| Baker Street | |
|---|---|
| A Musical Adventure of Sherlock Holmes | |
 Original Cast Recording [CD reissue] | |
| Music | Marian Grudeff, Raymond Jessel and Jerry Bock |
| Lyrics | Marian Grudeff, Raymond Jessel and Sheldon Harnick |
| Book | Jerome Coopersmith |
| Basis | The Sherlock Holmes stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
| Productions | 1965 Broadway |
Baker Street is a 1965 musical with a book by Jerome Coopersmith and music and lyrics by Marian Grudeff and Raymond Jessel, based on the tales of Sherlock Holmes. [1]
Loosely based on the 1891 Sherlock Holmes story "A Scandal in Bohemia" by Arthur Conan Doyle with elements of "The Final Problem" and "The Empty House" as well, it is set in and around London in 1897, the year in which England celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria (an event marked by an elaborate royal procession depicted by Bil Baird's marionettes). The musical veers from Conan Doyle's work in that Irene Adler becomes an associate of Holmes rather than his opponent, thus allowing an element of romance between the two. [2]
Because of problems the show went through during out of town tryouts, Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, the successful composing team of Fiddler on the Roof were brought in to contribute additional songs including "Cold Clear World" and "I Shall Miss You." They also wrote "I'm In London Again" which was the first number for Irene Adler, but after opening night, this number (which can be heard on the cast album) was dropped and replaced by another Bock-Harnick composition, "Buffalo Belle" which had Irene Adler performing an elaborate Wild West number. Stereo Review Magazine's review described the score as being "Warmed-over Gilbert & Sullivan with a gelid sauce of Lerner & Loewe."
| Character | Broadway (1965) [3] |
|---|---|
| Sherlock Holmes | Fritz Weaver |
| Irene Adler | Inga Swenson |
| Professor Moriarty | Martin Gabel |
| Dr. Watson | Peter Sallis |
| Inspector Gregson | Patrick Horgan |
| Wiggins | Teddy Green |
| Mrs. Hudson | Paddi Edwards |
| Baxter | Martin Wolfson |
| Inspector Lestrade | Daniel Keyes |
| Daisy | Virginia Vestoff |
| Murillo | Jay Norman |
|
|
Richard Burton recorded "A Married Man" as a single in 1965. [4]
The musical opened on Broadway at the Broadway Theatre on February 16, 1965 [5] [6] running to October 30, and then transferred to the Martin Beck Theatre (now the Al Hirschfeld Theatre) on November 3, 1965, where it closed on November 14, 1965 after a total of 311 performances [7] and six previews. [8] Directed by Hal Prince, the cast included Fritz Weaver, Peter Sallis, Martin Gabel, Inga Swenson, Virginia Vestoff, Teddy Green, and, in supporting roles, Christopher Walken and Tommy Tune, both in their Broadway debuts. [6]
Producer Alexander H. Cohen felt the show was such an event that he announced, prior to the opening, men would not be admitted unless they were clad in jackets and ties, and women would be allowed in only if they wore dresses. This policy quickly changed once the mixed reviews were in. [6]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Tony Award | Best Author | Jerome Coopersmith | Nominated |
| Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical | Inga Swenson | Nominated | ||
| Best Scenic Design | Oliver Smith | Won [9] | ||
| Best Costume Design | Motley | Nominated |
"A Scandal in Bohemia" is the first short story, and the third overall work, featuring Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It is the first of the 56 Holmes short stories written by Doyle and the first of 38 Sherlock Holmes works illustrated by Sidney Paget. The story is notable for introducing the character of Irene Adler, who is one of the most notable female characters in the Sherlock Holmes series, despite appearing in only one story. Doyle ranked "A Scandal in Bohemia" fifth in his list of his twelve favourite Holmes stories.
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. is a 1974 novel by American writer Nicholas Meyer. It is written as a pastiche of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, and was made into a film of the same name in 1976.
The Baker Street Irregulars is an organization of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts founded in 1934 by Christopher Morley. As of 2015, the nonprofit organization had about 300 members worldwide.
A Study in Terror is a 1965 British thriller film directed by James Hill and starring John Neville as Sherlock Holmes and Donald Houston as Dr. Watson. It was filmed at Shepperton Studios, London, with some location work at Osterley House in Middlesex.
