Busker Alley is a musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 with a score by the Sherman Brothers

Sherman Brothers

The Sherman Brothers are an American songwriting duo that specialize in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman ....

 and a book by AJ Carothers

AJ Carothers

AJ Carothers was an American playwright and television writer, best known for his work with Walt Disney, who was a very close friend. So much so in fact that Carothers gave a eulogy at Disney's funeral. Disney's daughter later spoke at Mr. Carothers' funeral...

, based on the 1938 British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 film, St. Martin's Lane

Sidewalks of London

Sidewalks of London, also known as St. Martin's Lane, is a 1938 British, black-and-white, comedy drama starring Charles Laughton as a busker or street entertainer who teams up with a talented pickpocket, played by Vivien Leigh. It also stars Ronald Shiner as the Barman...

, which was inspired by the 1905 novel, Small Town Tyrant, by Heinrich Mann

Heinrich Mann

Luiz Heinrich Mann was a German novelist who wrote works with strong social themes. His attacks on the authoritarian and increasingly militaristic nature of pre-World War II German society led to his exile in 1933.-Life and work:Born in Lübeck as the oldest child of Thomas Johann Heinrich Mann...

.

In the 1995 touring production, Tommy Tune

Tommy Tune

Thomas James "Tommy" Tune is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won nine Tony Awards and the National Medal of Arts.-Early years:...

 played the lead character, "Charlie Baxter", a busker

Busking

Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...

 in love with another busker, who leaves Charlie to follow her dream of becoming a star. The musical toured the US in 1995 but did not open on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

.

Background and history

Brothers Robert and Richard Sherman had written the scores to several Disney movies such as Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins (film)

Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...

and The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book (1967 film)

The Jungle Book is a 1967 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Released on October 18, 1967, it is the 19th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was inspired by the stories about the feral child Mowgli from the book of the same name by...

. In the mid 1960s, Disney staff scriptwriter, AJ Carothers

AJ Carothers

AJ Carothers was an American playwright and television writer, best known for his work with Walt Disney, who was a very close friend. So much so in fact that Carothers gave a eulogy at Disney's funeral. Disney's daughter later spoke at Mr. Carothers' funeral...

 rediscovered the motion picture St. Martin's Lane and approached the Sherman brothers with the idea of purchasing the rights to the film and making a stage musical out it. The Shermans and AJ Carothers did just that in 1969, writing the musical Piccadilly. But nothing more became of it until 1982 when interest was rekindled, and the project was rewritten and renamed, Blow Us a Kiss. Still, nothing happened with the property until later in the same decade when interest was again sparked, and Tommy Tune

Tommy Tune

Thomas James "Tommy" Tune is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won nine Tony Awards and the National Medal of Arts.-Early years:...

 became attached to the show.

1995 U.S. tour

With a major Broadway star behind the project, the show was finally launched in 1995 with yet a new name: Busker Alley. The musical opened on April 7, 1995 at the Macauley Theatre, Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 as the start of a 16-city tour. It starred Tune and featured Darcie Roberts, Brent Barrett

Brent Barrett

Brent Barrett is an American actor and tenor who is mostly known for his work within American theatre. Barrett has performed in musicals and in concerts with theatres, symphony orchestras, opera houses, and concert halls internationally...

 and Marcia Lewis

Marcia Lewis

Marcia Lewis was an American character actress and singer. She has been nominated twice for the Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical and twice for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical .-Biography:Lewis was born in Melrose, Massachusetts and raised in...

. Jeff Calhoun

Jeff Calhoun (choreographer)

Jeff Calhoun is an American director, choreographer, producer and dancer.As a student at Richland High School, now Pine-Richland High School , Calhoun was interested in both athletics and performance, playing football and studying tap dance. He danced in the ensemble at The Kenley Players in Ohio...

 directed and choreographed, and sets were by Tony Walton

Tony Walton

Tony Walton is an English set and costume designer.Walton was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, United Kingdom. He began his career in 1957 with the stage design for Noel Coward's Broadway production of Conversation Piece. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s he designed for the New...

