The Human Comedy (musical)
Encyclopedia
The Human Comedy is a musical
with a book and lyrics by William Dumaresq and music by Galt MacDermot
.
William Saroyan
's tale originated as a screenplay
he had been hired to write and direct for MGM. When the studio objected to its length and an uncompromising Saroyan was pulled from the project, he rewrote the story as a novel with the same title that was published shortly prior to the film's release.
The coming-of-age
tale focuses on young Homer Macauley, a telegram messenger who is exposed to the sorrows and joys experienced by his family and the residents of his small California
town during World War II
. Homer's mother Kate is struggling to support her children following the death of her husband, his older brother Marcus is in the Army
, his teenaged sister Bess daydreams about romance, and his younger brother Ulysses divides his attention between the passing trains and an unrequited desire to know why his father had to die. Other characters include Spangler and Grogan, who run the telegraph office, Spangler's girlfriend Diana, Marcus's orphaned army buddy Tobey and Marcus's sweetheart Mary.
Through-composed
, The Human Comedy is far more an American
folk opera like Porgy and Bess
than it is a traditional book musical. Its score includes elements of 1940s swing
, gospel
, pop
, folk music
, and typical show tune
s.
production, directed by Wilford Leach
, opened on December 28, 1983 at Joseph Papp
's Public Theater, where it ran for 79 performances. The cast included Stephen Geoffreys
as Homer, Bonnie Koloc
as Kate, Don Kehr as Marcus, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
as Bess, Josh Blake as Ulysses, Rex Smith
as Spangler, Gordon Connell as Grogan, Leata Galloway as Diana, Joseph Kolinski as Tobey, Caroline Peyton as Mary, and Laurie Franks as Miss Hicks.
Like Hair
and A Chorus Line
before it, The Human Comedy garnered reviews favorable enough to prompt Papp to transfer it a larger, uptown Broadway
house. After twenty previews, with its downtown director and cast intact, it opened on April 5, 1984 at the Royale Theatre, where it ran for only 13 performances.
Frank Rich
's critique of the original production had been positive, but New York Times policy prohibited re-reviewing shows unless they were changed substantially, so his earlier comments were overshadowed by those damaging ones made more recently by Clive Barnes
, among others. The general consensus was that The Human Comedy, with its intimate story staged in a semi-oratorio
style with no scenery save for rear projections used to define each scene's locale, was not suited for a large venue with a conventional proscenium
stage. Following Dude
and Via Galactica
, it was MacDermot's third critical and commercial failure, and proved to be his last attempt at a Broadway musical.
An original cast album was recorded but never released until 1997, when an 86-track, 2-CD
set was issued by Original Cast Records http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000008UNR.
In autumn of 1997, the show enjoyed a partially staged reading at the York Theatre in New York City as part of the York's Musicals In Mufti series. The show was directed by Roger Danforth and featured such New York actors as Heather MacRae as Kate, Richard Roland as Spangler, Diane Sutherland (Fratantoni) as Diana, Alan H. Green as Tobey, Jennifer Rosin as Bess, James Ludwig as Marcus, Joe Hynes as Homer, Traci Lyn Thomas as Mary, Aisha DeHaas as Beautiful Music, Benjamin Stix as Ulysses and Ron Carroll as Grogan.
Act II
, published by St. Martin's Press
(1991), pages 339-41 (ISBN 0-312-06428-4)
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 and lyrics by William Dumaresq and music by Galt MacDermot
Galt MacDermot
Galt MacDermot is a Canadian composer, pianist and writer of musical theatre. He won a Grammy Award for the song African Waltz in 1960. His most successful musicals have been Hair and Two Gentlemen of Verona...
.
William Saroyan
William Saroyan
William Saroyan was an Armenian American dramatist and author. The setting of many of his stories and plays is the center of Armenian-American life in California in his native Fresno.-Early years:...
's tale originated as a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
he had been hired to write and direct for MGM. When the studio objected to its length and an uncompromising Saroyan was pulled from the project, he rewrote the story as a novel with the same title that was published shortly prior to the film's release.
The coming-of-age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
tale focuses on young Homer Macauley, a telegram messenger who is exposed to the sorrows and joys experienced by his family and the residents of his small California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
town during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Homer's mother Kate is struggling to support her children following the death of her husband, his older brother Marcus is in the Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, his teenaged sister Bess daydreams about romance, and his younger brother Ulysses divides his attention between the passing trains and an unrequited desire to know why his father had to die. Other characters include Spangler and Grogan, who run the telegraph office, Spangler's girlfriend Diana, Marcus's orphaned army buddy Tobey and Marcus's sweetheart Mary.
Through-composed
Through-composed
Through-composed music is relatively continuous, non-sectional, and/or non-repetitive. A song is said to be through-composed if it has different music for each stanza of the lyrics. This is in contrast to strophic form, in which each stanza is set to the same music...
, The Human Comedy is far more an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
folk opera like Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
than it is a traditional book musical. Its score includes elements of 1940s swing
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
, gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, and typical show tune
Show tune
A show tune is a popular song originally written as part of the score of a "show" , especially if the piece in question has become a "standard", more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context...
s.
Production
The off-BroadwayOff-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...
production, directed by Wilford Leach
Wilford Leach
Carson Wilford Leach was an American theatre director, set designer, film director, screenwriter, and college professor.-Biography:...