"In Re: Sherlock Holmes"—The Adventures of Solar Pons is a collection of detective fiction short stories by American writer August Derleth. It was released in 1945 by Mycroft & Moran in an edition of 3,604 copies. It was the first book issued under the Mycroft & Moran imprint. The book is the first collection of Derleth's Solar Pons stories. The stories are pastiches of the Sherlock Holmes tales of Arthur Conan Doyle.
Sherlock Holmes is an American detective television series syndicated in the autumn of 1954, based on the Sherlock Holmes stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. The 39 half-hour mostly original stories were produced by Sheldon Reynolds and filmed in France by Guild Films, starring Ronald Howard as Holmes and H. Marion Crawford as Watson. Archie Duncan appeared in many episodes as Inspector Lestrade. Richard Larke, billed as Kenneth Richards, played Sgt. Wilkins in about fifteen episodes. The series' associate producer, Nicole Milinaire, was one of the first women to attain a senior production role in a television series.
A Study in Scarlet is a 1914 British silent drama film directed by George Pearson and starring James Bragington, making him the first English actor to portray Holmes on film. It is based on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1887 novel of the same name and is considered to be lost. An American film of the same name was released in the U.S. on the following day, 29 December 1914. As of 2014, the film is missing from the BFI National Archive, and is listed as one of the British Film Institute's "75 Most Wanted" lost films.
Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes are two British series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations for television produced by the BBC in 1965 and 1968 respectively. The 1965 production, which followed a pilot the year before, was the second BBC series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations, after one starring Alan Wheatley in 1951.
The Valley of Fear is a British silent adventure film of 1916 directed by Alexander Butler and starring Harry Arthur Saintsbury, Daisy Burrell and Booth Conway. The film is an adaptation of the 1915 novel, The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring Sherlock Holmes. This is now considered a lost film.
Sherlock Holmes is a four-act play by William Gillette and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, based on Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes. After three previews it premiered on Broadway November 6, 1899, at the Garrick Theatre in New York City.
The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes is a series of three annotated books edited by Leslie S. Klinger, collecting all of Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories and novels about Sherlock Holmes. The books were originally published by W. W. Norton in oversized slipcased hardcover editions. The first two volumes containing the short stories were published on November 17, 2004, with the third volume containing the novels following a year later on November 17, 2005. Each volume was subsequently published separately on November 5, 2007, without a slipcase.
Sherlock Holmes fandom is an international, informal community of fans of the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The fans are known as Sherlockians or Holmesians. Many fans of Sherlock Holmes participate in societies around the world, and engage in a variety of activities such as discussion, tourism, and collecting.
Jerome Coopersmith was an American dramatist known for television, theater, and his work as a professor of screenplay writing. Working in the television industry since 1947, Coopersmith authored more than 100 television scripts for anthology dramas, episodic series and television movies and specials. His television work included Johnny Jupiter (1953-1954), Armstrong Circle Theater (1955–1963), Hawaii Five-O (1967–1976), and Streets of San Francisco (1973), and the holiday classics 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974) and An American Christmas Carol (1979). Coopersmith's theatrical plays span Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional productions. His Broadway musical, Baker Street (1965), based on the stories of Sherlock Holmes, earned him a Tony Nomination as Author of Best Musical. He was a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Mystery Writers of America, and was a member and past officer of the Writers Guild of America, East. On November 12, 2019, at age 94, Coopersmith was honored with the highest distinction of Chevalier, or Knight, in the National Order of the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his service to France in World War II.
Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A Life of the World's First Consulting Detective is a 1962 novel by William S. Baring-Gould. The book purports to be a biography of Sherlock Holmes. It is considered to be the "definitive" biography of Sherlock Holmes.
The Baker Street Journal is a quarterly journal devoted to Sherlockiana published by The Baker Street Irregulars. Leslie S. Klinger has called it "the leading publication" in the study of Sherlock Holmes.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is an American old-time radio show that aired on US radio networks between 1930 and 1936. The series was adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories by scriptwriter Edith Meiser. For most of the series, Richard Gordon played Sherlock Holmes and Leigh Lovell played Dr. Watson.
The Speckled Band is a 1910 play in three acts by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, based on his own 1892 short story "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".
Edith Meiser was an American author and actress, who wrote mystery novels, stage plays, and numerous radio dramas. She is perhaps best known for bringing adaptations of Sherlock Holmes stories to radio in the 1930s.
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