Lady in the Dark
Encyclopedia
Lady in the Dark is a musical
with music by Kurt Weill
, lyrics by Ira Gershwin
and book and direction by Moss Hart
. It was produced by Sam Harris
. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fashion magazine, Allure, who is undergoing psychoanalysis
. The musical ran on Broadway
in 1941, in the United Kingdom in 1981, and was also made into a 1944 film and a live 1954 television special.
. Except for the final song, all the music in the play is heard in three extended dream sequences: the Glamour Dream, the Wedding Dream, and the Circus Dream which, to some extent, become three small operettas integrated into a straight play. The final song, "My Ship
", functions as a leitmotif for Liza's insecurity: as each dream commences, a snippet of the tune is heard, as it is a haunting melody which Liza recognizes but cannot name, or sing with words, until her anxiety is resolved.
) on January 23, 1941 and closed on May 30, 1942 after 467 performances. Direction was by Hart, produced by Sam H. Harris
, with musical staging by Hassard Short
, who also was the production designer, and choreography by Albertina Rasch
. The original cast starred Gertrude Lawrence
, Danny Kaye
, Bert Lytell
, Victor Mature
, Margaret Dale, and Davis Cunningham
.
Kaye's performance as fashion photographer Russell Paxton, and particularly his consistently showstopping performance of the patter song
"Tschaikowsky (and Other Russians)"
in which he dashes through the names of 50 Russian composers in 39 seconds, made him a star. The musical went on an eight city tour for 160 performances,and also played on the West Coast, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, for 56 performances. The show then ran at The Broadway Theatre
from February 27 through May 15, 1943, for 83 performances. Gertrude Lawrence reprised her role as Liza Elliott in all venues.
Subsequent productions
Lady in the Dark premiered in the United Kingdom on December 9, 1981, at Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham
; Celeste Holm
, in her British debut, starred.
A New York City Center
Encores!
semi-staged concert was produced in New York in May 1994 with Christine Ebersole
.
The musical opened on the West End
at the Royal National Theatre
, London, on March 11, running through August 2, 1997, directed by Francesca Zambello
and starring Maria Friedman
. The production received the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical.
starred Ginger Rogers
and Ray Milland
. It cut most of the Weill/Gershwin songs, though "The Saga of Jenny
" and "Girl of the Moment" remained, and part of "This Is New" is played by a nightclub band in the background. "My Ship" was heard as background music, but never sung, even though the music was constantly referred to in the story. Kaye's role went to Hollywood's "Mad Russian," the slightly taller Mischa Auer
. Lady in the Dark was twice presented on radio, in 1947 and 1950, for Theatre Guild on the Air
. Gertrude Lawrence reprised her role both times and Keene Crockett played Russell.
The musical was broadcast on NBC
television on September 25, 1954, as part of an intermittent series under the umbrella title Max Liebman Presents. Ann Sothern
played Liza, and Carleton Carpenter
played Russell. A cast recording of the TV special was released on Sepia.
produced a stereo studio recording for Columbia
, starring Risë Stevens
, Roger White, and Adolph Green
. This recording was reissued as a Masterworks Heritage CD, MHK 62869. The reissue also includes five 1941 mono recordings of songs (including Tschaikowsky) sung by Danny Kaye. According to the liner notes, the maximum playing time of an LP did not permit including everything, and some cuts were made (though they are not specified).
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 music by Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
, lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
and book and direction by Moss Hart
Moss Hart
Moss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:...
. It was produced by Sam Harris
Sam Harris (playwright)
Sam H. Harris was a Broadway producer and theater owner.-Career:After a stint as a cough drop salesman and boxing manager, Harris's first production was Theodore Kremer's The Evil That Men Do co-produced with Al Woods in 1903. Harris found success in 1904 as the producing partner of George M...
. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fashion magazine, Allure, who is undergoing psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
. The musical ran 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...
in 1941, in the United Kingdom in 1981, and was also made into a 1944 film and a live 1954 television special.
