1634 shows
Clear filtersFreestyle Love Supreme is an improvisational hip-hop (also known as freestyle rap) comedy musical group started by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anthony Veneziale in 2004 and directed by Thomas Kail. In 2022, the group completed a Broadway musical run at the Booth Theatre.
A runaway bride interrupts an ordinary day at Central Perk and draws six friends into a rapid succession of romantic mishaps and comic misunderstandings. Original songs parody familiar characters and events from the television series’ ten seasons.
Fritz in Tammany Hall is a musical in three acts with music by Jean Schwartz, lyrics by William Jerome, and a book by John J. McNally. The musical takes place in 1905 in New York City and on Long Island. It was a political spoof of New York City politics of that period.
Fritzi, a stage-struck Parisian gamine who runs a band of boys who earn a living on the streets "finding" trinkets that belong to others. She is enamored of the famous actor and theatrical manager André Sorbier of La Boîte aux Joujoux ("The Toy Box"). With the theatre are Charles, the stage manager, and Paul DuPortal, the financier of the show. Sorbier and a law enforcement officer (the Gendarmie chief) track a missing pie to Fritzi and her boys. She poses as a baroness down on her luck and inveigles herself into an audition for the theatre piece that Sorbier is working on. At the theater are Desirée, a rival actress, and Paulette LeClair, the leading lady. Outwitting LeClair, Fritzi gets invited to a dinner at Sorbier's apartment. When things start to fall apart, she runs home fearing that her real identity will be discovered. However, Sorbier has fallen in love with her, locates her, and proposes marriage.
The musical follows three aspiring performers, Philly, Memphis, and Detroit - all new to New York and named after their Rhythm and Blues producing hometowns - as they try to make it big in show business, circa 1980. The three start out competing for the same job, but through individual and collective obstacles, eventually, decide to join forces to form a close-harmony singing group.
A Greek chorus introduces Princess Elsa of Arendelle, and her playful younger sister, Princess Anna ("Vuelie", "Let the Sun Shine On"). While the family knows about Elsa's magic, it is kept a secret from the people of Arendelle. One night at bedtime, Elsa and Anna build a magical snowman and name it Olaf ("A Little Bit of You"); Elsa creates snow in their room. In their excitement, Elsa accidentally injures Anna with her icy magic. Their parents, King Agnarr and Queen Iduna, call for the aid of the colony of hidden folk, led by Grand Pabbie ("Hidden Folk"). He heals Anna and removes her memories of Elsa's magic. Elsa asks Grand Pabbie to remove her magic, but he says that it is a part of her. He gives her a vision of her future, frightening Elsa, who believes that her magic will cause death. The King isolates the sisters within the castle. Elsa shuts Anna out when Anna seeks to play ("Do You Want to Build a Snowman?"), and Elsa's fear of her powers grows. While the princesses are still young, the Queen and King sail to seek a solution to help Elsa control her powers, and they die at sea during a storm. Years pass. The day before Elsa's coronation as Queen of Arendelle, Anna asks if there is anything she can do for her sister. Elsa, her room coated in ice, refuses to open her door out of fear of hurting Anna again. Anna is excited for the castle's gates to open ("For the First Time in Forever") and meets the handsome Prince Hans ("Hans of the Southern Isles"). Although the people rejoice at the prospect of a new monarch ("Queen Anointed"), Elsa is terrified that the kingdom's citizens might find out about her powers and fear her, while wishing to be able to reconnect with Anna ("Dangerous to Dream"). Elsa's coronation goes smoothly, and she initiates her first contact with Anna in years. They enjoy the coronation together, with Anna talking the Duke of Weselton out of dancing with the newly crowned Queen. However, Elsa leaves after Anna asks about keeping the gates open. Anna falls in love with Hans ("Love Is an Open Door"), who quickly proposes marriage to her, and the two share a kiss after she accepts. The couple asks for Elsa's blessing, who objects because the two have only known each other for a day. After intense questioning from Anna about shutting her out of her life, Elsa accidentally unleashes her powers before the court. The Duke brands her a monster. Elsa flees to the North Mountain without realizing that her suppressed magic has engulfed Arendelle in an eternal winter. Anna goes in search of Elsa, leaving Hans in charge of the kingdom during her absence. Up in the mountains, ice harvester Kristoff and his reindeer Sven ("Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People") are found by the ill-equipped Anna, still in her coronation dress. She orders Kristoff to take her to the North Mountain, the source of the storm. Kristoff gives her a set of winter clothes, and she leaves her dress behind. In view of her sudden engagement, Kristoff and Anna disagree about love as they cross a bridge ("What Do You Know About Love"), and Anna saves Kristoff from falling off the bridge. Anna and Kristoff then encounter a newly created Olaf, who offers to guide them to Elsa and sings about his love for summer ("In Summer"). A soldier arrives in Arendelle with Anna's dress, and Hans fears for Anna's safety. He assembles a search party ("Hans of the Southern Isles" (reprise)), including the Duke and two of his men, who intend to put her in her place. Meanwhile, on the North Mountain, Elsa builds an ice castle with her powers and transforms her coronation dress into a sparkly ice gown ("Let It Go"). Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf arrive at Wandering Oaken's Trading Post & Sauna to meet the owner, Oaken ("Hygge"). Anna enjoys the sauna together with its many other patrons. Kristoff convinces Oaken and his patrons to aid their journey; Oaken gives them provisions and a winter dress for Anna. Reaching the ice palace, Anna meets Elsa ("I Can't Lose You"), but when she reveals what has become of Arendelle, Elsa becomes angry and frustrated, saying that she cannot fix it, and she accidentally freezes Anna's heart. Out of fear of hurting Anna further, Elsa forces her, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf out of the palace. Anna's hair begins turning white, so Kristoff takes her to meet the hidden folk, his adoptive family, who recognize Anna as the princess and attempt to match her with Kristoff, despite him mentioning her betrothal to Hans ("Fixer Upper"). After Anna collapses, Grand Pabbie attempts to remove the magic freezing her heart but fails; Kristoff realizes that he is falling in love with her ("Kristoff Lullaby"). Grand Pabbie reveals that Anna will freeze solid unless "an act of true love" reverses the spell. Kristoff selflessly races Anna back home so Hans can give her true love's kiss. In the ice castle, Elsa considers whether she is a monster and wonders how can she end the storm, unsure whether the storm would end or grow worse if she were to die ("Monster"). She resolves to stay alive to end the storm and lowers the defenses around the castle, allowing Hans and his men to capture her. Home, Anna is delivered to Hans, but rather than kissing her, he reveals that he has been plotting to seize the throne of Arendelle by allowing Anna to freeze to death and accusing Elsa of her murder ("Hans of the Southern Isles" (reprise 2)). Hans locks Anna in a room to die, as Anna reflects on her mistakes while still holding on to the idea of love ("True Love"). Olaf frees Anna, and they venture into the blizzard outside to meet Kristoff, whom Olaf reveals is in love with her. Hans publicly charges Elsa with treason and sentences her to death. Elsa escapes her chains and flees outside as a blizzard grows ("Colder by the Minute"). Kristoff and Anna struggle to find each other. Hans confronts Elsa, claiming that she killed Anna, causing Elsa to break down and the storm to pause. Anna finally finds Kristoff but spots Hans about to kill Elsa; she leaps in the way and freezes solid, stopping Hans. Devastated, Elsa mourns her sister, who thaws out, her sacrifice constituting "an act of true love". Realizing that her magic is controlled by love, Elsa ends the winter ("Vuelie (Love Thaws)"). Anna punches Hans, and she and Kristoff become a couple, with Elsa's blessing. Elsa and Anna reunite without fear for the first time, as their parents, young Elsa and young Anna appear in the background, signaling the healing of the sisters' painful past (Finale).
As she works on her memoir in the present day, successful middle-aged cartoonist Alison Bechdel (Alison) recalls two time periods in her life. The first is her childhood, around age 10 (Small Alison), when she struggles against her father Bruce's obsessive demands and begins to identify her inchoate sexuality. The second is her first year in college (Medium Alison), when she begins her first relationship and comes out of the closet as a lesbian. Alison remembers herself, as a child, demanding that her father Bruce play "airplane" with her, while he sorts through a box of junk and valuables he has salvaged from a barn ("It All Comes Back"). Bruce tells the family that a visitor from the local historical society is coming to see their ornate Victorian home that he has restored, and his wife Helen prepares the house to Bruce's demanding aesthetic standard ("Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue"). In a phone call with her father and a journal entry, Medium Alison expresses her anxiety about starting college ("Not Too Bad"). At the Bechdel Funeral Home, Small Alison and her brothers John and Christian perform an imaginary advertisement for the funeral home ("Come to the Fun Home"). Medium Alison hesitates outside the door of the college's Gay Union, and is flummoxed when she meets Joan, a confident young lesbian. Bruce invites Roy, a young man whom he has hired to do yard work, into the house. Bruce begins to seduce Roy in the library while Helen is playing the piano upstairs, trying her best to ignore it ("Helen's Etude"). Medium Alison writes a letter to her parents about college life but does not mention Joan or her recent realization that she is a lesbian ("Thanks for the Care Package"). Bruce orders Small Alison to put on a dress, but she would rather wear jeans. Bruce tells her that the other children would laugh at her; she reluctantly obeys him ("Party Dress"). Medium Alison proudly tells Joan that she has written a letter to her parents telling them that she is a lesbian, but begins to second-guess herself until Joan kisses her. That night, she is delirious with joy after having had sex with Joan and finally discovering her sexuality ("Changing My Major"). Alison considers the connection between her coming out and her father's death. Small Alison has a homework assignment to draw a map of places her family has been to, but Bruce aggressively takes over, drawing it the way he thinks it should look. Alison realizes that despite having traveled widely, her father's place of birth, life, work and death can all be placed in a small circle in Beech Creek, Pennsylvania ("Maps"). Bruce offers a ride and a beer to an underage boy, and it is later implied that they had a sexual encounter. Medium Alison writes to her parents, asking for a response to her coming-out letter. Small Alison watches The Partridge Family, but Bruce angrily switches it off. Small Alison talks to him and finds out that he is going to see a psychiatrist, but he is ambiguous about the reason. Alison expresses annoyance that he lied to her; the reason he was going was because he was arrested for what he did to the underage boy. Helen attempts to reassure Small Alison that the psychiatrist will help her father, but she too refuses to elaborate. Bruce starts a vicious argument with Helen and breaks several of her possessions along with some library books. Small Alison fantasizes about her family as the happy family singing together on television ("Raincoat of Love"). Alison remembers a time when Bruce took her and her brothers on a trip to New York City. After a long day, Small Alison, Christian and John settle into sleeping bags. Small Alison wakes up and catches Bruce sneaking out. Bruce sings her a lullaby ("Pony Girl"). He reassures his daughter that he is just going out for a paper, but Alison realizes he was probably going cruising. Medium Alison is angered by a noncommittal letter from Bruce responding to her coming out. At a luncheonette with her father, Small Alison notices a butch delivery woman and feels an inexplicable kinship with her ("Ring of Keys"). Medium Alison calls home to demand a better response from her parents and is astonished when her mother reveals that her father has had sexual relationships with men and boys. Alison explores the tensions her family was under at this time and watches a heated argument between her parents. Medium Alison returns home for vacation with Joan. Helen confesses to Medium Alison her troubled and turbulent life with Bruce ("Days and Days"). Medium Alison, Joan and Bruce have an unexpectedly pleasant evening around the piano. Bruce asks Alison if she'd like to go for a drive, and (adult) Alison realizes that Medium Alison is gone; she joins her father in the car, breaking the boundaries of time. On the drive, she and Bruce struggle to express themselves to each other ("Telephone Wire"). Bruce, maniacally engaged in a new restoration project, tries and fails to find a way to hold his life together. He steps in front of a truck and is killed ("Edges of the World"). Alison, newly reconciled to her past, remembers and draws a moment of perfect balance: playing "airplane" with her father, while reminiscing about the past with the other Alisons ("Flying Away").
Setting: The house of Jimmy Reeve; the house of Peter Thurston; Lake Wapatog, New Jersey and Atlantic City, New Jersey Jimmy Reeve is the legal guardian of three pretty sisters, Dora, June and Frankie, whose prize belongings he keeps in his safe. June's pearl necklace is locked in there, and so is Frankie's diary, after having been confiscated by Jimmy. However, the diary contains very incriminating things, so Frankie convinces the aviator Peter Thurston to steal it from the safe. But somehow he manages to steal the pearls instead, setting off a merry chase that takes the cast to the Atlantic City pier. And to make matters even more complicated, two bumbling burglars, Herbert and Dugsie, also try to break into the safe and are swept along in the chase. At one point, they have a falling out, but Herbert is unable to shoot Dugsie as he has forgotten to get a shooting license.
The musical is set in and around New York City just before and following World War I. Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice, awaiting the return of her husband Nicky Arnstein from prison, reflects on their life together, and their story is told as a flashback. Act 1 Fanny is a stage-struck teen who gets her first job in vaudeville. Her mother and her mother’s friend Mrs. Strakosh try to dissuade her from show business because Fanny is not the typical beauty ("If a Girl Isn't Pretty"). But Fanny perseveres ("I'm the Greatest Star") and is helped and encouraged by Eddie Ryan, a dancer she meets in the vaudeville shows. Once Fanny's career takes off, Eddie and Mrs. Brice lament that once she's on Broadway she'll forget about them ("Who Taught Her Everything?"). Fanny performs a supposedly romantic number in the Follies, but she turns it into a classic comic routine, ending the number as a pregnant bride ("His Love Makes Me Beautiful"), causing an uproar. She meets the sophisticated and handsome Nick Arnstein, who accompanies Fanny to her mother's opening night party on "Henry Street". Fanny is clearly falling in love with Nick, while acknowledging their complex vulnerabilities ("People"). Later they meet in Baltimore and have a private dinner at a swanky restaurant and declare their feelings ("You Are Woman, I Am Man"). Fanny is determined to marry Nick, regardless of his gambling past ("Don't Rain on My Parade"). Act 2 The two marry, move to a mansion on Long Island, and have a daughter, Frances ("Sadie, Sadie"). In the meantime, Mrs. Strakosh and Eddie suggest to Mrs. Brice that she should find a man to marry, now that her daughter is supporting her ("Find Yourself a Man"). Fanny has become a major star with the Ziegfeld Follies ("Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat"). Nick asks Ziegfeld to invest in a gambling casino, but although Ziegfeld passes, Fanny insists on investing. When the venture fails and they lose their money, Fanny tries to make light of it, which propels Nick to get involved in a shady bond deal, resulting in his arrest for embezzlement. Fanny feels helpless but stronger than ever in her love for him ("The Music That Makes Me Dance"). In the present, Fanny is waiting for Nick to arrive and has time to reflect on her situation. Nick arrives, newly released from prison, and he and Fanny decide to separate. She is heartbroken, but resolves to pick up her life again ("Don't Rain on My Parade (Reprise)"). Act 1 In the present, Fanny Brice sits in her dressing room whilst preparing to star in the Ziegfeld Follies, awaiting news to hear if her husband, Nicky Arnstein, has been freed from prison and reminiscing on her earlier life ("Who Are You Now?") In the past, Fanny is a stage-struck teen, though her mother and her mother’s friends Mrs. Strakosh and Mrs. Meeker try to dissuade her from show business because Fanny is not the typical beauty ("If a Girl Isn't Pretty"). This is proved true when at her first vaudeville job as a chorus dancer, she is fired by the theater's owner, Tom Keeney. She confides to her friend Eddie Ryan, who got her the job, that she knows she will succeed ("I'm the Greatest Star"). Later, rehearsing with Eddie to re-audition for Keeney, Mrs. Brice echos Fanny's point ("I'm the Greatest Star (Reprise)") and Fanny revolves to audition again for Keeney. After "Eddie's Tap," Fanny nervously performs her first number "Cornet Man," though eventually, she wins over the audience and the attention of handsome gambler, Nicky Arnstein, who is able to wager Keeney a higher pay for Fanny and gives her his card. A year later, Fanny receives a telegram from Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. asking her to meet him at his theater, which Fanny proposes is connected to her interaction with Nick. At the theater, Fanny argues with Ziegfeld over his song choice for her but is forced to perform the song. However, she turns the supposedly romantic number, "His Love Makes Me Beautiful," into a comedy in which she portrays a pregnant bride. Backstage, Fanny's family and friends are thrilled but Ziegfeld reprimands her to which she apologizes, though he admits he found the act funny. Nick appears backstage, congratulating Fanny on her performance, and escorts her home ("I Wanna Be Seen With You Tonight") where her mother and close friends have thrown her a party, celebrating her success ("Henry Street"). Later in the evening, Fanny opens up to Nick about her desire to find love ("People"), and Nick admits that he would initiate a relationship between them, but acknowledges that he is leaving New York the next day. Sometime later, Fanny is touring with the follies and she and Nick both find themselves in Baltimore. Nick brings her to dinner at a fancy establishment, where she panics in response to his somewhat rapid advances, though she eventually gives in ("You Are Woman, I Am Man"). Later, the follies company is preparing to leave Cleveland and Fanny and Nick appear arm in arm. However, he tells her he will not be following the company, as he has to win back his money in Monte Carlo. He tells her he loves her but when she asks him to marry her, he insists that they cannot wed until he is rich again. In a last minute decision, she decides that she needs to follow him in pursuit of marriage, no matter what it means for her career ("Don't Rain on my Parade"). Act 2 Fanny surprises Nick in Monte Carlo ("Entr'acte"/"Don't Rain on my Parade (Reprise)"). He tells her that he has won back his wealth and the two are married and move to a mansion on Long Island, with Fanny soon revealing that she is pregnant ("Sadie, Sadie"). Back on Henry Street ("Sadie, Sadie (Playoff)"), Mrs. Brice and Eddie lament that Fanny no longer needs them ("Who Taught Her Everything She Knows?"). A few months later, as Fanny prepares to go back to rehearsals for a new show, Nick abruptly tells her that he is heading to Philadelphia to find investors for a casino he's building in Miami. Fanny reacts badly, nervous about leaving their daughter, Frances, for a whole day, though Nick promises that he will only be gone for a day, but in the end, she convinces him to stay and she is welcomed back to the theater ("You Are Woman (Reprise)"/"Henry Street (Reprise)"). Nick follows her to the theater and attempts to convince Ziegfeld to invest in his project, but Ziegfeld dismisses him. In response, Fanny decides to invest $68,000 of her money into Nick's project. Over the next few days, Nick travels to Florida and enters in a series of business deals with Fanny's money ("Temporary Arrangement"). On Fanny's opening night for her new show, she anxiously waits Nick's arrival, who is still traveling, telling Eddie that this would be the first opening night of hers he has missed. After her performance ("Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat"), Fanny's mother comforts her before Nick appears in her dressing room, revealing that a hurricane in Florida has destroyed the casino and lost them their money. She assures him that they will rebuild their success and that the most important thing to her is him ("Who Are You Now? (Reprise)"/"People (Reprise)"). The following year, Nick is involved in a business proposal to become a partner at a talent agency without putting up any money, though he sees through the act and realizes that Fanny has put up the money on their behalf. Nick reacts badly, insisting that he does not need her help to succeed and calls about a mob deal he was informed about, agreeing to join the deal in exchange for $68,000 ("You're a Funny Girl/Beekman Call"). Back at the follies, Fanny prepares a new routine ("What Do Happy People Do?"), but her mother arrives to inform her that Nick has been arrested for embezzlement. When Fanny insists that Nick couldn't have known the deal was faulty, her mother calls her out for making him feel unimportant in her life. Alone, Fanny reflects on how important he is to her ("The Music That Makes Me Dance"). Flashing back to the present, ("Dream Ballet"), three years after the arrest, Fanny and Eddie share one last tender moment as Nick appears in the doorway. She insists that she's willing to change to make their relationship better but he abruptly asks her for a divorce. She is taken aback but thanks him for making her feel "almost, sorta...beautiful." He assures her that she is beautiful, then leaves. Fanny somberly reflects on their marriage ("Funny Girl") but as she is called to the stage, she resolves to start again, stating "That's life in the theatre!" ("Don't Rain on my Parade (Reprise II)").
The plot turns on its head the plot of Gilbert's Pygmalion and Galatea, which involves a married sculptor who falls in love with his statue, Galatea. The following synopsis of Galatea, or Pygmalion Reversed was printed in The Era: The title will perhaps suggest that in this instance Galatea is the sculptor and Pygmalion the statue – the ideal man endowed with life and able to toddle, though a very earnest appeal to the "gods" perched up aloft in the gallery. The living statue is very angular in movement, and its face is not exactly handsome; but Pygmalion with his first breath becomes filled up with vanity. He exclaims with rapture, "How beautiful I am!" and given a hand-mirror he seems never tired of gazing upon his own loveliness, and of breaking forth into ecstatic song with, "Just look at that and look at this." Pygmalion is a classical masher. He "mashes" not only Galatea who made him, but Myrine and Daphne, who, bewitched by his manly beauty, give the "cold shoulder" to their respective and respectable husbands, Cyniscos, Leucippe and Chrysos, who, being thereby enraged, resolve not to mash, but to smash Pygmalion and to begin by chipping him. This treatment of course soon inclines Pygmalion to return to his old position, and then peace and happiness are restored.
When scientist Galileo Galilei makes discoveries about the universe, he must defend his work against the church.
Gantry is a musical with a book by Peter Bellwood, lyrics by Fred Tobias, and music by Stanley Lebowsky. Based on the 1927 novel Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis, it tells the story of a womanizing, self-righteous, self-proclaimed preacher who joins forces with a female evangelist to sell religion to small-town Americans. After 31 previews, the Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Onna White, opened on February 14, 1970 at the George Abbott Theatre, where it closed after one performance. The cast included Robert Shaw, Rita Moreno, Ted Thurston, and Beth Fowler.
In Syracuse, Mayor Nasoni hopes his son Sindulfo will marry wealthy Countess Carlotta so he can use her fortune to pay his debts. Carlotta loves nobleman Erminio, while innkeeper Benozzo uses the invented bandit Gasparone to cover his smuggling. With help from his wife, Benozzo stages pranks, a kidnapping, and a fake ransom to foil the mayor’s plan. The mayor and the countess’s duenna marry, as do Carlotta and Erminio; Benozzo receives money to repay his mortgage and end the smuggling.
Guy Holden, an American writer traveling in England, falls madly in love with a woman named Mimi, who disappears after their first encounter. To take his mind off his lost love, his friend Teddy Egbert, a British attorney, takes him to Brighton, where Egbert has arranged for a "paid co-respondent" to assist his client in obtaining a divorce from her boring, aging, geologist husband Robert. What Holden does not know is that the client is none other than Mimi, who in turn mistakes him — because he is too ashamed of his occupation to say what it is, namely pseudonymously writing cheap "bodice ripper" romance novels — for the paid co-respondent. At the end, when her husband appears, he is unconvinced by the faked adultery—but is then unwittingly revealed, by the waiter at the resort, to have been genuinely adulterous himself.
