and rewriting the end of act one. This synopsis is based on the revised libretto. Robert is a well-liked single man living in New York City whose friends are married or engaged couples. The couples are Joanne and Larry, Peter and Susan, Harry and Sarah, David and Jenny, and Paul and Amy. It is Robert's 35th birthday and the couples have gathered to throw him a surprise party. When Robert fails to blow out any candles on his birthday cake, the couples promise him that his birthday wish will still come true, although Robert wished for nothing, and said that his friends are all he needs ("Company"). What follows is a series of disconnected vignettes in no chronological order, each featuring Robert visiting with one of the couples or alone on a date with a girlfriend. In the first vignette, Robert visits Sarah, a foodie who is dieting, and her husband, Harry, a recovering alcoholic. Sarah and Harry taunt each other on their vices, escalating toward karate-like fighting and thrashing that may or may not be playful. This prompts the caustic Joanne, the oldest, most cynical, and most-often divorced of Robert's friends, to sarcastically comment to the audience that it is the little things that make a marriage work ("The Little Things You Do Together"). Harry explains, and the men concur, that most people are both thankful and regretful about getting married, and that marriage changes both everything and nothing about the way they live ("Sorry – Grateful"). Robert is next with Peter and Susan, on their apartment terrace. Peter is an Ivy League graduate, and Susan is a Southern belle; the two seem to be a perfect couple, yet they surprise Robert with the news of their upcoming divorce. At the home of the uptight Jenny and chic David, Robert has brought along some marijuana that the three share. The couple turns to grilling Robert on why he has not yet gotten married. Robert claims he is not against the notion, but three women he is currently dating—Kathy, Marta, and April—appear and proceed, Andrews Sisters-style, to chastise Robert for his reluctance to being committed ("You Could Drive a Person Crazy"). After Jenny asks for another joint, but is discouraged by David, David privately tells Robert that Jenny does not actually like marijuana, but partakes in it as a show of her love for him. All of Robert's male friends are deeply envious about his commitment-free status, and each has found someone they find perfect for Robert ("Have I Got a Girl for You"), but Robert is waiting for someone who merges the best features of all his married female friends ("Someone Is Waiting"). Robert meets his three girlfriends in a small park on separate occasions, as Marta sings of the city: crowded, dirty, uncaring, yet somehow wonderful ("Another Hundred People"). Robert first gets to know April, a slow-witted airline flight attendant. Robert then spends time with Kathy. They had dated previously and both admit that they had each secretly considered marrying the other. They laugh at this coincidence before Robert suddenly considers the idea seriously. However, Kathy reveals that she is leaving for Cape Cod with a new fiancé. Finally, Robert meets with Marta; she loves New York, and babbles on about topics both highbrow and lowbrow. Robert is left stunned. The scene turns to the day of Amy and Paul's wedding; they have lived together for years, but are just now getting married. Amy has gotten an overwhelming case of cold feet, and as the upbeat Paul harmonizes rapturously, a panicking Amy breaks the fourth wall and confesses to the audience that she can't go through with it ("Getting Married Today"). Robert, the best man, and Paul watch as Amy complains and self-destructs over every petty thing she can possibly think of, and then finally explicitly calls off the wedding. Paul dejectedly storms out into the rain and Robert tries to comfort Amy, but emotionally winds up offering an impromptu proposal to her himself. His words jolt Amy back into reality, and she runs out after Paul, at last ready to marry him. Before she leaves, Robert tosses Amy's bouquet over to her. She catches it, joyfully exclaiming: “I’m the next bride!” The setting returns to the scene of the birthday party, where Robert is given his cake and tries to blow out the candles again. He wishes for something this time ("Marry Me A Little"). The birthday party scene is reset, and Robert goes to blow out his candles. This time, he gets them about half out, and the couples have to help him with the rest. The couples share their views on Robert – both complimentary and unflattering – with each other as Robert reflects on being the third wheel ("Side By Side By Side"), soon followed by the up-tempo paean to Robert's role as the perfect friend ("What Would We Do Without You?"). In a dance break in the middle of the number, each man, in turn, does a dance step that is answered by his wife. Robert likewise does a step but he has no partner to answer it. Robert brings April to his apartment for a nightcap, after a date. She marvels at how homey his place is, and he casually leads her to the bed, sitting next to her on it and working on getting her into it. She earnestly tells him of an experience from her past, involving the death of a butterfly; he counters with a bizarre remembrance of his own, obviously fabricated and designed to put her in the mood to succumb to his seduction. Meanwhile, the married women worry about Robert's single status and the unsuitable qualities they find in the women he dates ("Poor Baby"). As Robert and April have sex, we hear Robert and April's thoughts, interspersed with music that expresses and mirrors their increasing excitement ("Tick-Tock"). In some productions, including the original Broadway production, this is accompanied by a solo dance by Kathy. The next morning, April rises early, to report for duty aboard a flight to Barcelona. Robert tries to get her to stay, at first wholeheartedly, parrying her apologetic protestations that she cannot with playful begging and insistence. As April continues to reluctantly resist his entreaties, and sleepiness retakes him, Bobby loses conviction, agreeing that she should go; that change apparently gets to her, and she joyfully declares that she will stay, after all. This takes Robert by surprise, and his astonished, plaintive "Oh, God!" is suffused with fear and regret ("Barcelona"). Robert and Marta visit Peter and Susan, and learn that Peter flew to Mexico to get the divorce, but he phoned Susan and she joined him there for a vacation. Though they are divorced, they are still living together, claiming they have too many responsibilities to actually leave each other's lives, and that their relationship has actually been strengthened. Susan takes Marta inside to