A... My Name Is Alice
Encyclopedia
A… My Name Is Alice, is a musical revue
conceived by Joan Micklin Silver
and Julianne Boyd
, first produced in 1983. It won the Outer Critics Circle Award
for Best Revue. It consists of some 21 songs by composers such as David Zippel
, Winnie Holzman
, and Lucy Simon
, along with sketches by writers like Anne Meara
.
, New York City, from November 2, 1983 through November 14, 1983, and then opened in the basement space of the American Place Theatre, New York City, on February 24, 1984 through March 11, 1984. The revue returned to the Top of the Gate in May 1984 and ran for 353 performances.
The original Top of the Gate cast featured Lynnie Godfrey, Randy Graff
, Polly Pen, Alaina Reed
, and Grace Roberts. The American Place Theatre cast featured Roo Brown, Graff, Mary Gordon Murray, Reed, and Charlayne Woodard
. The revue was directed by Silver and Boyd and choreographed by Yvonne Adrian (Top of the Gate)/Edward Love.
Each of the cast members introduces herself by reciting an adult update on the children's ABC rhyme. One example: "A ... my name is Alice, And my husband's name is Adam, And his girlfriend's name is Amy, And my lover's name is Abby, And her husband's name is Arnie, And his boyfriend's name is Allan, And my analyst's name is Arthur, And we're working on my anger".
ACT II
, reviewing for The New York Times
, calling the revue "delightful", wrote: "Many of the songs are theater songs in the best sense: The music and lyrics are so sophisticated that they can carry the weight of one-act plays. A song called Friends recounts the entire history of a friendship that sustains two women from high school through marriage and old age; another, titled Sisters, provides a similar account of two women whose lifelong sibling rivalry at last reaches a bittersweet resolution in a lonely apartment in Queens. But even the show's flat-out comic turns can gain in complexity as they go along...the veteran directors who conceived and staged the show, have given it a warm, spontaneous ambiance. Though the performers and the audience share close quarters, the intimacy never becomes oppressive. Michael Skloff's piano accompaniment is spirited, and so are the vestpocket dance routines choreographed by Edward Love. To be sure, A . . . My Name Is Alice is a small- scale entertainment, but you're likely to emerge from its underground home feeling a real lift."
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
conceived by Joan Micklin Silver
Joan Micklin Silver
Joan Micklin Silver is an American director.She was born in Omaha, Nebraska and received her B.A. From Sarah Lawrence College....
and Julianne Boyd
Julianne Boyd
Julianne Boyd is an American theater director.Boyd received a BA in Theater and Education in 1966 from Beaver College in Pennsylvania...
, first produced in 1983. It won the Outer Critics Circle Award
Outer Critics Circle Award
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
for Best Revue. It consists of some 21 songs by composers such as David Zippel
David Zippel
David Joel Zippel is an American musical theatre lyricist.-Biography:Zippel was born in Easton, Pennsylvania. He is a 1976 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. While there, he wrote a "bizarre political musical" called Rotunda...
, Winnie Holzman
Winnie Holzman
Winnie Holzman is an American dramatist, screenwriter and poet. She created the ABC television series My So-Called Life, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination for writing in 1995...
, and Lucy Simon
Lucy Simon
Lucy Simon is an American composer for the theatre and popular songs. She is known for the musical, The Secret Garden.-Biography:...
, along with sketches by writers like Anne Meara
Anne Meara
Anne Meara is an American actress and comedian. She and Jerry Stiller were a prominent 1960s comedy team, appearing as Stiller and Meara, and are the parents of actor/comedian Ben and actress Amy Stiller.- Personal life :...
.
Production history
The revue, a production of The Women's Project, played at "The Top of the Gate" at The Village GateThe Village Gate
The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, New York.Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 158 Bleecker Street. The large 1896 Chicago School structure by architect Ernest Flagg was known at the time as...
, New York City, from November 2, 1983 through November 14, 1983, and then opened in the basement space of the American Place Theatre, New York City, on February 24, 1984 through March 11, 1984. The revue returned to the Top of the Gate in May 1984 and ran for 353 performances.
The original Top of the Gate cast featured Lynnie Godfrey, Randy Graff
Randy Graff
Randy Graff is an American actress. Graff has been in feature films such as Keys to Tulsa and Rent as well as being in television shows such as NBC's Law & Order a number of times. In addition to film and television, Graff has been in several Broadway shows...
, Polly Pen, Alaina Reed
Alaina Reed Hall
Alaina Reed Hall was an American actress best known for her roles as Olivia, Gordon's younger sister, on the long-running children's television series Sesame Street, and Rose Lee Holloway on the NBC sitcom 227.-Early life and career:Born Bernice Ruth Reed in Springfield, Ohio, she began her career...
, and Grace Roberts. The American Place Theatre cast featured Roo Brown, Graff, Mary Gordon Murray, Reed, and Charlayne Woodard
Charlayne Woodard
Charlaine "Charlayne" Woodard is an American film, stage and television actress and playwright. She has written four plays, titled Pretty Fire, Neat, In Real Life, which she starred in, and "Flight"....
. The revue was directed by Silver and Boyd and choreographed by Yvonne Adrian (Top of the Gate)/Edward Love.
Sequels
There are two sequels to this revue, both in the revue-sketch format, conceived and directed by Silver and Boyd:- A...My Name Is Still Alice; premiered at the Old Globe TheatreOld Globe TheatreThe Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons...
