The Glorious Ones 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 book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens

Lynn Ahrens

Lynn Ahrens is an American writer and lyricist for the musical theatre, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty for many years...

 and music by Stephen Flaherty

Stephen Flaherty

Stephen Flaherty is an American composer of musical theatre. He works most often in collaboration with the lyricist/bookwriter Lynn Ahrens...

. Set in 17th-century Italy, it concerns a theatre group in the world of commedia dell'arte

Commedia dell'arte

Commedia dell'arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked "types" which began in Italy in the 16th century, and was responsible for the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. The closest translation of the name is "comedy of craft"; it is shortened...

 and theatre of the Italian Renaissance

Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...

.

After premiering in Pittsburgh in April 2007, the musical opened 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...

 in October 2007.

Production history

The show premiered April 27, 2007, at the Pittsburgh Public Theater

Pittsburgh Public Theater

Pittsburgh Public Theater is a professional theater company based in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Cultural District.Established in 1974, it was housed in the Hazlett Theatre at the Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall on Pittsburgh’s North Side...

 and closed on May 20, 2007. It then opened Off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, as a production of the Lincoln Center Theatre on October 11, 2007 and ran through January 6, 2008. Directed and choreographed by Graciella Danielle, the New York cast featured Marc Kudisch

Marc Kudisch

Marc Kudisch is an American stage actor, who is best known for his musical theatre roles on Broadway.-Early life and education:...

, Erin Davie

Erin Davie

Erin Davie is an American actress and singer, best known for her performance as the young Edith Bouvier Beale in the Broadway production of the musical Grey Gardens, taking the part for the slightly revised version on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre, after its initial run at Playwrights Horizons...

, Natalie Venetia Belcon

Natalie Venetia Belcon

Natalie Venetia Belcon is a Trinidad-born American actress and singer. She is best known for originating the role of former child television star Gary Coleman in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Avenue Q...

, and David Patrick Kelly.

Songs

Prologue – The Glorious Ones/ Flaminio Scala, The Glorious Ones

• Making Love /Columbina, Flaminio and Troupe
• Pantalone Alone / Pantalone
• The Comedy of Love/Pantalone, Armanda Ragusa, and Troupe

Scenario – The Madness of Columbina /The Glorious Ones

• The Comedy of Love (reprise) /Pantalone, Armanda Ragusa
• The Glorious Ones (reprise) /Flaminio
• Madness to Act /Flaminio
• Absalom/ Francesco
• The Invitation to France / Dottore
• Flaminio Scala's Historical Journey to France/ The Glorious Ones
• Two Lazzi /The Glorious Ones
• Armanda's Tarantella /Armanda, Men
• Improvisation / Flaminio
• The World She Writes/ IsabeIla
• Opposite You /Franccsco, lsabella
• My Body Wasn't Why/ Columbina

Scenario – The Madness of Isabella /The Glorious Ones

• Flaminio Scala's Ominous Dream /Flaminio and Troupe
• The World She Writes (reprise) / Francesco
• Rise and Fall /Dottore and Troupe
• The Moon Woman, A Play The Glorious Ones
• The Glorious Ones (reprise) Flaminio
• I Was Here / Flaminio
• Armanda's Sack /Armanda and Troupe
• Finale/ The Glorious Ones

Characters and off-Broadway cast

• Columbina – Natalie Venetia Belcon
• Isabella Andreini/Young Boy Actor – Erin Davie
• Dottore – John Kassir
• Pantalone – David Patrick Kelly
• Flaminio Scala – Marc Kudisch
• Armanda Ragusa – Julyana Soelistyo
  Julyana Soelistyo
  Julyana Soelistyo is an American stage and film actress who, in 1998, was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in Golden Child.- Early life :...
  
  
• Francesco Andreini/Comic Servant – Jeremy Webb

Awards and nominations

Drama Desk Awards

• Outstanding Musical (nomination)
• Outstanding Music (nomination)
• Outstanding Lyrics (nomination)
• Outstanding Orchestrations (Michael Starobin) (nomination)
• Outstanding Costume Design (Mara Blumenfeld) (nomination)

Outer Critics Circle Award

Outer Critics Circle Award

The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...

• Outstanding New Off-Broadway New Musical (nomination)
• Outstanding Choreographer (nomination)

External links

• Listing at Lortel Off-Broadway Database
• Review, "New musical 'The Glorious Ones' fulfills promise of its name", pittsburghlive.com, April 28, 2007
• Listing, Pittsburgh Public Theater
• New York Times review, November 6, 2007