Golden Boy 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 book by Clifford Odets

Clifford Odets

Clifford Odets was an American playwright, screenwriter, socialist, and social protester.-Early life:Odets was born in Philadelphia to Romanian- and Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Louis Odets and Esther Geisinger, and raised in Philadelphia and the Bronx, New York. He dropped out of high...

 and William Gibson

William Gibson (playwright)

William Gibson was an American playwright and novelist. He graduated from the City College of New York in 1938.He was of Irish, French, German, Dutch and Russian ancestry...

, lyrics by Lee Adams

Lee Adams

Lee Richard Adams is an American lyricist best known for his musical theatre collaboration with Charles Strouse.Born in Mansfield, Ohio, Adams received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio State University and a Master's from Columbia University.Adams won Tony Awards in 1961 for Bye Bye Birdie...

, and music by Charles Strouse

Charles Strouse

Charles Strouse is an American composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Strouse was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ira and Ethel Strouse...

.

Based on the 1937 play of the same name by Odets, it focuses on Joe Wellington, a young man from Harlem

Harlem

Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...

 who, despite his family's objections, turns to prizefighting

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 as a means of escaping his ghetto

Ghetto

A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...

 roots and finding fame and fortune. He crosses paths with Mephistopheles

Mephistopheles

Mephistopheles is a demon featured in German folklore...

-like promoter Eddie Satin and eventually betrays his manager Tom Moody when he romantically becomes involved with his girlfriend Lorna Moon.

Background

Producer Hillard Elkins

Hillard Elkins

Hillard Elkins was an American theatre and film producer.Born in Brooklyn in New York City, Elkins attended Erasmus Hall and Midwood High Schools and Brooklyn College...

 planned the project specifically for Sammy Davis, Jr.

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....

 and lured Odets out of semi-retirement to write the book. The original play centered on Italian American

Italian American

An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...

 Joe Bonaparte, the son of poverty-stricken immigrants with a disapproving brother who works as a labor organizer. Elkins envisioned an updated version that would reflect the struggles of an ambitious young African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 at the onset of the Civil Rights era

African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)

The African-American Civil Rights Movement refers to the movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring voting rights to them. This article covers the phase of the movement between 1955 and 1968, particularly in the South...

 and include socially relevant references to the changing times.

In Odets' original book, Joe was a sensitive would-be surgeon

Surgeon

In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...

 fighting in order to pay his way through college, but careful to protect his hands from serious damage so he could achieve his goal of saving the lives of blacks ignored by white doctors. In an ironic twist, the hands he hoped would heal kill a man in the ring.

Productions

Following the Detroit tryout, Odets died and Gibson was hired to rework the script. The ideals of the noble plot were abandoned in a revision in which Joe evolved into an angry man who, embittered by the constant prejudice

Prejudice

Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...

 he faces, uses his fists to fight his frustrations. His brother became a worker for CORE

Congress of Racial Equality

The Congress of Racial Equality or CORE was a U.S. civil rights organization that originally played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement...

, and the subtle romance between Joe and the white Lorna developed into an explicit affair capped by a kiss that shocked audiences already having difficulty adjusting to a heavily urban

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

 jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 score and mentions of Malcolm X

Malcolm X

Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...

. This was a far cry from lightweights Hello, Dolly!

Hello, Dolly! (musical)

Hello, Dolly! is a 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 1955....

and Funny Girl, both popular holdovers from the previous theatrical season.

After twenty-five previews, the 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, directed by Arthur Penn

Arthur Penn

Arthur Hiller Penn was an American film director and producer with a career as a theater director as well. Penn amassed a critically acclaimed body of work throughout the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:...

 and choreographed by Donald McKayle

Donald McKayle

Donald McKayle is an African American modern dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and writer best known for creating socially conscious concert works during the 1950s and 60s that focus on expressing the human condition and more specifically, the black experience in America...

, opened on October 20, 1964 at the Majestic Theatre, where it ran for 568 performances. In addition to Davis, the cast included Billy Daniels

Billy Daniels

William Boone Daniels , better known as Billy Daniels, was a singer active in the United States and Europe from the mid-1930s to 1988, notable for his hit recording of "That Old Black Magic" and his pioneering performances on early 1950s television.Daniels was born in Jacksonville, Florida, where...

 as Eddie Satin, Kenneth Tobey

Kenneth Tobey

Kenneth Tobey was an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early years:Born in Oakland, California, Tobey was headed for a law career when he first dabbled in acting at the University of California Little Theater...

 as Tom Moody, and Paula Wayne as Lorna Moon, with Johnny Brown

Johnny Brown

Johnny Brown is an American actor and singer. Brown is a nightclub and stage performer as well as a comic actor, and a regular cast member of the television series Laugh-in. Brown is mostly remembered for his chubby physique, wide ingratiating smile, mobile facial expressions, and easy pleasant...

, Lola Falana

Lola Falana

Lola Falana is an American singer, dancer, and actress of Cuban and African American descent. Falana's father left Cuba to become a welder in the United States, where he met his wife...

, Louis Gossett, Baayork Lee

Baayork Lee

Baayork Lee is an Asian-American actress, singer, dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and author.-Early life and career:Lee was born in New York City's Chinatown to an Indian mother and Chinese father...

, and Theresa Merritt

Theresa Merritt

Theresa Merritt Hines was an American stage, film and television actress and singer.-Career:Born in Emporia, Virginia, Merritt appeared in many theatrical productions but gained fame later in life when she starred in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and The Wiz Theresa Merritt Hines (September 24,...

 in supporting roles.

An original cast recording was released by Capitol Records

Capitol Records

Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

. One song from the score, "This Is the Life", later became a hit in a cover version recorded by Matt Monro

Matt Monro

Matt Monro was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s...

.

Davis reprised his role for the 1968 West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 production at the London Palladium

London Palladium

The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...

, the first book musical ever to play in the theatre http://www.soundofmusiclondon.com/the_show/london_palladium.php.

Necco

NECCO

Necco , pronounced "neck-o", is the acronym for the New England Confectionery Company, a manufacturer of candy. It was created in 1901 by the merger of several small confectionery companies located in the Greater Boston area; since December 2007 Necco has been owned by American Capital.The company...

 (New England Confectionary Company) created a short-lived candy bar inspired by Davis and the musical. It was called "Golden Boy".

Song list

Act I

• Workout
• Night Song
• Everything's Great
• Gimme Some
• Stick Around
• Don't Forget 127th Street
• Lorna's Here
• The Road Tour
• This is the Life

Act II

• Golden Boy
• While the City Sleeps
• Colorful
• I Want to Be with You
• Can't You See It?
• No More
• The Fight

Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

nominations

• Best Musical
• Best Actor in a Musical (Davis)
• Best Choreography
• Best Producer of a Musical