Dear World

Last updated

Dear World
DearWorldCD.jpg
Original cast recording
Music Jerry Herman
Lyrics Jerry Herman
Book Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Basis Jean Giraudoux's play The Madwoman of Chaillot
Productions1969 Broadway
2013 London
2023 Encores!

Dear World is a musical with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. With its opening, Herman became the first composer-lyricist in history to have three productions running simultaneously on Broadway. It starred Angela Lansbury, who won the Tony Award for Leading Actress in a Musical in 1969 for her performance as the Countess Aurelia.

Contents

Based on The Madwoman of Chaillot by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, as adapted by Maurice Valency, the plot follows the eccentric Countess Aurelia and her struggles against the straitlaced authority figures in her life. She and her Chaillot cohort defend their Parisian neighborhood against scheming and corrupt developers. The forces of idealism, love, and poetry win over those of greed, materialism, and science.

Productions and background

The musical had a notably troubled preview period that included multiple changes to the script and score. Lucia Victor, Gower Champion's assistant and a director of several revivals, including Hello, Dolly! , [1] was hired as director, but resigned shortly thereafter, due to "artistic differences" with the musical's star, Angela Lansbury, and the authors, according to The New York Times . [1] [2] Peter Glenville was then hired, but resigned following negative reviews during tryouts in Boston, Massachusetts. Producer Alexander H. Cohen stated (in an article in The New York Times of November 19, 1968) that "there was no friction between Mr. Glenville and Miss Lansbury, the composer, the authors or the producer... an advance arrangement had been made with Mr. Glenville to direct the show through last week only." [2] The show's final director, Joe Layton, was then hired, also replacing the choreographer Donald Saddler. [3]

The musical opened on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on February 6, 1969 and closed on May 31, 1969 after 132 performances and 45 previews. In addition to direction and choreography by Joe Layton, scenic design was by Oliver Smith, costume design was by Freddy Wittop and lighting design was by Jean Rosenthal.

Subsequent productions

Originally conceived as a chamber musical, Dear World fell victim to a massive production that effectively overwhelmed the simplicity of the original tale. After the Broadway closing, Herman, Lawrence, and Lee rewrote the show, "putting back the intimacy that had been undermined on Broadway." [4]

A revised version was produced at Goodspeed Musicals (Connecticut) in November–December 2000, with Sally Ann Howes as Aurelia. This version had a revised book by David Thompson plus three songs written after the musical closed. [5] A concert version was staged by 42nd Street Moon in San Francisco, September 6–24, 2000. This production used the revision by Herman, Lawrence and Lee. [6]

A further revised version was produced at the Sundance Theatre (Utah) from June to August 2002 with Maureen McGovern playing Aurelia. This is the version currently available for licensing. Thompson revised his previous revision of the book and the score was reshuffled with some new or previously cut songs included. A Sensible Woman, about how the "madwoman" feels one's life should be led, opens the show (as it did at the Goodspeed). One Person, cut at Goodspeed, is back in, ending Act One. The title song is sung by the three madwomen, as a kind of lullaby that leads into One Person. The song called Through the Bottom of the Glass that opened the original production does not appear in the revised show, and the song Have a Little Pity on the Rich, sung by the Sewerman during Broadway previews but cut before opening night, has been restored. The original 26-person Philip J. Lang orchestrations (26 was the minimum for the Mark Hellinger Theatre in 1969) have been distilled for a chamber ensemble with 8 players. [7]

The Canadian premiere of this revised version was presented by the Toronto Civic Light Opera Company in May 2012. Directed by Joe Cascone, the production starred Barbara Boddy as Aurelia, David Haines as the Sewerman and featured Elizabeth Rose Morriss and Daniel Cornthwaite as the young lovers. [8]

The musical had its UK premiere at London's Charing Cross Theatre from February 4 through March 16, 2013. The production was directed and choreographed by Gillian Lynne and starred Betty Buckley as Aurelia, Paul Nicholas as Sewerman and Stuart Matthew Price as Julian. Set design was by Matt Kinley, costumes by Ann Hould-Ward, lighting by Mike Robertson, musical direction by Ian Townsend, sound by Mike Walker, and orchestrations were by Sarah Travis. [9]

The York Theatre Company (New York City) presented the musical from February 25 to March 5, 2017, starring Tyne Daly as Countess Aurelia. [10] Daly had previously starred in a concert version of Dear World at the Valley Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles on September 30, 2016. [11] The concert featured Steven Weber as the Sewerman and Vicki Lewis and Bets Malone as Aurelia's friends. [12]

New York City Center Encores! presented a staged concert from March 15 to March 19, 2023 directed by Josh Rhodes using the original full orchestrations. The production starred Donna Murphy as Countess Aurelia. [13]

Plot

A corporation has discovered oil under the streets of Paris, directly under a bistro. The Countess Aurelia (known as The Madwoman of Chaillot) lives in the bistro's basement, driven mad because of a lost lover and reminiscing about her past. When the corporation decides to blow up the bistro to get the oil, a young executive, Julian, helps to foil the plan because he has fallen in love with Nina, the bistro's waitress. Aurelia lures the corporation executives to the underground in the sewer system.

