Happy New Year (musical)
Encyclopedia
Happy New Year is a musical
with a book by Burt Shevelove and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.
Based on Philip Barry
's comic 1928 play Holiday and its subsequent 1930 film adaptation
and better known 1938 remake
, it focuses on hedonistic
young Wall Street
attorney
Johnny Case who, driven by his passion to live life as a holiday, contemplates abandoning his career for a carefree existence by marrying wealthy upper class
Julia Seton.
into the musical film
High Society, so Shevelove pored through the composer's catalogue in search of tunes that would fit Holidays plot. When the show previewed at the Stratford Festival in Canada
, the score consisted of lesser-known Porter songs, and Shevelove decided to eliminate most of them in favor of music more familiar to audiences. He also opted to replace much of Barry's original repartee with songs that suited neither the characters nor the situations, and replaced the gaps with a narrator whose purpose was to explain what was missing from the plot, a device that ultimately proved to be clumsy and confusing.
Successful Wall Street lawyer Johnny Case has become engaged to Julia Seton. Julia and her sister Linda celebrate the engagement ("At Long Last Love"). However, Johnny has decided to abandon his well-paid career and instead live a life of pleasure, using Julia's money. Julia's banker father Edward is very upset and her willful sister Linda is fascinated. Johnny begins to realize that he loves the unconventional Linda, and they become a couple, disregarding the "old money and values" of others for a life together.
Act II
† from Red, Hot and Blue
production opened at the Morosco Theatre
on April 27, 1980 and closed on May 10, 1980, after 17 performances and 27 previews. Directed by Shevelove and choreographed by Donald Saddler
, the cast include Michael Scott as Johnny, Kimberly Farr as Julia, William Roerick as Edward, and Leslie Denniston as Linda, with John McMartin
as the narrator and Richard Bekins
and Lara Teeter
in supporting roles.
) wrote that the musical "turns out to be a musical bouquet of gentle charm and piquancy." He noted that the tryout at the Stratford (Ontario) Festival during the summer of 1979 "seemed like a good idea gone awry." Since that time, more than half the songs were replaced, the enitire cast was replaced, and there was "considerable rewriting."
John Simon
(The New York Magazine) called the musical a "hodgepodge" and advised: "Avoid...like the ho-hum bag of tricks it is, the other new (?) musical, Happy New Year."
Denniston won the Theatre World Award
for her performance, and Pierre Balmain
was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design
and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design
.
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 Burt Shevelove and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.
Based on Philip Barry
Philip Barry
Philip James Quinn Barry was an American playwright born in Rochester, New York.-Early life:Philip Barry was born on June 18, 1896 in Rochester, New York to James Corbett Barry and Mary Agnes Quinn Barry. James would die from appendicitis a year after Philip's birth, and his father's marble and...
's comic 1928 play Holiday and its subsequent 1930 film adaptation
Holiday (1930 film)
Holiday is a 1930 romantic comedy film which tells the story of a young man who is torn between his free-thinking lifestyle and the tradition of his wealthy fiancée's family. It stars Ann Harding, Mary Astor, Edward Everett Horton, Robert Ames and Hedda Hopper...
and better known 1938 remake
Holiday (1938 film)
Holiday is a 1938 is a film directed by George Cukor, a remake of the 1930 film of the same name. The film is a romantic comedy which tells the story of a man who has risen from humble beginnings only to be torn between his free-thinking lifestyle and the tradition of his wealthy fiancée's family...
, it focuses on hedonistic
Hedonism
Hedonism is a school of thought which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure .-Etymology:The name derives from the Greek word for "delight" ....
young Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Johnny Case who, driven by his passion to live life as a holiday, contemplates abandoning his career for a carefree existence by marrying wealthy upper class
Upper class
In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
Julia Seton.
History
Porter successfully had transformed Barry's The Philadelphia StoryThe Philadelphia Story (play)
The Philadelphia Story is a 1939 American comic play by Philip Barry. It tells the story of a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and an attractive journalist.-Production:...
into the musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
High Society, so Shevelove pored through the composer's catalogue in search of tunes that would fit Holidays plot. When the show previewed at the Stratford Festival in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the score consisted of lesser-known Porter songs, and Shevelove decided to eliminate most of them in favor of music more familiar to audiences. He also opted to replace much of Barry's original repartee with songs that suited neither the characters nor the situations, and replaced the gaps with a narrator whose purpose was to explain what was missing from the plot, a device that ultimately proved to be clumsy and confusing.