. The producers planned to bring the production to Broadway later the same year at the St. James Theatre

St. James Theatre

The St. James Theatre is located at 246 W. 44th St. Broadway, New York City, New York. It was built by Abraham L. Erlanger, theatrical producer and a founding member of the Theatrical Syndicate, on the site of the original Sardi's restaurant. It opened in 1927 as The Erlanger...

. Artist LeRoy Neiman

LeRoy Neiman

LeRoy Neiman is an American artist known for his brilliantly colored, pseudo-expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes and sporting events.- Early years :...

 created a 40-foot mural for Busker Alley on the façade of the theater, and the cast performed a number from the show at the 1995 Tony Awards

49th Tony Awards

The 49th Annual Tony Awards was held at the Minskoff Theatre on June 4, 1995 and broadcast by CBS. Hosts were Glenn Close, Gregory Hines, and Nathan Lane.-The ceremony:...

 ceremony. The production suffered numerous setbacks during the tour as well as two more name changes including Stage Door Charley (unilaterally chosen by the Producer's wife). The show finished its pre-Broadway tour, however, as Buskers.

Six weeks prior to moving to New York, Tune broke his foot during one of the performances in Tampa

Tâmpa

Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...

, Florida. Although Tune's foot would have healed in time, the investors pulled out. The tour ended on October 8, 1995 in Tampa.

Subsequent events

In 2003 AJ Carothers and the Sherman Brothers revised their book and song score, changing the name back to Busker Alley.

On November 13, 2006 the York Theatre Company presented a one-night-only benefit concert performance of Busker Alley at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College

Hunter College

Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...

. Jim Dale

Jim Dale

Jim Dale, MBE is an English actor, voice artist, singer and songwriter. He is best known in the United Kingdom for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and in the US for narrating the Harry Potter audiobook series, for which he received two Grammy Awards, and the ABC series Pushing...

 starred as "Charlie Baxter". Glenn Close

Glenn Close

Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...

 appeared in a cameo at the end of the show as "Dame Libby St. Albans". Also in the cast were: Jessica Grové, Simon Jones, Noah Racey, John Bolton, Robert Fitch, Anne Rogers, Michael Lane Trautman , Cristy Candler, Diane Wasnak and Bonzer the dog. Tony Walton

Tony Walton

Tony Walton is an English set and costume designer.Walton was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, United Kingdom. He began his career in 1957 with the stage design for Noel Coward's Broadway production of Conversation Piece. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s he designed for the New...

 directed the production, with Lisa Shriver as choreographer. Aaron Gandy was the conductor, and Mark York the pianist. A CD of the performance was recorded on Jay Records.

Busker Alley had been announced for a Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 production for the 2008-09 season, with Tony Walton

Tony Walton

Tony Walton is an English set and costume designer.Walton was born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, United Kingdom. He began his career in 1957 with the stage design for Noel Coward's Broadway production of Conversation Piece. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s he designed for the New...

 as director and designer and Jim Dale

Jim Dale

Jim Dale, MBE is an English actor, voice artist, singer and songwriter. He is best known in the United Kingdom for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and in the US for narrating the Harry Potter audiobook series, for which he received two Grammy Awards, and the ABC series Pushing...

to star. In December 2008, the producers announced that the musical would be delayed. On August 25, 2009, the producers announced that they all were leaving the production, and, in a statement said (in part), "We will be returning all of the money to our investors and release all of our sponsors from their obligations."

Songs

Source: allmusicals

• "Busker Alley"
• "Blow Us A Kiss"
• "Hula Love Song"
• "When Do I Get Mine?"
• "Strays"
• "Mates"
• "What To Do With 'Er"
• "He Has A Way/She Has A Way"
• "When the Moonlight's Bright In Brighton"
• "Crazy 'Appy Tears"
• "Tap Happy Feet"
• "Baby Me"
• "Ordinary Couples"
• "I'm On the Inside"
• "Where Are The Faces (Charlie the Busker)"
• "A Million Miles From You"
• "Tin Whistle Tune"
• "The World of Beautiful Girls"
• "All Around the Town"
• "Paddle Your Own Canoe"
• "Why the Tears?"
• "Waiting for Ann"
• "Never Trust A Lady"

External links

• "Busker Alley" Curtain Up article, ca. 2007
• Information on the Busker Alley, York Theatre Company CD