Enchanted Evenings:The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber
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Published Libretto: None (rental available from The Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatre Library).
Published Vocal Score: Chappell & Co., 1985 (Broadway 1983).
One Touch of Venus (1943)
Source: The Tinted Venus (1885) by F. Anstey (Thomas Anstey Guthrie); reprinted in Humour & Fantasy (New York: Arno Press, 1978). [novel]
Published Libretto: Great Musicals of the American Theatre Volume One, ed. Stanley Richards (Radnor, Pa.: Chilton Book Company, 1973).
Published Vocal Score: None (rental score available from the Rodgers and Hammerstein Theatre Library); vocal selections, The Richmond Organization, 1944; renewed by Hampshire House Publishing Corp. and Chappell & Co., 1972.
Pal Joey (1940)
Source: Pal Joey by John O’Hara; Pal Joey: The Novel and The Libretto and Lyrics (New York: Vintage, 1983). [novel based on short stories in the form of letters first published in the New Yorker from 1938 to 1940]. See also published Libretto.
Published Libretto: Pal Joey: The Novel and the Libretto and Lyrics.
Published Vocal Score: Chappell & Co, 1962.
The Phantom of the Opera (London 1986, New York, 1988)
Sources: Le Fantöme de L’Opéra, daily installments in Le Gaulois. Collected and republished. Paris: Pierre Lafitte et Cie, June, 1910; published in English as The Phantom of the Opera. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1911; modern edition: The Essential Phantom of the Opera, ed. Leonard Wolf. New York: ibooks: 1996. [novel]
Published Librettos: The Complete Phantom of the Opera by George Perry, pp. 139–67. New York: Holt, 1987 [musical]; Perry, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera Companion. Contains Original Screenplay. London: Pavilion, 2004. [screenplay]
Published Vocal Score: Vocal Selections, Hal Leonard, 1987.
Porgy and Bess (1935)
Sources: Porgy by DuBose Heyward (New York: George H. Doran Company, 1925) [novel]; Porgy, A Play in Four Acts by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward (New York: Doubleday, Doran, 1928); reprinted in Famous American Plays of the 1920s, selected and introduced by Kenneth MacGowan (New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1959). [play]
Published Librettos: London OSA-13116 (1976); RCA ARL 3–2109 (1977); EMI/Angel CDCC-49568 (1986); Columbia OSL 162; reissued on Odyssey Stereo 32-36-0018 (1951), also published in Great Musicals of the American Theatre Volume One, ed. Stanley Richards (Radnor, Pa: Chilton Book Company, 1973); see also the published Vocal Score.
Published Vocal Score: Gershwin Publishing Corp./Chappell & Co., 1935.
Show Boat (1927)
Source: Show Boat by Edna Ferber (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1926). [novel]
Published Librettos: Chappell, 1934 (London 1928); act I, scenes 1, 2, 4, 7, and 8, and act II, scene 3 [virtually complete] and scenes 4 and 9 [well represented] in EMI/Angel CDS-7-49108-2 (1988).
Published Vocal Scores: Harms Co., 1927 (Broadway 1927); Chappell & Co. and T. B. Harms Co., 1928 (London 1928); The Welk Music Group, 1927 (Broadway 1946).
Sunday in the Park with George (1984)
Source: Based on the life of the painter Georges Seurat (1859–1891) and the creation of his painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–1886).
Published Libretto: New York: Dodd, Mead, 1986; reprinted in Four by Sondheim. New York: Applause, 2000.
Published Vocal Score: New York: Alfred, 1987.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979)
Sources: The String of Pearls: A Romance by Thomas Peckett Prest, 1846–47 [serialized novel]; The String of Pearls, or the Fiend of Fleet Street (produced as Sweeney Todd) by George Dibdin Pitt, 1847 [play]; Sweeney Todd by Christopher Bond, 1973 [play]. [Hugh Wheeler’s book for Sweeney Todd includes the following credit on the title page: “Based on a version of ‘Sweeney Todd’ by Christopher Bond.”]
Published Libretto: New York: Dodd, Mead, 1979; reprinted in Four by Sondheim. New York: Applause, 2000.
Published Vocal Score: New York: Rilting Music and Alfred, 1999.
West Side Story (1957)
Source: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (1595). [play]. See also published librettos.
Published Librettos: Romeo and Juliet/West Side Story (New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1965); Great Musicals of the American Theatre Volume One, ed. Stanley Richards (Radnor, Pa.: Chilton Book Company, 1973).