, opened on December 28, 1983 at Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
's Public Theater, where it ran for 79 performances. The cast included Stephen Geoffreys
Stephen Geoffreys
-Life and career:Born Stephen Geoffrey Miller in Cincinnati, Ohio, Geoffreys first began acting on the stage. In 1984, he was nominated for Broadway's Tony Award for "Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical" for his performance in a play based on the The Human Comedy...
as Homer, Bonnie Koloc
Bonnie Koloc
Bonnie Koloc is an American folk music singer-songwriter, actress, and artist who was considered one of the three main Illinois-based folk singers in the 1970s, along with Steve Goodman and John Prine forming the "trinity of the Chicago folk scene."...
as Kate, Don Kehr as Marcus, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is an American actress and singer known for her role as Carmen in The Color of Money, as well as for her roles as Lindsey Brigman in The Abyss, Gina Montana in Scarface, and Maid Marian in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.-Personal life:Mastrantonio was born in Lombard,...
as Bess, Josh Blake as Ulysses, Rex Smith
Rex Smith
Rex Smith is an American actor and singer. Smith debuted in the Broadway play Grease in 1978. He is noted for his role as Jesse Mach in the 1985 television series Street Hawk, as well as being a singer and stage actor. During the late 1970s, Smith was popular as a teen idol...
as Spangler, Gordon Connell as Grogan, Leata Galloway as Diana, Joseph Kolinski as Tobey, Caroline Peyton as Mary, and Laurie Franks as Miss Hicks.
Like Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
and A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
before it, The Human Comedy garnered reviews favorable enough to prompt Papp to transfer it a larger, uptown 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...
house. After twenty previews, with its downtown director and cast intact, it opened on April 5, 1984 at the Royale Theatre, where it ran for only 13 performances.
Frank Rich
Frank Rich
Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...
's critique of the original production had been positive, but New York Times policy prohibited re-reviewing shows unless they were changed substantially, so his earlier comments were overshadowed by those damaging ones made more recently by Clive Barnes
Clive Barnes (critic)
Clive Alexander Barnes, CBE was a British-born American writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977 he was the dance and theater critic for the New York Times, the most powerful position he had held, since its theater critics' reviews historically have had great influence on the success or failure of...
, among others. The general consensus was that The Human Comedy, with its intimate story staged in a semi-oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
style with no scenery save for rear projections used to define each scene's locale, was not suited for a large venue with a conventional proscenium
Proscenium
A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
stage. Following Dude
Dude (musical)
Dude is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. It is an allegory about good and evil, the conflict between mankind's creative and destructive urges, the power of love, and the joy to be found in simple pleasures...
and Via Galactica
Via Galactica
Via Galactica is a rock musical with a book by Christopher Gore and Judith Ross, lyrics by Gore, and music by Galt MacDermot. It marked the Broadway debut of actor Mark Baker....
, it was MacDermot's third critical and commercial failure, and proved to be his last attempt at a Broadway musical.
An original cast album was recorded but never released until 1997, when an 86-track, 2-CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
set was issued by Original Cast Records http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000008UNR.
In autumn of 1997, the show enjoyed a partially staged reading at the York Theatre in New York City as part of the York's Musicals In Mufti series. The show was directed by Roger Danforth and featured such New York actors as Heather MacRae as Kate, Richard Roland as Spangler, Diane Sutherland (Fratantoni) as Diana, Alan H. Green as Tobey, Jennifer Rosin as Bess, James Ludwig as Marcus, Joe Hynes as Homer, Traci Lyn Thomas as Mary, Aisha DeHaas as Beautiful Music, Benjamin Stix as Ulysses and Ron Carroll as Grogan.
Song list
Act I- In a Little Town in California
- Hi Ya, Kid
- We're a Little Family
- The Assyrians
- Noses
- You're a Little Young for the Job
- I Can Carry a Tune
- Happy Birthday
- Happy Anniversary
- I Think the Kid Will Do
- Beautiful Music
- Cocoanut Cream Pie
- When I Am Lost
- I Said, Oh No
- Daddy Will Not Come Walking Through The Door
- The Birds in the Sky
- Remember Always to Give
- Long Past Sunset
- Don't Tell Me
- The Fourth Telegram
- Give Me All the Money
- Everything Is Changed
- The World Is Full of Loneliness
- Hi Ya, Kid (Reprise)
Act II
- How I Love Your Thingamajig
- Everlasting
- An Orphan I Am
- I'll Tell You About My Family
- I Wish I Were a Man
- Marcus, My Friend
- My Sister Bess
- I've Known a Lot of Guys
- Diana
- Dear Brother
- The Birds In The Trees/A Lot of Men
- Parting
- Mr. Grogan, Wake Up
- Hello, Doc
- What Am I Supposed to Do?
- Long Past Sunset (Reprise)
- I'm Home
- Somewhere, Someone
- I'll Always Love You
- Hi Ya, Kid (Reprise)
- Fathers And Mothers (And You And Me)
Awards and nominations
- Tony AwardTony AwardThe 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...
for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Geoffreys, nominee) - Theatre World AwardTheatre World AwardThe 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:...
(Geoffreys and Koloc, winners) - Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Koloc, nominee) - Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music (nominee)
Sources
Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops by Ken MandelbaumKen Mandelbaum
Ken Mandelbaum is an American columnist, critic, and author whose primary field of expertise is musical theatre.Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Mandelbaum was introduced to Broadway musical theatre by his parents and grandparents at an early age...
, published by St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
(1991), pages 339-41 (ISBN 0-312-06428-4)