Songs (Original Score Order)

Songs (Earlier Revision)

† Added in the Goodspeed (2000) and Sundance (2002) versions

2006 Musical Numbers (Version Available for Licensing)

Characters and original Broadway cast

Awards and nominations

Tony Award

Critical response

The show received mostly negative reviews. Time magazine called the songs "a total zero," while Martin Gottfried, noting that the plot line had been cut to ribbons, found "the story impossible to follow." [14]

Walter Kerr wrote that the musical "is in the main quite charming...the actress [Lansbury]...is endearing throughout the evening and at her commanding best here." Her song "I Don't Want to Know" is "a song surprised by its own unexpected passion. The effect doesn't always work out for composer Jerry Herman...'Dear World' is attractive when it is staying close to its addled Good People...it is in trouble whenever it turns to the Bad People...Oliver Smith's settings are perfect." [15] Clive Barnes in The New York Times gave Lansbury a positive review: "The minor miracle is Miss Lansbury...no connoisseur of musical comedy can afford to miss Miss Lansbury's performance. It is lovely." [16]

According to Steven Citron, "[Sally Ann] Howes and the majority of critics now believe that with a rewritten libretto it could be turned into a successful musical." [14]

Related Research Articles

<i>Hello, Dolly!</i> (musical) 1964 Broadway musical

Hello, Dolly! is a 1964 musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1954. The musical follows the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi, a strong-willed matchmaker, as she travels to Yonkers, New York, to find a match for the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Herman</span> American composer and lyricist (1931–2019)

Gerald Sheldon Herman was an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Lansbury</span> British actress (1925–2022)

Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury was a British and American actress. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles across film, stage, and television. Although based for much of her life in the United States, her work attracted international attention.

Robert Edwin Lee was an American playwright and lyricist. In the early years of World War II, Lee partnered with Jerome Lawrence to create Armed Forces Radio while serving together in the U.S. Army. Lawrence and Lee became the most prolific writing partnership in radio, with such long-running series as Favorite Story among others.

<i>Mame</i> (musical) Musical

Mame is a musical with a book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Originally titled My Best Girl, it is based on the 1955 novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and the 1956 Broadway play of the same name by Lawrence and Lee. A period piece set in New York City and spanning the Great Depression and World War II, it focuses on eccentric bohemian Mame Dennis, whose famous motto is "Life is a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death." Her fabulous life with her wealthy friends is interrupted when the young son of her late brother arrives to live with her. They cope with the Depression in a series of adventures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Loudon</span> American actress, singer, performer (1925–2003)

Dorothy Loudon was an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 1977 for her performance as Miss Hannigan in Annie. Loudon was also nominated for Tony Awards for her lead performances in the musicals The Fig Leaves Are Falling and Ballroom, as well as a Golden Globe award for her appearances on The Garry Moore Show.

Jerome Lawrence was an American playwright and author. After graduating from the Ohio State University in 1937 and the University of California, Los Angeles in 1939, Lawrence partnered with Robert Edwin Lee to help create Armed Forces Radio while serving together in the U.S. Army during World War II. The two built a partnership over their lifetimes, and continued to collaborate on screenplays and musicals until Lee's death in 1994.

<i>She Loves Me</i> Musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock

She Loves Me is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Lippa</span> American composer

Andrew Lippa is an American composer, lyricist, book writer, performer, and producer. He is a resident artist at the Ars Nova Theater in New York City.

George Hearn is an American actor and bass-baritone singer, primarily in Broadway musical theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milo O'Shea</span> Irish-American actor (1926–2013)

Milo Donal O'Shea was an Irish actor. He was twice nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performances in Staircase (1968) and Mass Appeal (1982).

Martin Charnin was an American lyricist, writer, and theatre director. Charnin's best-known work is as conceiver, director, and lyricist of the musical Annie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Connell</span> American actress and singer

Jane Sperry Connell was an American actress and singer.