Set on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and on Long Island, Gay New York is a musical farce in which the New York tailor Herman Schultz splurges on a night out on the town to the chagrin of his wife Bertha. A comedy of errors, all sorts of misadventures occur; including a series of mistaken identities involving three men with nearly identical names: Walter Brook Jennings, the owner of a Swedish massage parlor; Supreme Court Justice W. B. Jennings; and Wilbur Jennings, the son of the judge. Schultz is accompanied on his adventures by the recent Vassar College graduate Dr. Marie Darcey; the messenger boy Swifty; the famous woman golfer Donna Dean; and the celebrated dancer Mlle. Florizell. When trouble arises, the policeman Officer Ketchim becomes involved.
Act 1 Gay Daventry, a producer and stage star, goes bankrupt when her new London operetta, similar to a Ruritanian Ivor Novello musical, is a disappointing failure. She agrees with the show's ingénue, Linda, to open a drama school with Linda's money at Gay's country house in Folkestone. She teaches her students that "vitality" is the secret to success. Meanwhile, two smugglers hope to use the school as a front for their illegal activities. Act 2 At the Town Hall, the end-of-term show is to be performed, and Gay must go on stage as a Greek dancer, because the dance teacher of the school has resigned. The school is failing financially, and Gay disguises herself as an auctioneer, to sell off the contents of her basement; and one of the items up for bid is a trunk that turns out to conceal the smugglers' goods. Finally Gay, Linda and her boyfriend return to the professional stage with their students in a hit show.
Gentleman Joe, The Hansom Cabbie is a farcical musical comedy with music by Walter Slaughter and a libretto by Basil Hood. The original production of the musical opened at the Prince of Wales's Theatre on 2 March 1895 and ran for a very successful 391 performances despite a poor notice in The Saturday Review by Bernard Shaw that dismissed the score: "The music, by Mr. Walter Slaughter, does not contain a single novel, or even passably fresh point, either in melody, harmony or orchestration." The show was written as a vehicle for the comedian Arthur Roberts. A short burlesque entitled A Trilby Triflet was introduced as part of Gentleman Joe a week after Looking for Trilby opened at the Haymarket Theatre. The Times newspaper praised Roberts for his imitation of Herbert Beerbohm Tree. The cast of Gentleman Joe also included Kitty Loftus as Emma and W. H. Denny as Pilkington Jones. A second company also presented the show in the British provinces beginning in 1895. There was soon a Newark, New Jersey production in late 1895 at Miner's Theatre and then the production transferred to the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City in January 1896. An American production of Gentleman Joe also played at the Bijou Theatre in early 1896 featuring Louis De Lange, James T. Powers, Clara Wieland, and Flora Irwin. Songs interpolated include "He Wanted Something to Play With" (sung by Powers) and "Honey does you love yer man?" sung by Flora Irwin in blackface. A few notices of the show indicate that new songs were interpolated with frequency. Gentleman Joe was Hood's first full-scale musical comedy, and its success prompted him to leave the military to concentrate on his writing. Hood and Slaughter went on to write several more comedies together, including The French Maid in 1896 and another successful vehicle for Roberts, Dandy Dan, the Lifeguardsman in 1897. Hood wrote several successful shows with other librettists, and his English versions of Viennese operettas, such as The Merry Widow, were very popular until World War I.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a musical with a book by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos, lyrics by Leo Robin, and music by Jule Styne, based on the best-selling 1925 novel of the same name by Loos. The story involves an American woman's voyage to Paris to perform in a nightclub. The musical opened on Broadway in 1949 (running for 740 performances and introducing Carol Channing), a London production was mounted in 1962, and there was a Broadway revival in 1995. It was made into a 1953 film of the same name, starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. The popular songs "Bye Bye Baby" and "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" were introduced in this musical. An adaptation called Lorelei (also starring Carol Channing) was performed on Broadway in 1974.
George M! is a Broadway musical based on the life of George M. Cohan, the biggest Broadway star of his day who was known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway." The book for the musical was written by Michael Stewart, John Pascal, and Francine Pascal. Music and lyrics were by George M. Cohan himself, with revisions for the musical by Cohan's daughter, Mary Cohan. The story covers the period from the late 1880s until 1937 and focuses on Cohan's life and show business career from his early days in vaudeville with his parents and sister to his later success as a Broadway singer, dancer, composer, lyricist, theatre director and producer. The show includes such Cohan hit songs as "Give My Regards To Broadway", "You're a Grand Old Flag", and "Yankee Doodle Dandy."
George M. Cohan Tonight! is a 2006 musical, conceived, written and arranged by Chip Deffaa, with music and lyrics by George M. Cohan, and additional material by Deffaa.
Georgy is a musical with a book by Tom Mankiewicz, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager (listed as 'Carole Bayer'), and music by George Fischoff. The story is based on the Margaret Forster novel Georgy Girl and the subsequent 1966 film adaptation,
Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical is a musical based on the life and music of Bob Marley written by Lee Hall.
Sam Wheat and his long-time girlfriend, Molly Jensen, move into a loft apartment in Brooklyn together ("Here Right Now"). Sam is a banker and Molly a sculptor. Their friend Carl Bruner, one of Sam's co-workers, comes to help them settle in. The three of them are a tight-knit group. Although Sam and Molly are very much in love, Sam shies away from the word "love", which makes Molly visibly uncomfortable. She starts to address it, but soon stops herself. Sam distracts her with a rendition of "Unchained Melody", leaving her insecurities temporarily forgotten. At work, Sam notices discrepancies with several accounts and is unwilling to let them go, even though he has a date with Molly that evening ("More"). He confides in Carl this discovery, who agrees to keep the findings a secret and also promises to investigate himself, so Sam can keep his date. Sam meets up with Molly, who confesses that she wants to marry him. Sam is taken aback and Molly asks why he never says that he loves her ("Three Little Words"); he assures Molly that while he may not say it in his words, he prefers to tell her in his actions. Molly tells him that she'd still like to hear it every now and again, but his reply reassures her nonetheless. After dinner, they're approached by an armed man that tries to steal Sam's wallet. Sam fights back instead of surrendering, and the two struggle for the gun. It goes off and Sam is fatally shot, leaving Molly to cry out for help. Sam dies. However, instead of following the light, Sam becomes a ghost and stays behind with Molly, invisible to her. He follows her to the hospital, and another ghost explains what he's become ("Ball of Wax"). A trapped Sam struggles to reach out to Molly ("I Can't Breathe"). Back at the apartment, Carl helps Molly clear out some of Sam's old things. She and Sam both struggle to let go of the lives they led. Later when Molly is alone upstairs, Sam's killer sneaks in and begins to rob her. Sam, worried that his killer will hurt her, manages to spook the man and he flees. Needing to know who this man is, Sam pushes himself through the front door with great effort, and follows the man all the way back to his apartment. He finds out that the man's name is Willie Lopez, and that he'll eventually return to Molly's apartment, as he couldn't find what he was looking for. Desperate, Sam then seeks out a psychic, Oda Mae Brown, who seems to be a total fraud ("Are You a Believer?"). By some miracle, she actually hears Sam. He convinces her to go talk to Molly on his behalf - by singing '10,000 Bottles of Beer on the Wall' obnoxiously. In the meantime, Molly is grieving ("With You"). She gets a visit from Oda Mae, but Molly is hesitant to believe her. Sam then had Oda Mae starts parroting things that only Sam would know. Molly comes around, and agrees to listen. Through Oda Mae, Sam tells Molly that he was set up and murdered, urging her that she needs to go to the police. Oda Mae bails as soon as she hears the stakes of the situation. Molly goes to Carl, who tells her that it's crazy, but promises to check it out. She goes to the police, while Carl goes straight to Willie's place. There, Sam discovers the truth: Carl has been embezzling money through the accounts Sam noticed the discrepancies in, and that Carl hired Willie to rob him, which led to his murder. As Molly swears to suspend all disbelief, a drunken Carl wanders the streets trying to convince himself Sam's murder was not his fault ("Suspend My Disbelief/I Had a Life"). At the police station, Molly discovers Oda Mae has an extensive criminal record. Shaken and believing the psychic is a fraud, she loses hope and leaves, much to Sam's dismay ("Rain/Hold On"). At their apartment, Molly, in her anger, sits down to do some pottery and turns on the radio. Static is heard and Molly changes the station, but as she turns the dial, "Unchained Melody" suddenly plays. In shock, Molly quickly turns off the radio, but after a moment, she turns it back on and slowly returns to her pottery. Sam, watching, approaches her from behind singing along. As she continues her pottery, Molly begins to get frustrated and starts to lean back as if she can feel Sam. But they are interrupted by, a knock on the door. It's Carl. Molly tells Carl that he was right, that the whole thing was crazy, and that she was just grasping at straws in her grief. He assures her that it's only natural, but she has to move on. He makes a poorly received move on her ("Life Turns on a Dime"). Enraged by this betrayal, Sam manages to break something, and a flustered Molly asks Carl to leave. With the help of another ghost on the subway, Sam learns how to move objects ("Focus"). He then returns to Oda Mae's place to enlist her help once more ("Talkin' Bout a Miracle"). Instead of resorting to fraud, Oda Mae finds true psychic ability and calls on other spirits. However, while Sam is there, Willie finds her. Oda Mae escapes, running for her life. Sam uses his newfound abilities to spook Willie and chase him away. Willie runs into traffic, where he is hit by a car and dies. But, unlike Sam, he is not offered a white light: He's dragged somewhere completely different. Sam begs Oda Mae to help him protect Molly and to stop Carl from getting to the money Molly, trying to get her life together and move on, starts selling her pieces at her gallery ("Nothing Stops Another Day"). She apologizes to Carl for pushing him away. Carl, anxiously awaiting a call, waves her off under the guise of having a busy day. At the bank, Oda Mae poses as "Rita Miller," the fictional owner of the account that Carl was extorting. Sam feeds her the correct information and they close the account. Sam goes to find Carl in his office and starts moving objects around the room to scare him. Carl understands this is Sam's spirit and he knows what really happened. Scared, Carl threatens that he'll kill Molly if he doesn't leave him alone and give him the money. After being handed a check for the amount in the closed account, around four million dollars, Oda Mae tries to take the money and leave the situation for good ("I'm Outta Here"). Sam convinces her to donate the money. The two then go see Molly to warn her about Carl. Still disillusioned, Molly tries to send her away. Sam walks through the door and communicates through Oda Mae the significance of the earrings Molly is wearing. After reading a letter for Sam that Molly has inside the apartment, Molly is able to believe again. She lets the psychic in and Oda Mae explains everything, leaving Molly emotionally distraught. Oda Mae lets Sam use her body to hold Molly and comfort her ("Unchained Melody (Dance)") Carl arrives, armed, desperate, and frightened for his life, as he owes dangerous drug dealers money. Though he doesn't want to resort to such measures, Carl grabs Molly and holds his gun to her. He tells Sam that if he doesn't tell him where the money is, he's going to kill her. There's a struggle, and Carl is killed. He's dragged away in the same way Willie was earlier. Now that Carl is gone and Molly is safe, the light returns for Sam. Molly is able to see and hear him. Knowing it's time for him to go, Sam says goodbye to Oda Mae, and regretfully turns to Molly. Sam finally tells Molly that he loves her in the way that she wants to hear and goes into the light ("Finale").
The story is told by four storytellers who portray multiple characters. It spans seven centuries and does not take place in any chronological order. The musical begins with the storytellers introducing themselves ("I Don't Know"). A Photographer enters a camera shop to buy a new camera, having broken her old one. The Camera Shop Owner shows her a fiddle that belonged to her great-grandmother, Rose, that was made from the breastbone of Rose's sister, Pearl, and tells the story of the two sisters. Rose falls in love with an Astronomer and writes him poetry about the stars. The Astronomer, the editor of a prestigious astronomy journal, steals her work and publishes it under his own name before leaving her for Pearl. Furious, Rose asks a Bear to maul the astronomer and turn Pearl into a crow. In return, the Bear asks for one pot of honey, one piece of stardust, one secret baptism, and a photo of a ghost. It is revealed that Rose performed the baptism in the sea on a baby she abducted from a teenage mother ("The Camera Shop"). Starchild, the baby that Rose abducted and baptized, reflects on being blessed by a stranger and the impact it had on her life ("Starchild"). On a subway station, a Victim is pushed onto the tracks ("Subway"). In 1873, the Usher family is at the side of their teenage daughter, Roxie. Roxie's child, Starchild, has been stolen from her. As a result, Roxie has fallen deathly ill ("Usher, Part 1"). A Soldier reflects on her yearning for death. Rose arrives and seduces the Soldier to take her honey. The Soldier promises not to haunt Rose when she becomes a ghost ("Soldier & Rose"). The four storytellers sing about ghosts ("Any Kind of Dead Person"). The Astronomer introduces his character ("The Astronomer"). In the House of Usher, Edgar Usher, Roxie's father, calls a meeting to discuss Roxie's imaginary friend, the revived memory of Roxie's sister who died as a baby. Roxie's parents urge her to forget about her imaginary friend, but Roxie refuses and screams at them ("Family Meeting"). The four storytellers sing a song that personifies four types of whiskey ("Four Friends"). Edgar Usher encourages his son, the Fool, to leave home. The Fool makes plans to do so and leaves, leading his own life in the world ("Fathers & Sons"). In the House of Usher, Roxie cries out for her lost daughter, but is told by her family that she is gone. As a result, Roxie dies. Lady Usher vows to lock the corpse in a vault underneath the bedroom for a fortnight ("Usher, Part 2"). In the Astronomer's treehouse, Rose recites poetry about the stars and the Astronomer writes down her words. Later, the Astronomer and Pearl profess their love for one another ("The Telescope"). Rose searches for Scheherazade, an ancient storyteller. Rose asks for a piece of stardust and Scheherazade gives it to her, telling Rose the story of her life ("Tango Dancer"). Long ago, when Dunyazad, the sister of Scheherazade, was still alive, Scheherazade tells the story of David, the piano player and the ghost of Thelonious Monk living behind a hidden door. It is revealed that Dunyazad remembers nothing but her sister ("Monk"). In the House of Usher, a young Roxie asks her mother to read her Arabian Nights ("Lights Out"). It is revealed that the Photographer lost her camera after taking a photo of the Victim in the subway instead of saving her, leading her to throw her camera on the ground in disgust ("The Photograph"). Scheherazade finishes a story and proceeds to talk with her husband, Shah Zaman. Rose discovers the relationship between the Astronomer and Pearl and vows to take revenge. Later, Rose brings the Bear one pot of honey, one piece of stardust, one secret baptism, and a photo of a ghost. The Bear reveals that he never intended to kill the Astronomer and turn Pearl into a crow and tells Rose to take revenge herself ("Bad Men"). In the House of Usher, Lady Usher has gone mad following Roxie's burial. Edgar Usher reads her the story of the subway station to calm her. While he reads, they start to hear noises coming from Roxie's burial vault. Before Edgar can finish the story, Roxie breaks out of the vault, having been accidentally buried alive. She attacks and kills Lady Usher. On the subway station, the Victim, now revealed to be Pearl, is distracted and is pushed onto the tracks. The Photographer, now revealed to be Rose, has to make a decision whether she should save the Victim or take a photo of the ghost to give to the Bear. Rose chooses to take the photo and the Victim is killed ("Usher, Part 3"). The four storytellers vow to forgive themselves for their mistakes ("Prayer"). Rose laments about her mistakes and understands that she is not a hero ("Hero"). Rose and the Camera Shop Owner talk. The Camera Shop Owner reveals that she is the reincarnation of Pearl, the Soldier, and Lady Usher and reveals to Rose who she is the reincarnation of. Rose leaves the camera shop with the phone number of the Subway Driver written on her arm. Rose and the Subway Driver dance and have two daughters together ("Midnight"). The four storytellers tell the story of how Rose took revenge on Pearl and how Pearl's breastbone was turned into a fiddle ("The Wind & Rain").
In Texas in 1922, Jordan "Bick" Benedict, a rich cattleman, marries Leslie, from Virginia. Bick is focused on working the family ranch, Reatta, but exhibits bigotry against Mexicans. This racism is seen in his older sister, Luz, who is against outsiders. Jett Rink is a handyman but discovers oil; he is infatuated with Leslie. A neighbor and Bick's reclusive uncle, Uncle Bawley, tells the tale of the legend of the coyote. Bick ends the relationship with a girlfriend, Vashti. As they age over the years, Leslie feels rejected by Bick and realizes that they do not really know each other. Leslie and Bick's son marries a Mexican woman as Leslie tries to help the downtrodden Mexican American workers and Bick comes to accept his son's choice.
Giant Killer Shark: The Musical is a musical composed by Canadian musician Sam Sutherland. At both the Toronto and Winnipeg Fringe Festival, Giant Killer Shark was named the Best of the Fest, being awarded a five star rating. The meta-musical is based on the 1975 movie Jaws.
Gigantic is a rock musical comedy written by Randy Blair, Timothy Michael Drucker, and Matthew roi Berger. It was originally performed as Fat Camp at the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival, directed by Alex Timbers, and produced by Carl Levin and Michael Minarik. The production was awarded the 2009 Best of Fest Award, in addition to other honors. In 2015, the musical opened Off-Broadway as Gigantic, produced by the Vineyard Theatre at the Acorn Theatre on Theatre Row. The production, which opened on December 3, 2015, starred Max Wilcox, Ryann Redmond, Jared Loftin, Larry Owens, Bonnie Milligan, Leslie Kritzer, and Burke Moses.
Honoré Lachaille explains that in turn-of-the-20th-century Paris, marriage is not the only option. His nephew Gaston is a rich bon vivant, much like his uncle. But Gaston is bored with the high life and his series of mistresses. The one thing he truly enjoys is spending time with an old friend of his uncle, Madame Alvarez, whom he calls Mamita, and especially her granddaughter, the precocious, carefree Gilberte or "Gigi". Gaston's Uncle Honoré was involved romantically with Mamita, although advancing age has confused their recollections of the past. Madame Alvarez sends Gigi to her Aunt Alicia's to learn to be a high-society courtesan in their family's tradition. Gigi is initially a very poor student, as she does not understand the reasons behind her education and finds Parisians' obsession with making love inexplicable. She does, however, enjoy spending time with Gaston, whom she treats as an older brother. Alicia is unhappy to discover that Gaston took Gigi and Madame Alvarez on holiday, as her sister had not consulted her. She insists that Gigi's education must increase dramatically if she is to catch a prize such as Gaston. Mamita is shocked, but sees the advantages it could bring Gigi and so goes along with the plan - though neither tells Gigi of their scheming. Gigi is miserable in her lessons, but puts up with them as a necessary evil, though she still seems awkward and bumbling to her perfectionist aunt. Gaston visits and is shocked to see Gigi in an alluring white gown. He tells her she looks ridiculous and storms out, but returns later and apologizes, offering to make it up by taking her to dinner. Mamita refuses, telling Gaston that, with his reputation, a young girl seen in his company might be labelled in such a way as could damage her future. Gaston is enraged again, storms out, and wanders the streets of Paris in a fury. Gaston realises that he has fallen in love with Gigi. He returns to Mamita and strikes a business arrangement to take Gigi as his mistress, promising to provide the girl with luxury and kindness. He visits Gigi later, but she tells him she does not wish to become someone's mistress; she wants more for herself than to be passed between men, only desired until they grow tired of her and she is moved on to another. Gaston is horrified at this portrayal of the life he wishes to give her, and leaves stunned. Later, however, Gigi contacts him; when Gaston returns, Gigi says she would "rather be miserable with [him] than without [him]." Later that night Gigi emerges from her room prepared to accept her fate and take up her role as Gaston's mistress. For the first time, she appears as a woman, not a young girl. Gaston is enchanted when he picks Gigi up to take her to dinner at Maxim's, a popular Paris restaurant. Gigi's awkwardness is gone and she seems perfectly at ease. Nevertheless, patrons' stares make Gaston uncomfortable as he realises Gigi's interpretation of things may have been accurate after all. He discovers that his love for her makes the idea of her as his mistress an unbearable one. Angered by Honoré's comments, Gaston leaves the party with Gigi in tow, taking her home without explanation. A weeping Gigi begs to know what she has done to offend him, but Gaston does not answer until he arrives at Mamita's and humbly asks for Gigi's hand in marriage.
Girl Crazy is a 1930 musical by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and John McGowan. Co-leads Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman made their stage debuts in the first production and Rogers became an overnight star. Rich in song, it follows the story of spoiled rich boy Danny Churchill, who has been sent to fictional Custerville, Arizona, to manage his family's ranch. His father wants him there to focus on matters more serious than alcohol and women but Danny turns the place into a dude ranch, importing showgirls from Broadway and hiring Kate Forthergill (Merman's role) as entertainer. Visitors come from both coasts and Danny falls in love with the local postmistress, Molly Gray (Rogers' role). Three subsequent film adaptations adjusted the plot. The most notable, Girl Crazy (1943 film), starred Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, with the latter playing a combined Kate and Molly.
The setting is on the shores of Lake Superior in Duluth, in the winter of 1934 and America is in the grip of the Great Depression. The story is narrated by Dr. Walker, physician to the Laine family. Nick Laine is the proprietor of a rundown guesthouse. The bank is threatening to foreclose on the property and he is desperate to find a way to save his family from homelessness. His wife, Elizabeth, is suffering from a form of dementia which propels her from catatonic detachment to childlike, uninhibited outbursts which are becoming difficult to manage. Their children are Gene, who is in his early twenties, and their adopted daughter, Marianne, who is nineteen. Marianne is five months pregnant and the identity of the father is a mystery she guards carefully. Nick is trying to arrange a marriage between Marianne and a local shoe mender, Mr. Perry, in order to secure her future. The social awkwardness is complicated by the fact that Marianne is a black girl living with a white family. She was abandoned in the guesthouse as a baby and brought up by Nick and Elizabeth. Gene is unable to get a grip on his life, and veers between ambitions of becoming a writer and debilitating alcohol binges, a situation not helped when his sweetheart, Kate, announces she is marrying a man with better prospects. Nick has become involved in a relationship with a resident of the guest house, Mrs. Neilsen, a widow who is waiting for her late husband's will to clear probate. They dream of a better future when her money comes through, although she scolds Nick for his constant pessimism. Also staying at the house are a family, the Burkes. Mr. Burke lost his business in the crash. His wife, Laura, and his son, Elias, share a room upstairs. Elias has a learning disability and the family struggle to come to terms with their reduced state. Late at night, during a storm, a self-styled clergyman Bible salesman, Marlowe, and a down-on-his-luck boxer, Joe Scott, arrive looking for shelter. The arrival of these characters is a catalyst, changing everything for everyone in the house.