Published Vocal Score: G. Schirmer and Chappell & Co., 1957 and 1959.
Appendix B: Long Runs: Decade by Decade 1920s–2000s
1920s
1. The Student Prince in Heidelberg (1924) (Romberg and Donnelly)
608
2. Blossom Time (1921) (Romberg and Donnelly)
592
3. Show Boat (1927) (Kern and Hammerstein)*
575
4. Sally (1920) (Kern, Bolton, and Grey)
570
5. Rose-Marie (1924) (Friml, Harbach, and Hammerstein)
557
6. Good News (1927) (Henderson, DeSylva, and Brown)
551
7. Sunny (1925) (Kern, Harbach, and Hammerstein)
517
8. The Vagabond King (1925) (Friml and Hooker)
511
9. The New Moon (1928) (Romberg and Hammerstein)
509
10. Rio Rita (1927) (Tierney and McCarthy)
494
11. Wildflower (1923) (Youmans, Stothart, Harbach, and Hammerstein)
477
12. The Desert Song (1924) (Romberg, Harbach, and Hammerstein)
471
1930s
1. Hellzapoppin’ (1938) (Fain, Olsen, and Johnson)
1,404
2. Pins and Needles (1937) (Rome)
1,108
3. Of Thee I Sing (1931) (G. and I. Gershwin)
441
4. Anything Goes (1934) (Porter)
420
5. DuBarry Was a Lady (1939) (Porter)
408
6. The Cat and the Fiddle (1931) (Kern and Harbach)
395
7. Flying High (1930) (Henderson, DeSylva, and Brown)
357
8. Music in the Air (1932) (Kern and Hammerstein)
342
9. I Married an Angel (1938) (Rodgers and Hart)
338
10. On Your Toes (1936) (Rodgers and Hart)
315
11. The Great Waltz (1934) (Johann Strauss Jr. and Carter)
298
12. Roberta (1933) (Kern and Harbach)
295
13. I’d Rather Be Right (1937) (Rodgers and Hart)
290
14. Babes in Arms (1937) (Rodgers and Hart)
289
1940s
1. Oklahoma! (1943) (Rodgers and Hammerstein)
2,212
2. South Pacific (1949) (Rodgers and Hammerstein)
1,925
3. Annie Get Your Gun (1946) (Berlin and H. and D. Fields)
1,147
4. Kiss Me, Kate (1948) (Porter and B. and S. Spewack)
1,070
5. Carousel (1945) (Rodgers and Hammerstein)
890
6. Follow the Girls (1944) (Shapiro, Pascal, and Charig)
882
7. Song of Norway (1944) (Wright and Forrest)
860
8. Where’s Charley? (1948) (Loesser and Abbott)
792
9. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949) (Styne and Robin)
740
10. High Button Shoes (1947) (Styne, Cahn, and Abbott)
727
11. Finian’s Rainbow (1947) (Lane and Harburg)
725
12. Bloomer Girl (1944) (Arlen and Harburg)
654
13. Brigadoon (1947) (Lerner and Loewe)
581
14. One Touch of Venus (1943) (Weill, Nash, and Perelman)
567
1950s
1. My Fair Lady (1956) (Lerner and Loewe)
2,717
2. The Sound of Music (1959) (Rodgers and Hammerstein)
1,443
3. The Music Man (1957) (Wilson)
1,375
4. The King and I (1951) (Rodgers and Hammerstein)
1,246
5. Guys and Dolls (1950) (Loesser and Burrows)
1,200
6. Pajama Game (1954) (Adler and Ross)
1,063
7. Damn Yankees (1955) (Adler and Ross)
1,019
8. Bells Are Ringing (1956) (Styne, Comden, and Green)
924
9. Can-Can (1953) (Porter and Burrows)
892
10. Fanny (1954) (Rome, Behrman, and Logan)
888
11. Fiorello! (1959) (Bock and Harnick)
796
12. West Side Story (1957) (Bernstein, Sondheim, and Laurents)
732
13. Gypsy (1959) (Styne, Sondheim, and Laurents)
702
14. Li’l Abner (1956) (de Paul and Mercer)
693
15. The Most Happy Fella (1956) (Loesser)
676
1960s
1. Fiddler on the Roof (1964) (Bock, Harnick, and Stein)
3,242
2. Hello, Dolly! (1964) (Herman and Stewart)
2,844
3. The Man of La Mancha (1965) (Leigh, Darion, and Wasserman)
2,328
4. Hair (1968) (MacDermot, Ragni, and Rado)
1,750