make lunch, and Peter asks Robert if he has ever had a homosexual experience. They both admit they have, and Peter hints at the possibility that Robert and he could have such an encounter, but Robert uncomfortably laughs off the conversation as a joke. Joanne and Larry take Robert out to a nightclub, where Larry dances, and Joanne and Robert sit watching, getting thoroughly drunk. She blames Robert for always being an outsider, only watching life rather than living it, and also persists in berating Larry. She raises her glass in a mocking toast, passing judgment on various types of rich, middle-aged women wasting their lives away with mostly meaningless activities ("The Ladies Who Lunch"). Her harshest criticism is reserved for those, like herself, who "just watch", and she concludes with the observation that all these ladies are bound together by a terror that comes with the knowledge that "everybody dies". Larry returns from the dance floor, taking Joanne's drunken rant without complaint and explains to Robert that he still loves her dearly. When Larry leaves to pay the check, Joanne bluntly invites Robert to begin an affair with her, assuring him that she will "take care of him". Robert's reply, "But who will I take care of?" seems to surprise even him, and strikes Joanne as a profound breakthrough on his part. Robert insists he has been open to marriages and commitment, but questions "What do you get?" Upon Larry's return, Robert asks again, angrily, "What do you get?" Joanne declares, with some satisfaction, "I just did someone a big favor". She and Larry go home, leaving Robert lost in frustrated contemplation. The couples' recurrent musical motif begins yet again, as they all again invite Robert to "drop by anytime...". Rather than the cheery, indulgent tone he had responded with in earlier scenes, Robert suddenly, desperately, shouts "STOP!" He sings, openly enumerating the many traps and dangers he perceives in marriage. Speaking their disagreements, his friends counter his ideas, one by one, encouraging him to dare to try for love and commitment. Finally, Robert's words change, expressing a desire, increasing in urgency, for loving intimacy, even with all its problems, and the wish to meet someone with whom to face the challenge of living ("Being Alive"). The opening party resets a final time; Robert's friends have waited two hours, with still no sign of him. At last, they all prepare to leave, expressing a new hopefulness about their absent friend's chances for loving fulfillment, and wishing him a happy birthday, wherever he may be, as they leave. Robert then appears alone, smiles, and blows out his candles ("Finale").
Lost in a forest, the Lady is lured to the magician Comus’s palace. A spirit tells her two brothers that she is held there, but Comus’s followers delay them. With an enchanted potion, they eventually enter the palace and interrupt Comus as he tries to make their sister drink from his cup. Comus flees, and the nymph Sabrina frees the Lady from his spell. The masque ends with a celebration of virtue.
Contact is a musical "dance play" that was developed by Susan Stroman and John Weidman, with its "book" by Weidman and both choreography and direction by Stroman. It ran both Off-Broadway and on Broadway in 1999–2002.
The story is set in Regency Brighton in 1811. Paul, the Duc de Chaucigny-Varennes, an émigré from the terrors of the French Revolution, is passing off Melanie, a beautiful young girl, as his ward – the daughter of an executed friend, the Marquis de Tramont. In fact, Melanie is a dance hall singer. Paul's plan is to marry Melanie to a rich husband such as Edward, Marquis of Sheere, who seeks her hand. The rich Lady Julia Charteris, who is much taken with Paul, encourages Edward's marital plans and tries to woo Paul for herself. But Melanie has long loved Paul, and in a last gamble to turn him away from Lady Julia, she pretends to return to France. Her trick works: Paul realises the depth of his feelings for her and there is a romantic happy ending.
Stephanie Zinone, leader of the Pink Ladies, has a romantic fling with English transfer student Michael Carrington. The only way she'll stay with him, however, is by him becoming a T-Bird.
Copperfield is a 1981 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, who were nominated for the 1981 Tony Award for Best Original Score. It is based on the classic 1850 novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. The Broadway production was directed and choreographed by Rob Iscove. It began previews at the ANTA Playhouse on March 25, opened on April 16, and closed on April 26 after 39 performances, including 26 previews.
Coraline is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt and a book by David Greenspan. It is based on the 2002 novella of the same name by Neil Gaiman. The story follows Coraline Jones, a young girl who discovers a parallel world beyond a secret door in her new home. The world has everything Coraline dreams of, but hides an ominous secret. Coraline premiered off-Broadway in June 2009, four months after the film adaptation's release.
Count Tassilo works under an assumed name as a bailiff to earn money for his sister Lisa’s dowry. Countess Maritza arrives at her estate to celebrate a fictitious engagement to Baron Koloman Zsupán, but the actual Zsupán appears. Maritza and Tassilo grow attracted to one another, while Zsupán turns his attention to Lisa. After Maritza learns Tassilo’s identity and mistakenly believes Lisa is his lover, she insults him; she later writes a marriage proposal disguised as a reference. The operetta ends with both couples engaged.
Courtin' Time is a musical adapted by William Roos from Eden Phillpotts's 1916 play The Farmer's Wife, with lyrics and music by Jack Lawrence and Don Walker. Set in the state of Maine in the year 1898, the musical centers around the character of the widower Samuel Rilling who asks his long time housekeeper, Araminta, to aid him in finding a new wife. Araminta herself loves Samuel, but agrees to help him. After several potential candidates all end in failure for a variety of reasons, Rilling discovers that the ideal candidate is in fact Araminta. Courtin' Time premiered on Broadway at the National Theatre on June 13, 1951 in a production directed by Alfred Drake with choreography by George Balanchine. Ralph Alswang was the production's lighting and scenic designer, and Saul Bolasni designed the costumes. The cast was led by Joe E. Brown as Samuel Rilling and Billie Worth as Araminta. Other cast members included Carmen Mathews as Theresa Tapper, Rosemary Kuhlmann as Sadie, and Joseph Sweeney as Mr. Hearn. In mid run the production moved to the Royale Theatre where it closed on July 14, 1951 after 37 performances.