Girl, Interrupted is a 2026 musical based on the 1993 memoir Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, about Kaysen's experience in a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s. It was directed by Jo Bonney and written by Martyna Majok, with songs by Aimee Mann. After production was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mann released the songs as the 2021 album Queens of the Summer Hotel. Girl, Interrupted began previews in New York City on May 13, 2026, before opening on June 4, staged by the Public Theater.
Five longtime friends spend a night at a karaoke bar, sharing memories and reflecting on their relationships and lives.
A young inventor, Anthony Allen, has created a working television but has not had much success in promoting it. The head of a radio broadcasting company fears competition and pays Allen to suppress his invention. Allen takes a luxury cruise to the "Ruritanian" kingdom of Krasnia in Central Europe. There he sees an operetta, Glamorous Nights, starring the gypsy princess Militza Hajos, the prima-donna of the state opera. He meets the star and learns that she is betrothed to the King of Krasnia. Allen saves her from an assassin and, after she flees the country aboard his cruise ship, he rescues her from a shipwreck caused by another assassination plot. They soon fall in love. Meanwhile, the gypsies side with the King to overcome a revolution and also promote the reunion of Militza and King Stefan. Brokenhearted, Anthony gives her up, for the good of the kingdom. The king finances Anthony's invention. Back in England, Allen watches the king's wedding to Militza on his television.
Four high school friends meet one night, a year after graduation, on the high school football field's bleachers. Will introduces the background of the four friends ("My Three Best Friends"). Will has invited the three of his friends, Andy (Will's college roommate), Skip (who went to an Ivy league school), and Jack (similarly separated from Will, Andy, and Skip, though where is not specified) to meet with him. As the friends arrive ("Are You Ready For Tonight?"), Will begins to catch up with his friends and in the process gets caught up in a traditional match of male-bonding/one-upsmanship with Andy over their College sexual exploits ("We've Got Girls"). Will also mentions the purpose of the midnight meeting: to play a prank on the friends' high school rivals/oppressors/classmates, and though all four are not right off the bat on board for the prank Will manages to convince them ("Right Here"). The first plot twist arrives when Jack reveals that he is gay ("Open Road"), after which Andy privately airs his misgivings and his feelings of betrayal to Will ("Things Are Different"), whereat Will convinces Andy to stay despite how uncomfortable Andy is being around Jack. Skip proceeds to expound on his recent intuitions about life and the generation to which the four friends belong ("Generation Apathy"). After hearing about how his friends have changed, Will sits back and reflects on the difference between the reality of the get together and what he assumed it would be like ("After All"). After reading Will's Journal, the four friends compare notes about high school and recount the "glory days" of the past ("The Good Old Glory Type Days"). Jack then takes Will aside to ask him about what he thinks about Jack's revelation, and asks Will what Will thinks Andy thinks, where Will betrays Andy's confidence and half-lies to Jack to cushion the blow of Andy's misgivings, going on to "explain" Andy to Jack ("The Thing About Andy"). Further complications arise in the direct aftermath of Will and Jack's conference when Jack expresses some feelings for Will whereupon he and Will are caught by Andy and Skip. An altercation brews when Andy interprets this as a further betrayal and explodes at Will, who is then defended by Jack (who unintentionally validates Andy's assumption). The argument grows more heated and more confusing as Skip leaps to Jack's defense and Will attempts to make peace between the four friends ("Forget About It"). During the argument Andy throws an angry epithet at Will, and Jack and Andy then vent their mutual feelings of betrayal and anger at a new level of emotional violence ("Other Human Beings") after which Jack departs. Skip then turns on Andy, who vents his ire, exposes the lies Will had told, and demands his due from the two remaining friends ("My Turn"), after which Andy storms off. Learning what truly happened from Will, Skip then talks Will into accepting his mistakes ("Boys"), and Skip leaves Will alone on the field. Will reexamines his life and decides to stop living in the past and move forward like his friends have ("My Next Story").
Go-Bang is an English musical comedy with words by Adrian Ross and music by F. Osmond Carr. The piece was produced by Fred Harris and opened at the Trafalgar Square Theatre on 10 March 1894. It ran for 159 performances. The show starred Harry Grattan, George Grossmith, Jr., Arthur Playfair, Jessie Bond, and dancer Letty Lind. The American child prodigy "Baby Costello" danced in the interval between acts. Whereas Ross generally acted as lyricist only, in this case he created the book as well as the lyrics.
Godspell is a musical in two acts with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hymns, with the passion of Christ appearing briefly near the end. An earlier version was staged at Carnegie Mellon University in 1970; the version with Stephen Schwartz’s score opened in 1971.
Going Up is a musical comedy in three acts with music by Louis Hirsch and book and lyrics by Otto Harbach and James Montgomery. Set in the US city of Lenox, Massachusetts, at the end of World War I, the musical tells the story of a writer turned aviator who wins the hand of the high society girl that he loves by his daring handling of the joystick of a biplane. Popular songs included "Hip Hooray", "If You Look in Her Eyes", "Kiss Me", "Going Up", "Do It for Me", "The Tickle Toe", and "Down! Up! Left! Right!". The musical was a hit on Broadway in 1917 and again the following year in London. Revivals and a film adaptation followed.
Golden Boy is a musical in two acts with a book by Clifford Odets and William Gibson, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse. Based on the 1937 play of the same name by Odets, it focuses on Joe Wellington, a young man from Harlem who, despite his family's objections, turns to prizefighting as a means of escaping his ghetto roots and finding fame and fortune. He crosses paths with Mephistopheles-like promoter Eddie Satin and eventually betrays his manager Tom Moody when he becomes romantically involved with Moody's girlfriend Lorna Moon. The musical premiered in 1964.
Act I All of the action takes place in a small mountain cabin (and speakeasy of sorts) belonging to J.M. McFarland, a moonshiner. Among the other residents living Way Out Back And Beyond in this remote mountain community are J.M.'s daughter Maggie, the local miller Hazel Grubbs, and a somewhat well-off farmer, Luther Coffey, who is engaged to marry Maggie. Late one night, Luther stops by to pay a call on Maggie, reporting that on his way he heard a strange fellow groaning in a ditch nearby. When J.M. returns with some of his fellow moonshiners, Maggie complains about being left all alone at night (with strange fellows groaning in ditches nearby) ever since they lost their hired man. J.M. counters that Luther ought to be looking after Maggie now, but the cowardly Luther seems utterly unwilling. This argument is interrupted by the arrival of a stranger, Clayton Monroe. The tired, dirty, and scared-looking young man says that he's a fugitive from the law, though he can't remember the word for what he's done. Fascinated, the locals interrogate Clay and try to guess his crime. (The Right Man For The Job) Eventually, Clay confesses that he killed his father... with a shovel, no less! ("Patricide"... that's the word!) All of the locals are very impressed by this story, and J.M. offers Clay a job as the new hired man, looking after his cabin and his daughter. Maggie's fiancé Luther is uneasy with this arrangement, but Maggie chases him off. Left alone together, Clay tells Maggie his story in greater detail: his tyrant father was trying to force him to marry a wealthy widow woman, but for the first time in his life, Clay stood up to his father and swore he'd be Never Afeard Again. Maggie becomes all the more fascinated by Clay and this mixture of vulnerability, bravery, honesty and ferocity she sees in him. At the climax of Clay's story about his newfound bravery, a sudden knock at the door scares him out of his wits. It's the Widow Hazel, who says she's come to take Clay to lodge at her Little Log Cabin. It isn't fitting, Hazel says, for a murderer to be keeping company with a young woman. The Widow claims that she murdered her own husband, therefore she's a more suitable companion for Clay. A fierce battle ensues between the two women, with Clay eventually deciding the contest in favor of Maggie. The next morning, while Maggie is out doing chores, a group of local women come by the cabin. They've heard rumors that there's A Wanted Man thereabouts, and they're all eager to meet him. Clay, beginning to enjoy his newfound celebrity, tells his story again, and it grows with the telling. (Twice-Told Tale) Maggie returns and discovers Clay in the midst of his fawning admirers. Angrily she chases the women off and scolds Clay, warning him that he'd best not be boasting of his crime: it'll get back to a lawman, and he'll be hanged for it. Clay is stung by this and says he'd better be going, but Maggie stops him and confesses that she doesn't really want him to go. Clay leaves to do his chores, and Maggie ponders her growing feelings for him, wondering whether he might be the Golden Boy for whom she's waited so long. J.M. enters in a panic, with Clay: a lawman has been seen snooping around the area, and J.M. is worried about his moonshining operations. He tells Clay to guard the cabin while he goes to defend the still. Hazel and Luther come by and warn Maggie that one of her cows has gotten loose; Maggie exits to pursue it. Luther tries to bribe Clay into leaving, offering him a First-Class Ticket on the next train out of town, along with various articles of his clothing. Clay exits to try on his new clothes, but shows no intention of leaving. Luther is in despair, convinced that Maggie is going to drop him and marry Clay instead. Widow Hazel offers to help him—for a price. Luther gladly agrees to her terms and goes on his way. Clay returns in his new finery, and Hazel admires him. Suddenly, Clay spots the lawman approaching the cabin and hides. The lawman enters and Hazel tells him that he won't find any moonshine around these parts. But this, it seems, is not what the lawman is after. Instead, he's looking for a young man who split his father's head with a shovel. As the lawman tells the story of the son's treachery, he becomes more and more agitated, until at last he pulls off his hat to reveal a bloody head wound. This is Clay's father, Leroy, and he vows that this business with his son is Nowhere Near To Done. Act II Hazel is delighted by these new developments, and wastes no time turning them to her advantage. She gets rid of Leroy, telling him that she saw his son headed a certain way—a way that it so happens will take him right to J.M.'s fiercely guarded still. Clay emerges from hiding in despair: he'll surely lose Maggie now. Just as she did with Luther, Hazel promises to help Clay reunite with Maggie—for a price. Now, whoever wins out, she stands to gain: it's all Grist For The Mill. That evening, there is a hootenanny in celebration of Luther's impending nuptials, to be held in the backroom of J.M.'s cabin. All are anxiously anticipating what will unfold on that occasion. (A Wanted Man reprise). Not long after the shindig has gotten underway, Leroy returns to complain about Hazel's directions. He has acquired another bloody wound, this time from J.M.'s shotgun, after Hazel sent him towards the moonshine still. Leroy hears music from the backroom and looks in on the hoedown. There he sees Clay dancing with Maggie and goes into a frenzy, shouting "I'll kill him!" But Hazel, with the help of a couple of local boys, is able to subdue Leroy, ply him with moonshine, and convince the vengeful father that That Ain't Him. Once more, she sends Leroy on his way, this time to live as a hermit, as she has convinced him that he's clearly lost his wits. Maggie and Clay duck out of the dancing for a breather and a bit of canoodling. Their attraction has blossomed into love and they confess their feelings. (More To Me) Clay asks Maggie to marry him instead of Luther, and Maggie happily agrees. J.M and Luther find the lovers together, and Maggie announces her new intentions to them. J.M. protests at the idea of having a murderer for a son-in-law, saying that Inlaws and Outlaws don't mix. Luther tries in vain to persuade Maggie from her decision, and appeals to J.M., reminding him of all the livestock he'd be getting into the bargain. But in the end, J.M. decides that accepting Clay is the wiser and safer course. Leroy returns yet again. He sees Clay, and this time there can be no mistaking it: that's his son. All hell breaks loose—pandemonium ensues, with everyone at Sixes And Sevens. Eventually, J.M. gets his shotgun and calls a halt to the madness. J.M. believes that he has caught the revenuer who was looking for his still, but the truth about who Leroy is soon comes out. Maggie is shocked to learn of Clay's deception, but Clay is determined to prove himself to her. He tells his father that it's time they finish this once and for all, and the two of them step outside. The locals crowd eagerly at the windows, as sounds of a furious battle are heard, climaxing in a sickening crunch and a splatter of blood on the windows. Clay returns, grimly. Having now witnessed a murder first-hand, the locals begin to turn on Clay and start to talk of lynching. Clay faces Maggie and tells her that he's not sorry for what he's done. He may have been a liar and a coward before, but now he truly has changed. He implores her to come with him and they'll find a new life together somewhere. (West of Where I Been) Maggie considers, and then sadly slips a rope over Clay as the lynch mob tries to drag him out of the cabin. It is at this point that the indestructible Leroy comes crawling in the door one last time. He's not dead, and he's actually proud of his son now. He tells the stunned locals that nobody's gonna hang his boy; he's coming home a hero. But Clay rejects this. He's not going with his father, and he's not staying with Maggie. He'll go his own way from now on. Clay leaves, and Maggie realizes that she has lost her one true golden boy of the Blue Ridge. (Finale)
Golden Rainbow is a musical in two acts with music and lyrics by Walter Marks and a book by Ernest Kinoy. The musical was based on the film adaptation (by screenwriter Arnold Schulman) of the play A Hole in the Head. It opened on Broadway in 1968.
Goldilocks is a musical with a book by Jean and Walter Kerr, music by Leroy Anderson, and lyrics by the Kerrs and Joan Ford.
Gone Missing is a 2003 musical by The Civilians, an investigative theater company in New York City. This piece of musical theatre is composed of interviews conducted by the company on the subject of loss. The play engages with individuals who have lost everything from jewelry to technology to a black Gucci pump, investigating both how things get lost, and how the impact of that loss can extend far beyond the meaning of the object itself. Gone Missing was written and directed by Steve Cosson from interviews by the company, with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, with additional text for “Interview with Dr. Palinurus” by Peter Morris. Gone Missing made its Canadian premiere on May 12, 2011 by Southpointe Academy in British Columbia.
Gone with the Wind is a musical written by Margaret Martin. It was adapted by Trevor Nunn from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name and its 1939 film adaptation. The production began previews on 5 April 2008 and officially opened at the New London Theatre in London's West End on 22 April 2008. The production was directed by Nunn and featured sets by John Napier and costumes by Andreane Neofitu. Darius Danesh and Jill Paice starred as Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara respectively. The show was produced by Aldo Scrofani, Colin Ingram, Gary McAvay and the Nederlander Producing Company. The production closed on 14 June 2008, after 79 performances.
Act I World War I is over, the Roaring Twenties have arrived, and college campuses, such as fictional Tait College, are as much a social scene as an academic one ("Opening Chorus"). Football star Tom Marlowe neglects his studies and fails his astronomy class, which he had to pass to play in the big game. Charles Kenyon, his astronomy professor, gives Tom one more chance to pass the exam. Babe O'Day, a vivacious flapper, announces that she has broken up with Beef Saunders, a brawny and possessive football player. Babe wants a new boyfriend who does not care about old-fashioned rules of propriety ("Flaming Youth"). Tom asks his girlfriend Patricia to help him study for the test, but she is busy with sorority plans, so she recommends that he work with her studious cousin, Connie Lane. The boys marvel that Tom is remaining cheerful despite his circumstances, and Tom explains that college is the time for "Happy Days". Connie has a crush on Tom, but she says that she will "Just Imagine" that he is in love with her. Babe informs Bobby Randall, substitute player on the football team and Tom's roommate, that he is now her boyfriend. Connie and Tom meet to study and are initially uncomfortable working together, but soon they find they have a lot in common and similar philosophies of life ("The Best Things In Life Are Free"). Friday morning, Tom and Bobby wake up in their dormitory, and Tom leaves to meet Connie to study. A door-slamming farce follows during which Babe, Beef, Kearney (the football team's trainer), and Sylvester, a freshman who idolizes Tom, all end up in Tom and Bobby's dorm room, and Bobby must keep the men from finding out that Babe is there. Couples walk together "On the Campus". Flo, an outspoken, energetic girl, leads the students in dancing the "Varsity Drag". Bobby tries to tell Babe he loves her but says he is too nervous to say it ("Baby! What?"). Tom takes his exam, but he later admits to Connie that during the test, he could not focus on astronomy; he was thinking about her. Tom declares that with Connie, he is "Lucky in Love". Professor Kenyon grades Tom's test and knows that Tom deserves a failing grade, but because Kenyon is an alumnus of Tait and a loyal football fan, he keeps that secret and instead gives Tom the lowest passing grade so he can play in the big game. At the pep rally that evening, the students sing the "Tait Song" as the school band plays. Bobby announces that if Tom wins the game tomorrow, Patricia has promised to marry him. During a chorus of "Lucky in Love", Connie faints and falls into Tom's arms ("Finaletto"). Act II On Saturday, Patricia's sorority, Pi Beta Phi, is hosting a luncheon ("The Girl of the Pi Beta Phi"). The girls are excited about the football game ("Today's the Day"). Babe asks Bobby, who has been flirting with other girls, why he will not commit to her, and Bobby, who has sat on the bench all season and does not expect to play in the big game at all, tells her if he wins the game, he will marry her ("In the Meantime"). Connie confronts Tom and tears up her ticket to the game because she does not want to watch him win for Patricia, and Tom tells her he would rather lose the game. Flo says that she knows Tait is going to win and "Good News" must be on its way. Outside the entrance to the football field, Connie meets Professor Kenyon, who is on his way to the game. Professor Kenyon tells her the truth: Tom did not deserve to pass the test, but to help the football team, he gave Tom the passing grade. Babe explains to Connie that Tom did not betray her—a long time ago, after a wild party involving homemade gin, Tom wrote a letter proposing to Patricia, and Patricia has kept the letter and is holding him to it. At the end of the first half of the game, the score is 3–0 against Tait. Coach Johnson decides to let Bobby play in the second half. When the second half is almost over, Tom gets the ball and runs for a touchdown, but he is tackled by the opposing team. He fumbles the ball, and it flies in the air and improbably lands in Bobby's arms, and Bobby scores the winning touchdown. The students leave the game celebrating the victory ("Good News" (reprise)). Tom tells Connie, who watched the game through a knothole in the fence surrounding the stadium, that he fumbled because he knew he could not win the game for Patricia. He worries that his chances of being named for the All-American team are gone, but Connie helps him remember that "The Best Things in Life Are Free" (reprise). He asks Connie if she would marry him if he did not have to marry Patricia, and she says she would. That evening, a dance is held at the boathouse ("Varsity Drag" (reprise)). Babe tells Bobby that since neither of them expected for him to win the game, he does not have to marry her. Bobby says he wants to marry Babe; everyone else thinks he is a football hero, but she knows who he really is. Patricia, not wanting to marry a man who is not really in love with her, tells Tom that he can marry Connie instead. The news spreads that Tom has been named to the All-American team. Tom and Connie meet Professor Kenyon, whom Tom resents for failing him the first time. Connie explains to Tom that Professor Kenyon passed him even though he did not deserve it. Tom realizes he has misjudged Kenyon and shakes his hand. After a final chorus of "Good News", Tom and Connie embrace. Act I Tait College is still caught up in the social scene of the Roaring Twenties, and star football player Tom Marlowe is expected to lead the football team to victory ("Good News"). All the sorority girls are crazy about Tom ("He's a Ladies' Man"), but he is off limits since he is currently romancing Patricia Bingham, whose father is of one of the college's wealthiest benefactors. The football team, under the guidance of superstitious team trainer Pooch Kearney, is on the practice field getting ready for Saturday's Big Game against archrival Colton College ("The Football Drill"). Meanwhile, Bobby Randall, a substitute on the football team, is pleasantly shocked when Babe O'Day, a stylish flapper, pursues him. Babe has broken up with hulking Beef Saunders, her old boyfriend, and is looking for a new man ("Button Up Your Overcoat"). Sylvester (a college freshman whom no one knows the last name of) found out that Tom has neglected his studies and has failed his astronomy final, which he needed to pass in order to play in the Big Game. Astronomy professor Charlotte Kenyon agrees to give Tom one more chance with a make-up exam. Privately Professor Kenyon tells Connie Lane, a studious coed, about her lost college romance with a football player (who is now the Tait football coach), and Connie wishes she could fall in love ("Together/My Lucky Star"). Football Coach Johnson, meanwhile, tells his confidant Pooch that he and Professor Kenyon dated and broke up in college ("Together"). They ask Patricia if she would tutor Tom for his exam, but she has to choose new drapes for the sorority house that night, and recommends her cousin Connie instead. As couples stroll romantically "On the Campus", Connie and Tom meet at the library to study. After an awkward beginning, Tom and Connie soon realize they have a lot in common and similar philosophies of life ("The Best Things In Life Are Free"). Across campus, Coach Johnson nostalgically serenades Professor Kenyon, hoping she will go easy when Tom retakes his exam. Initially charmed, she responds warmly ("You're The Cream in my Coffee"), but soon realizes he is trying to manipulate her and angrily sends him away. The next morning, Tom takes his make-up exam as the students nervously await the results in the Malt Shoppe. Babe insists that they can not let school depress them and teaches everyone the latest dance, "The Varsity Drag". Sylvester bursts into the Malt Shoppe shouting that Tom has passed the test, and Tom finds Connie to tell her that he could not have done it without her help, declaring that she has made him "Lucky In Love". Babe tells Bobby she is in love with him, and even though Bobby's scared of Beef (who still considers Babe his girl), he agrees that they might be "Lucky In Love", too. Patricia interrupts everyone to publicly announce that her wealthy father has announced he will double his donation to the athletic department if Tom wins the Big Game for Tait and marries Pat. Connie is shocked, and Tom is dumbstruck as the students joyously sing another chorus of "Lucky in Love". Act II It is Saturday, and "Today's the Day" of the big game against Colton. Pat and the sorority girls are terribly excited, but are briefly saddened when they realize this is the last football game they will ever attend as students ("The Girl of the Pi Beta Phi")! Bobby stops by the sorority open house (after all, they might have sandwiches) and commits to Babe ("Never Swat a Fly"), but only if they win the game. The students head to the Big Game singing "The Tait Song" as Pat tries to pressure Tom into marrying her. Tom feels that Tait's whole athletic program is at stake, and reluctantly tells Connie he can not stay with her. Connie resigns herself to "Just Imagine" Tom is still there with her. The game begins, but Tom is so upset about Connie that by halftime, Tait is far behind Colton. Pooch urges the team to "Keep Your Sunny Side Up", while Professor Kenyon tries to persuade Babe and Connie that the three of them should devise a strategy to pursue their men, and help them win the game. Through their combined efforts, Bobby scores an unexpected touchdown, Tait wins the big game, Sylvester is William Randolph Hearst's nephew who knows Bobby told the paper that Tom planned the game, and the happy couples, Tom and Connie, Bobby and Babe, and Coach Johnson and Professor Kenyon, all end up together ("Finale").