5. Mame (1966) (Herman, Lawrence, and Lee)
1,508
6. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1961) (Loesser and Burrows)
1,417
7. Funny Girl (1964) (Styne, Merrill, and Lennart)
1,348
8. Promises, Promises (1968) (Bacharach, David, and Simon)
1,281
9. 1776 (1969) (Edwards and Stone)
1,217
10. Cabaret (1966) (Kander, Ebb, and Masteroff)
1,165
11. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962) (Sondheim, Shevelove, and Gelbart)
964
1970s
1. A Chorus Line (1975) (Hamlisch, Kleban, Kirkwood, and Dante)
6,137
2. Grease (1972) (Jacobs and Casey)
3,388
3. Annie (1977) (Strouse, Charnin, and Meehan)
2,377
4. Pippin (1971) (Schwartz and Hirson)
1,944
5. The Magic Show (1974) (Schwartz and Randall)
1,920
6. The Wiz (1975) (Smalls and Brown)
1,672
7. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1978) (Hall, King, and Masterson)
1,639
8. Ain’t Misbehavin’ (1978) (Waller and Razaf)
1,604
9. Evita (1979) (Lloyd Webber and Rice)
1,567
10. They’re Playing Our Song (1979) (Hamlisch, Sager, and Simon)
1,082
11. Shenandoah (1975) (Geld, Udell, and Barrett)
1,050
12. Chicago (1975) (Kander, Ebb, and Fosse)
898
13. Applause (1970) (Strouse, Adams, Comden, Green)
896
14. I Love My Wife (1977) (Coleman and Stewart)
872
15. No, No, Nanette (1971) (revival) (Youmans, Caesar, and Shevelove)
861
16. Raisin (1973) (Woldin, Brittan, Memiroff, and Zaltberg)
847
17. Candide (1974) (revival) (Bernstein, Wilbur, Sondheim, et al., and Wheeler)
740
18. Jesus Christ Superstar (971) (Lloyd Webber and Rice)
720
19. Company (1970) (Sondheim and Furth)
706
1980s
1. Phantom of the Opera** (1988) (Lloyd Webber, Hart, and Stilgoe)
8,643
2. Cats (1982) (Lloyd Webber and Eliot)
7,485
3. Les Misérables (1987) (Boublil, Schönberg, and Kretzmer)
6,680
4. 42nd Street (1980) (Warren, Dubin, Stewart, and Bramble)
3,486
5. La Cage aux Folles (1983) (Herman and Fierstein)
1,761
6. Dreamgirls (1981) (Krieger and Eyen)
1,522
7. Me and My Girl (1986) (Gay, Rose, and Furber)
1,412
1990s
1. Beauty and the Beast (1994) (Menken, Ashman, and Rice)
5,461
2. Rent (1996) (Larson)
5,124
3. Chicago (Revival)** (1996) (Kander and Ebb)
5,088
4. The Lion King** (1997) (John and Rice)
4,720
5. Miss Saigon (1991) (Schönberg and Boublil)
4,097
6. Mamma Mia!** (1999) (Andersson and Luvaeus)
3,058
7. Cabaret (Revival) (Kander and Ebb)
2,378
8. Smokey Joe’s Café (Leiber and Stoller)
2,036
9. Crazy for You (G. and I. Gershwin and Ludwig)
1,622
2000s
1. Hairspray (2002) (Shaiman and Wittman)
2,641
2. The Producers (2001) (Brooks and Kelly)
2,502
3. Avenue Q** (2003) (Lopez and Marx)
2,306
4. Wicked** (2003) (Schwartz)
2,198
5. Aida (2000) (John and Rice)
1,852
6. Monty Python’s Spamalot (2005) (Du Prez and Idle)
1,574
*Musicals in boldface type are discussed in the text.
**Running as of February 22, 2009, according to Playbill ’s “Long Runs on Broadway,” prepared by Ernio Hernandez.
Appendix C: The Forty Longest-Running Musicals
on Broadway 1920–1959 and 1920–2008
1920–1959
1. My Fair Lady (1956)*
2,717
2. Oklahoma! (1943)
2,212
3. South Pacific (1949)
1,925
4. The Sound of Music (1959)
1,443
5. Hellzapoppin’ (1938)
1,404
6. The Music Man (1957)
1,375
7. The King and I (1951)
1,246
8. Guys and Dolls (1950)
1,200
9. Annie Get Your Gun (1946)
1,147
10. Pins and Needles (1937)
1,108
11. Kiss Me, Kate (1948)
1,070
12. Pajama Game (1954)