Olympus on My Mind
Encyclopedia
Olympus On My Mind is a musical
with music by Grant Sturiale and a book and lyrics by Barry Harman, based on a play by Heinrich Von Kleist
. The musical ran Off-Broadway
at Lamb's Theatre
for 297 performances in 1986. It was also staged that year in a regional production in Fairfield, Connecticut
by the Boston Post Road Stage Company.
in ancient Greek
times. Jupiter
is bored with life on Mount Olympus
and decides to have an affair with a mortal woman, which turns out to be the beneficent Princess Alcmene
. However, she is happily married to General Amphitryon
, who is away fighting battles. Jupiter concocts a plan to disguise himself as the General, but when Alcmene first meets the new general she is apprehensive. Jupiter wins her over with a depiction of the enchanted evening that awaits her.
Mercury
, Jupiter's son, has accompanied him to Earth
, but he turns out to be useless when Jupiter wants to know the result of the battle with Sparta
. Dolores, a member of the chorus, is left to find out.
Sosia, one of the General's slaves, arrives back home, happy to be alive after the years he spent fighting in the wars. Mercury, however, has assumed his identity, so he is not welcome. Sosia leaves just as Jupiter comes out from the palace, after his night with the Princess. Due to the fact this was Jupiter's first time as a human, he starts to feel human emotions. Anxiety fills him, wondering if Alcmene loves him. He asks her, but he is disappointed to learn she has spent the night with a charlatan
. Mercury advises his father to give the Princess time, and eventually she will be cognizant of the truth.
The General is looking forward to reuniting with his wife. En route home, he encounters Sosia, who tells him he was barred from the house by, none other than the imposter General. Once at home, the general is perturbed by his wife's unfeeling greeting. He is astounded to learn he spent an enchanted, passionate reunion the night before. Angered, the General accuses the Princess of adultery
. He storms out, while his wife is crying and still claiming innocence. Sosia too is reuniting with his wife nagging wife, Charis. He too is astounded by his wife's actions, when he discovers her going out for a night on the town. She contends that he gave her permission (it was actually Mercury in disguise). Thinking it over, she contemplates if the man last night was an impostor.
Still disguised as the General, Jupiter verifies her beliefs but says she should not be held responsible. He persuades her that there is only one way she could have been misled and she is comforted to be pardoned from blame, but she furious to be deceived by Jupiter. Mercury suggests ways to win women's hearts after Jupiter becomes disheartened since he feels he can win the Princess' affection again. Jupiter attempts to gain sympathy by telling her how lonely he is on the Mountain, but he is still disguised as the General.
Alcmene forgives Jupiter because she has been so moved, and Jupiter is ecstatic. But, Jupiter then encounters another human emotion: Jealousy. He then feels he cannot leave her on Earth with her real husband. To take her, he plans to make her into a constellation, so that way he can be with her forever in heaven, despite the objections by Mercury.
Alcmene is then faced with a problem: The General comes back and she is confused by two identical husbands. She is then pitted to choose one, and chooses Jupiter, thinking that is her actual husband. The General objects, but in turn doing so, he realizes he is condemning his wife as a willing debauchee. He takes back his plea and declares he will defend her purity of heart till death. Jupiter has yet another new emotion: compassion. Jupiter then leaves Alcmene, abjures from the challenge to mend harmony on Earth. He returns to the Heavens, re-assuming his role as Eternal Ruler of The Universe, albeit dolefully.
The show is first and foremost a Comedy, and uses (and abuses) a few inside jokes. The first: The Show is produced (allegedly) by "Murray the Furrier", a fictitious furrier who deals in used and discount furs. Included in the actual contract to produce the show are stipulations that credit be given to Murray the Furrier in all advertising media and program books.
Second: The character Delores, a chorus girl with only one line, has no business being on stage. It is obvious that she has been cast as a favor to Murray the Furrier, who is revealed to be her sugar daddy. She has only one "scripted" line, but that doesn't stop her from having an ongoing conversation with the audience throughout. She speaks directly to the audience. When it comes time for her one scripted line, she flubs it.
Third: the show lends itself to the style of a comedy routine from the 50's (reminiscent of the Dick Van Dyke show). The chorus (Tom, Dick, Horace and Delores) are stylized characters who tap dance in sandals. The leads are encouraged to be played broadly. It come off as light fun.
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 Grant Sturiale and a book and lyrics by Barry Harman, based on a play by Heinrich Von Kleist
Heinrich von Kleist
Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was a poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him.- Life :...
. The musical ran Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
at Lamb's Theatre
Lamb's Theatre
Lamb's Theatre was an Off-Broadway theater located at 130 West 44th Street, New York City inside the Manhattan Church of the Nazarene, near Times Square in New York City. It seated approximately 350 and specialized in musical productions...
for 297 performances in 1986. It was also staged that year in a regional production in Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...
by the Boston Post Road Stage Company.
Synopsis
The show is set in ThebesAncient Thebes (Boeotia)
See Thebes, Greece for the modern city built on the ancient ruins.Ancient Thebes was a Boeotian city-state , situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain...
in ancient Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
times. Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
is bored with life on Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, about 100 kilometres away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks. The highest peak Mytikas, meaning "nose", rises to 2,917 metres...
and decides to have an affair with a mortal woman, which turns out to be the beneficent Princess Alcmene
Alcmene
In Greek mythology, Alcmene or Alcmena was the mother of Heracles.-Background:Alcmene was born to Electryon, the son of Perseus and Andromeda, and king of Tiryns and Mycenae or Medea in Argolis. Her mother was Anaxo, daughter of Alcaeus and Astydamia, daughter of Pelops and Hippodameia...