Good Vibrations is a Broadway musical conceived and produced by Nina L. Keneally with Cathleen Murphy and Jamie Lightstone. It was directed by John Carrafa featuring the music of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys.
Goodtime Charley is a musical with a book by Sidney Michaels, music by Larry Grossman, and lyrics by Hal Hackady. A humorous take on actual historical events, it focuses on the Dauphin of France, who evolves from a hedonistic young man enamored of women in general (and Joan of Arc in particular) into a regal king while Joan follows her voices to her tragic fate.
Got tu Go Disco is a musical with music and lyrics by Kenny Lehman, John Davis, Ray Chew, Nat Adderley Jr., Thomas Jones, Wayne Morrison, Steve Boston, Eugene Narmore, Betty Rowland, Jerry Powell and a book by John Zodrow. Following nine previews, the show opened on Broadway in June 1979, where it ran for eight performances. The plot adapts the Cinderella story to a nightclub setting, as the young woman Cassette sells clothes by day and becomes queen of the dancefloor by night.
Grab Me a Gondola is a musical comedy in two acts with a book by Julian More, music by James Gilbert, and lyrics by James Gilbert and Julian More. The original production moved from the Theatre Royal, Windsor, where it opened on 30 October 1956, to the Lyric Hammersmith and then to the Lyric Theatre in the West End, where it stayed for over 18 months, closing in July 1958. The musical was inspired by photographs of British actress Diana Dors at the 1955 Venice Film Festival.
Grand Hotel is a musical in two acts with a book by Luther Davis, music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, and additional music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The 1989 musical was substantially rewritten from the 1958 musical At the Grand.
Because of changes to the musical that have been made since the 1978 film adaptation, several variants exist. In the event two songs are listed at any given point, the first is from the 1972 Off-Broadway version, and the second is from revivals that use the film music, such as the 2007 version. At revivals that use the 1978 song "Grease", it is typically inserted at or near the beginning of the show. At the Rydell High Class of 1959 reunion ("Alma Mater"), old maid English teacher Miss Lynch introduces former cheerleader/yearbook-editor Patty Simcox Honeywell and class valedictorian Eugene Florczyk. Eugene gives a rousing speech, mentioning that the alumni who are missing from the reunion are surely present in spirit. The scene segues to bring in the greaser gang known as the Burger Palace Boys (known in later versions as the "T-Birds") and their auxiliary, the "Pink Ladies", as they sing a cruder version of the Rydell alma mater ("Alma Mater (Parody)"). Flashing back to the first day of high school in fall 1958, the Pink Ladies sit in the lunchroom, and the Burger Palace Boys sit at the entrance to the school. One of the Pink Ladies, Frenchy, introduces her new neighbor Sandy Dumbrowski, who had been unjustly rejected from a Catholic school, to the others (Marty, Jan and Rizzo), as well as Patty. Sandy tells of how she had a brief love affair the summer before, which ended with unresolved love. Meanwhile, womanizing greaser Danny Zuko is telling the Burger Palace Boys (Kenickie, Roger, Doody and Sonny) the story of his own summer fling ("Summer Nights"). The Pink Ladies soon after realize that Sandy's summer fling was the same Danny Zuko that attends Rydell High and arrange for the two to bump into each other at school; the resulting meeting is tense and awkward, as Danny had previously told Sandy that he attended Lake Forest Academy and does not want to admit to the Burger Palace Boys that she was the woman he was talking about. As the Burger Palace Boys leave, Sandy is hurt and angry, but the Pink Ladies cheer her up, by inviting her over to Marty's pajama party. Shortly afterwards, the teenagers gather in the hall as Doody shows off his new guitar and performs a song ("Those Magic Changes"). At Marty's pajama party, the girls experiment with wine, cigarettes, pierce their ears and talk about boys. The sheltered Sandy goes into shock and falls ill from seeing blood when the Pink Ladies try to pierce her ears, leading them to mock her when she's not in the room (in some revivals, the song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" is placed here, mirroring the film). Marty tells about her long-distance courtship with a Marine named Freddy and it is implied that she maintains it only because of the lavish gifts he sends her from Japan ("Freddy, My Love"). That same night, the Burger Palace Boys are busy stealing hubcaps, unaware that the hubcaps are on Kenickie's car, Greased Lightnin'. Unfazed by the others' skepticism, Kenickie sings of the upgrades needed to make the car a racing-worthy chick magnet ("Greased Lightnin'"). Danny sees Sandy again at her cheerleader practice, and tries to apologize for his behavior. Patty interrupts and flirts with Danny. Patty informs Danny that track try-outs are nearing, and Danny tells Sandy that he will join the track team to prove himself; he leaves as Patty and Sandy practice cheering ("Rydell Fight Song"). As the Burger Palace Boys and Pink Ladies gather at the park, Danny reveals to the rest of the greasers that he has joined the track team, much to their dismay and skepticism. After Roger and Jan bicker about food, drink, and religion, Jan asks him how he earned the nickname Rump; he explains that, as "King of the Mooners", he has a hobby of baring his backside to unsuspecting victims, and in the process, both reveal their affections for each other ("Mooning"). Rizzo teases Danny for falling for a girl who resembles the excessively proper teenage ingénue, Sandra Dee, and the other greasers join in as she makes fun of Sandy, who has not arrived at the picnic yet ("Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee"). Sandy, working on a biology assignment with Eugene, comes in just as the greasers finish making fun of her. She attacks Rizzo in a fit of rage and erroneously assumes Danny is the one behind the mockery. Furious, she tells Danny that she wishes she never met him and storms out of the picnic. Danny shrugs off Sandy's negative response, and the greasers pair off for the upcoming sock hop. Danny teases Marty for not having a date (recommending Eugene), and the greasers all laugh ("We Go Together"). For revivals that use "Hopelessly Devoted to You", the exact placement varies. It sometimes replaces the first rendition of "We Go Together" and in other examples, such as the 2007 revival, it is placed early in Act II. The night of the sock hop arrives ("Shakin' At the High School Hop"). Sandy is at home by herself, listening to the radio and crying over how much she misses Danny ("It's Raining on Prom Night"). Meanwhile, Kenickie comes into the dance with his date, Cha-Cha DiGregorio, a girl from Saint Bernadette's Academy. Patty tries to pair up with Danny, trash-talking Sandy's cheerleading skills in the process, but is unable to get out of her promise to dance with Eugene despite Rizzo trying to seduce Eugene as a distraction. Kenickie ends up paired off with Rizzo, and Danny with Cha-Cha. The MC Vince Fontaine, a radio disc jockey, begins the hand jive dance contest, and everyone eagerly participates as he tags the contestants out ("Born to Hand Jive"). In the end, Danny and Cha-Cha are the winners. Amongst the awards given to the couple, Danny receives two free drive-in movie tickets. Sometime later outside of the Burger Palace hangout, Kenickie, Doody, and Sonny run into Frenchy. The boys are armed with an "arsenal" of household items and reveal that, to their surprise, Cha-Cha was the girlfriend of someone in the boys' rival gang, the Flaming Dukes; the Dukes, hearing of Cha-Cha's dancing with the Burger Palace Boys, challenged the boys to a rumble. Danny sprints into the scene wearing his track suit, to the disbelief of the other boys. Danny tells the boys he cannot partake in the rumble because of a track meet and sprints off. The three remaining boys go into the Burger Palace for a snack before the fight, and Frenchy laments at what to do with her life, having dropped out of beauty school in frustration at failing all of her classes. The heavenly Teen Angel appears with a chorus of back-up singing angels and tells her to return to high school ("Beauty School Dropout"). The three boys exit the Burger Palace, bemoaning Danny's betrayal while only halfheartedly noticing Roger is unaccounted for. They wait for the Flaming Dukes, but the rival gang never turns up. Roger finally turns up with only a broken antenna as a weapon; in response, the other three proceed to strip Roger of his pants and shoes. At the drive-in, Danny tries to make up for his behavior and offers Sandy his class ring. She initially is thrilled, but pulls back and exits the car when he tries to move beyond a kiss. Danny laments his loneliness ("Alone at a Drive-In Movie" or "Sandy"). Several days later, Sandy and the greasers — without Danny — are gathered in Jan's basement ("Rock 'N' Roll Party Queen"). Rizzo, who missed her period, fears she is pregnant and tells Marty (who herself laments that Vince tried to spike her drink at the dance) that the father is a stranger who had sex with her with a cheap, broken condom; word gets back to everyone else. The boys offer support as they leave; Rizzo rejects it, leading Sandy to ask her why and presume that Kenickie is the father. Rizzo responds by saying that she is a better person than others make her out to be and that showing weakness is the worst thing she knows ("There Are Worse Things I Could Do"). Rizzo leaves, and Sandy decides what she needs to do to fit in with the greasers ("Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee" (Reprise)). The next day, the boys are hanging out at the Burger Palace. A dejected Patty reveals Danny, who follows her in, has reverted to his old ways and quit the track team. Sandy comes in alongside the Pink Ladies, having transformed herself from an innocent schoolgirl into a greaser's fantasy, punching out a dismayed Patty. Danny is delighted at this change and the couple express their mutual feelings for each other ("All Choked Up" or "You're the One That I Want"). Afterwards, the greasers prepare to head to Roger's to watch The Mickey Mouse Club, inviting Patty along. Frenchy takes a job as a makeup saleswoman at Woolworth's, Rizzo reveals that she is not pregnant, and she and Kenickie reunite. All ends happily, and the Burger Palace Boys, the Pink Ladies, Sandy, and Patty sing about how they will always be friends to the end ("We Go Together" (Reprise)). Because of the popularity of the 1978 film adaptation, which made several changes to the musical's songs and themes (many to accommodate its casting choice of the singer Olivia Newton-John as Sandy), the subsequent revivals adopted several of the changes made in the film, particularly the replacement of several songs, Sandy's portrayal with blonde hair instead of the original brunette, and the renaming of the Burger Palace Boys to their film name, the T-Birds. However, in the revival, the role of Sandy Dumbrowski is not changed from the original Broadway production. In order to make the original musical suitable for young performers and audiences, Jim Jacobs decided to write a "school version" of the musical. This edition eliminates all of the references to cigarettes and alcohol, and also any swearing or bad language. Most of the songs have also undergone changes as well; the numbers are all shortened greatly and edited for content/language.
Greatest Days is a jukebox musical with music and lyrics by Take That and a book by Tim Firth. It received its world premiere under its original title The Band at the Manchester Opera House, in September 2017, before embarking on a UK and Ireland tour and opened at the Theatre Royal Haymarket at London's West End in December 2018. The band was cast through the 2017 BBC reality television show Let It Shine. The musical tells the story of five women who were best friends as teenagers and all big fans of The Band. 25 years later after losing contact the four of them reunite to fulfill their dream of seeing the band perform. Greatest Days is the second jukebox musical based on the songs of Take That, after the 2008 musical Never Forget.
Greenwillow is a musical with a book by Lesser Samuels and Frank Loesser and music and lyrics by Loesser, based on the novel by B. J. Chute. The musical is set in the magical town of Greenwillow. It ran on Broadway in 1960.
Grey Gardens is a musical with book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, and lyrics by Michael Korie, produced in 2006 and based on the 1975 documentary of the same title about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale ("Big Edie") and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale ("Little Edie") by Albert and David Maysles. The Beales were Jacqueline Kennedy's aunt and cousin, respectively. Set at Grey Gardens, the Bouviers' mansion in East Hampton, New York, the musical tracks the progression of the two women's lives from their original status as rich and socially polished aristocrats to their eventual largely isolated existence in a home overrun by cats and cited for repeated health code violations. However, its more central purpose is to untangle the complicated dynamics of their dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship.
Grind is a 1985 musical with music by Larry Grossman, lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh, and a book by Fay Kanin. Grind is a portrait of a largely African-American burlesque house in Chicago in the Thirties. Reviews of the production were mixed at best.
A three-act German operetta about Madame du Barry, mistress of Louis XV, set in the court of France.
Bud Davenport and Doug Simon are the authors of a musical about Johannes Gutenberg. At a backer's audition, they pitch the show to potential Broadway producers. Because the minimally-talented and starry-eyed authors do not have a cast or an orchestra, Bud and Doug play all of the roles themselves, wearing hats with the characters' names on them and switching the hats to indicate the different characters. They also use simple objects as props, such as a cardboard box, pencils, and a chair. Since Bud and Doug's research into the life of Gutenberg consisted only of a quick Google search, they have scant information about their subject and take a historical fiction approach, by which they mean that they just made stuff up. In their musical, Gutenberg is a wine presser in the medieval German town of Schlimmer, a happy and cheery place, except that the town is horribly dirty and depressing, and no one except Gutenberg can read. Intent on saving the townspeople from their own ignorance, Gutenberg turns his wine press into a printing press, accomplishing this in one night. His beautiful but dim assistant Helvetica is in love with him, but Gutenberg is unaware of her feelings. Meanwhile, the show's villain, Monk, an evil monk who worships Satan, attempts to keep ignorance alive so he can control the townspeople through inaccurate readings of the Bible and seeks to destroy the printing press. Despite their ineptitude, Bud and Doug's high-energy and optimistic performance of their show launches their dreams, as they are awarded a Broadway production contract.
A pantomime of never-ceasing activities depicts the hustle and bustle of New York City ("Runyonland"). Three small-time gamblers, Nicely-Nicely Johnson, Benny Southstreet, and Rusty Charlie, argue over which horse will win a big race ("Fugue for Tinhorns"). The band members of the Save-a-Soul Mission, led by the pious and beautiful Sergeant Sarah Brown, call for sinners to "Follow the Fold" and repent ("Follow the Fold"). Nicely and Benny's employer, Nathan Detroit, runs an illegal floating craps game. Due to local policeman Lt. Brannigan's strong-armed presence, he has found only one likely spot to hold the game: the "Biltmore garage". Its owner, Joey Biltmore requires a $1,000 security deposit, and Nathan is broke ("The Oldest Established"). Nathan hopes to win a $1,000 bet against Sky Masterson, a notoriously lucky gambler willing to bet on virtually anything. Nathan proposes a bet he believes he cannot lose: Sky must take a woman of Nathan's choice to dinner in Havana, Cuba. Sky agrees, and Nathan chooses Sarah Brown. At the mission, Sky attempts to make a deal with Sarah; offering her "one dozen genuine sinners" in exchange for the date in Havana. Sarah refuses, and they argue over whom they will fall in love with ("I'll Know"). Sky kisses Sarah, and she slaps him. Nathan goes to watch his fiancée of 14 years, Adelaide, perform her nightclub act ("A Bushel and a Peck"). After her show, she asks him to marry her once again, telling him that she has been sending her mother letters for twelve years claiming that they have been married with five children. She finds out that Nathan is still running the craps game. After kicking him out, she reads a medical book telling her that her long-running cold may be due to Nathan's refusal to marry her ("Adelaide's Lament"). The next day, Nicely and Benny watch as Sky pursues Sarah, and Nathan tries to win back Adelaide's favor. They declare that guys will do anything for the women they love ("Guys and Dolls"). General Cartwright, the leader of Save-a-Soul, visits the mission and explains that she will be forced to close the branch unless they succeed in bringing some sinners to the upcoming revival meeting. Sarah, desperate to save the mission, promises the General "one dozen genuine sinners", implicitly accepting Sky's deal. Brannigan discovers a group of gamblers waiting for Nathan's craps game, and to convince him of their innocence, they tell Brannigan their gathering is Nathan's "surprise bachelor party". This satisfies Brannigan, and Nathan resigns himself to eloping with Adelaide. Adelaide goes home to pack, promising to meet him after her show the next afternoon. The Save-A-Soul Mission band passes by, and Nathan sees that Sarah is not in it; he realizes that he lost the bet and faints. In a Havana nightclub, Sky buys a "Cuban milkshake" for himself and Sarah, which contains Bacardi rum. After a long dance sequence ("Havana"), a fight breaks out in the nightclub, and they flee. Outside, a drunk Sarah kisses Sky ("If I Were a Bell"). Sky realizes that he genuinely cares for Sarah, and he takes her back to New York. They return at around 4:00 a.m., and Sky tells Sarah how much he loves the early morning ("My Time of Day"). They both spontaneously admit that they're in love ("I've Never Been in Love Before"). A siren sounds and gamblers run out of the Mission, where Nathan has been holding the craps game. Sarah assumes that Sky took her to Havana so Nathan could run the game in the mission, and she walks out on him. The next evening, Adelaide performs her act ("Take Back Your Mink"). Afterwards, Nicely and Sky inform her that Nathan once again will not be making an appearance. Adelaide and Sky argue about their respective relationships and their outlooks on life. He leaves, and she sadly reflects on Nathan standing her up again ("Adelaide's Second Lament"). Back in the Mission, Sarah admits to Arvide and Martha that she does love Sky, but she will not see him again. Arvide, her grandfather and fellow mission worker, expresses his faith in Sky's inherent goodness and urges Sarah to follow her heart ("More I Cannot Wish You"). Sky arrives and tells Sarah he intends to deliver the dozen genuine sinners for the revival, but she rebukes him and walks off. Arvide subtly encourages Sky, who leaves and finds Nicely. Nicely shows Sky to the craps game, which has now moved to the sewers to hide ("The Crapshooters' Dance"). After playing for twenty-four hours, most of the gamblers are tired, but Big Jule, a gambler from Chicago, has lost a large sum of money and refuses to end the game until he earns it back. Sky arrives and fails to convince the crapshooters to come to the mission. He gives Nathan $1,000 and claims that he lost the bet. After a comment made by one of the gamblers inspires him, Sky formulates a last-minute bet to get the sinners: if he loses, everyone gets $1,000, but if he wins, they visit to the mission one time. He wins the bet ("Luck Be a Lady"). On the way to the Mission, Nathan runs into Adelaide. She tries to convince him to elope, but when he says he has to go to a prayer meeting, Adelaide becomes angry, believing Nathan is lying to her. Nathan finally professes his love for her ("Sue Me") and leaves. Sarah is shocked to see that Sky carried through on his promise. The General asks the gamblers to confess their sins, and while some offer sarcastic confessions, one of them admits that Sky's bet is the only reason why the gamblers came to the meeting. The General is thrilled that good can come from evil. Attempting to appear contrite during his confession, Nicely invents a dream that encouraged him to repent, and the gamblers join in with revivalist fervor ("Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"). Brannigan arrives and threatens to arrest everyone for the craps game in the Mission, but Sarah clears them, saying that none of the gamblers were at the mission the previous night. After Brannigan leaves, Nathan confesses that they held the craps game in the mission and apologizes. He also confesses to the bet he made with Sky about taking Sarah to Havana, adding that he won the bet, to Sarah's shock. She realizes that Sky wanted to protect her reputation and must genuinely care about her. Afterwards, Sarah and Adelaide run into each other and commiserate. After Sarah mentions Nathan was at the prayer meeting, Adelaide realizes Nathan was telling the truth. The two women eventually decide they want to marry their men as soon as possible and reform their negative qualities afterward ("Marry the Man Today"). A few weeks later, Nathan owns a newsstand and has officially closed the craps game at Adelaide's behest. Sky, who is now married to Sarah, works in the Mission band and has also stopped gambling. The characters celebrate as Nathan and Adelaide are married ("Guys and Dolls (Finale/Reprise)").
Baby June and Louise, the two daughters of Rose Hovick, play the vaudeville circuit around the United States in the early 1920s. Rose, the archetype of a stage mother, is aggressive and domineering, pushing her children to perform. While June is an extroverted, talented child star, the older girl, Louise, is shy. Their act has one song, "May We Entertain You", with June always as the centerpiece and Louise in the background. Rose has big dreams for the girls but encounters setbacks when her father refuses to lend her money for those dreams ("Some People"). When Rose meets a former agent, Herbie, she persuades him to become their manager using her seductive and feminine wiles ("Small World"). Through Herbie's efforts, "Baby June and Her Newsboys" becomes a top vaudeville act. As the girls grow into adolescents, June and her act have a chance to perform for Mr. Goldstone of the Orpheum Circuit ("Mr. Goldstone, I Love You"). Meanwhile, Louise celebrates her birthday alone and wonders how old she is ("Little Lamb"). Rose rejects Herbie's marriage proposal and he considers leaving, but she asserts that he could never get away from her ("You'll Never Get Away From Me"). After an audition for T.T. Grantziger ("Dainty June and Her Farmboys/Broadway"), June is offered a place at a Performing Arts school. However, Rose turns this down, refusing to break up the act. Louise and June fantasize what life would be like if Rose were married and finished with show business ("If Momma Was Married"). A few months later, still on the road from show to show, Tulsa, one of the boys from the act, confides to Louise that he has been working on his own act and Louise fantasizes that she and he could do the act together ("All I Need Is the Girl"). Shortly after this, June is missing, and she explains in a note that she has grown sick of her mother and the endless tour and has eloped with Tulsa, with whom she will do a new act. Rose is hurt, but she optimistically vows that she will make Louise a star, proclaiming that "Everything's Coming Up Roses". Louise is an adult and Rose has created an act based on the Dainty June act for her. Using an all-female cast, Rose and Herbie attempt to book "Madame Rose's Toreadorables" in vaudeville. They remain together ("Together, Wherever We Go"). With no vaudeville venues left, Louise and her second-rate act wind up accidentally booked at a burlesque house in Wichita, Kansas, as a means to deter police raids. Rose is anguished, as she sees what a booking in burlesque means to her dreams of success, but Louise persuades her that two weeks' pay for the new act is better than unemployment. Backstage, Rose proposes marriage to Herbie. He asks her to break up the act and let Louise have a normal life, and she reluctantly accepts, agreeing to marry the day after their show closes. As they are introduced to Louise, three of the strippers on the bill advise her on what it takes to be a successful stripper, a "gimmick," something that "makes your strip special" ("You Gotta Get a Gimmick"). On the last day of the booking, the star stripper in the burlesque show is arrested for solicitation. Desperate, Rose cannot resist the urge to give Louise another nudge toward stardom, and she volunteers Louise to do the striptease as a last-minute replacement. Herbie is disgusted at how low Rose has stooped and he finally walks out on her ("Small World" (Reprise)). Although reluctant, Louise goes on, assured by Rose that she needn't actually strip but simply walk elegantly and tease by dropping a single shoulder strap. Shy and hesitant, she sings a titillating version of the old vaudeville song "May We Entertain You". She removes only her glove, but she speaks directly to her audience, which becomes her "gimmick". Louise becomes secure, always following her mother's advice to "Make 'em beg for more, and then don't give it to them!" With each performance, the song becomes brasher and brassier, and Louise removes more articles of clothing. Ultimately, she becomes a major burlesque star ("Let Me Entertain You"). At Louise's dressing room, Rose argues with her daughter, now known as the sophisticated "Gypsy Rose Lee". Embittered, Rose reveals that the true motivation for all her actions has been to live vicariously through her daughters so she can chase the stardom she wanted for herself, not for her children. She realizes that she has driven away June, Herbie, and now possibly Louise. She displays the talent that could have been under different circumstances, as the name "Rose" flashes in neon lights ("Rose's Turn"). After her admission to Louise, mother and daughter tentatively move toward reconciliation in the end. In the 1974 and 2008 Broadway revivals, although the final dialogue scene remains, there is not a happy ending, but rather a bleak, sad one as all hopes of reconciliation for Rose and Louise fall flat when Louise walks away, laughing sarcastically at Rose's new "dream." The audience is then left with a somber Rose, whose dream of her own lit up marquee slowly fades away to her unrealistic dreams. In the 2003 revival starring Bernadette Peters, the final dialogue scene remains, but leaves the ending open to more interpretation from the audience. Louise walks through the stage door, with Rose following behind. Rose then turns to face the audience, a look of sadness and longing on her face as she takes one last look at the empty stage. She pauses and slowly closes the door. In the 2015 West End revival starring Imelda Staunton, Louise begins to walk out, and Rose catches up after waking up to reality. Louise puts her arm around Rose as they exit together. In the 2024 revival starring Audra McDonald, Rose and Louise embrace and exit the stage arm in arm.
