Read Enchanted Evenings:The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber Online
Authors: Geoffrey Block
Original London cast (1928)
: “Make Believe” (Edith Day and Howett Worster), “Ol’ Man River” (Paul Robeson), “Ol’ Man River” (Jules (Bledsoe), “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” (Marie Burke), “You Are Love” (Day and Worster), “Why Do I Love You?” (Day and Worster), “Bill” (Marie Burke), and “Dance Away the Night” (Day). Pearl Gemm CD 9105.
Original London cast (1928): Showstoppers: Historic Victor Recordings
. BMG 9590–2 R (CD). Contents: “Ol’ Man River” (Paul Robeson, March 1, 1928) and “Bill” (Helen Morgan, February 14, 1928).
†
Original revival cast (1932)
: “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” and “Bill” (Helen Morgan), “Ol’ Man River” (Paul Robeson), “Make Believe” (James Melton), “You Are Love” (Countess Olga Albani and Frank Munn). Victor Young (conductor). Columbia-CBS/ASV-Living Era.
Original revival cast (1946)
: Jan Clayton, Carol Bruce, Charles Fredericks, Kenneth Spencer, Helen Dowdy, Edwin McArthur (conductor).
‡
Film cast (1951)
: Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, William Warfield, Marge and Gower Champion, Ava Gardner, Adolph Deutsch (conductor). MGM E 3230.
Original Lincoln Center revival cast (1966)
: Barbara Cook, Constance Towers, Stephen Douglass, David Wayne, William Warfield, Franz Allers (conductor). RCA LSO 1126.
London cast (1971)
: Cleo Laine, Thomas Carey, Lorna Dalla, Kenneth Nelson, Andrew Jobin, Ena Cabayo, Ray Cook (conductor). Stanyon Records 10048 (two LPs).
Studio cast (1988)
: Frederika von Stade, Teresa Stratas, Jerry Hadley, Paige O’Hara, David Garrison, Bruce Hubbard, John McGlinn (conductor). EMI/Angel CDS 7–49108–2.
Revival cast (1994)
: Rebecca Luker, Lonette McKee, Mark Jacoby, Elaine Stritch, Michel Bell, Gretha Boston, Robert Morse, Jeffrey Huard (conductor). Quality 257.
“The Ultimate ‘Showboat’” (1999)
: Contains the Original Revival Cast (1932) [eight songs], the Original Revival Cast (1946), and other historic and novelty
Show Boat
recordings.
FILM (Universal 1929)
: Cast: Laura La Plante, Joseph Schildkraut, Emily Fitzroy, Otis Harlan. Produced by Carl Laemmle. Directed by Harry A. Pollard. Songs (from
Show Boat
): “Ol’ Man River,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man.” [146 minutes with prologue; 129 minutes without prologue]
FILM (Universal 1936)
: Cast: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson, Helen Morgan, Helen Westley, Hattie McDaniel, Queenie Smith, Sammy White. Screenplay by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd. Produced by Carl Laemmle Jr. Directed by James Whale. Deleted songs: New songs: “I Have the Room above Her,” “Gallivantin’ Around,” “Ah Still Suits Me.”[113 minutes]
FILM (MGM 1951)
: Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge and Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, Leif Erickson, William Warfield. Screenplay by John Lee Mahin. Produced by Arthur Freed. Directed by George Sidney. Songs: “Cotton Blossom,” “Where’s the Mate for Me?,” “Make Believe,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” “I Might Fall Back on You,” “Ol’ Man River,” “You Are Love,” “Why Do I Love You?,” “Bill,” “After the Ball.” [108 minutes]
Original cast (1984)
: Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Charles Kimbrough, Barbara Bryne, Dana Ivey, Paul Gemignani (conductor). RCA HBC1–5042.
FILM (Brandman Productions, 1986)
: Cast: Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Charles Kimbrough, Barbara Bryne, Dana Ivey. Produced by Iris Merlis. Directed for the Broadway stage by James Lapine; directed for television by Terry Hughes. Paul Gemignani (conducter). [146 minutes]
Original Cast (1979)
: Len Cariou, Angela Lansbury, Victor Garber, Sarah Rice, Edmund Lyndeck, Paul Gemignani (conductor). RCA 3379–2-RC.