Act 1 Backstage at the Zangler Theater in New York in the 1930s, the last performance of the Zangler Follies is wrapping up for the season, and Tess, the Dance Director, is dodging the advances of the married Bela Zangler. Bobby Child, the rich son of a banking family, is backstage hoping for an audition with Mr. Zangler. Bobby performs "K-ra-zy for You," but fails to impress Zangler, having landed on Zangler's foot during the final flourish of his dance routine. Dejected, Bobby heads outside. Bobby is met by Irene, the wealthy woman to whom he has been engaged for five years, and then by his mother, who demands that Bobby take over her piece of the banking business. Bobby is told to go to Deadrock, Nevada, to foreclose on a rundown theater. As the women argue over him, Bobby imagines himself dancing with the Follies Girls and joins them in a rousing rendition of "I Can't Be Bothered Now." Brought back to reality, Bobby decides to escape to Nevada. When Bobby arrives in Deadrock, it's clear that the gold mining town has seen better days. The men, who are cowboys, sing "Bidin' My Time" in a long, slow drawl. Everett Baker receives a letter from New York warning of the bank foreclosing on the Gaiety Theater. The only woman left in this forlorn town is Everett's daughter, the spunky Polly Baker, who vows to get even with Bobby Child if she ever meets him. Lank Hawkins, proprietor of the town's saloon, argues with Everett, trying to convince Everett to let him buy the theater before the bank takes it. The stubborn old man refuses to give up the theater due to his memories of Polly's mother being the star of all the theater's old shows. Bobby enters the town almost dying of thirst, and falls in love with Polly at first sight, not realizing who she is, and expresses his excitement in "Things Are Looking Up." Lank isn't pleased to see a rival for Polly's affections. Bobby finds himself in quite a bind. If he forecloses on the theater he will lose the girl of his dreams. Inspired, he comes up with the idea of putting on a show to pay off the mortgage. Polly agrees to this plan until she finds out who he is and suspects a trick. Bobby and Polly are both heartbroken, but Bobby decides to put on the show anyway... disguised as Mr. Zangler. Polly, deeply hurt, expresses her loneliness in "Someone to Watch Over Me." A few days later, ten Follies Girls on vacation from The Zangler Follies appear like a mirage in the desert. Bobby has asked them to help stage a spectacular show in Deadrock. When the men of Deadrock see the girls, the sleepy town becomes very lively. Lank Hawkins continues to express extreme dislike for the show, threatening to shoot Bobby. Rehearsals for the show aren't going well and the cowboys in particular are terrible dancers. Bobby changes all that in the course of one rehearsal with the song "Slap That Bass." Spirits are now at a high point. Meanwhile, to Bobby's dismay, Irene arrives, threatening to expose Bobby's charade, and Polly has fallen in love with Bobby's impersonation of Zangler. She expresses her love for Zangler with the song "Embraceable You." Opening night arrives, with everyone's hopes high ("Tonight's the Night!"). Sadly, everyone is disappointed to find that the only people to arrive at the show are Eugene and Patricia Fodor, British tourists writing a guidebook on the American West. What starts out as a disappointment changes into the realization that the show has galvanized the once sleepy town. They celebrate with a spirited rendition of "I Got Rhythm" while the real Zangler stumbles unnoticed into the town, almost dehydrated, and collapses just as the scene ends. Act 2 In Lank's saloon Bobby is professing his love to Polly. Unfortunately, she is still in love with the man who she thinks is Zangler. Bobby is about to convince Polly that he has been impersonating "Zangler" when the real Zangler stumbles into the saloon looking for Tess. Zangler finds Tess, but refuses her request to produce the show. Tess storms off, and Zangler, now drunk after being disgusted by the town, bemoans his fate. Bobby, dressed like Zangler, reels in to drown his sorrow over losing Polly. Drunk and depressed, the two men act as mirror images of each other, and lament their lost loves in "What Causes That." The next morning, Polly sees the two Zanglers and realizes what has happened. She slaps Bobby and leaves in a huff, while the townsfolk prepare for a meeting at the theater to discuss what to do with the show. Irene comes to Bobby in one final attempt to make him go back to New York with her, but Bobby rejects her, and states his love for Polly. Immensely frustrated with Bobby, Irene seduces Lank in "Naughty Baby." The townsfolk are all now gathered at the theater. Bobby is all for trying the show again, while Polly thinks they should abandon the venture. The Fodors counsel the dejected townspeople to keep a "Stiff Upper Lip," which includes a parody of the barricade scene from Les Misérables, but by the end of the song only Polly, Everett, Bobby, and Tess still think the show should continue. Everyone but Bobby and Polly leave the theater. Bobby prepares to leave for New York, professing that his memories of Polly will never fade in "They Can't Take That Away from Me." Polly realizes, too late, that she does love Bobby, and after he leaves, laments her loss in "But Not For Me." Meanwhile, Bela Zangler decides to put on the show as a favor to Tess; the two seem to be in love once more. Although he had been planning to cast Bobby as the lead, he makes Polly the star of the show after learning that Bobby has left for New York. Six weeks later, Bobby is still thinking of Deadrock as he works in his mother's bank. For his birthday, Mrs. Child gives him the Zangler theater (Zangler has used all his money on the show in Deadrock). While initially ecstatic, Bobby realizes that his love for Polly is worth more in "Nice Work if You Can Get It," and leaves with Mrs. Child for Deadrock to pursue Polly. Back in Deadrock, Polly has decided to leave for New York to look for Bobby. She leaves with Custus, one of the cowboys, just before Bobby arrives. After learning that Polly has left to find him, he leaves to "wash up" before driving back to New York to catch her. Bobby's mother and Irene (who is now married to Lank) notice each other and start an argument. Everett notices Mrs. Child, and falls head-over-heels in love with her, as shown in a reprise of "Things Are Looking Up." His affections are reciprocated, and immediately afterward, Polly reenters with Custus. On their way to the train station, his car ran out of gas, and Polly missed the train to New York. Seeing the situation, the townspeople concoct a plan to get Polly and Bobby together, and the two are finally reunited in the "Finale."