Claude sits center stage as the "tribe" mingles with the audience. Tribe members Sheila, a New York University student and political activist, and Berger, an irreverent free spirit, cut a lock of Claude's hair and burn it. After the tribe converges in slow motion toward the stage, they begin their celebration as children of the Age of Aquarius ("Aquarius"). Berger removes his trousers to reveal a loincloth. Interacting with the audience, he introduces himself as a "psychedelic teddy bear... looking for my Donna" ("Donna"). The tribe recites a list of pharmaceuticals, legal and illegal ("Hashish"). Woof, a gentle soul, extols sexual practices ("Sodomy"). He loves plants, his family and the audience, telling the audience, "We are all one." Hud, a militant African-American, is carried in upside-down on a pole. He declares himself "president of the United States of Love" ("Colored Spade"). In a fake English accent, Claude says that he is "the most beautiful beast in the forest" from "Manchester, England". A tribe member reminds him that he is from Flushing, New York ("Manchester England"). Hud, Woof and Berger declare their color ("I'm Black"), while Claude counters that he is "invisible". The tribe rattles off a list of things they lack ("Ain't Got No"). African-American tribe members list street signs in symbolic sequence ("Dead End"). Sheila is carried onstage ("I Believe in Love") and leads the tribe in a protest chant. Jeanie, an eccentric young woman, appears wearing a gas mask because of pollution ("Air"). She is pregnant and in love with Claude, wishing it was Claude's baby, as she was "knocked up by some crazy speed freak". The tribe link LBJ, FBI, CIA and LSD ("Initials"). Members of the tribe appear dressed as Claude's parents, berating him for transgressions: he has no job and collects "mountains of paper" clippings and notes. They say they will not give him any more money, and "the army'll make a man out of you", presenting him with his draft notice. In defiance, Claude leads the tribe in celebrating their vitality ("I Got Life"). Berger hands out imaginary pills to the tribe members, saying they are for high-profile people such as Richard Nixon, the Pope and "Alabama Wallace". He relates how he was expelled from high school. Three tribe members dress up as school principals in Hitler mustaches and swastika armbands, mocking the American education system. Berger and the tribe defy them, singing "Going Down". Claude returns from passing his draft board physical. He pretends to burn his Vietnam War draft card, which Berger reveals is a library card. Claude agonizes about what to do about being drafted. Two tribe members dressed as tourists arrive to ask the tribe why they have long hair. Claude and Berger lead the tribe in explaining the significance ("Hair"). The woman says kids should "be free, no guilt" and "do whatever you want, just so long as you don't hurt anyone." She observes that long hair is natural ("My Conviction"). She opens her coat to reveal that she is a man in drag. As the couple leaves, the tribe calls her Margaret Mead. Sheila gives Berger a yellow shirt. He goofs around and tears it in two. Sheila laments that Berger cares more about the "bleeding crowd" than about her ("Easy to Be Hard"). Jeanie summarizes everyone's romantic entanglements: "I'm hung up on Claude, Sheila's hung up on Berger, Berger is hung up everywhere. Claude is hung up on a cross over Sheila and Berger." Berger, Woof and another tribe member pay satiric tribute to the American flag as they fold it ("Don't Put It Down"). The tribe joins the audience, inviting them to a Be-In. After young and innocent Crissy describes "Frank Mills", a boy she is looking for, the tribe participates in the "Be-In". The men burn their draft cards. Claude puts his card in the fire, changes his mind and pulls it out. He asks, "where is the something, where is the someone, that tells me why I live and die?" ("Where Do I Go"). The tribe appears naked, intoning "beads, flowers, freedom, happiness." Some tribe members have the "Electric Blues". The tribe enters worshiping in an attempt to summon Claude ("Oh Great God of Power"). Claude returns from the induction center, and tribe members act out an imagined conversation from his draft interview, with Hud saying "the draft is white people sending black people to make war on the yellow people to defend the land they stole from the red people". Claude gives Woof a Mick Jagger poster; Woof is excited about the gift, as he is infatuated with Jagger. Three white women of the tribe tell why they like "Black Boys" ("black boys are delicious"), and three black women of the tribe, dressed like The Supremes, explain why they like "White Boys" ("white boys are so pretty"). Berger gives Claude a joint laced with a hallucinogen. Claude starts to trip as the tribe acts out his visions ("Walking in Space"). He hallucinates that he is skydiving from a plane into the jungles of Vietnam. Berger appears as General George Washington and is told to retreat because of an Indian attack. The Indians shoot all of Washington's men. General Ulysses S. Grant appears and begins a roll call: Abraham Lincoln (played by a black female tribe member), John Wilkes Booth, Calvin Coolidge, Clark Gable, Scarlett O'Hara, Aretha Franklin, Colonel George Custer. They all dance a minuet until African witch doctors kill them, except for Lincoln, who says, "I'm one of you". After the Africans sing his praises, Lincoln recites an alternate version of the Gettysburg Address ("Abie Baby"). Booth shoots Lincoln, but Lincoln tells him, "Shit! I'm not dyin' for no white man". As the visions continue, Buddhist monks enter. One pours a can of gasoline over another monk, who is set afire (reminiscent of the self-immolation of Thích Quảng Đức) and runs off screaming. Three Catholic nuns strangle the three remaining Buddhist monks. Three astronauts shoot the nuns with ray guns. Three Chinese people stab the astronauts. Three Native Americans kill the Chinese with bows and tomahawks. Three Green Berets kill the Native Americans with machine guns and then kill each other. A sergeant appears with two parents holding a suit on a hanger, talking to the suit as if it were their son of whom they are very proud. The bodies rise and play like children. The playing escalates to violence until they are all dead again. They rise again and comment about the casualties in Vietnam: "It's a dirty little war" ("Three-Five-Zero-Zero"). At the end of the sequence, two tribe members sing, over the dead bodies, Shakespeare's paean to the nobility of Man ("What A Piece of Work Is Man"). After the trip, Claude says "I can't take this moment to moment living on the streets.... I want to be... invisible". As they "look at the Moon", Sheila and the others enjoy a light moment ("Good Morning Starshine"). The tribe pays tribute to an old mattress ("The Bed"). Claude leaves as the tribe enters wrapped in blankets during a snowstorm. They begin a protest chant and then call for Claude. Claude enters dressed in a military uniform, his hair short, but the tribe does not see him because he is an invisible spirit. Claude says, "like it or not, they got me." The tribe sings "Flesh Failures". They move in front of Claude and launch into "Let the Sun Shine In"; as they exit, Claude is left lying in the center. During the curtain call, the tribe reprises "Let the Sun Shine In" and brings audience members on stage to dance. (Note: This plot summary is based on the original Broadway script. The script has varied in subsequent productions.)
In 1962 Baltimore, teenager Tracy Turnblad wins a place on a local television dance show and campaigns to integrate it.
The musical tells the tale of the changing fortunes of Arthur Kipps, an orphan and draper's assistant at Shalford's Bazaar in Folkestone, Kent at the turn of the twentieth century. Kipps is an easy-going working class lad, who is happiest with his banjo. He falls in love with Ann Pornick, who gives him the titular gift of half a sixpence as a token of their love. However, when he unexpectedly inherits a fortune from an estranged grandfather, he is suddenly propelled into high society. He catches the eye of Helen Walsingham and her money-grabbing family, who are desperate to restore their family fortune. When he loses his money (thanks to the fraudulent behavior of Helen's brother, James), Kipps is reminded of his roots and returns to marry Ann.
Georgina is a talented, beautiful and ambitious African American woman, determined to have a career. Overcoming many obstacles, she rises to stardom. She makes her way through the Great Depression, World War II, and the beginning of the civil rights movement. Her mother advises her to "keep her place" as a maid on a South Carolina estate, but Georgina negotiates the blocks to stardom from her negative and opportunistic mother. She encounters the racism that pervades society and show business. Two men vie for Georgina's attention. Harvey, who is white, is able to provide opportunities for her. Her fiancé, Clem, who is a black train porter, cannot help her on her journey. By the 1950s, she is a successful singer in an expensive night club. However, Clem, who became an Army captain and then a civil rights activist, challenges Georgina's life goals.
Alexander Hamilton arrives in New York determined to make his mark. Through revolution, political rivalries, and family life, this musical follows his rise and asks who gets to tell a nation’s story. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s score brings together hip-hop, jazz, R&B, and Broadway.
Ten contestants vie for a "hardbody" truck in Longview, Texas. The last contestant who has his or her hands on the truck wins it. The truck is a Nissan "hardbody" pickup (on stage). The lives of each contestant, along with the car dealer and a radio announcer are revealed during the "hardbody" contest. The show opens with a pickup truck on stage and Benny Perkins explaining how a 'hands on a hardbody' contest works. The rest of the contestants and contest runners join the stage and all sing about the truck and the contest ("Human Drama Kind of Thing"). The song ends as the contest begins. As the contestants begin to bond they talk about what a truck means to a Texan and why the contestants want the truck and what difference it would make in their life ("If I Had This Truck"). The news crew covering the competition start interviewing the contestants and Janis Curtis and her husband Don catch their attention. Even though he isn't participating in the contest, he is forcing himself to go through everything that his wife has to go through because they're in it together. ("If She Don't Sleep"). It's a ways into the competition now and no one has fallen yet. Benny has been teasing many of the contestants, trying to intimidate them, as he is the only one of them who has won the contest in the past or even participated. He begins belittling Ronald McCowan, who has been snacking on candy bars the whole time. Thusly, he isn't doing so well. He illustrates such with his song "My Problem Right There" while the girls, Kelli, Heather, and Norma are rooting for him because they don't like Benny. The song ends with him taking his hands off and giving up. Benny says that once the first person drops, more people will soon follow. Benny and the older man in the competition, J.D. Drew have taken to an unlikely partnership. J.D.'s wife, Virginia, keeps visiting and checking up on him, taking care of him during their 15-minute breaks. J.D., however, doesn't like being coddled and pushes her away, saddening her, and she sings about how they used to be when they were young ("Alone With Me"). Then it is revealed that Heather, the Southern beauty in the competition, was chosen by Mike Ferris, one of the people running the competition to win, because she would look good in the advertisements and bring Floyd King Nissan more revenue. He's promised to do what he can to make the competition easier. As he brings lets her sit in the air conditioning they sing ("Burn That Bridge"). Meanwhile, Kelli Mangrum and Greg Wilhote have been bonding. They decide that if either of them wins they will go together to LA ("I'm Gone"). Norma, who's been using her walkman and her faith in God to get her by, begins to crack and breaks into uncontrollable laughter. This bothers Janis immensely and Benny says that it's essentially the beginning of the end. The laughter transitions into a joyful gospel hymn ("Joy of the Lord") that everyone joins in singing, save for Chris Alvaro, the stoic veteran who's been unmoving and unspeaking for the whole competition until he cuts off the song, yelling for everyone to shut up. Everyone's unhappy with Chris's cynical nature and foul language, none more so than Benny, whose son also served. The two exchange nasty words before Chris sings about what it was really like to serve overseas ("Stronger"). By the end he's crying and runs offstage, the second to lose the contest. Benny's lack of respect for Chris and overall nasty attitude infuriates the other contestants. Fueled by their anger, Benny claims that if they can't "Hunt with the Big Dogs" they should stay on the porch with the pups. Act II begins almost like a commercial with Mike Ferris and Frank Nugent, another host, singing the title song, "Hands on a Hardbody". Cindy Barnes, the female host, approaches Jesus Pena, a Mexican contestant and says to him that if he wins she's going to have to see his green card. She repeats what she can in extremely broken Spanish, though he has told her repeatedly that he speaks English and was born in Texas ("Born in Laredo"). Later, J.D. reflects on his and Virginia's marriage ("Alone With Me (Reprise)"). Janis suddenly pipes up and claims that Heather has taken her hands off the truck to put some lipstick on. Mike does his best to defend Heather but Janis becomes enraged claiming that the competition is fixed ("It's a Fix") and leaves the contest in a blaze of fury, becoming the third contestant eliminated. As J.D. and Benny bond further, they begin talking about where they live and J.D., Benny, and Norma become wistful about how the town has been taken over by industry and has none of the personality that it had when they were young ("Used to Be"). Contestants begin dropping like flies as Jesus, Kelli, and Greg all fall quickly. Jesus hallucinates he's playing with his dog and takes his hands off as if to throw a ball. Kelli is in a daze and walks right off the stage. Greg is hesitant to follow her and give up the competition, but decides it's more important that she doesn't hurt herself and runs after her. Heather is completely jacked up on the uppers she has been taking and begins complaining about how uncomfortable the gloves they have to wear for the contest are. They begin driving her crazy and she confesses that she was set up to win the competition and forfeits ("It's a Fix (Reprise)"). Benny confesses to J.D. that his legs are going numb, which he said at the beginning is when it's all over. J.D. encourages him to hold on, but Benny loses faith quickly and recounts what life has done to him when he hoped and prayed ("God Answered My Prayers") and reveals that his son killed himself while he was overseas. He lets go, saying that God finally answered his prayers with a "yes." Ronald comes back to see how the competition is going, and to support Norma. Norma loses her faith when her Walkman runs out of juice, so Ronald as well as Chris, who never went back home after losing, begin to sing ("Joy of the Lord (Reprise)") to bring back her spirit, but it works too well, as she takes her hands off to clap along to the music. That leaves J.D. as the last man standing and he wins the competition, giving the truck he won to his wife, Virginia. In the end, all the characters recount what happens for them after the competition and how the competition changed their lives ("Keep Your Hands on It").
The show opens on the news of Hank's death, with Hank's ghost observing various reactions to the news, then proceeds to tell the story of his life, including his friendship with a bluesman, "Tee Tot" ( Rufus Payne), who taught him to play; his courting and marriage to first wife Audrey; his rise to stardom; and his struggles with alcoholism as they cause considerable turmoil in his career and personal life.
Miserable Arcadians Chloe and Strephon break their engagement when handsome Lycidas pursues Chloe. Four magical objects grant wishes, and the characters transform into one another in ways that satisfy their dissatisfactions. They exchange the objects, wish themselves back to their original forms, and reconcile. Lycidas decides Arcadia is not for him, and the objects are sold to him.
Happy Hunting is a 1956 musical with a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, lyrics by Matt Dubey, music by Harold Karr, original choreography by Alex Romero, assistant choreographer Eugene Louis Faccuito (Luigi). The plot focuses on wealthy Philadelphia Main Line widow Liz Livingstone and her efforts to find a royal husband for her daughter Beth.
The Narrator introduces the Seton family, who in December 1933 live in a five-story townhouse on Fifth Avenue in New York City. He relates their story. Successful Wall Street lawyer Johnny Case has become engaged to Julia Seton. Julia and her sister Linda celebrate the engagement ("At Long Last Love"). However, Johnny has decided to abandon his well-paid career and instead live a life of pleasure, using Julia's money. Julia's banker father Edward is very upset and her willful sister Linda is fascinated. Johnny begins to realize that he loves the unconventional Linda, and they become a couple, disregarding the "old money and values" of others for a life together.
Happy Town is a musical comedy that opened on Broadway October 7, 1959 and closed October 10, 1959 after only five performances. The music was by Gordon Duffy, lyrics by Harry Haldane, and book by Max Hampton, with additional songs by Paul Nassau.
Happyland was a starring vehicle for DeWolf Hopper who portrayed Ecstaticus, the King of the fictional country of Elysia. The sets depicting Elysia by Ernest Albert, were largely modeled after the classical style of Lawrence Alma-Tadema whose work was heavily influence by ancient Greco-Roman art. In Act I of the opera, Ecstaticus sings the song "A Sickening Sadness Sits On Me" in which he laments his incredible boredom due to the unendingly happiness and prosperity of everyone in his country. He longs for some scandal and conflict to interrupt his monotony. In order to end his boredom, the king decides to create some drama by declaring that everyone in his kingdom who is unmarried and of age must marry immediately. To further complicate matters, he betrothes his "son" to the daughter of the neighboring monarch, King Altimus of Altruria. Ecstaticus in fact has no son; only a daughter, the Princess Sylvia. For fun, Ecstaticus decides to pass Sylvia off as his son; a plan she despises as she is in love with Prince Fortunatus of Fortunia. Sylvia runs off and elopes with Fortunatus, and further unhappiness arises around Ecstaticus and his kingdom as the consequences of his actions bear fruit.
Act I The show starts with an old Rabbi recounting his days in the Comedian Harmonists. Rabbi recounts that he was in the group and we hear them sing together in "Harmony". We see them holding the auditions and the various members joining the group- Young Rabbi, Bobby, Erich, Lesh, Harry, and Chopin. Mary is a Christian seamstress, dating the Jewish Young Rabbi. She ponders on the future world and how the area around her is changing. ("What Do You See?") Mary wonders to Young Rabbi whether they can make it. Young Rabbi assures her it’s not so bad out there and they are in love and can move forward. Meanwhile the Harmonists have gotten an audition at a nice club, this could potentially be their big break. We also meet Ruth, a Jew who is dating the Christian Chopin. Ruth is a fiery revolutionist with communist ideals- Mary makes her a red coat and the boys go to support her at a rally with Chopin donning a red scarf to support her. (“This is Our Time”) With the Harmonists getting a spot to play at the nice club, Erich is now concerned because his parents are quite wealthy, so it would get back to them that he played at the club from people who saw him. He is a doctor, so him starting to devote his career to singing is a big change. In this song, he practices telling his parents the news with the other boys acting as his parents and coming up with different reactions. (“Your Son is Becoming a Singer”) We go back to Mary and Young Rabbi. Things have gotten worse for Jews around Germany. Mary is concerned that they are setting themselves up for failure. Young Rabbi assures her that they will fight for each other and proposes marriage. (“Every Single Day”) The harmonists go to the club for their big performance. (“How Can I Serve You Madam?”) It turns out someone has broken into their dressing room since the tuxes for their performance are made by a Jewish shop owner. They end up performing a more comedic styled performance without pants in big jackets with water spraying effects. It’s a huge hit, and the Harmonists become the Comedian Harmonists and incorporate comedy and parody into their acts. This quickly takes off and they become hugely popular. We see Young Rabbi and Mary and Ruth and Chopin get married. ("The Wedding") They perform traditional Jewish wedding customs, but at the end, someone runs up the aisle and breaks the glass of the synagogue. The group and Mary go on a European tour and go to America to play Carnegie Hall. ("Home") They are extremely successful and meet tons of celebrities along the way. This tour is contrasted with images on stage of Nazi propaganda depicting the Nazi rise to power in Germany. The group is largely shielded from this as they are away overseas. They run into Albert Einstein (played by the Old Rabbi in a wig). Einstein talks about how bad things have gotten and how he’s never going back. The group gets an offer to stay in the US and host a radio show and do a regular show with the famous Josephine Baker. They debate it, but Bobby is insistent that everybody loves them more at home and they should go back where they have come from. The group eventually gives in to Bobby. Old Rabbi reminisces and wishes they had stayed. Act II In a “what if” scenario, we see the group perform with Josephine Baker in a raucous upbeat number ("We're Goin' Loco!"). Rabbi tells us this is what could have been, but they went back. The group has a big performance, performing an original song that uses some Jewish folk music in it ("Hungarian Rhapsody #20"). At this point, we see a Nazi officer and his wife come and sit in the audience. Some anti-Jewish protesters stand up and yell slurs from the balcony at the performance. The Nazi reprimands them and the group finishes their performance. The Nazi then comes up onstage and compliments them on their performance, getting them to sign his album. All of the men are clearly uncomfortable, and Harry (who is Jewish) is somewhat removed. The boys thank the Nazi for defending them, and the Nazi tells them the party actually is in favor of them because it shows they are friendly to culture and let a band with Jewish members perform. Ruth, who is backstage with the group, suddenly loses her temper and is held back by the boys. Finally, Harry is given the album to sign, and the Nazi wipes the pen with a cloth rather than touch it after Harry. He then inquires about Ruth, but the boys don’t give him her information. Before leaving, the Nazi tells the group not to play that song again since it has Jewish folk music. The group has started performing based on where the Nazis would like them to, with the Nazi party controlling their travel and movement. They do a performance at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, which they decide to speak back a little. They perform the whole number as a fake advertisement for Germany, while dressed as puppets on strings, with a rather ominous ending. ("Come to the Fatherland") Jewish passports are destroyed, and the Jews are trapped in Germany. The boys and Mary start plotting an escape. They are going to try to build up some cash from performances so they can get out. Mary tells this to Ruth, who hasn’t heard the plans. Young Rabbi comes to Mary and tells her she doesn’t have to escape if she doesn’t want to, he doesn’t want to force her from her home. Mary emphasizes that wherever Rabbi goes she will follow him. (“Where You Go”) Ruth confronts Chopin about the escape plans. He says he can’t do it, and she will leave alone, essentially ending their marriage. She tells him that she will be with him in spirit, that just because he ends their relationship he can’t ignore the horrors occurring. After Ruth walks away, we hear from a Nazi she was arrested. We also find out Erich is Jewish and has been hiding it from the group, but the Nazis know. The group does a film performance to get the cash for the escape (“In This World”). Chopin is singing, but it is a love song and he is remembering Ruth and getting sad. The film ends up stopping production due to Jewish members. The group discusses how to move forward, they don’t have enough cash for all of them and with Jewish members they are now struggling to work. It is decided that they will split up - Mary, Young Rabbi, Erich, and Harry will escape leaving the other three behind. They are on a train when they determine this, and hear that Hitler is on the train ("Threnody"). Old Rabbi discusses how he should have done something at that moment- Hitler walks right by them and he feels he should have attempted to attack him, and maybe that would have changed their fate. He reflects on all the little moments that could have caused their current pain to be avoided. The group eventually does escape, and those that stay in Germany survive the war, except for presumably Ruth (we never know what happens except that Chopin kept looking for her and could not find her). They were banned from performing before they escaped, and all of their records were destroyed. Rabbi is the last surviving member of the group, and he recounts how each of the members lived out their days and how he is the one cursed with remembering and retelling the tragic tale. ("Stars in the Night")
Harrigan 'N Hart is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart, lyrics by Peter Walker, and music by Max Showalter. The show is based on the book The Merry Partners by Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr. and material found by Nedda Harrigan Logan. The show opened at the Longacre Theatre on January 31, 1985, and closed on February 3, 1985, after 25 previews and 4 performances.