<i>The Madwoman of Chaillot</i> (film) 1969 film by Bryan Forbes, John Huston

The Madwoman of Chaillot is a 1969 American satirical film made by Commonwealth United Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. It was directed by Bryan Forbes and produced by Ely A. Landau with Anthony B. Unger as associate producer. The screenplay was by Edward Anhalt, based on The Madwoman of Chaillot, Maurice Valency's adaption of La Folle de Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux. The music score was by Michael J. Lewis and the cinematography by Burnett Guffey and Claude Renoir. It was shot at the Victorine Studios in Nice and on location in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art director Ray Simm.

Charles Repole is an American actor, theater director, and college professor.

Emily Skinner, also known as Emily Scott Skinner, is a Tony-nominated American actress and singer. She has played leading roles in 11 Broadway productions including New York, New York, Prince of Broadway, The Cher Show, Side Show, Jekyll & Hyde, James Joyce's The Dead, The Full Monty, Dinner at Eight, Billy Elliot, as well as the Actor's Fund Broadway concerts of Dreamgirls and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She has sung on concert stages around the world and on numerous recordings.

Marcy Heisler is a musical theater lyricist and performer. As a performer, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, Birdland, and numerous other venues throughout the United States and Canada. Heisler was nominated for the 2009 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics for Dear Edwina.

<i>The Madwoman of Chaillot</i> 1945 play by Jean Giraudoux

The Madwoman of Chaillot is a play, a poetic satire, by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, written in 1943 and first performed in 1945, after his death. The play is in two acts. The story concerns an eccentric woman who lives in Paris and her struggles against the straitlaced authority figures in her life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Spencer (singer)</span> American singer and actress (born 1960)

Rebecca Spencer is an American singer and actress, known for her roles in musicals and cabaret productions. Over the course of her career, Spencer has performed principal roles in over 50 opera, national tour, regional and Off-Broadway productions, including co-starring in Hollywood Bowl's 2019 production of Into the Woods. She created the role of Lisa Carew in the world premiere of Frank Wildhorn's Jekyll and Hyde at the Alley Theatre, opposite Linda Eder and Chuck Wagner, and premiered the role of Madame Giry in the $35 million production of Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular, under the direction of Harold Prince.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriel Barre</span> American director and actor

Gabriel Barre is an American director and actor. Best known for creating original musicals, his work has been seen on Broadway, throughout the United States, and across four continents internationally.

References

  1. 1 2 Zolotow, Sam. "Peter Glenville Taking Over Angela Lansbury's 'Dear World", 'The New York Times October 24, 1968, p. 54
  2. 1 2 Zolotow.Sam."GLENVILLE YIELDS 'DEAR WORLD' POST; Interim Director Going to a Previous Assignment" The New York Times (abstract), November 19, 1968
  3. Mandelbaum, Ken. Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops (1992), p. 150, St. Martin's Press, ISBN   0-312-08273-8
  4. Connema, Richard."Regional Reviews. 'As Thousands Cheer' and 'Dear World'" talkinbroadway.com, accessed May 29, 2012
  5. Jones, Kenneth."Sun Sets on Goodspeed's Dear World Revival Dec. 10," Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, December 10, 2000
  6. Jones, Kenneth. "Dear World Marches in San Fran Concert Revival Sept. 6–24," Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, September 6, 2000
  7. Jones, Kenneth. "Jerry Herman's Musical, 'Dear World', Spins Anew in Revised Version, June 27-Aug. 17" Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine , playbill.com, June 27, 2002
  8. Lawrence, Mark Andrew. BWW Reviews: Jerry Herman's 'Dear World'-Revised & Revived by The Civic Light Opera Company" broadwayworld.com, May 29, 2012
  9. Gans, Andrew. "Paul Nicholas, Anthony Barclay and More Will Join Betty Buckley in 'Dear World' at London's Charing Cross Theatre" Archived 2012-12-17 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, December 14, 2012
  10. Gans, Andrew. "Tyne Daly Will Star in 'Dear World 'for the York Theatre Company" Playbill, January 11, 2017
  11. Gans, Andrew. "Tyne Daly Stars in 'Dear World' Tonight" Playbill, September 30, 2016
  12. Frankel, Tony. "Los Angeles Theater Review: 'Dear World' " stageandcinema.com, October 6, 2016
  13. Culwell-Block, Logan. "Donna Murphy Stars in Jerry Herman's Dear World at New York City Center Encores! Beginning March 15" Playbill, March 15, 2023
  14. 1 2 Citron, Stephen. "Chapter:'Dear World'" Jerry Herman: Poet of the Showtune (2004), (books.google.com), pp.180–181, Yale University Press, ISBN   0-300-10082-5
  15. Kerr, Walter. "When Angela Sings 'I Will Not Have It'", The New York Times, February 16, 1969, p.D1
  16. Barnes, Clive. "Theatre: 'The Madwoman of Chaillot' Set to Music", The New York Times February 7, 1969, p. 33