Film cast (2007)
: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen. Paul Gemignani (conductor). None-such 368572–2.
FILM (Warner Bros. 1982)
: Cast: Angela Lansbury, George Hearn. Produced by Bonnie Burns. Directed for the stage by Harold Prince; directed for television by Terry Hughes. [139 minutes]
Film cast (DreamWorks Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures 2007)
: Screenplay by John Logan. Produced by Richard D. Zanuck, Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, Logan. Directed by Tim Burton. Deleted songs: “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” (underscoring only), “Ah, Miss,” “Johanna” (Judge’s version), “God, That’s Good!” (nearly all), “The Letter,” “Parlor Songs,” “City on Fire!” (from Final Sequence). [116 minutes]
Original cast (1957)
: Larry Kert, Carol Lawrence, Chita Rivera, Max Goberman (conductor). Columbia OL 5230; reissued on Columbia S 32603. Missing: “Taunting.”
Film cast (1961)
: Natalie Wood (sung by Marni Nixon), Richard Beymer (sung by Jim Bryant), Rita Moreno (sung by Betty Wand), Russ Tamblyn,
George Chakiris, John Green (conductor). Columbia OS 2070; reissued with previously unreleased masters on Sony SK 48211 (1992).
Studio cast (1985)
: Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, Kurt Ollmann, Tatiana Troyanos, Leonard Bernstein (conductor). Deutsche Grammophon 415253–1/4.
Revival cast (2009)
: Matt Cavenaugh, Josefina Scaglione, Karen Olivo, Patrick Vaccariello (conductor). Sony Masterworks 752391.
FILM (Mirisch/United Artists 1961)
: Cast: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris. Screenplay by Ernest Lehman. Produced by Robert Wise. Directed by Wise and Jerome Robbins. Choreography by Robbins. [152 minutes]
*
By the late 1980s all shows were issued in compact disc (the numbers given in this Discography) or tape formats. Many older long-playing cast recordings have also been reissued on CDs in recent years.
†
Throughout, no attempt is made to honor the distinctions between conductor, musical director, or musical supervisor. The term “conductor” is used exclusively.
*
See Hummel, vol. 1, 32.
*
See Hummel, vol. 1, 430.
*
See Hummel, vol. 1,462.
†
See Hummel, vol. 1, 520–21 for a comprehensive listing of original Broadway and London cast excerpts between 1928 and 1936.
‡
Ibid., 522.
Source: Original book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, revised by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse.
Published Libretto: None (rentals of Off-Broadway 1962 and Beaumont Version 1987 rental available from Tams-Witmark Music Library).
CarouselPublished Vocal Score: Chappell & Co., and Harms (Broadway 1934); Vocal Selections Revival Edition, Warner Bros., 1988 (Broadway 1987).
Source:
Liliom
(1921) by Ferenc Molnár (as adapted by Benjamin F. Glazer) (New York: Samuel French, 1945). [play]
Published Libretto:
Six Plays by Rodgers and Hammerstein
(New York: Modern Library Association, 1959).
The Cradle Will RockPublished Vocal Score: Williamson Music Co., 1945.
Source: Original book by Marc Blitzstein.
Published Libretto:
The Cradle Will Rock
(New York: Random House, 1938); reprinted in
The Best Short Plays of the Social Theatre
, ed. William Kozlenko (New York: Random House, 1939).
Guys and DollsPublished Vocal Score: None (rental available from Tams-Witmark Music Library).
Source: “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” and “Pick the Winner” by Damon Runyon.
Guys and Dolls
. Philadelphia: (J. B. Lippincott Company, 1931). [short stories]
Published Libretto:
The Guys and Dolls Book
. London: Methuen, 1982. [includes “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown”]
Kiss Me, KatePublished Vocal Score: Frank Music Corp., 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953; renewed 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981.