Crest of the Wave is a musical with book and music by Ivor Novello and lyrics by Christopher Hassall. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London, on 1 September 1937, starring Novello as both hero and villain, Dorothy Dickson, Olive Gilbert, Walter Crisham and Edgar Elmes. Directed by Novello's frequent collaborator Leontine Sagan, it ran for 203 performances. The best-known songs from the musical are "Rose of England", "Why isn't it you?", "Haven of your heart" and "If you only knew". The story concerns an impoverished nobleman, The Duke of Cheviot, who is shot by a lover and pursued by the villainous Otto Fresch. The staging featured a spectacular train crash, one of several Novello musicals featuring a spectacular disaster: Glamorous Night has a shipwreck and Careless Rapture depicts an earthquake.
Criss Cross is a musical comedy in two acts and prologue, with book and lyrics by Otto Harbach and Anne Caldwell and music by Jerome Kern. Set in France and Algiers, the plot concerns a successful aviator, Christopher Cross (Fred Stone) who manages to help Captain Carleton save Dolly Day from the…
Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical, known during its Californian performances as Cruel Intentions: The Completely Unauthorized Musical Parody, and during its off-Broadway run as Cruel Intentions: The Musical, is a 2015 American jukebox musical based on the 1999 film Cruel Intentions, with a score…
Cry for Us All is a musical with a book by William Alfred and Albert Marre, lyrics by William Alfred and Phyllis Robinson, and music by Mitch Leigh. The show ran on Broadway for nine performances in 1970.
In Baltimore 1954, the first annual Anti-Polio Picnic and Vaccination Carnival is being overseen by Mrs. Vernon Williams, the president of Baltimore Women’s Club. Baldwin and the Whiffles lead a group called "The Squares" made up of well-behaved teens (“The Anti-Polio Picnic”). Their performance is interrupted by a rival group, "the Drapes", who enjoy terrorising the Squares (“Watch Your A**”). Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker arrives to receive his polio vaccine. Allison, Mrs. Williams' granddaughter is particularly taken by him which unnerves her (“I’m Infected”). Baldwin and the Whiffles perform (“Squeaky Clean”) at the Maidnenhead Country Club for Safety Awareness Day. Cry-Baby and his loyal trio interrupt and he invites Allison to the Jukebox Jamboree, though Mrs Williams forbades this. This deeply upsets Cry-Baby. (“Nobody Gets Me”). Allison questions being a Square and sets off the emergency alarm, sending the everyone into a panic. Amidst the chaos, she sneaks off with Cry-Baby (“Nobody Gets Me – Reprise”). At the Jamboree, Cry-Baby's friends are trying to deter a girl, Lenora, who's obsessed with him. They then give advice to Allison on how to be a bad girl (“A Whole Lot Worse”). Lenora then sings a ballad about her mental health and love of Cry-Baby (“Screw Loose”). Dupree, who's emceeing, introduces Cry-Baby and the Teardrops onto the stage (“Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby (Baby, Baby) Baby”). Afterwards, Allison and Cry-Baby drive to a spot in Turkey Point, where they grow closer (“Girl, Can I Kiss You with Tongue?”). He gifts Allison a gold-plated guitar-pick (“I’m Infected – Reprise”). However, their moment is interrupted by a sudden wildfire. Immediately blaming Cry-Baby, Baldwin has him and the Drapes arrested, where they are put on trial (“You Can’t Beat the System”). The Judge finds them guilty and they are sent off to jail. Lenora claims she is pregnant with Cry-Baby's child which shocks Allison and the courthouse, as he is taken away. At home, Allison longs for Cry-Baby (“Misery, Agony, Helplessness, Hopelessness, Heartache and Woe”). Baldwin informs her that the Whiffles will be performing at a newly built theme park to celebrate the Fourth of July, to which she hesitantly agrees to sing. Her grandmother finds her crying and comforts her (“Misery, Agony, Helplessness, Hopelessness, Heartache and Woe – Reprise”). At a jewellery store, Baldwin and Lenora bond over their dislike of each others respective love interests as they shop for wedding rings (“All in My Head”). Dupree, now imprisoned, works on the farm creating license plate presses (“Jailyard Jubilee”). Cry-Baby hears Baldwin and Allison get engaged over the radio and becomes enraged. Dupree attempts to calm him down but he starts a riot (“A Little Upset”). During the uproar, Cry-Baby escapes, heading straight for Allison. He turns up at her house and her Mrs. Williams helps him avoid the police. She overhears Baldwin admitting to the Whiffles that he framed Cry-Baby for the arson at Turkey Point (“I Did Something Wrong Once”). She settles on doing the right thing. At the Star-Spangled Funland, the Whiffles, with Allison, perform (“Thanks for the Nifty Country”). After exposing Baldwin's confession, the Judge, Mrs. Williams and a newly exonerated Cry-Baby arrive at the theme park. Judge Stone sentences Baldwin, the true culprit to hard time in prison. Still vying for Allison, Baldwin challenges Cry-Baby to a musical battle for her heart (“This Amazing Offer”). Cry-Baby wins (“Do That Again”). Lenora, not actually pregnant, arrives with his "baby", a teddy bear, and states that she now loves Baldwin instead. Mrs. Williams, now accepting of Cry-Baby and Allison's relationship, asks him to be a part of their family. (“Nothing Bad’s Ever Gonna Happen Again”).