Synopsis
The Narrator introduces the Seton family, who in December 1933 live in a five story townhouse on Fifth Avenue in New York City. He relates their story.Successful Wall Street lawyer Johnny Case has become engaged to Julia Seton. Julia and her sister Linda celebrate the engagement ("At Long Last Love"). However, Johnny has decided to abandon his well-paid career and instead live a life of pleasure, using Julia's money. Julia's banker father Edward is very upset and her willful sister Linda is fascinated. Johnny begins to realize that he loves the unconventional Linda, and they become a couple, disregarding the "old money and values" of others for a life together.
Song list
Act I- At Long Last LoveAt Long Last Love (song)"At Long Last Love" is a popular song written by Cole Porter, for his 1938 musical You Never Know , where it was introduced by Clifton Webb.-Notable recordings:*Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Loves Cole...
– Julia, Linda and Ned - Ridin' HighRidin' High (song)Ridin' High is a 1936 popular song written by Cole Porter, for his musical Red, Hot and Blue, where it was introduced by Ethel Merman.-Notable recordings:*Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook...
† – Johnny and Julia - Let's Be Buddies – Johnny and Linda
- Boy, Oh, Boy – Linda
- Easy to LoveEasy to Love"Easy to Love" is the title of a R&B single by For Real, it was the second single from their debut album It's a Natural Thang. Billboard magazine noted "super-tight harmonies that are proiminent, but not overshadowing; instatly memorable melody stands as the cut's focal point.-Chart positions:...
– The Young Men - You Do Something to Me – Johnny
- Red, Hot and Blue † – Linda, Johnny, Patrick, and The Stork Club Set
- Once Upon a Time – Ned and Linda
Act II
- Night and DayNight and Day (song)"Night and Day" is a popular song by Cole Porter. It was written for the 1932 musical play Gay Divorce. It is perhaps Porter's most popular contribution to the Great American Songbook and has been recorded by dozens of artists....
– The Narrator and Johnny - Let's Make It a Night – Linda, Thompson and Dixon
- Ours † – Julia
- After You, Who? – Johnny
- I Am Loved – Julia
- When Your Troubles Have Started † – Linda and Ned
† from Red, Hot and Blue
Red, Hot and Blue
Red, Hot and Blue is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and the book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1936 and introduced the popular song, "It's De-Lovely" sung by Ethel Merman.-Synopsis:...
Productions
The BroadwayBroadway 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 opened at the Morosco Theatre
Morosco Theatre
The Morosco Theatre was a legitimate theatre located at 217 West 45th Street in the heart of the theater district in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States....
on April 27, 1980 and closed on May 10, 1980, after 17 performances and 27 previews. Directed by Shevelove and choreographed by Donald Saddler
Donald Saddler
Donald Saddler is an American choreographer, dancer, and theatre director.-Biography:Born in Van Nuys, California, Saddler studied dance at an early age to regain his strength after a bout of scarlet fever...
, the cast include Michael Scott as Johnny, Kimberly Farr as Julia, William Roerick as Edward, and Leslie Denniston as Linda, with John McMartin
John McMartin
John McMartin is an American actor of stage, film and television.-Early life and career:McMartin was born in Warsaw, Indiana and raised in Minnesota. He attended college in Illinois and New York. He made his off-Broadway debut in Little Mary Sunshine in 1959, playing opposite Eileen Brennan...
as the narrator and Richard Bekins
Richard Bekins
Richard Bekins is an American actor best known for his role as Jamie Frame on the soap opera Another World . He has also made sporadic appearances on other series, most notably appearances as several different characters on episodes of Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit...
and Lara Teeter
Lara Teeter
Lara Teeter is an American dancer, actor, singer, theatre director and college professor.Born in Guthrie, Oklahoma, Teeter earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oklahoma City University. He made his Broadway debut in the short-lived 1980 musical Happy New Year, followed by another flop, the...
in supporting roles.
Response
Mel Gussow (The New York TimesThe 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...
) wrote that the musical "turns out to be a musical bouquet of gentle charm and piquancy." He noted that the tryout at the Stratford (Ontario) Festival during the summer of 1979 "seemed like a good idea gone awry." Since that time, more than half the songs were replaced, the enitire cast was replaced, and there was "considerable rewriting."
John Simon
John Simon (critic)
John Ivan Simon is an American author and literary, theater, and film critic.-Personal life:Simon was born in Subotica, Bačka, County of Bačka, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later, known as Yugoslavia . He is of Hungarian descent...
(The New York Magazine) called the musical a "hodgepodge" and advised: "Avoid...like the ho-hum bag of tricks it is, the other new (?) musical, Happy New Year."
Denniston won the Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for her performance, and Pierre Balmain
Pierre Balmain
Pierre Alexandre Claudius Balmain was a French fashion designer. Known for sophistication and elegance, he once said that "dressmaking is the architecture of movement."...
was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design
Tony Award for Best Costume Design
These are the winners and nominees for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design. The award was first presented in 1947 and included both plays and musicals...
and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design
The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...
.