Source:
The Taming of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare (c. 1592). [play]
Published Libretto:
Great Musicals of the American Theatre Volume One
, ed. Stanley Richards (Radnor, Pa.: Chilton Book Company, 1973).
Lady in the DarkPublished Vocal Score: Chappell & Co., 1951, 1967.
Source: Original book by Moss Hart.
Published Libretto:
Great Musicals of the American Theatre Volume Two
, ed. Stanley Richards (Radnor, Pa.: Chilton Book Company, 1976).
The Most Happy FellaPublished Vocal Score: Chappell & Co, 1941.
Source:
They Knew What They Wanted
by Sidney Howard (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1925); reprinted in
Famous American Plays of the 1930s
, selected and introduced by Harold Curman (New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1959). [play]
Published Libretto: Frank Music Corp., 1956, 1957 [included with the Vocal Score]; reprinted in
Theatre Arts
October 1958), 26–53.
My Fair LadyPublished Vocal Score: Frank Music Corp., 1956, 1957.
Source:
Pygmalion
(1913) by George Bernard Shaw; reprinted in
Pygmalion/My Fair Lady
(New York: Signet, 1975). [play]. See also published Libretto.
Published Libretto:
Pygmalion/My Fair Lady
(New York: Signet, 1975).
On Your ToesPublished Vocal Score: Chappell & Co., 1956.
Source: Original book by Rodgers and Hart and George Abbott.
Published Libretto: None (rental available from The Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatre Library).
One Touch of VenusPublished Vocal Score: Chappell & Co., 1985 (Broadway 1983).
Source:
The Tinted Venus
(1885) by F. Anstey (Thomas Anstey Guthrie); reprinted in
Humour & Fantasy
(New York: Arno Press, 1978). [novel]
Published Libretto:
Great Musicals of the American Theatre Volume One
, ed. Stanley Richards (Radnor, Pa.: Chilton Book Company, 1973).
Pal JoeyPublished Vocal Score: None (rental score available from the Rodgers and Hammerstein Theatre Library); vocal selections, The Richmond Organization, 1944; renewed by Hampshire House Publishing Corp. and Chappell & Co., 1972.
Source:
Pal Joey
by John O’Hara;
Pal Joey: The Novel and The Libretto and Lyrics
(New York: Vintage, 1983). [novel based on short stories in the form of letters first published in the
New Yorker
from 1938 to 1940]. See also published Libretto.
Published Libretto:
Pal Joey: The Novel and the Libretto and Lyrics
.
The Phantom of the OperaPublished Vocal Score: Chappell & Co, 1962.
Sources:
Le Fantöme de L’Opéra
, daily installments in
Le Gaulois
. Collected and republished. Paris: Pierre Lafitte et Cie, June, 1910; published in English as
The Phantom of the Opera
. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1911; modern edition:
The Essential Phantom of the Opera
, ed. Leonard Wolf. New York: ibooks: 1996. [novel]
Published Librettos:
The Complete Phantom of the Opera
by George Perry, pp. 139–67. New York: Holt, 1987 [musical]; Perry,
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the
Opera Companion
. Contains Original Screenplay. London: Pavilion, 2004. [screenplay]
Porgy and BessPublished Vocal Score: Vocal Selections, Hal Leonard, 1987.
Sources:
Porgy
by DuBose Heyward (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1925) [novel];
Porgy, A Play in Four Acts
by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward (New York: Doubleday, Doran, 1928); reprinted in
Famous American Plays of the 1920s
, selected and introduced by Kenneth MacGowan (New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1959). [play]
Published Librettos: London OSA-13116 (1976); RCA ARL 3–2109 (1977); EMI/Angel CDCC-49568 (1986); Columbia OSL 162; reissued on Odyssey Stereo 32-36-0018 (1951), also published in
Great Musicals of the American Theatre Volume One
, ed. Stanley Richards (Radnor, Pa: Chilton Book Company, 1973); see also the published Vocal Score.