A widow and a general feign affection while each plans to sell the other’s supposedly valuable china. Their prized objects turn out to be counterfeits made by the general, who explains he manufactured English china to oppose the fraudulent trade. The pair reconcile and decide to make china in Japan.
Curley McDimple is a musical with music and lyrics by Robert Dahdah and book by Robert Dahdah and Mary Boylan. The play is a spoof of Depression-era Shirley Temple movies and was presented in a black and white design. This was one of two musicals in which Bernadette Peters appeared that spoofed some aspect of Hollywood—the other was Dames at Sea. "The Meanest Man in Town" is its best-known song.
In 1959, a new musical called "Robbin' Hood!", a western version of Robin Hood, is in the midst of its preview performances at the Colonial Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. During the closing number of one of the performances, Madame Marian, played by faded film star diva Jessica Cranshaw, looks on as Rob Hood, played by Bobby Pepper, wins a sharp-shooting contest and proposes to Miss Nancy, a schoolmarm, played by Niki Harris. The cast then sings the finale of the show, during which it is clear that Jessica can neither sing, dance, nor act ("Wide Open Spaces"). She takes her bow and, after receiving two bouquets, collapses behind the curtain. Later that night, Carmen Bernstein, the show's hard-bitten co-producer, divorced songwriting team Aaron Fox and Georgia Hendricks, and the show's financial backer, Oscar Shapiro, read the reviews, most of which are terrible, especially the Boston Globe's, which is the review they needed to make it to Broadway. The group wonders how anyone could be so heartless to become a critic ("What Kind of Man?"). The show's flamboyant English director, Christopher Belling, arrives, and says that he had an epiphany about how to fix the show after walking into a church. Just then, stage manager Johnny Harmon tells Carmen that there is a phone call for her. Carmen suspects that it's her philandering husband, Sidney Bernstein, the show's theatrical promoter. Meanwhile, Aaron argues with Georgia about the reason she joined the show, as he believes that she only wanted to rekindle a romance with the show's leading man, Bobby. Belling asks Georgia to sing Madame Marian's opening number. Everyone is pessimistic, but she does so spectacularly, and it is clear that she is thinking about her failed marriage with Aaron. Aaron begins to sing with her, but Bobby cuts him off and they finish the number together ("Thinking of Him"). Belling then announces his plan: they are going to replace Jessica. Niki, the actress who plays Miss Nancy, steps forward and says she would feel terrible taking over, but Belling goes on to say that he is actually casting Georgia as Madame Marian. Bambi Bernét, the show's featured dancer, steps forward and says that Niki should get the role, but Belling sees right through her: Bambi is Niki's understudy, meaning if Niki got the lead, she'd get to play Miss Nancy. Georgia is cast, in spite of Aaron's disapproval. Carmen then enters and tells everyone that it was the hospital that had called and confirms that Jessica has died. The cast performs a brief ceremony, and it is clear that no one is sorry to see their leading lady die ("The Woman's Dead"). Lieutenant Frank Cioffi of the Boston Police Department then arrives to announce that he is there to investigate foul play in Jessica's death, as he reveals her death was caused by cyanide poisoning. Cioffi tells Belling to finish up his cast meeting before Cioffi begins questioning. The ensemble tries to leave, saying that they want to quit the show, but Carmen tries to convince them that the show must go on, though various members of the cast stand up to her, including Bambi, who is actually named Elaine and is in fact Carmen's daughter. Cioffi, an amateur performer himself, enthusiastically convinces them to do the show, and helps them realize how lucky they are to be actors and actresses ("Show People"). Thanks to the newfound energy and commitment, Carmen decides to treat everyone to a drink at the local bar. However, since Jessica was poisoned in the last ten minutes of the show and never left the stage thereafter, Cioffi believes that she must have been murdered by a member of the company, and he enforces a lockdown on the building and will not let anyone leave. Sidney, Carmen's husband, then arrives after flying in from New York, and Cioffi begins to suspect him, although Sidney claims to have been with a certain woman whose name he refuses to give. Cioffi is left alone with the winsome Niki, who is now the understudy for Georgia. The lieutenant is struck by Niki's charm and confides in her about his investigation and his lonely life, as he feels as if he's married to his job ("Coffee Shop Nights"). She seems to return his affection, so he hopes she is not the murderer. The next day, Georgia attempts to learn a dance from the show, but is failing miserably despite Bobby's constant belief in her. Daryl Grady, the critic who wrote the terrible review for the Boston Globe, arrives at the theatre. Cioffi asks him how he got inside and Daryl points out that, as a member of the press, he's exempt from the building's quarantine. It is revealed that Carmen and Sidney called him in to request a re-review the show with Georgia as the new lead, and Daryl agrees to re-review the show, the following night, to which they reluctantly agree. In his original review, Daryl only praised the choreography and Niki's performance. Niki tries to thank Daryl for his kind words about her, however he tells her that he does not associate with the artists he reviews, and leaves after having a brief argument with Cioffi about his previous review. Bobby, Belling, and Georgia enter, enraged with the fact that they have so little time to prepare for a review. Belling works to re-stage a difficult production number, featuring Niki, Georgia and Bambi ("In the Same Boat #1"). Cioffi suggests that the song needs to be rewritten, and he is left alone with Aaron, who shows Cioffi the process for composing