, San Diego, California on May 14, 1992; premiered in New York City at The Second Stage TheatreSecond Stage TheatreSecond Stage Theatre is an award-winning contemporary Off-Broadway theater company.-Mission:The theatre's mission is to give new life to contemporary American plays and to produce the world premiers of new plays by both established and emerging playwrights...
on November 22, 1992.
- A...My Name Will Always Be Alice, (also titled Alice Revisited) a combination of the two previous revues. Presented at the Barrington Stage Company, Great Barrington, MA (1995); The American Stage Festival, Milford, NH; and The Orpheum Theatre, Foxborough, MA.
Revue format and premise
The format is that of a musical revue of 20 or so songs and sketches performed by a five member cast of women of different ages and types in a 'wide variety of situations and relationships with insight, empathy and self deprecating humour.’ The women have names in some of the sketches and songs, in others they are simply name "first actress", etc.Each of the cast members introduces herself by reciting an adult update on the children's ABC rhyme. One example: "A ... my name is Alice, And my husband's name is Adam, And his girlfriend's name is Amy, And my lover's name is Abby, And her husband's name is Arnie, And his boyfriend's name is Allan, And my analyst's name is Arthur, And we're working on my anger".
Songs
Act I- "All Girl Band" (Lyrics: David Zippel; Music: Doug Karsanos) – Company
- "A . . . My Name is Alice" (by Marta KauffmanMarta KauffmanMarta Kauffman is an American writer and TV producer, best known as the co-creator of the popular sitcom Friends, alongside David Crane. Both Crane and Kauffman were also executive producer of the show, along with Kevin Bright. Crane and Kauffman have also produced Veronica's Closet, starring...
and David Crane) – Company - "At My Age" (Lyrics: June Siegel; Music: Glen RovenGlen RovenGlen Roven is an Emmy Award-winning composer, lyricist, and conductor. One of his notable compositions include a violin concerto based on the children's book The Runaway Bunny. Another notable composition is "Goodnight Moon, An Aria for Singer and Orchestra" which Lauren Flanigan performed in...
) – Vicky and Karen - "Trash" (Lyrics: Marta Kaufman and David Crane; Music: Michael Skloff) –
- "For Women Only Poems" (by Marta Kauffman and David Crane) – Poetess
- "Welcome to Kindergarten, Mrs. Johnson" (Lyrics: Marta Kauffman and David Crane; Music: Micahel Skloff) –
- "Pay Them No Mind" (by Calvin Alexander and James Shorter) –
- "I Sure Like the Boys" (Lyrics: Steve TesichSteve TesichStojan Steve Tesich was a Serbian-American screenwriter, playwright and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1979 for the movie Breaking Away.-Career:...
; Music: Lucy SimonLucy SimonLucy Simon is an American composer for the theatre and popular songs. She is known for the musical, The Secret Garden.-Biography:...
) – - "Bluer Than You" (Lyrics: Winnie Holzman; Music: David Evans) –
- "The Portrait" (by Amanda McBroomAmanda McBroomAmanda McBroom is an American singer, songwriter and cabaret performer. One of the songs she has written is "The Rose", which Bette Midler sang in the film of the same name...
) – - "Detroit Persons/Educated Feet" (by Susan Rice & Carol Hall) – Company
ACT II
- "Pretty Young Men" (Lyrics: Susan BirkenheadSusan BirkenheadSusan Birkenhead is an American lyricist.Birkenhead made her Broadway debut as one of a team of songwriters contributing to Working , for which she received her first Tony Award nomination. Her second was earned for Jelly's Last Jam , which won her the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics and a...
; Music: Lucy Simon) – - "Demigod" (by Richard LaGravenese) –
- "The French Monologue & Song" (by Art Murray; Lyrics and music by Don Tucker) –
- "Hot Lunch" (Anne Meara) –
- "Good Thing I Learned to Dance" (Lyrics: Mark SaltzmanMark SaltzmanMark Saltzman began his career in New York City as a script writer and songwriter for Sesame Street, where he earned seven Emmy awards.-Early career:...
; Music: Stephen Lawrence) – "Actress" and Mother - "Emily the M.B.A" (Lyrics: Mark Saltzman; Music: Stephen Lawrence) –
- "Sisters" (Lyrics: Maggie Bloomfield; Music: Cheryl Hardwick) –
- "Honeypot" (Lyrics: Mark Saltzman; Music: Stephen Lawrence) – *"Friends" (Lyrics: Georgia Halof; Music: David Metee) –
- "All Girl Band (reprise)" (Lyrics: David Zippel; Music: Doug Katsaros) – Company
Critical response
Frank RichFrank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
, reviewing for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, calling the revue "delightful", wrote: "Many of the songs are theater songs in the best sense: The music and lyrics are so sophisticated that they can carry the weight of one-act plays. A song called Friends recounts the entire history of a friendship that sustains two women from high school through marriage and old age; another, titled Sisters, provides a similar account of two women whose lifelong sibling rivalry at last reaches a bittersweet resolution in a lonely apartment in Queens. But even the show's flat-out comic turns can gain in complexity as they go along...the veteran directors who conceived and staged the show, have given it a warm, spontaneous ambiance. Though the performers and the audience share close quarters, the intimacy never becomes oppressive. Michael Skloff's piano accompaniment is spirited, and so are the vestpocket dance routines choreographed by Edward Love. To be sure, A . . . My Name Is Alice is a small- scale entertainment, but you're likely to emerge from its underground home feeling a real lift."