Background
The musical's theme of psychoanalysis is said to be based on Hart's own experiences with psychoanalyst Gregory ZilboorgGregory Zilboorg
Gregory Zilboorg was a psychoanalyst and historian of psychiatry who is remembered for situating psychiatry within a broad sociological and humanistic context in his many writings and lectures....
. Except for the final song, all the music in the play is heard in three extended dream sequences: the Glamour Dream, the Wedding Dream, and the Circus Dream which, to some extent, become three small operettas integrated into a straight play. The final song, "My Ship
My Ship
"My Ship" is a popular song written for the 1941 Broadway musical Lady in the Dark, with music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Ira Gershwin.The music is marked "Andante espressivo"; Gershwin describes it as "orchestrated by Kurt to sound sweet and simple at times, mysterious and menacing at other".It...
", functions as a leitmotif for Liza's insecurity: as each dream commences, a snippet of the tune is heard, as it is a haunting melody which Liza recognizes but cannot name, or sing with words, until her anxiety is resolved.
Productions
The musical opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil SimonNeil Simon Theatre
The Neil Simon Theatre, formerly the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway venue built in 1927 and located at 250 West 52nd Street in midtown-Manhattan....
) on January 23, 1941 and closed on May 30, 1942 after 467 performances. Direction was by Hart, produced by Sam H. Harris
Sam Harris (playwright)
Sam H. Harris was a Broadway producer and theater owner.-Career:After a stint as a cough drop salesman and boxing manager, Harris's first production was Theodore Kremer's The Evil That Men Do co-produced with Al Woods in 1903. Harris found success in 1904 as the producing partner of George M...
, with musical staging by Hassard Short
Hassard Short
Hubert Edward Hassard Short , usually known as Hassard Short, was an actor, stage director, set designer and lighting designer in musical theatrewho directed over 50 Broadway and West End shows between 1920 and 1953...
, who also was the production designer, and choreography by Albertina Rasch
Albertina Rasch
Albertina Rasch was a naturalized American dancer and choreographer.-Early life:Born in Vienna in 1891 to a family of Polish Jewish descent, Rasch studied at the Vienna State Opera Ballet school and became leading ballerina at the New York Hippodrome in...
. The original cast starred Gertrude Lawrence
Gertrude Lawrence
Gertrude Lawrence was an English actress, singer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End theatre district of London and on Broadway.-Early life:...
, Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
, Bert Lytell
Bert Lytell
Bert Lytell , Born Bertram Lytell, he was a popular screen star of the silent film era who starred in romantic, melodrama and adventure films....
, Victor Mature
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky to an Italian-speaking father from the town Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol , Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, a cutler,...
, Margaret Dale, and Davis Cunningham
Davis Cunningham
Thomas Davis Cunningham was an American tenor who had prominent career in operas, musicals, concerts, and on television from 1949 through 1973.-Biography:...
.
Kaye's performance as fashion photographer Russell Paxton, and particularly his consistently showstopping performance of the patter song
Patter song
The patter song is characterized by a moderately fast to very fast tempo with a rapid succession of rhythmic patterns in which each syllable of text corresponds to one note...
"Tschaikowsky (and Other Russians)"
Tchaikovsky (song)
"Tschaikowsky " is a patter song with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by Kurt Weill, first performed by American comedian Danny Kaye in the 1941 Broadway musical Lady in the Dark...
in which he dashes through the names of 50 Russian composers in 39 seconds, made him a star. The musical went on an eight city tour for 160 performances,and also played on the West Coast, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, for 56 performances. The show then ran at The Broadway Theatre
The Broadway Theatre
The Broadway Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1681 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan....
from February 27 through May 15, 1943, for 83 performances. Gertrude Lawrence reprised her role as Liza Elliott in all venues.
Subsequent productions
Lady in the Dark premiered in the United Kingdom on December 9, 1981, at Nottingham Playhouse, Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
; Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm is an American stage, film, and television actress, known for her Academy Award-winning performance in Gentleman's Agreement , as well as for her Oscar-nominated performances in Come to the Stable and All About Eve...
, in her British debut, starred.
A New York City Center
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
Encores!
Encores!
Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert is a program that has been presented by New York City Center since 1994. Encores! is dedicated to performing the full score of musicals that rarely are heard in New York City...
semi-staged concert was produced in New York in May 1994 with Christine Ebersole
Christine Ebersole
Christine Ebersole is an American actress and singer.-Early life:Ebersole was born in Winnetka, Illinois, where she attended New Trier High School...
.
The musical opened on the 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...
at the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, London, on March 11, running through August 2, 1997, directed by Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello is a leading American opera and theatre director. Zambello lived in Europe when she was a child, learning to speak French, Italian, German and Russian. Zambello is of Italian descent, the daughter of Jean , an actress and Charles C. Zambello, a former actor who became head of...
and starring Maria Friedman
Maria Friedman
Maria Friedman is an English actress working in television, musical theatre, and concerts. She has won three Olivier Awards for her stage work.-Early years:...
. The production received the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical.
Adaptations
The 1944 film versionLady in the Dark (film)
Lady in the Dark is a 1944 Technicolor musical film directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Ginger Rogers. It was nominated for three Academy Awards; for Best Cinematography, Best Music and Best Art Direction ....
starred Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
and Ray Milland
Ray Milland
Ray Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
. It cut most of the Weill/Gershwin songs, though "The Saga of Jenny
The Saga of Jenny
"The Saga of Jenny" is a popular song written for the 1941 Broadway musical Lady in the Dark, with music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Ira Gershwin.The music is marked "Allegretto quasi andantino"; Gershwin describes it as "a sort of blues bordello"....
" and "Girl of the Moment" remained, and part of "This Is New" is played by a nightclub band in the background. "My Ship" was heard as background music, but never sung, even though the music was constantly referred to in the story. Kaye's role went to Hollywood's "Mad Russian," the slightly taller Mischa Auer
Mischa Auer
Mischa Auer was a Russian-born American actor.-Early life:Auer was born Mikhail Semyonovich Unskovsky in St. Petersburg, Russia...
. Lady in the Dark was twice presented on radio, in 1947 and 1950, for Theatre Guild on the Air
The United States Steel Hour
The United States Steel Hour is an anthology series which brought hour-long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation....
. Gertrude Lawrence reprised her role both times and Keene Crockett played Russell.
The musical was broadcast on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television on September 25, 1954, as part of an intermittent series under the umbrella title Max Liebman Presents. Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern was an American film and television actress whose career spanned six decades.-Early life and career:...
played Liza, and Carleton Carpenter
Carleton Carpenter
Carleton Carpenter is an American movie/television/stage actor, a magician, author and songwriter....
played Russell. A cast recording of the TV special was released on Sepia.
Songs
Act I Glamour Dream
Wedding Dream
|
Act II Circus Dream
Final Scene
|
Recordings
Although recordings of individual songs were made, no attempt was made to record the entire score until 1963, when Lehman EngelLehman Engel
Lehman Engel was an American composer and conductor of Broadway musicals, television and film.-Work in theatre, television and films:...
produced a stereo studio recording for Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, starring Risë Stevens
Risë Stevens
Risë Stevens is a retired American operatic mezzo-soprano.-Professional life:Stevens studied at New York's Juilliard School for three years. She went to Vienna, where she was trained by Marie Gutheil-Schoder and Herbert Graf. She made her début as Mignon in Prague in 1936 and stayed there until...
, Roger White, and Adolph Green
Adolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
. This recording was reissued as a Masterworks Heritage CD, MHK 62869. The reissue also includes five 1941 mono recordings of songs (including Tschaikowsky) sung by Danny Kaye. According to the liner notes, the maximum playing time of an LP did not permit including everything, and some cuts were made (though they are not specified).
Reception
Life Magazine wrote that "with its unique blend of serious drama, musical comedy and pageantry, Lady in the Dark is a grand-scale smash hit."External links
- Lady in the Dark, Internet Broadway Database
- Lady in the Dark, Kurt Weill Foundation
- Lady in the Dark listing, Rodgers and HammersteinRodgers and HammersteinRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
Organization - Lady in the Dark (film) at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Lady in the Dark (TV) at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Plot, song list at Guide to Musical Theatre
- UArts Lady in the Dark summary
- Lady in the Dark at ovrtur.com