a song. After he lets it slip that he misses Georgia, Aaron confesses that he still loves her and would like to reconcile ("I Miss the Music"). Georgia and the cast then hold a dress rehearsal of the big saloon hall number ("Thataway!"). Georgia pulls it off spectacularly and everyone finally believes they have a shot of putting on a great show. Cioffi and tells the cast that he has figured out that Sidney has been blackmailing every member of the show into working for him. Belling then interrupts and requests to re-work the ending pose of the song. While the curtain is closing, Sidney Bernstein is simultaneously rung up, with the curtain rope tied around his neck. Sasha, the conductor, turns to the audience to reveal that Sidney's hanging was fatal ("The Man is Dead"). A makeshift dormitory has been set up on the stage of the still-sequestered Colonial Theatre. Each member of the company grows more paranoid by the hour, and often suspects the others during various periods of the night ("He Did It"). Cioffi returns from the coroner's office and tells everyone that Sidney was knocked out before being tied to the rope, so everyone is still a suspect, but his focus is more on whether the show will be ready for its re-opening. Niki then finds a death threat for Sidney, stating he will die unless he closes the show. Oscar reveals Sidney died for nothing as he was going to comply, going so far as to giving back last checks he made out. Carmen takes them back, saying she is going to keep the show open. Aaron previews his new version of "In the Same Boat", now featuring Bobby, Randy, and Harv ("In the Same Boat #2"), though Cioffi is still unsatisfied with the product. Bambi asks that a pas de deux be added for herself and Bobby during the show's square dance number. Carmen agrees, but she insist that she is no stage mother, as her duty has always been to the box office ("It's a Business"). Daryl Grady then comes in and tells everyone that he's taking interviews from the cast in the Green Room. At the rehearsal of the re-staged square dance number, Bambi and Bobby are doing incredibly well, and everyone is impressed, however, towards the end of the number, Bobby is shot, and left wounded in the arm ("Kansasland"). Through use of angles, Cioffi is quick to figure out that Carmen was actually the target of the shot, not Bobby. Niki comes forward with the gun, and the company immediately jumps to the conclusion that she is guilty ("She Did It (Reprise)"). She says that she innocently found the gun backstage and hands it over, albeit after she accidentally pulls the trigger and almost kills Cioffi. Cioffi gathers Aaron, Georgia, and Bobby and tells them that Sidney had no blackmail material on them, and yet they were still content working for such low pay. Georgia then quotes a death threat which Cioffi had not read out loud, leading Cioffi to arrest her when Aaron attempts to takes the blame for her, reviving their romance ("Thinking of Him/I Miss the Music (Reprise)"). Cioffi reveals that it was all an act, and that Bobby had only been pretending to be Georgia's boyfriend so that she could stir something back up in Aaron. She leaves, and Bobby confesses that he does love Georgia, and that he would do anything for her, even commit murder. Niki laments how love makes people feel bad, but Cioffi begins flirting with her and reminisces about the first time he saw her on stage, leading them into an elaborate fantasy sequence, in which they daydream about being a couple in a musical ("A Tough Act to Follow"). He then confronts Niki about a coded memo in Sidney's blackmail book, as there was a black zero next to her name. Johnny tells Cioffi that he knows the secret, but refuses to tell Cioffi what it is. He is then shot while alone onstage. He tears out a page from his notebook reading "Drop in Planet Earth", and then bleeds out ("In the Same Boat #3"). Cioffi takes Niki and Belling up to the theatre's catwalk high above the stage. While searching for messages on the back of the drops, he announces that he's solved the mystery. Left alone, he is hit with a sandbag and is sent tumbling down. He narrowly escapes death by clutching onto a prop, which lowers him to safety. When on the ground, he exclaims that he has solved it... he finally knows how to stage "In the Same Boat". Putting together all three versions, the cast is able to sing an incredible, show stopping number ("In The Same Boat- Complete").
Curvy Widow is a 2016 musical comedy based on a true story with music and lyrics by Drew Brody and a book by Bobby Goldman.
Cyrano: The Musical is a musical with music by Ad van Dijk, an original book and lyrics (in Dutch) by Koen van Dijk. For the Broadway production, English lyrics were provided by Peter Reeves, with additional lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Produced by Joop van den Ende, the original Dutch production Cyrano de Musical premiered in 1992 at the Stadsschouwburg (City Theatre) in Amsterdam. It is based on Edmond Rostand's classic 1897 play of the same name focusing on a love triangle involving the large-nosed poetic Cyrano de Bergerac, his beautiful cousin Roxane, and his classically handsome but inarticulate friend Christian de Neuvillette who, unaware of Cyrano's unrequited passion for Roxane, imposes upon him to provide the romantic words he can use to woo her successfully in mid-17th century Paris. After 38 previews, the Broadway production, directed by Eddy Habbema, opened on November 21, 1993, at the Neil Simon Theatre, where it ran for 137 performances. The cast included Bill van Dijk as Cyrano, Anne Runolfsson as Roxane, and Paul Anthony Stewart as Christian, with James Barbour and Jeff Gardner in supporting roles. Timothy Nolen played Comte de Guiche and later took over the role of Cyrano. Robert Guillaume also took over the title role during the run. The production garnered Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Costume Design. In addition to the Netherlands and the United States, the musical has been produced in Belgium, Germany, and Japan. Despite the show's critical success, no Broadway recording was ever produced.