Hazel Flagg is a 1953 musical, book by Ben Hecht, based on a story by James H. Street. The lyrics are by Bob Hilliard, and music by Jule Styne. The musical is based on the 1937 screwball comedy film Nothing Sacred, the primary screenwriter of which was Ben Hecht.
He Wanted Adventure is a 1933 musical by R. P. Weston and Bert Lee. Music was written by Jack Waller and Joseph Tunbridge, with additional lyrics provided by Clifford Grey. It is based on Walter Hackett's 1921 hit play Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure. Premiering at the Palace Theatre, Manchester it transferred to the West End for a 152 performances at the Saville Theatre which lasted between 28 March and 19 August 1933. The original London cast included Bobby Howes, Wylie Watson, Abraham Sofaer, Judy Gunn, Lena Halliday and Marie Burke.
Head Over Heels is a jukebox musical comedy with music and lyrics from the catalog of The Go-Go's and its lead singer and most successful solo artist, Belinda Carlisle. Jeff Whitty conceived the show and wrote the original book, which was then adapted by James Magruder after Whitty left the show due to conflict with incoming director Michael Mayer. The plot of the show is adapted from The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia written by Sir Philip Sidney in the 16th century. Head Over Heels opened at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in June 2015, running for five months in their outdoor theater. Three years later, after Whitty's departure, Head Over Heels opened on Broadway on July 26, 2018, at the Hudson Theatre; its final Broadway performance was January 6, 2019. Licensing rights for future productions were acquired by Broadway Licensing in 2018. A cast album was released on October 12, 2018.
In 1989, seventeen-year-old Veronica Sawyer despairs at Westerberg High School's hellish social hierarchy, where students like the heavyset Martha Dunnstock, Veronica's best friend, are tormented by jocks Ram Sweeney and Kurt Kelly, and the school is ruled by a clique called "the Heathers"; weak-willed cheerleader Heather McNamara, bulimic and petty Heather Duke, and "mythic bitch" Heather Chandler. When Veronica's talent for forgery gets the Heathers out of detention, they give her a makeover and elevate her to their inner circle ("Beautiful"). Three weeks later, Chandler orders Veronica to forge a love letter from Ram to Martha, threatening to return her to being a nobody when she hesitates ("Candy Store"). The mysterious, poetry-quoting new kid, Jason "J.D." Dean, criticizes Veronica for betraying her friend. After J.D. wins a fight against Ram and Kurt, Veronica finds herself unexpectedly attracted to him ("Fight for Me"). Veronica's parents express their disapproval over her friendship with the Heathers, but Veronica insists on staying with them so she can survive high school ("Candy Store (Reprise)"). Veronica flirts with J.D. at a 7-Eleven, leading J.D. to open up about his struggles and explain how he intentionally gives himself brain freezes to numb his grief ("Freeze Your Brain"). At Ram's homecoming party, Veronica gets increasingly drunk ("Big Fun"). When the Heathers cruelly prank Martha, Veronica angrily resigns from the group and vomits on Chandler's shoes. Chandler then vows to destroy her reputation. With nothing left to live for, Veronica breaks into J.D.'s bedroom and has sex with him ("Dead Girl Walking"). After being tormented by Chandler in a nightmare, Veronica, with J.D. in tow, heads to her house to apologize. While mixing a hangover cure for her, J.D. adds toxic drain cleaner to a mug and tries to convince Veronica to serve it to Chandler instead. Veronica refuses, but accidentally grabs J.D.'s mug anyway, with him noticing this and only wishing Veronica "good luck." Chandler refuses to accept Veronica's apology and drinks the drain cleaner, only to drop dead. Veronica panics, but J.D. convinces her to forge a suicide note, which paints Chandler as more complex and misunderstood. This fictionalized version of her wins everyone's sympathy and she becomes even more revered in death than she was in life ("The Me Inside of Me"). McNamara summons Veronica to a cow pasture, where she and Duke are stranded with a drunk Kurt and Ram. Upon Veronica's arrival, Duke reveals Kurt and Ram would only leave them alone if they brought Veronica, and the Heathers abandon her. Kurt and Ram unsuccessfully try to rape Veronica, though she manages to embarrass them and escape ("You’re Welcome"). The next day, Chandler's ghost appears to Veronica, warning she kept Kurt, Ram, and the other Heathers in check, and that with her gone, things would only get worse. Duke assumes Chandler's status and symbolic red scrunchie, becoming even more of a tyrant than Chandler was, while Ram and Kurt tell everyone they had a threesome with Veronica ("Never Shut Up Again"). Veronica is branded as a slut, and when J.D. attacks the jocks to defend her, they savagely beat him. J.D. and Veronica comfort each other and plan a vengeful prank: she will lure the jocks to the cemetery with the promise of a real threesome, then together they will shoot them with ich lüge (German for I lie) tranquilizer bullets to knock them out. Then Veronica and J.D. will leave another forged suicide note confessing Ram and Kurt were gay lovers and humiliate them in front of the school. When they arrive, J.D. shoots Ram but Veronica misses Kurt. As Veronica realizes that Ram is dead and the bullets are actually real, J.D. shoots Kurt dead and proclaims his undying love to a horrified Veronica ("Our Love Is God"). At Ram and Kurt's double funeral, a distraught Veronica reflects that they could have outgrown their immaturity ("Prom or Hell?"). Grief-stricken, Ram's Dad chastises Kurt's Dad for remaining homophobic, until the latter suddenly kisses the former, revealing their own secret love affair. Ram and Kurt are turned into martyrs to homophobia ("My Dead Gay Son"). Convinced that the murders are for the greater good, J.D. urges Veronica to target Duke next. When she refuses, he complains about doing nothing in the face of injustice. J.D. reveals he witnessed his mother's own suicide as a young boy, straining his relationship with his father and causing their constant moving around. Veronica gives him an ultimatum: give up violence and live a normal life with her or lose her forever ("Seventeen"). J.D. agrees and they reconcile. Martha tells Veronica she suspects J.D. of murdering the jocks, believing Ram's "love note" to her is proof. Veronica, urged by Chandler's ghost, confesses that she was actually the one who wrote it. Martha is heartbroken and runs off in tears. Ms. Fleming, one of the teachers, holds a televised therapy assembly, where she publicly breaks up with Steve, cutting off their affair ("Shine a Light"). She urges everyone to reveal their fears and insecurities, but only McNamara comes forward; admitting to experiencing grief and suicidal thoughts after losing Kurt and Chandler ("Lifeboat"). Duke mocks her and whips the students into a frenzy, and McNamara runs off crying. Veronica lashes out and blurts out a confession to the murders, but everyone believes she is only desperate for attention. Shortly after, McNamara tries to kill herself by overdosing in the bathroom, while Duke taunts her in her subconscious ("Shine a Light (Reprise)"), but Veronica stops her. J.D., carrying a gun, tries to persuade Veronica to kill Duke once more. Realizing how unstable he is, Veronica breaks up with him ("I Say No"). Furious, J.D. blackmails Duke into making the student body sign a petition to support a school holiday to honor the "suicide victims". Martha, mourning Ram, tries to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge ("Kindergarten Boyfriend"), but survives. Distraught, Veronica rushes home, only to find that J.D. has told her parents she is suicidal. She hides herself in her room as she is taunted by the ghosts of Kurt, Ram, and Chandler, while J.D. breaks in through the window ("Yo Girl"). Veronica barricades herself in her closet as J.D. reveals the petition was actually a mass suicide note, and explains his plans to stage the pep rally as such—using his demolition expertise. He breaks open the closet to find Veronica dangling from a noose. Grief-stricken, J.D flees to the school to enact his plan ("Meant to Be Yours"). Veronica, having faked her death, races to stop him. While the school pep rally is going on, Veronica confronts J.D in the boiler room, but in their struggle, he is shot ("Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)"). Unable to disarm the detonator, Veronica carries it to the empty football field to detonate the bombs out of range of the school. J.D. convinces her to let him take the detonator instead; it explodes, killing him ("I Am Damaged"). Returning to school, Veronica takes Chandler's scrunchie away from Duke, ending the era of social ridicule. Veronica then invites Martha and McNamara to hang out, rent a movie, and "be kids" before childhood is over ("Seventeen (Reprise)").
The concept of the stage production is that the audience is watching genderqueer rock singer Hedwig Robinson's musical act as she follows rockstar Tommy Gnosis' (much more successful) tour around the country. Occasionally Hedwig opens a door onstage to listen to Gnosis's concert, which is playing in an adjoining venue. Gnosis is recovering from an incident that nearly ruined his career, having crashed his car into a school bus while high and receiving oral sex from none other than Hedwig. Capitalizing on her notoriety from the incident, Hedwig determines to tell the audience her story ("Tear Me Down"). She is aided and hindered by her assistant, back-up singer and husband, Yitzhak. A Jewish drag queen from Zagreb, Yitzhak has an unhealthy, codependent relationship with Hedwig. Hedwig verbally abuses him throughout the evening, and it becomes clear that she is threatened by his natural talent, which eclipses her own. She describes how she agreed to marry him only after extracting a promise from him to never perform as a woman again, and he bitterly resents her treatment of him. (To further the musical's theme of blurred gender lines, Yitzhak is often played by a female actor.) Hedwig tells her life story, which began when she was Hansel Schmidt, a "slip of a girlyboy" growing up in East Berlin. Raised by an emotionally distant single mother after her father, an American soldier, abandoned the family, Hansel takes solace in her love of western rock music. She becomes fascinated with a story called "The Origin of Love", based on Aristophanes speech in Plato's Symposium. It explains that three sexes of human beings once existed: "children of the Sun" (man and man attached), "children of the Earth" (woman and woman attached), and "children of the Moon" (man and woman attached). Each were once round, two-headed, four-armed, and four-legged beings. Angry gods split these early humans in two, leaving the separated people with a lifelong yearning for their other half. Hansel is determined to search for her other half, but is convinced she will have to travel to the West to do so. This becomes possible when, in her 20s, she meets Luther Robinson, an American soldier ("Sugar Daddy") who convinces her to begin dressing in drag. Luther falls in love with Hansel and the two decide to marry. This plan will allow Hansel to leave communist East Germany for the capitalist West. Hansel's mother, Hedwig, gives Hansel her name and passport and finds a doctor to perform a genital reassignment surgery. However, the operation is botched, and Hansel's surgically constructed vagina heals closed, leaving Hedwig with a dysfunctional one-inch mound of flesh between her legs, "with a scar running down it like a sideways grimace on an eyeless face" ("Angry Inch"). Hedwig goes to live in Junction City, Kansas, as Luther's wife. On their first wedding anniversary, Luther leaves Hedwig for a man. That same day, it is announced that the Berlin Wall has fallen and Germany will reunite, meaning Hedwig's sacrifice was for nothing. Hedwig recovers from the separation by creating a more glamorous, feminine identity for herself ("Wig in a Box") and forming a rock band she calls The Angry Inch. Hedwig befriends the brother of a child she babysits, shy and misunderstood Christian teenager Tommy Speck, who is fascinated by a song she writes with him in mind ("Wicked Little Town"). They collaborate on songs and begin a relationship. Their songs are a success, and Hedwig gives him the stage name Tommy Gnosis. Hedwig believes that Tommy is her soulmate and that she cannot be whole without him, but he is disgusted when he discovers her "inch" and abandons her ("The Long Grift"). He goes on to become a wildly successful rock star with the songs Hedwig wrote alone and with him. The "internationally ignored" Hedwig and her band the Angry Inch are forced to support themselves by playing coffee bars and dives. Hedwig grows more erratic and unstable as the evening progresses, until she finally breaks down, stripping off her wig, dress, and make-up, forcing Yitzhak to step forward and sing ("Hedwig's Lament"/"Exquisite Corpse"). At the height of her breakdown, she seems to transform into Tommy Gnosis, who both begs for and offers forgiveness in a reprise of the song she wrote for him ("Wicked Little Town (Reprise)"). Hedwig, out of costume, finds acceptance within herself, giving her wig to Yitzhak. At peace, Hedwig departs the stage as Yitzhak takes over her final song, dressed fabulously in drag ("Midnight Radio").
Ali, a 17-year-old girl, welcomes the audience to Manhattan Plaza in the neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, and introduces the people in her life: the musicians who make up the artist housing in Manhattan Plaza; her friends, Tiny and Jessica; and her mother Jersey. Jersey, a singer and working woman who supports Rudy Giuliani's rhetoric and policies on increased policing, notices Ali talking to Knuck, a bucket drummer who is part of a group that hangs out in the building, and forces them to break off their interaction ("The Gospel"). Ali expresses frustration over her mother's protective efforts and yearns for independence ("The River"). Jersey defends her protectiveness to the other residents, pointing out that Ali is only seventeen years old and is still naïve and impulsive ("Seventeen"). While the drummers practice in the building's courtyard, Tiny and Jessica urge Ali to make a move on Knuck ("You Don't Know My Name"). Ali's awkward attempt proves unsuccessful, with Knuck turning her down; shortly after, he and the other drummers are kicked out of the building due to Jersey calling the police. Ali throws a tantrum and storms out of the apartment, but is prevented from leaving the building due to a sudden rainstorm. Hiding in the building's Ellington Room (a music practice room) she notices one of the building's residents Miss Liza Jane practicing piano, and becomes enamored with what she hears; Liza Jane notices her and offers to teach her to play ("Kaleidoscope"). Ali tracks Knuck down at work, where he hesitantly agrees to see her again ("Gramercy Park"). Jersey warns Ali against dating a musician: she recalls falling for Ali's father, Davis, a piano player ("Not Even the King" / "Teenage Love Affair") but laments his continued broken promises and inability to keep plans. Ali continues to pursue Knuck, eventually sleeping with him at his apartment ("Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)"). She stumbles into the Ellington Room by accident, where Miss Liza Jane makes her sit down for a piano lesson, teaching her some basic music theory. Ali rides the high of her relationship and her newfound love of music with the encouragement of Jessica, despite Tiny warning her of the danger ("Girl on Fire"). She invites Knuck over while Jersey is at work; Jersey returns home to find them asleep on the couch and angrily ejects Knuck from the apartment. While leaving, Knuck is shocked to learn that Ali is only seventeen. Jersey chases Ali as she follows Knuck down to the lobby, where he gets into a brief scuffle with the doorman Ray. Ali accuses Jersey of ruining her relationship because Jersey could not keep her own; Jersey slaps her in response. They are interrupted by the arrival of the police, whom Jersey called: however, seeing the scuffle they draw their weapons. Luckily, no one gets hurt, but Ali refuses to speak to her mother and retreats to the Ellington Room, where Liza Jane consoles her by pointing out the situation could have been much worse; she reflects on the racism she herself has experienced and urges Ali to continue learning to play so that she may continue a legacy of music ("Perfect Way to Die"). Ali continues to refuse to speak with Jersey ("Heartburn"). When Jersey fails again to get through to Ali and not wanting to be cut out, she calls up Davis as a last resort ("Love Looks Better"). Ali tracks down Knuck at his paint job ("Work on It"), but is rebuffed: Knuck tells her the police continued to harass him after the arrest, forcing him to escape to Atlanta to stay with family for several weeks. Liza Jane privately reveals to Jersey she is terminally ill and likely does not have much longer to live, something she is keeping from Ali. When Ali admits sometimes she wishes Liza Jane was her mother instead, Liza Jane elects to end the lesson, urging Ali to appreciate the time she has with her mother ("Authors of Forever"). Davis arrives at the apartment, where Jersey unloads her guilt over what she put Knuck, Ali, and the other residents through. Davis tries to offer his support, but mainly flirts with Jersey ("Fallin"). A tempted Jersey turns him down, and criticizes him for his absence. Ali falls asleep in the Ellington Room while looking for Liza Jane; when she wakes up she discovers Davis, who tries to bond with her by playing a song together ("If I Ain't Got You"). Ali is cheered up by spending time with her father, but soon realizes his unreliability when he hedges on when they can meet again. Jersey consoles Ali afterwards, and encourages her to talk to Knuck. She then tracks down Davis at his audition and warns him to stay away from Ali, refusing to let him hurt their daughter as he has hurt her ("Pawn It All"). Knuck reveals to Ali he is planning to move in with his family in Atlanta, due to having found community there ("Like You'll Never See Me Again"). The two part on amicable terms; though Ali is saddened that they have no chance of a relationship due to her youth and his moving, she finds solace in realizing she has made an adult decision for the first time. When she returns home, however, she discovers the normally music-laden building silent; she encounters Jersey who tearfully informs her of Miss Liza Jane's passing. They attend the service held in the Ellington Room, where Ali refuses to engage with the other mourners. Davis arrives and offers a eulogy expressing gratitude for Liza Jane for helping his daughter, and plays a tune on the piano. Ali eventually joins in, leading the mourners in a song ("Hallelujah/Like Water"). Jersey takes a chance and invites Davis to have dinner with her and Ali the following Friday, but he fails to show up. Though disappointed, Ali commends her mother for trying her hardest, and the two resolve that they still have each other ("No One"). Ali tells the audience their relationship continues to be rocky, but they are on steadier ground. She admits sorrow over Knuck's departure and Miss Liza Jane's passing, but continues to pursue music and expresses fondness for her community in Hell's Kitchen ("Empire State of Mind").
Hello Again is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It is based on the 1897 play La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler (also titled Reigen). It focuses on a series of love affairs among ten characters during the ten different decades of the 20th century. The musical premiered Off-Broadway in 1993, directed and choreographed by Graciela Daniele. Since then it has been performed in London, Sweden, Australia, Germany, The Netherlands and New York.
Sources: Tams-Witmark Guide to Musical Theatre Masterworks Broadway As the 19th becomes the 20th century, all of New York City is excited because brassy widow Dolly Gallagher Levi is in town ("Call on Dolly"). Dolly makes a living through what she calls "meddling" – matchmaking and numerous sidelines, including dance instruction and mandolin lessons ("I Put My Hand In"). She is currently seeking a wife for grumpy Horace Vandergelder, the well-known half-a-millionaire, but it becomes clear that Dolly intends to marry Horace herself. Ambrose Kemper, a young artist, wants to marry Horace's weepy niece Ermengarde, but Horace opposes this because Ambrose's vocation does not guarantee a steady living. Ambrose enlists Dolly's help, and they travel to Yonkers to visit Horace, who is a prominent citizen there and owns Vandergelder's Hay and Feed. Horace explains to his two clerks, Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker, that he is going to get married because he needs a wife to cheerfully do all the household chores ("It Takes a Woman"). He plans to travel with Dolly to New York City to march in the Fourteenth Street Association Parade and propose to the widow Irene Molloy, who owns a hat shop there. Dolly arrives in Yonkers and "accidentally" mentions that Irene's first husband might not have died of natural causes, and also mentions that she knows an heiress, Ernestina Money, who may be interested in Horace. Horace departs for New York and leaves Cornelius and Barnaby to mind the store in his absence. Cornelius decides that he and Barnaby need to get out of Yonkers and have an adventure in New York. They blow up some tomato cans to create a terrible stench as a pretext to close the store. Dolly mentions that she knows two ladies in New York they should call on: Irene Molloy and her shop assistant, Minnie Fay. She tells Ermengarde and Ambrose that she will enter them in the polka competition at the upscale Harmonia Gardens Restaurant in New York City so Ambrose can demonstrate to Horace his ability to be a breadwinner. Cornelius, Barnaby, Ambrose, Ermengarde and Dolly all take the train to New York ("Put on Your Sunday Clothes"). Irene and Minnie open their hat shop for the afternoon. Irene wants a husband, but does not love Horace Vandergelder. She declares that she will wear an elaborate hat to impress a gentleman ("Ribbons Down My Back"). Cornelius and Barnaby arrive at the shop and pretend to be rich. Horace and Dolly arrive at the shop, and Cornelius and Barnaby hide from him. Irene inadvertently mentions that she knows Cornelius, and Dolly tells her and Horace that even though Cornelius is Horace's clerk by day, he is a notorious New York playboy by night. Minnie screams when she finds Cornelius hiding in the armoire. Horace is about to open the armoire himself, but Dolly, Irene and Minnie distract him with patriotic sentiments related to subjects like Betsy Ross and Battle of the Alamo shown in the famous lyrics "Alamo, remember the Alamo!" ("Motherhood March"). Cornelius sneezes, and Horace storms out, realizing there are men hiding in the shop, but not knowing they are his clerks. Dolly arranges for Cornelius and Barnaby, who are still pretending to be rich, to take the ladies out to dinner to the Harmonia Gardens restaurant to make up for their humiliation. She teaches Cornelius and Barnaby how to dance since they always have dancing at such establishments ("Dancing"). Soon, Cornelius, Irene, Barnaby, and Minnie are happily dancing. They go to watch the great 14th Street Association Parade together. Alone, Dolly decides to put her dear departed husband Ephraim behind her and to move on with life ("Before the Parade Passes By"). She asks Ephraim's permission to marry Horace, requesting a sign from him. Dolly catches up with the annoyed Vandergelder, who has missed the whole parade, and she convinces him to give her matchmaking one more chance. She tells him that Ernestina Money would be perfect for him and asks him to meet her at the swanky Harmonia Gardens that evening. Cornelius is determined to get a kiss before the night is over, but Barnaby isn't so sure. As the clerks have no money for a carriage, they tell the girls that walking to the restaurant shows that they've got "Elegance". At the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant, Rudolph, the head waiter, prepares his service crew for Dolly Gallagher Levi's return: their usual lightning service, he tells them, must be "twice as lightning" ("The Waiters' Gallop"). Horace arrives with his date, but she proves neither as rich nor as elegant as Dolly had implied; furthermore she is soon bored by Horace and leaves, as Dolly had planned she would. Cornelius, Barnaby, and their dates arrive, unaware that Horace is also dining at the restaurant. Irene and Minnie, inspired by the restaurant's opulence, order the menu's most expensive items. Cornelius and Barnaby grow increasingly anxious as they discover they have little more than a dollar left. Dolly makes her triumphant return to the Harmonia Gardens and is greeted in style by the staff ("Hello, Dolly!") She sits in the now-empty seat at Horace's table and proceeds to eat a large, expensive dinner, telling the exasperated Horace that no matter what he says, she will not marry him. Barnaby and Horace hail waiters at the same time, and in the ensuing confusion each drops his wallet and inadvertently picks up the other's. Barnaby is delighted that he can now pay the restaurant bill, while Horace finds only a little spare change. Barnabay and Cornelius realize that the wallet must belong to Horace. Cornelius, Irene, Barnaby and Minnie try to sneak out during "The Polka Contest", but Horace recognizes them and spots Ermengarde and Ambrose as well. The ensuing free-for-all culminates in a trip to night court. Cornelius and Barnaby confess that they have no money and have never been to New York before. Cornelius declares that even if he has to dig ditches the rest of his life, he'll never forget the day because he had met Irene. Cornelius, Barnaby, and Ambrose then each profess their love for their companion ("It Only Takes A Moment"). Dolly convinces the judge that their only crime was being in love. The judge finds everyone innocent and cleared of all charges, but Horace is declared guilty and forced to pay damages. Dolly mentions marriage again, and Horace declares that he wouldn't marry her if she were the last woman in the world. Dolly angrily bids him goodbye ("So Long, Dearie"), telling him that while he's bored and lonely, she'll be living the high life. The next morning, back at the hay and feed store, Cornelius and Irene, Barnaby and Minnie, and Ambrose and Ermengarde each set out on new life's paths. A chastened Horace Vandergelder finally admits that he needs Dolly in his life, but Dolly is unsure about the marriage until her late husband sends her a sign. Vandergelder spontaneously repeats a saying of Ephraim's: "Money is like manure. It's not worth a thing unless it's spread about, encouraging young things to grow." Horace tells Dolly life would be dull without her, and she promises in return that she'll "never go away again" ("Hello, Dolly" (reprise)).