. However, she is happily married to General Amphitryon
Amphitryon
Amphitryon , in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis.Amphitryon was a Theban general, who was originally from Tiryns in the eastern part of the Peloponnese. He was friends with Panopeus....
, who is away fighting battles. Jupiter concocts a plan to disguise himself as the General, but when Alcmene first meets the new general she is apprehensive. Jupiter wins her over with a depiction of the enchanted evening that awaits her.
Mercury
Mercury (mythology)
Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
, Jupiter's son, has accompanied him to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, but he turns out to be useless when Jupiter wants to know the result of the battle with Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
. Dolores, a member of the chorus, is left to find out.
Sosia, one of the General's slaves, arrives back home, happy to be alive after the years he spent fighting in the wars. Mercury, however, has assumed his identity, so he is not welcome. Sosia leaves just as Jupiter comes out from the palace, after his night with the Princess. Due to the fact this was Jupiter's first time as a human, he starts to feel human emotions. Anxiety fills him, wondering if Alcmene loves him. He asks her, but he is disappointed to learn she has spent the night with a charlatan
Charlatan
A charlatan is a person practicing quackery or some similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, fame or other advantages via some form of pretense or deception....
. Mercury advises his father to give the Princess time, and eventually she will be cognizant of the truth.
The General is looking forward to reuniting with his wife. En route home, he encounters Sosia, who tells him he was barred from the house by, none other than the imposter General. Once at home, the general is perturbed by his wife's unfeeling greeting. He is astounded to learn he spent an enchanted, passionate reunion the night before. Angered, the General accuses the Princess of adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
. He storms out, while his wife is crying and still claiming innocence. Sosia too is reuniting with his wife nagging wife, Charis. He too is astounded by his wife's actions, when he discovers her going out for a night on the town. She contends that he gave her permission (it was actually Mercury in disguise). Thinking it over, she contemplates if the man last night was an impostor.
Still disguised as the General, Jupiter verifies her beliefs but says she should not be held responsible. He persuades her that there is only one way she could have been misled and she is comforted to be pardoned from blame, but she furious to be deceived by Jupiter. Mercury suggests ways to win women's hearts after Jupiter becomes disheartened since he feels he can win the Princess' affection again. Jupiter attempts to gain sympathy by telling her how lonely he is on the Mountain, but he is still disguised as the General.
Alcmene forgives Jupiter because she has been so moved, and Jupiter is ecstatic. But, Jupiter then encounters another human emotion: Jealousy. He then feels he cannot leave her on Earth with her real husband. To take her, he plans to make her into a constellation, so that way he can be with her forever in heaven, despite the objections by Mercury.
Alcmene is then faced with a problem: The General comes back and she is confused by two identical husbands. She is then pitted to choose one, and chooses Jupiter, thinking that is her actual husband. The General objects, but in turn doing so, he realizes he is condemning his wife as a willing debauchee. He takes back his plea and declares he will defend her purity of heart till death. Jupiter has yet another new emotion: compassion. Jupiter then leaves Alcmene, abjures from the challenge to mend harmony on Earth. He returns to the Heavens, re-assuming his role as Eternal Ruler of The Universe, albeit dolefully.
The show is first and foremost a Comedy, and uses (and abuses) a few inside jokes. The first: The Show is produced (allegedly) by "Murray the Furrier", a fictitious furrier who deals in used and discount furs. Included in the actual contract to produce the show are stipulations that credit be given to Murray the Furrier in all advertising media and program books.
Second: The character Delores, a chorus girl with only one line, has no business being on stage. It is obvious that she has been cast as a favor to Murray the Furrier, who is revealed to be her sugar daddy. She has only one "scripted" line, but that doesn't stop her from having an ongoing conversation with the audience throughout. She speaks directly to the audience. When it comes time for her one scripted line, she flubs it.
Third: the show lends itself to the style of a comedy routine from the 50's (reminiscent of the Dick Van Dyke show). The chorus (Tom, Dick, Horace and Delores) are stylized characters who tap dance in sandals. The leads are encouraged to be played broadly. It come off as light fun.
Musical Numbers
- 'Welcome To Greece' - Chorus
- 'Heaven On Earth' - Jupiter, Alcmen, Chorus
- 'The Gods On Tap' - Delores, Jupiter, Mercury, Chorus
- 'Surprise!' - Sosia
- 'Love, What a Concept' - Jupiter, Mercury
- 'Wait 'til Dawn' - Mercury
- 'I Know My Wife' - Amphitryon
- 'It Was Me' - Sosia
- 'Back So Soon?' - Amphitryon, Sosia, Chorus
- 'Wonderful' - Alcmene
- 'At Liberty In Thebes' - Charis, Chorus
- 'Jupiter Slept Here' - Company
- 'Back to the Play' - Chorus
- 'Don't Bring Her Flowers' - Mercury
- 'Generals' Panedmonium' - Amphitryon, Jupiter, Sosia, Chorus
- 'Heaven on Earth (reprise)' - Sosia, Chorus
- 'A Star Is Born' - Delores, Company
- 'Olympus Is A Lonely Town' - Amphitryon, Alcmene, Mercury, Jupiter, Charis, Sosia, Chorus
- 'Finale - Heaven on Earth' - Jupiter, Alcmene