Act I Sunny lives on the islands with his Grandma Ella, who receives a letter from Sunny's mother Pearl in England, telling them that she wants him home. Young Sunny is hostile towards her at first, and begins to feel the music, bursting into song during church. Years later, Sunny is part of the Subsonics, a music crew led by Shake. At a recording session with Rasputin, they run into The Blades, another music crew, led by Benny Baker, Ma Baker's son. Later at a launch party for Asia Blue, Benny's girlfriend, Sunny and Rose meet. When Ma Baker finds out her daughter is seeing Sunny, she goes to visit him, and gives him a coat once owned by his father, Johnny Cool. Upon asking his mother about it, Pearl explains how Ma Baker was Johnny's dance partner—and took her away from her when she was pregnant with him. Act II After a music battle between the Subsonics and the Blades, Shake is shot by Benny, but when Sunny gets the opportunity to get payback, he does not take it, instantly being disowned by the Subsonics, and subsequently breaking up with Rose. Rasputin tells him to make it up with Rose, but he is arrested, accused of shooting Shake, as Benny and Ma have set him up. As the Notting Hill Carnival takes place, Shake, Rose, Asia, and Sunny appear. It is revealed that someone has given evidence against Benny over the shooting—Benny's best friend, Naz.
Note: While relatively retaining elements from Webster's book, some details have been changed, added, or removed (e.g.: In the book, Jerusha changes her name to Judy, whereas in the stage musical, she does not). The current synopsis reflects the current Off-Broadway production. In an orphanage called the John Grier Home, Jerusha Abbott calls the first Monday of every month a "perfectly awful day" due to orphanage's trustees' monthly visit and how she bears the load of the preparations. After the visit, Mrs. Lippett, the home's matron, calls for Jerusha in her office. On her way there, she glimpses one of the Trustee's long, spindly, and spidery shadow cast by the headlights of his awaiting car ("The Oldest Orphan in the John Grier Home"). Mrs. Lippett hands her a letter from the Trustee she just saw leaving the home. Impressed by her amusing satirical essays about life at the orphanage, he devised a nine-point plan for her further education. The Trustee will be sending her to a local college with all expenses paid, with the intention that she educate herself to become a writer. The only condition is that Jerusha must write to him reporting her progress and impressions of the college, and that he will remain anonymous, only to be addressed as "Mr. Smith". Her letters will never be answered, nor take the slightest attention to them ("Who Is This Man?"). Jerusha arrives at the college, and begins to pen her first letter. She complains regarding her benefactor's alias: "Why couldn't you have picked out a name with a little personality?" After musing over what she'll call her mysterious benefactor, she finally decides on "Daddy Long Legs" due to his tall figure and she imagining him to be old and gray ("Mr. Girl Hater"). In his study in Manhattan, young philanthropist Jervis Pendleton, Jerusha's benefactor, is amused and puzzled over her first letter ("She Thinks I'm Old"). Jerusha writes about her lessons from her freshman year classes ("Freshman Year Studies"), and describes her anxiety over trying to fit in with the other girls at her college due to her upbringing in an orphanage ("Like Other Girls"). She then writes about her embarrassment at her lack of education and her excitement about learning ("Things I Didn't Know"). During the Christmas vacation, Jerusha stays behind in the college to catch up on her reading, and sends her love to Daddy Long Legs in her loneliness. The shy and awkward Jervis finds her affection-filled letters disconcerting ("What Does She Mean By Love?"). Jerusha flunks two of her first exams and is mortified. She becomes ill and writes angrily to Daddy Long Legs, accusing him of not caring for her and simply supporting her merely out of charity. Moved by this, Jervis sends her a bouquet of flowers, and Jerusha is penitent ("I'm A Beast"). Enthralled by her letters, Jervis arranges to meet his young beneficiary, under the pretence that he is meeting his niece Julia, who happens to be Jerusha's least favorite friend ("When Shall We Meet?"). After meeting Jervis, Jerusha is immediately drawn to him: "He's a real human being, not a Pendleton after all... he looked at me as if he really knew me, almost better than I know myself." Despite this, Jerusha becomes more and more curious regarding her old and gray Daddy Long Legs ("The Color of Your Eyes"). The summer arrives, and Jerusha begs Daddy Long Legs not to send her back to the John Grier Home, as she has nowhere to go to. Jervis, adopting another guise as a "secretary" to Mr. Smith, sends her to Lock Willow Farm, where she explores her talent as a writer. Jerusha then proclaims that she finally knows what the secret of happiness is, and that is to live in the now ("The Secret of Happiness"). She also stumbles upon a connection between Jervis Pendleton and Lock Willow Farm, yet doesn't connect this information to her Daddy Long Legs. Jerusha expresses her longing to finally see her Daddy Long Legs, while Jervis becomes increasingly frustrated on whether he should reveal himself as her benefactor or not, realizing he is falling in love with her ("The Color of Your Eyes (Reprise)"). Upon returning to the college for her sophomore year, Jerusha continues her studies and her writing, as well as become socially involved with the family of her friend Sallie McBride ("Sophomore Year Studies"). Jervis, upon reading of Jerusha's attachment to Sallie's attractive brother Jimmy, realizes that he is already falling for her. He then invites Jerusha, Julia, and Sallie for a long cultural weekend ("My Manhattan"). The summer arrives again, and Jerusha asks for permission to spend her vacation at the McBrides' country home on the Adirondacks. Jervis, through his secretarial alias, insists that she spend the summer at Lock Willow Farm instead due to his fear of Jerusha falling in love with Jimmy. Feeling alone and trapped, Jerusha writes an angry letter in response to his domineering nature and finds it hard to forgive Mr. Smith ("I Couldn't Know Someone Less"). Jervis struggles to finally reveal himself to Jerusha as her Daddy Long Legs and subsequently confess