Henry, Sweet Henry is a musical with a book by Nunnally Johnson and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. Based on the 1964 novel The World of Henry Orient by Johnson's daughter Nora and the subsequent film of the same name, the plot focuses on Valerie and Marian, two wealthy, love-struck teenagers who stalk an avant-garde composer and aging philanderer.
Her First Roman is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Ervin Drake, based on the 1898 George Bernard Shaw play Caesar and Cleopatra.
Hercules is a musical based on the Walt Disney Animation Studios 1997 film of the same name, with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and David Zippel, and a book by Robert Horn and Kwame Kwei-Armah. The production is also loosely based on the legendary hero of the same name, the son of Zeus, in Greek mythology. Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, the musical had a tryout at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park in August 2019. It opened in the summer of 2025 at the West End's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
As clubbers enter Club Millennium, the DJ sets up the party with music and the Imelda Marcos motif. The DJ instructs the clubbers to enjoy the party as they watch the club's staff reenact the life of Imelda Marcos. The club ensemble enters, singing about the excess of wealth demonstrated by Americans, and conversely how some may find that display desirable ("American Troglodyte"). Imelda Romualdez is shown as a poor girl in stormy Leyte with best friend Estrella Cumpas and expresses her dreams of joining the upper class ("Here Lies Love"). Ninoy Aquino appears and describes his life as a son of a rich Filipino family, his pride in his country, and his endearment to Imelda ("Child of the Philippines"). However, their relationship is short-lived: while Ninoy wishes to pursue politics and give voice to the people, Imelda is only interested in "love and beauty," and they break up ("Opposite Attraction"). Imelda, brushing off the breakup as Ninoy deciding she was "too tall", joins and wins a beauty pageant ("Rose of Tacloban"). Estrella suggests she move to Manila to try to climb the social ladder. She arrives around the same time that Ferdinand Marcos is becoming even more famous ("A Perfect Hand"). Ferdinand and Imelda meet each other and engage in a whirlwind courtship that quickly leads to marriage ("Eleven Days"). Estrella, having been left behind in Imelda's rise in status, admires from afar and reminisces ("When She Passed By"). Ferdinand and Imelda honeymoon and become a power couple among the Philippines' upper class ("Sugartime Baby"). As the years pass, Imelda reflects on her more innocent childhood days in poverty but decides she will become the perfect wife to the Senator, all while self-medicating to suppress the stress of life in the public sphere ("Walk Like a Woman"). Maria Luisa, an expression of Imelda's inner self, encourages her to become a figure for the country at large. Imelda and Ferdinand campaign as part of Ferdinand's presidential bid, promising various construction projects to improve the country's image, and end up winning ("Don't You Agree? / Pretty Face"). In Malacañang, Imelda spearheads lavish parties and travels overseas to party with celebrities in New York at Studio 54 and other society haunts ("Dancing Together"). However, unrest begins to stir in the Philippines due to the Marcoses spending the peoples' money on parties and construction projects over infrastructure and public health; in the wake of these events, including the Manila Film Center disaster, an opposition movement forms under the now-Senator Ninoy Aquino, who puts aside his past with Imelda and the potential risk against his life to become one of the Marcoses' most outspoken critics ("Fabulous One"). Around the same time, Ferdinand engages in an affair with Dovie Beams: Maria Luisa sings to a grief-stricken Imelda that this could only be expected from a man like Ferdinand ("Men Will Do Anything"). As Imelda reflects on her life, she decides her new purpose is in service of the Philippines, choosing to symbolically rid herself of her past ("Star and Slave"). When Ferdinand becomes sick, he begs for forgiveness. Fed up with him, Imelda declares that she will run the country as he is too weak to effectively govern; she becomes the de facto leader of the Philippines, though the regime maintains that Ferdinand is still in charge ("Poor Me"). Unrest only escalates under Imelda's leadership, with Ninoy calling attention to the regime's crackdown on dissenters, but Imelda distracts the clubgoers and international leaders with parties and diplomacy ("Please Don't"). Estrella does a tell-all interview revealing Imelda's poor background, undermining the narrative Imelda tries to push that she was born into a wealthy family. Imelda, increasingly delusional with power, confronts Estrella and offers her money to retract her statements. When Estrella refuses, Imelda has her imprisoned ("Solano Avenue"). Due to the growing numbers of protests in Manila ("Riots and Bombs"), Ferdinand declares martial law, and the ensemble sings of their experiences and suffering, mocking the façade of safety the Marcoses claim to provide ("Order 1081"). Among the dissenters is Ninoy, who criticizes the Marcoses for events like the Plaza Miranda bombing, and he is eventually imprisoned for seven years. Imelda visits Ninoy in his cell and, citing their past relationship and her claimed sympathy to his plight, frees him on the condition he goes to the United States and never comes back, offering a veiled threat that he will be killed if he remains ("Seven Years"). Ninoy flees to the United States with his wife Cory and son Benny but returns in 1983, only to be assassinated on the tarmac, implied to be at Imelda's orders ("Gate 37"). At his funeral, Ninoy's mother Aurora calls for the people to revolt as the attendees don yellow armbands, raise their hands in the Laban sign, and burn Imelda and Ferdinand in effigy ("Just Ask the Flowers"). As the Marcoses' popularity and support crumbles, Imelda pathetically asks the people why they have turned against her after all she believes she did for them, while specters of Estrella, Ferdinand, and Maria Luisa similarly accuse her of abandoning them after they helped her get where she is ("Why Don't You Love Me?"). In the wake of the People Power Revolution, Imelda and Ferdinand are evacuated from the palace by a U.S. Air Force helicopter, bringing their regime to an end. As they leave, a still-delusional Imelda continues to insist she did everything "for love". In the silence that follows, the DJ comes down from his booth. He sings the story of the People Power Revolution while playing his guitar, gradually joined by the rest of the ensemble as they collectively marvel at the peaceful end to an otherwise violent regime ("God Draws Straight").
The first act is based on The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and the second act on The Exterminating Angel. One Saturday morning, in the fabulous apartment of Leo and Marianne Brink, the couple is surprised by the arrival of their friends, Paul Zimmer and his wife Claudia Bursik-Zimmer. They are joined by Raffael Santello Di Santicci, the ambassador of (the fictional country) Moranda, and Marianne's younger sister Fritz, an anti-capitalist political hothead. The Brinks, who don't recall inviting their guests, are unprepared to host. Leo offers to take everyone out to brunch, and they all head out. On the way to the restaurant ("The Road 1"), Marianne celebrates the glorious day. Raffael flirts with her via "an old Morandan proverb," although he's already having an affair with Claudia. Leo, Raffael, and Paul discuss the drug cartel that they secretly run. Fritz warns the group of approaching global catastrophe. They arrive at their brunch destination, a café with seemingly everything in creation on the menu ("Café Everything — Toast 1"). A waiter regretfully informs the group that the restaurant has no food or beverages and eventually shoots himself (“Waiter’s Song”). As the group seeks food again ("The Road 2"), it is revealed through a phone call that Fritz, under the code name "Apocalypse," is covertly working for the anarchist group PRADA (People's Revolutionary Anti-Domination Army) and must raise $50 million to start a world revolution to overthrow capitalism. Raffael attempts to flirt with Fritz, then serenades Claudia. Fritz overhears Leo, Paul, and Raffael discussing drugs and sees her chance to get the money. At the next restaurant, specializing in French deconstructivist cuisine ("Bistro à la Mode — Toast 2"), the group encounters a weeping waitress ("It Is What It Is") and discovers the restaurant staff is holding a funeral for the restaurant's dead chef in the back room. With no food to be had, they hit the road again ("The Road 3") and Fritz blackmails the men into giving her $50 million to start the revolution. At the next restaurant, an Italian brasserie ("Osteria Zeno — Toast 3"), their attempt to eat is interrupted by a colonel from Homeland Security and a poetic lieutenant, with whom Fritz instantly falls in love. The Soldier shares a surreal dream of his that mimics reality ("The Soldier's Dream"). When the restaurant's food turns out to be fake, Raffael suggests supper at his Embassy. Colonel Martin and the Soldier join the group. Finding themselves on the road once more in search of a meal ("The Road 4"), Raffael serenades Marianne. When they reach their destination ("Oh, Look, Here's the Embassy!"), a Bishop reconsidering his chosen vocation comes to the door looking for a job ("Bishop's Song"). As the group is seated for dinner, gunfire erupts in the distance – the result of Fritz's fundraising. On her cellphone, Fritz attempts to call off "the end of the world" only to discover that the embassy butler, Windsor, is in fact Inferno, her PRADA chief. Dinner is served at last ("End of Act One"). In the Morandan Embassy salon after dinner, the group relaxes ("Digestion") while Marianne savors the luxurious room ("Shine"). When it's time to go, everyone balks at leaving for some reason and remains inside the room ("Hesitation"). They decide to stay the night, bedding down right where they are. Fritz and the Soldier express their feelings ("Double Duet"), then retire to the room's closet to make love. In the middle of the night, Marianne has a surreal encounter with what appears to be a bear ("Interlude 1: Marianne and The Bear"). The next morning, the Colonel concludes that they're trapped and unable to leave the room – even though the door before them is wide open. In the ensuing panic, Leo has a heart attack, Windsor reveals himself to the group as Inferno, and explosions are heard. They realize it may be the actual end of the world outside. Days and nights pass inside the room as the hungry, thirsty group becomes more desperate. When water is discovered inside a wall, they dance in the downpour ("Interlude 2: Wandering"). Late one night, Marianne and the Bishop snack on book pages and have a quiet philosophical exchange ("Interlude 3: Snow") after which they enjoy a light indoor snowfall. With the group desperate to get out, Raffael is about to sacrifice himself to free them when Marianne realizes they can get out if they just reenact their steps on the evening they decided to stay ("Hesitation — Reprise"). When they've all been released from the room, the Colonel, the Soldier and the Bishop take their leave. The original group of friends returns to the road and their eternal search for food – but now they find themselves running, amidst what seems to be the end of the world.
Here's Howe! is a musical in two acts with music by Roger Wolfe Kahn and Joseph Meyer and lyrics by Irving Caesar. The swing music standard "Crazy Rhythm" was written for this show. The work's musical book was written by Fred Thompson and Paul Gerard Smith.
Here's Love is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson. An adaptation of the film Miracle on 34th Street, the show is currently licensed under the film's name as Miracle on 34th Street: The Musical. The musical, much like the film that inspired it, tells the tale of a skeptical young girl who doubts the existence of Santa Claus. When the real Kris Kringle is hired inadvertently to represent jolly St. Nick in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, he must convince the child and her cynical divorced mother (the department store's special events director) that he is the genuine article.
Here's Where I Belong is a musical with a book by Alex Gordon (a nom de plume of the novelist ) and Terrence McNally, lyrics by Alfred Uhry, and music by Robert Waldman. The musical closed after one performance on Broadway.
Higgledy-Piggledy is a musical in two acts with music by Maurice Levi and both book and lyrics by Edgar Smith. It was produced by Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. and Joseph M. Weber, and written as a starring vehicle for Ziegfeld's longtime romantic companion, the actress Anna Held, and for vaudevillian comedian Joe Weber who had recently split from his comedic partnership with Lew Fields. While critical responses to the production overwhelmingly cited the felt absence of Lew Fields and the difficulty of Weber's persona coping with that loss, the work was still a popular success and well received largely due to the actress Marie Dressler who gave a highly lauded star making performance in the role of Philopena Schnitz that propelled the show through a relatively long run on Broadway and on tour.
High Button Shoes is a 1947 musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by George Abbott and Stephen Longstreet. It was based on the semi-autobiographical 1946 novel The Sisters Liked Them Handsome by Stephen Longstreet.
High Fidelity is a musical with music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Amanda Green, and a book by David Lindsay-Abaire. Based primarily on the 1995 Nick Hornby novel of the same name, the plot focuses on Rob Gordon, a Brooklyn record shop owner in his thirties obsessed with making top five lists for everything, always observing rather than participating in life. When his girlfriend Laura leaves him, he goes through a painful re-evaluation of his life and lost loves (with a little help from his music) and he slowly learns that he has to grow up and let go of his self-centered view of the world before he can find real happiness. Premiering in Boston in 2006, the musical eventually moved to Broadway, opening on December 7, 2006, at the Imperial Theatre. The show received mixed reviews, and closed on December 17, 2006, after 18 previews and 13 performances. Upon closing, Broadway Licensing acquired the rights for stock and amateur performance rights.
High Jinks is a musical farce with music by Rudolf Friml and book and lyrics by Otto Harbach and Leo Ditrichstein, based on the farce Before and After by Leo Ditrichstein which was adapted from a French farce, Les Dragees d'Hercule, by Maurice Hennequin and Paul Bilhaud. The musical is set in France and concerns several patients of Dr Thorne who take High Jinks, an elixir found in Tibet, which causes them to laugh and fall in love. "Something Seems Tingle-Ingleing" and "Love's Own Kiss" are two of the best known songs. Directed by Frank Smithson, High Jinks opened at the Casino Theatre on Broadway on December 10, 1913, and ran for 213 performances.
Glamorous but pretentious Long Island socialite Tracy Samantha Lord is planning a lavish June 1938 wedding to an equally pretentious executive, George Kittredge. Guests include her mother, grumpy little sister Dinah, and absent-minded Uncle Willy, who lives in a house near the Lord estate. Willy is hosting a party for the wedding guests that evening, the night before the wedding. Tracy's unwelcome ex-husband and neighbor, C.K. Dexter Haven, sails up to the estate in his yacht. Dexter informs Tracy and her family that tabloid reporters Mike Connor and Liz Imbrie will be covering the wedding for Spy while pretending to be guests. Dexter invited them to stop Spy from publishing an exposé of Tracy's father Seth, who is estranged from Tracy's mother because he is having an affair with a dancer, Tina Mara. Dexter tries to convince the suspicious Dinah of his good intentions. When Mike and Liz arrive, Tracy and Dinah do not let on that they know of the reporters' charade. Tracy pretends that Uncle Willie is her father, but when her father arrives, she pretends that he is Uncle Willie. Dexter confronts Tracy about their relationship, leaving her confused; suddenly George seems so pompous. She also is finding Mike to be sweet and remembers some good times with Dexter on his yacht. She starts drinking champagne before the party at Uncle Willie's even begins. After the party, Tracy is still drinking champagne, and she misbehaves, dancing with the staff and Mike. George is angry and embarrassed. Dinah hurries to Dexter's house, finding him packing for a trip. She calls him a coward and informs him that Tracy is drinking champagne, which he knows makes her wild. After many farcical comings and goings back at the estate, George reminds Tracy of their wedding the next day, warns her about her behavior and stomps away. Mike tells Tracy that George is not good enough for her. He kisses her, and she tipsily invites him to go skinny dipping in the pool. Dexter and Dinah return to witness other romantic entanglements unfolding between Seth and his wife and Uncle Willy and Liz, who really loves Mike. As soon as Tracy gets in the water, the champagne catches up with her, and Mike puts her innocently in her bed. In the morning, Tracy realizes that she was in the pool with Mike and, her memory hazy, fears that she had sex with him, ruining her wedding and social standing. All works out in the end, however, with Tracy's parents reuniting, the blackmail threat quashed, Mike realizing that he is really in love with Liz, and Tracy reuniting with Dexter. Since the wedding is already scheduled and paid for, Dexter steps up and all ends happily.
High Spirits is a musical with a book, lyrics, and music by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray, based on the play Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward, about a man coping with the ghost of his dead wife. Martin and Gray adhered closely to Coward's original text, while expanding the medium's character to the star role, initially calling the show Faster Than Sound. The playwright was delighted with their adaptation and agreed to direct it himself.
Higher and Higher is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and book by Gladys Hurlbut and Joshua Logan and produced by Dwight Deere Wiman. It ran on Broadway for 84 performances in 1940.
Hip! Hip! Hooray! is a musical in two acts with music by Gus Edwards and both lyrics and book by Edgar Smith. It was written as a starring vehicle for the comedian Joe Weber, premiering on Broadway at Weber's Music Hall on October 10, 1907. It ran at that theatre for 64 performances, closing on December 7, 1907. The story takes place at the fictional Doolittle College, where two German professors attempt to popularize a new breakfast cereal, "Excited Oats", while simultaneously becoming entangled in romance, one with a widow and the other with a beautiful young woman.
Hit the Deck is a musical with music by Vincent Youmans, lyrics by Clifford Grey and Leo Robin and book by Herbert Fields. It was based on the 1922 play Shore Leave by Hubert Osborne. The title refers to a nautical slang term that means to prepare for action (general) or to drop to a prone position on the ground (as a defensive response to hostile fire). The musical is set in China and Newport, Rhode Island, and on a ship traveling between the two locations. The original production was staged at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway, opening on April 25, 1927, and running for 352 performances. The first London production opened at the Hippodrome on July 3, 1927 and ran for 277 performances. It starred Stanley Holloway. In The Manchester Guardian, Ivor Brown praised Holloway for a singing style "which coaxes the ear rather than clubbing the head."
Lisi loves the poor Aloisius, but her father hopes she will marry the wealthy innkeeper Plunderer. Peperl Geschwandtner lends the young couple money to open an inn, though Plunderer schemes to ruin their business. Princess Marie, tired of court life, visits their inn incognito. Geschwandtner mistakes her for a domestic and falls in love with her. The Princess secretly brings in the orchestra from Plunderer’s rival inn, making the Silver Pretzel a success. When the court carriage reveals her identity, her patronage secures the inn’s future. Marie must marry Prince Victor according to court protocol, but she supports Geschwandtner by appointing him music teacher to her younger siblings and Hofkapellmeister. Lisi and Aloisius marry.
Hold Everything! is a musical comedy with lyrics by Lew Brown and B. G. de Sylva, music by Ray Henderson, and has an accompanying book by John McGowan and B. G. de Sylva. A musical about professional boxing, the work's central character is welterweight Sonny Jim Brooks.
Hold On To Your Hats is a musical comedy in two acts by Guy Bolton, Matt Brooks, and Eddie Davis, with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg and music by Burton Lane. The show was lavishly staged by Edgar MacGregor, with dances by Catherine Littlefield, musical direction by Al Goodman, and colorful It ran for 158 performances, closing on February 1, 1941. The cast included Jolson, Martha Raye, Jinx Falkenburg, Arnold Moss, Jack Whiting, Russ Brown, and John Randolph. It was the last show in which Jolson appeared.