his feelings. He thinks that Jerusha will never forgive him if he comes clean regarding his true identity ("The Man I'll Never Be"). Jervis visits Jerusha in Lock Willow, the farm where he grew up as a boy. The couple enjoy the countryside together and find themselves growing more and more attached to one another ("The Secret of Happiness (Reprise)"). Jerusha receives an invitation from Sallie to join her family at Camp McBride, and another from Jervis to meet him at Lock Willow. Despite Mr. Smith's warnings, Jerusha proceeds to Camp McBride due to some negative remarks she received from Jervis when he found out she turned down an invitation to Paris from Julia, to work as a teacher in French and algebra to support herself. Jervis then contemplates his controlling nature, both as Jervis and as Mr. Smith ("Humble Pie"). After four years, Jerusha completes her studies and invites Mr. Smith to her graduation ceremony to finally meet him. Jervis does attend the ceremony as Julia's guest, but does not reveal himself to the bitterly disappointed Jerusha ("Graduation Day"). Back in his Manhattan study, Jervis reflects on the concept of charity and its effects on both the benefactor and the beneficiary, and how Jerusha became a recurring character in his life ("Charity"). In Lock Willow, Jerusha writes to Mr. Smith that she will never think of him again after his no-show at her graduation ceremony ("I Have Torn You From My Heart"). After a few months, she writes that her first novel has been accepted by a publisher, and enclosed a check of $1000 as a first installment of her repayment of her college fees. She then tells him that she will continue to repay her debt to him, and all future royalties will proceed to the John Grier Home, making her a trustee and therefore, meeting him at last. Jervis is overwhelmed by this gesture and overjoyed at her success as a writer ("My Manhattan (Reprise)"). Jervis visits Jerusha in Lock Willow to ask her hand in marriage. Unable to tell him of her origins, she turns him down, thinking that he and his family might feel indifferent towards her when she does tell him. In her final letter, Jerusha declares her love for Jervis, and appeals for a personal meeting with Mr. Smith. Jervis, writing as Mr. Smith, agrees to meet her. Jerusha finally arrives at their meeting place, and is surprised to see Jervis, whom she initially and skeptically assumes to be Mr. Smith's secretary. Jervis finally reveals to her that he is Mr. Smith or Daddy Long Legs. Distressed over this revelation, as well as realising that he has read her private letters about him, Jerusha accuses him of playing with her feelings and the mere fact that he didn't even write back over the course of four years, which Jervis acquiesces to ("I'm A Beast (Reprise)"). At last, he declares his love for Jerusha, which she reciprocates. Jerusha finally understands the grand scheme of things that led her to where she is now ("All This Time").
In the early 1930s, a Broadway musical is in rehearsal. Mona Kent is its temperamental diva star, Joan a wise-cracking chorus girl, and Hennesy the producer/manager/director. The naive Ruby arrives from Utah, with "nothing but tap shoes in her suitcase and a prayer in her heart", determined to be a Broadway star. She promptly faints into the arms of Dick, a sailor and aspiring songwriter ("It's You"). Ruby gets a job in the chorus, but Hennesy informs the cast that the theater must be torn down, and they must find another place, which turns out to be a ship, for the show. Joan and Lucky, another sailor and her former boyfriend, renew their romance ("Choo-Choo Honeymoon") while Ruby admits her feelings for Dick ("The Sailor of My Dreams"). Dick and Lucky persuade their Captain to volunteer the use of their ship ("Dames at Sea"). Mona recognizes the Captain as a former boyfriend ("The Beguine"). When Mona kisses Dick, to persuade him to give her one of his songs, Ruby notices and becomes despondent ("Raining In My Heart"). Dick explains the misunderstanding and the couple make up ("There's Something About You"). While rehearsing on the actual ship, Mona becomes seasick ("The Echo Waltz"); Ruby steps in to save the show and becomes a star ("Star Tar"). The three couples decide to marry ("Let's Have A Simple Wedding"). John Wilson in The New York Times pointed out that the music is a mixture of parody, such as the torch song "That Mister Man", pastiche ("Raining in My Heart"), and the real thing. Wilson wrote that "The pastiche songs, built around phrases borrowed from or close to actual songs of the genre, usually project an appealing period flavor." The joke was that, while spoofing the large, lavish movie musicals, Dames at Sea did it with a cast of six, two pianos and percussion, and a tiny stage. In the 2015 Broadway production, director Randy Skinner noted that this was "the first time in New York that 'Dames at Sea' will be heard with an orchestra, and the show will have more dancing than ever before with all new dance and vocal arrangements by Rob Berman". This production opened with movie credits projected onto a screen, reproducing exactly the font used by Warner Bros. in the early 1930s. Skinner received a 2016 Tony Award nomination for his choreography.
Damn Yankees is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League Baseball.
Dance With Me is a musical written by Greg Antonacci. It opened on Broadway on January 23, 1975, and ran at the Mayfair Theatre for 396 performances. The musical was directed and choreographed by Joel Zwick. The musical is set in present day at a New York City subway station. It was first performed in 1971 as Dance Wi' Me.
Dance a Little Closer is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Charles Strouse. The story is an updated version of Robert E. Sherwood's 1936 antiwar comedy Idiot's Delight.
Dance of the Vampires is a musical adaptation of the 1967 Roman Polanski film (known as The Fearless Vampire Killers in the United States). Polanski also directed the musical’s original German-language production (titled Tanz der Vampire). The music was composed by Jim Steinman, orchestrated by Steve Margoshes, and Michael Kunze wrote the original German book and lyrics.
An unlikely Canadian racehorse becomes a champion. Northern Dancer’s journey to the Kentucky Derby unfolds through the people who care for him and a dancer who embodies the horse.
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