In August 1946, song-and-dance trio Jim Hardy, Ted Hanover, and Lila Dixon perform at a club in New York City ("Steppin' Out With My Baby/I'll Capture Her Heart"). Afterwards, Jim proposes to Lila. She accepts, and he tells her that he bought Mason Farm in Midville, Connecticut, intending for them to leave show business to raise a family ("The Little Things in Life"). Lila is reluctant to give up performing. When Ted and his manager Danny announce that the trio has booked a six-week tour, Jim rejects the offer, but Lila agrees to tour with Ted as a duo, promising to join Jim in Connecticut after the tour. Eager to settle down, Jim moves to Midville ("Blue Skies"). Jim finds the old farmhouse falling apart, and local boy Charlie Winslow, on behalf of the local bank, presents Jim with a bill for back taxes. Jim is visited by the spirited Linda Mason, an aspiring performer-turned-schoolteacher who had lived on the farm. Linda and Jim are attracted to each other and awkwardly express their shared loneliness and longing to move forward with their lives ("Marching Along With Time"). Linda introduces Jim to Louise Badger, an overly enthusiastic farmhand who has worked at Mason Farm since Linda was a child. Jim and Louise tend to the farm with little success. Jim misses Lila; meanwhile, Ted and Lila have a successful tour ("Heat Wave"). Lila finally visits Jim ("It's A Lovely Day Today"), but she breaks off their engagement; she will continue performing with Ted. By Thanksgiving, Ted and Lila are in Las Vegas ("Plenty to Be Thankful For"); although Louise tries to push Linda and Jim closer together, the two fail to connect, and Linda laments her loneliness ("Nothing More to Say"). On Christmas Eve, Jim and Louise decorate the farmhouse; he notes the irony of decorating a house for only themselves, but Louise has invited Jim's old performing friends to visit, so they all throw a party ("Shakin' the Blues Away"). Linda arrives and is impressed by the festivities. Jim realizes how much he misses performing. He and Louise decide to turn the farm into an inn – only open on holidays – as a way to satisfy his desire to perform while still living a quiet life most of the year, and to bring in money. Jim will write songs for each holiday, to be performed by him, Linda, and his friends. He plays Linda a Christmas song he wrote as an example of the type of song he might perform at the Inn ("White Christmas"), and he decides to stage the first performance on New Year's Eve. A week later, "Holiday Inn" is having its inaugural performance, and it proves popular ("Happy Holiday"). To ring in both the new year and Jim's new business, Linda performs publicly for the first time in many years ("Let's Start the New Year Right"). Ted drunkenly wanders into the inn, interrupts the song and begins dancing with her. Jim jealously punches Ted in the face, and Linda storms out. Ted wakes up in Louise's bed, hung over; Lila has left their act to marry a millionaire in Texas; he cannot remember who he danced with before passing out, but he decides she must be his new dance partner. Jim, worried that Ted will steal Linda from him, pretends not to have seen Ted's new partner. Ted sets out to dance with every woman he sees, trying to track down the right one ("You're Easy to Dance With"). Linda is humiliated by Jim and Ted's behavior; Jim apologizes and offers to start over ("Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk"). She agrees to give him another chance, and in time they begin a relationship. By the Valentine's Day show, Jim loves Linda, and he writes a song about her for the Inn ("Be Careful, It's My Heart"). While he sings it to her, Ted walks in and realizes Linda is the girl he seeks. Jim objects that he does not want Ted to steal Linda from him, but Ted and Linda reassure him and perform together for the first time, headlining the performance. Jim jealously tries to prevent Ted and Linda from getting too close to each other, by cuing the band to change style and tempo several times ("Cheek to Cheek"). Jim apologizes for sabotaging the number, but he does so again in the Easter show by entering at the end of the song and singing with Linda and Ted ("Easter Parade"). Ted asks Danny to put an end to Jim's meddling. Danny reveals to Ted that two Hollywood producers are interested in putting Ted and Lila in a movie, and they will attend the next Holiday Inn performance. Louise hears this and calls Lila, asking her to come to the Inn. As Linda prepares for the Independence Day performance ("Song of Freedom"), Louise locks her in the barn to prevent the producers from seeing her. With Linda missing, Ted improvises a solo tap number with fireworks ("Let's Say It With Firecrackers"). Lila arrives but mistakenly enters the barn where Linda is trapped, and reveals that the man she left Ted for owed millions rather than owning them; not knowing that Linda is Ted's new dance partner, she mentions the producers. Linda assumes Jim has sabotaged her again and leaves Lila locked in the barn, returning to the stage to join Ted for the end of his number. After the performance, Linda confronts Jim, but he has no knowledge of the producers nor of Lila's presence, and Louise admits she orchestrated the sabotage. As Linda forgives Jim, Danny reveals that the producers want to make a movie about Holiday Inn, starring Ted and Linda with Jim as a songwriter and consultant, but Jim wants to stay at the Inn. Linda is hurt by Jim's stoicism and leaves with Ted to make the movie ("Nothing More to Say" (reprise)). Jim and Louise spend another Thanksgiving alone; with no headliners, they cancel the Holiday Inn shows. Louise motivates the despondent Jim and sends him to win back Linda in Hollywood. On the set of the movie, Linda is having a tough time with the fictionalization of the story, interrupting shots and proving difficult for the director and producers to work with. As she sings "White Christmas," Jim enters the studio and sings with her, halting the production. Jim proposes to Linda and she accepts, quitting the film to be with him. Danny objects, but Ted lets her go. It is early in production, and Linda is replaced by Lila. An excerpt of the finished film is shown. (As an alternative scene, instead of the film excerpt, Lila talks with a reporter at the red-carpet movie premiere.) Later in Midville, Ted and Lila reunite at the wedding of Linda and Jim, who vow to continue performing at the Inn ("Finale").
Audience suggestions shape a new holiday musical at each performance. An ensemble improvises connected scenes and songs about relationships, work and the festive season, with music created live. Inspired by the structure of Stephen Sondheim's Company, the show changes its characters, story and songs from night to night.
"Holler If Ya Hear Me is a jukebox musical written by Todd Kreidler featuring the hip-hop music of Tupac Shakur. According to Playbill, the musical is "a non-biographical story about friendship, family, revenge, change and hope. Inner city lives struggle for peace against the daily challenges they face in this entertaining and original musical".
Starlet Brenda Blossom, pining for a lowly writer, Ralph, is promised in marriage by her father (a director looking to advance his own career) to the studio head, Joseph Porter. If she marries Ralph, she'll be tossed out of Hollywood and forced to make a living on the stage. Everything turns out for the best when it is discovered that a mix-up in Louhedda Hopsons' gossip column was responsible for Ralph's fall from grace. In reality, it was Ralph who was meant to head the studio instead of Porter.
Home Sweet Homer is a 1976 musical with a book by Roland Kibbee and Albert Marre, lyrics by Charles Burr and Forman Brown, and music by Mitch Leigh. Loosely based on Homeric legend, the plot centers on Odysseus and Penelope, awaiting his return to Ithaca. It is one of the most notorious flops in Broadway theatre history, with only a single performance before closing. It toured as Odyssey beginning in 1974 before being retitled for Broadway.
Jack Singer and his girlfriend of five years, Betsy Nolan, are in love ("I Love Betsy"). But when he tries to buy her an engagement ring, he suffers a panic attack as he remembers his mother's dying wish from ten years earlier—that he never marry, because no woman could love him as she did ("Never Get Married"). Betsy tells Jack that she can't wait indefinitely for him to deal with his issues ("Anywhere But Here"). He proposes that they elope to Las Vegas, and she accepts. They check into the Milano hotel ("When You Say Vegas"), and Betsy immediately catches the attention of Tommy Korman, a wealthy gambler; she bears an uncanny resemblance to his late wife Donna, an avid sunbather who died of skin cancer ("Out of the Sun"). He decides to steal Betsy from Jack ("The Invitation/Forever Starts Tonight"). Tommy invites Jack to a private poker game, so Betsy shops for a wedding dress ("Betsy's Getting Married/The Game"). Tommy beats Jack's straight flush with a royal flush, leaving Jack owing Tommy $58,000. Tommy proposes that Jack can be spared physical violence if he agrees to let Betsy spend the rest of the weekend with Tommy ("Come to an Agreement"). Betsy is incensed, but agrees to meet Tommy. Tommy charms Betsy with recollections of Donna and with his pride in their son who now has a wife and baby. Tommy shocks Jack by informing Betsy that he wants to spend their weekend together in Hawaii; Betsy is so angry at Jack that she agrees to leave with Tommy. Jack decides he must take action ("Do Something"), but is too late to stop them from boarding a plane; he buys a ticket to follow them. The travelers arrive in Hawaii ("Hawaii/Waiting for You"). Jack is approached by Teihutu and Mahi, who offer to guide him ("Every Day Is Happy in Hawaii") but are secretly employed by Tommy to distract him; Mahi attempts to seduce Jack ("Friki-Friki"), but fails. Betsy gets along well with Tommy and his son's family, unaware that they are hired actors. She shares a tender moment with Tommy as they sing an old standard together ("You Made the Wait Worthwhile"). Betsy refrains from being intimate with him, but Tommy confides in his henchman Johnny Sandwich that he still thinks his plan will be successful ("A Little Luck"). Meanwhile, Mahi is moved by Jack's plight and takes him to a sacred grove where a mother's curse can be broken ("The Garden of Disappointed Mothers"). Jack confronts his mother ("Isn't That Enough?"), who relents and agrees to let him and Betsy be happy—but only if Jack proves himself as a man. Tommy plies Betsy with drinks and tells her that Jack only owed him $800; she is so outraged (and drunk) that she kisses Tommy and demands that he immediately marry her in Las Vegas. Mahi informs Jack that Tommy and Betsy are leaving Hawaii, but he is unable to catch them. No reasonable travel options are available ("Airport Song"), but Jack manages to join a troupe of Elvis impersonators making a "pilgrimage" to Las Vegas. However, when the plane approaches Las Vegas, he learns that he must skydive into the city ("Higher Love"). He panics, but ultimately makes the jump, thus proving himself ("Elvii In Flight"). Betsy, having sobered up, rethinks her decision ("I've Been Thinking"), and finally rejects Tommy after Johnny accidentally confirms the true amount of Jack's debt. Jack parachutes into Betsy's arms and they marry on the spot ("Honeymoon in Vegas (Finale)")
Honk! is a musical adaptation of the 1843 Hans Christian Andersen story The Ugly Duckling, incorporating a message of tolerance. The book and lyrics are by Anthony Drewe and music is by George Stiles (of the British songwriting duo Stiles and Drewe). The musical is set in the countryside and features Ugly – a cygnet who is mistaken as an ugly duckling upon falling into his mother's nest and is rejected by everyone but Ida (his mother), a sly tomcat who only befriends him out of hunger, and several other barnyard characters. The musical opened at the Watermill Theatre in England in 1993. The West End production opened in 1999 and won the 2000 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical The show is frequently produced by schools, as well as regional and community theatre groups in Britain, the U.S. and Canada.
Hooray for What! is an anti-war musical with music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E. Y. Harburg and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It introduced the song "Down With Love".
Hot Feet is a jukebox musical featuring the music of Earth, Wind & Fire, a book by Heru Ptah and was conceived, directed, and choreographed by Maurice Hines. The musical opened on Broadway at the Lyric Theatre (then the Hilton Theatre) on April 30, 2006 and closed on July 23, 2006.
Hot Shoe Shuffle is a 1992 Australian musical produced by David Atkins. A jukebox musical, the score mostly includes American big band and popular songs of the 1920s to 1940s. While set in the United States, the show has a decidedly Australian sense of humor.
Peace Corps volunteer, hygiene teacher "Sally Hopwinder", is stationed in a fictional nation, "D'hum" with decent living conditions. She concocts a plan to obtain U.S. aid for D'hum by convincing the Pentagon that Russia is about to invade it.
Houp La! is an Edwardian musical comedy extravaganza, with music by Nat D. Ayer and Howard Talbot, lyrics by Percy Greenbank and Hugh E. Wright, and a book by Fred Thompson and Hugh E. Wright. The story combines the comic financial troubles of a circus owner with a love triangle. The original production of the show was mounted by Charles B. Cochran at London's new St Martin's Theatre, opening on 23 November 1916 and starring Gertie Millar, George Graves, Nat Ayer and Ida Adams. It was the first production at the St Martin's, which was leased by Cochran. Although the critics found the music innovative, and the cast included stars of the day, the show ran for only three months in London. A Manchester production followed.
House of Flowers is a musical by Harold Arlen (music and lyrics) and Truman Capote (lyrics and book). A short story of the same name was published in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958).
How Now, Dow Jones is a musical comedy by Academy Award winner Elmer Bernstein, Tony Award nominee Carolyn Leigh and Max Shulman. The original Broadway production opened in December 1967. A critically acclaimed revised version premiered off-Broadway in August 2009. How Now, Dow Jones, set in Wall Street, follows Kate who announces the Dow Jones numbers. Her fiancé will not marry her until the Dow Jones Industrial Average hits 1,000.
We meet Caroline, Remy, Drew, Tommy, Mel, Jessica and Marideth, autistic young adults as they go through their daily routine. We also meet Dr. Amigo, who runs a social skills group for autistic people, and his daughter Ashley Amigo, who is on medical leave from college due to an ankle injury, where she is studying dance ("Today Is"). It's Marideth's first time attending the group. Marideth feels hesitant to speak, even though they are each expected to share something with the group. Marideth finally opens her mouth to speak, when Jessica bursts in, apologizing for being late. In the end, Marideth doesn't share and leaves the group early, but she surprises and pleases her dad by telling him she wants to return. Drew, an academically high achieving senior in high school who got into the University of Michigan for Electrical Engineering, shares that he only wants to attend to make his parents happy and expresses that he wants to attend The Ohio State University instead ("Under Control"). Later on, Drew's parents inform Dr. Amigo that they are unsure if he can handle living away from home, and are upset because they believe Dr. Amigo should have received more support for having taught Drew those skills. Dr. Amigo begins to question his ability to lead the social skills group as a result ("The How-Tos"). He comes up with the idea to have a formal dance to help everyone build their social skills ("How To Dance In Ohio"). He plans to crown two people as the formal king and queen, which makes Mel and Remy uncomfortable, as Mel is non-binary and Remy is questioning their gender. At a diner, Marideth talks about the animals of Australia while her father tries to talk to her about the formal dance ("Unlikely Animals"). The group is nervous but excited at the idea of the dance. Drew has a crush on Marideth but is afraid to ask her out. Jessica has a crush on Tommy but doesn't know when to ask him out ("Butterflies"). Caroline daydreams about attending the dance with her boyfriend Jay on her way to a Japanese exam ("Slow Dancing"). A blogger talks to Dr. Amigo about possibly doing a piece on the dance, but he declines, saying he doesn't want reporters ("Hello, How Are You?"), but then a reporter that Dr. Amigo admires contacts him. Ashley says he just told the other person he wasn't having reporters, so Dr. Amigo agrees to both the blogger and the reporter. He tells them not to release any articles until after the dance. He has a crush on the reporter, but later learns she is married. Ashley then expresses that she isn't so sure she wants to return to Juilliard after her ankle heals ("Come Home, Recover"). Marideth tells her dad that Jessica and Caroline are going shopping for dresses at Macy's, and her dad suggests going to a discount store. Marideth does not like any of the dresses at the discount store, so her dad asks her which one is the least bad. Jessica and Caroline's moms are happy their daughters are buying dresses because it makes them nostalgic for their own proms, and are glad that their children have an opportunity to attend an accessible dance ("Getting Ready For The Dance"). Meanwhile, Mel has a misunderstanding at work with their manager and becomes overwhelmed, and Drew struggles with the social aspects of asking Marideth to the dance ("Waves and Wires"). He ends up chickening out and instead offers her a book. Marideth reads Drew's book and confronts her newfound romantic feelings towards him ("Drift"). Ashley finally gathers up the courage to tell Dr. Amigo that she does not want to return to dance school after her ankle injury heals and instead to work at the center. However, he fires her from Amigo Family Counseling, fearing that he is holding her back by letting her use the center as a place to hide instead of fighting for her dreams ("Terminally Human"). Meanwhile, Caroline encourages Jessica to ask Tommy to the dance ("So Much in Common"), but when she finally asks him, he turns her down as he is already going with Mel. The blogger decides to release the article before the dance despite Dr. Amigo's request, and presents it through an ableist lens even though Dr. Amigo had tried to correct those assumptions in their interview, with the article centering around Amigo and completely objectifying and infantilizing the group members. One-by-one, things begin to fall apart. Jessica and Caroline get into a fight over Caroline's toxic boyfriend ruining their friendship. Tommy scheduled his road test for the day before the dance. He passes, but then drives his brother's truck without his brother's permission, and crashes it. He isn't hurt, but gets grounded. Mel gets the promotion at work but has to cover their co-worker's shift, Marideth refuses to go, and Amigo believes Drew will not come because of a call he made to the University of Michigan lying about Drew wanting to attend there instead of Ohio State ("So Much in Common (Reprise)"/"Chevy Silverado"/"Admissions"). Having overheard the fight between her and her father, Mel comes to comfort Ashley and offer her words of wisdom ("Reincarnation"). The group find out the ableist article and are hurt, with some deciding to not attend the dance in protest ("Two Steps Backward"). Remy turns this into an opportunity to do his first livestream on his channel to improve conversations about disability and educate his audience about ableism ("Nothing At All"). All the parents call Dr. Amigo to tell him all the reasons why their children will be unable to attend the spring formal ("The Amigo Spring Formal"). At the night of the spring formal, believing no one will show up, he is surprised to see Drew, disappointed to see that no one came. However, he does not want to miss the opportunity to dance with Marideth, so he gets the idea to throw another dance the following day at the therapy center ("Building Momentum"). Dr. Amigo apologizes to the group about the article and tells the blogger to take it down. Caroline and Jessica make up, and Caroline reveals that she has broken up with Jay. Marideth's father convinces her to attend the spring formal, and she agrees. Ashley unexpectedly shows up at the dance and announces that she has retired as a dancer and sets clear boundaries with her father. And Mel encourages Dr. Amigo to hire Ashley back with a raise ("The Second Chance Dance"). The second dance is a success, and Drew finally asks Marideth to dance. ("Finale")
J. Pierrepont Finch, a young window cleaner in New York City, reads the book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as he works. The "Book Voice" tells him that he will succeed if he follows the book's advice. He enters the World Wide Wicket Company searching for a job ("How To Succeed"). Finch bumps into J. B. Biggley, the president of the company, who dismisses him to the personnel manager, Mr. Bratt. Rosemary Pilkington, an ambitious young secretary, helps Finch meet Mr. Bratt. Finch tells Bratt that Biggley sent him, and Bratt gives him a job in the mailroom, where he works with Mr. Biggley's lazy, arrogant, and nepotism-minded nephew Bud Frump. Rosemary dreams of a life with Finch in the suburbs ("Happy To Keep His Dinner Warm"). The fatigued workers rush to get their coffee break ("Coffee Break"). In the mailroom, Finch earns favor with the long-time head of the mailroom, Mr. Twimble, who tells him the secret to longevity at the company ("The Company Way"). Twimble is promoted to head of the shipping department and has to choose his replacement as head of the mailroom. The book warns not to stay in the mailroom too long, so Finch recommends Frump instead of himself. Twimble is reluctant to promote the lazy Frump, but Frump promises to be a good employee ("The Company Way (Reprise)"). Twimble and Bratt are impressed by Finch's apparent selflessness, and Bratt offers him a job as a junior executive in the Plans and Systems department, headed by Mr. Gatch. An extremely attractive but air-headed woman named Hedy LaRue, who is Mr. Biggley's secret mistress, is hired as a secretary. On her first day of work, the male employees are instantly attracted to her, but Mr. Bratt warns them against taking advantage of their employees ("A Secretary Is Not a Toy"). Finch learns from Mr. Biggley's secretary, Miss Jones, that Biggley is a proud alumnus of Old Ivy College. In the elevator at the end of the workday, Rosemary's fellow secretary Smitty helps her and Finch set up a date ("Been a Long Day"). Frump runs into Biggley and Hedy and realizes their relationship, and he blackmails Biggley into giving him a promotion ("Been a Long Day (Reprise)"). Finch arrives early Saturday morning and sets up the office so it looks like he has been working all night. Biggley believes Finch's ruse, and Finch convinces Biggley that he, too, is a proud alumnus of Old Ivy (a "Groundhog"), and they sing the Old Ivy fight song ("Grand Old Ivy"). Biggley insists that Finch be given his own office and secretary, Hedy. With the book's help, Finch realizes that Biggley must be Hedy's advocate and sends her on an errand to Gatch, knowing that Gatch will make a pass at her. Gatch falls for the trap and is dispatched to Venezuela, and Finch is promoted to his position as head of Plans and Systems. At a reception for the new Advertising Department head, Benjamin Burton Daniel Ovington, Rosemary hopes to impress Finch with her new "Paris original" dress, but all the other women arrive at the reception wearing the same dress ("Paris Original"). Frump schemes for Biggley to catch Finch kissing LaRue in his office, but after LaRue blackmails Finch into kissing her, he realizes he's actually in love with Rosemary ("Rosemary"). After some farcical complications, Frump and Biggley walk into the office just as Finch embraces Rosemary. Ovington is forced to resign when Biggley learns that he is a graduate from Northern State, Old Ivy's bitterest rival (a "Chipmunk"). Biggley names Finch vice-president in charge of advertising. Biggley leaves as Finch and Rosemary declare their love for each other, and Bud Frump vows revenge ("Act I Finale"). Two days later, Rosemary has been neglected by Finch. She decides to quit, but her fellow secretaries convince her to stay because she's living their dream of marrying an executive ("Cinderella, Darling"). (In the 1995 revival, this song was replaced with a reprise of "How to Succeed", with the lyrics suggesting ways in which a woman can get hold of a man's financial assets). The book warns Finch that because vice-president of advertising is a bad position, he needs a brilliant idea. Bud Frump slyly tells Finch his idea for a treasure hunt, which Finch loves, unaware that Biggley has already heard the idea and rejected it. Finch shares the idea with Rosemary, who tells him that she'll stay with him no matter what happens ("Happy To Keep His Dinner Warm (Reprise)"). Hedy tells Biggley that she is unhappy as a secretary and is leaving for California. He begs her to stay and tells her he loves her, and she agrees to stay ("Love From a Heart of Gold"). In the executive washroom, Finch gives himself a pep talk while, behind his back, the other executives and Frump plot against him ("I Believe In You"). Finch presents "his" idea to Biggley: he will hide five thousand shares of company stock in each of the ten offices around the country and give a television audience weekly clues as to their whereabouts. Biggley accepts this idea when Finch explains that each clue will be given by the scantily-dressed World Wide Wicket Treasure Girl: Miss Hedy LaRue. During the first television show, Hedy is asked to swear on a Bible that she doesn't know the location of the prizes. Hedy panics and reveals the locations to the entire television audience, which prompts all the Wicket employees to tear apart the offices looking for them. The book tells Finch, "How To Handle a Disaster....We suggest that your best bet if you are the cause of the Disaster is to review the first chapter of this book: 'How to Apply for a Job'." The executives, including Chairman of the Board Wally Womper, are waiting in Biggley's office for Finch's resignation. Rosemary again tells Finch that she'll stand by him no matter what ("I Believe in You (Reprise)"). About to sign his letter of resignation, Finch mentions that he'll probably go back to washing windows. Womper is drawn to Finch as he, too, was a window washer and they both "had a book": Wally's book was a book of betting records. Finch blames the treasure hunt on Frump, also mentioning that Frump is Biggley's nephew. Womper is about to "clean house from top to bottom", when Finch steps in on everyone's behalf. Finch tells the executives that even though the business world is a place filled with betrayal and competitiveness, the World Wide Wicket staff is like a family to him ("Brotherhood of Man"). Everyone is spared except Frump, who is fired because he is Biggley's nephew. Biggley remains president, Womper retires to travel the world with his new wife, Hedy, and Finch becomes chairman of the board. Rosemary stands by his side and inadvertently inspires him to aspire for the Presidency of the United States. Frump gets a job washing windows, swearing revenge against Finch ("Company Way (Finale)").
A musical comedy about family and everyday life, addressing oppression within the family and Azerbaijani women’s place in society.
Harry Bogen is an ambitious, unscrupulous young businessman in the 1930s New York City garment industry. He will stop at nothing to get to the top; he lies to his mother and his long-suffering girlfriend, Ruthie Rivkin. They try to help him become a better person, but Harry embezzles company funds and betrays his friends and partners. Harry leaves Ruthie for Martha Mills, a gold-digging dancer as tough and hard as the diamonds Harry rewards her with. But Harry goes bankrupt and loses his fair-weather friends. Only his mother and Ruthie stand by him, but a surprising ally re-emerges from the past.
I Can't Sing! The X Factor Musical was a musical comedy written by Harry Hill, and Steve Brown. Based on the TV series The X Factor, the musical made its West End and world premiere in March 2014, at the London Palladium. Due to low ticket sales, it closed just 6 weeks and 3 days later on 10 May 2014, reportedly losing £4 million.
I Do! I Do!
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