| Billy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Music | John Barry |
| Lyrics | Don Black |
| Book | Dick Clement Ian La Frenais |
| Basis | Novel Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse and the play of the same name by Waterhouse and Willis Hall |
| Productions | 1974 West End |
Billy is a musical based on the novel and play Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall. The book was written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, the music is by John Barry, and the lyrics are by Don Black.
Billy opened at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, before moving on 1 May 1974 to the West End at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where it ran for 904 performances.
The cast included Michael Crawford in the title role, with Bryan Pringle (Geoffrey Fisher), Avis Bunnage (Alice Fisher), Christopher Hancock (Mr. Shadrack), Billy Boyle, Diana Quick (Liz Benson), Gay Soper (Barbara), and Elaine Paige (Rita). The production was directed by Patrick Garland with choreography by Onna White, set by Ralph Kotai, costumes by Annena Stubbs, and lighting by Jules Fisher. [1] Roy Castle replaced Crawford late in the run.
The first revival and reimagining of Billy was staged at the Union Theatre in London in June 2013. The production received rave five-star reviews under the staging and direction of Michael Strassen, who won Best Director at the Off West End Awards 2013. The Independent , awarding it five stars, wrote: "Michael Strassen's feisty, intelligent, sensationally well lit (by Tim Deiling) production... The first act is extraordinary and the second, like Gypsy's, tapers off into mere brilliance."
Billy Fisher is an undertaker's assistant who daydreams and lies about his life. He wants to leave his dull, middle-class home in Yorkshire and his dreams become reality for him. In one dream, he is in the mythical land of "Ambrosia", where he is its president and also Captain of its football team. In other dreams he becomes both famous dancers Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire.
"My Heart Is Ready When You Are", "I Can Make A Difference", and "Why Can't I Feel Something?" were not part of the 1970s production. They were written and added for a revival in the 1990s.
According to theatre critic Ken Mandelbaum, "Billy was a brassy, Broadway-style musical, and it took advantage of the services of top-notch American choreographer Onna White. But its trump card was its star, Michael Crawford." [2]
The Original Cast recording was released by CBS (70133) on May 1, 1974. [3]
Carousel is the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II. The 1945 work was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He participates in a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes tragically wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". Richard Rodgers later wrote that Carousel was his favorite of all his musicals.
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman.
Company is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by George Furth. The original 1970 production was nominated for a record-setting 14 Tony Awards, winning six. Company was among the first book musicals to deal with contemporary dating, marriage, and divorce, and is a notable example of a concept musical lacking a linear plot. In a series of vignettes, Company follows bachelor Bobby interacting with his married friends, who throw a party for his 35th birthday.
Billy Liar is a 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse that was later adapted into a play, a film, a musical and a TV series. The work has inspired and been featured in a number of popular songs.
Michael Patrick Smith, known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English actor, comedian and singer.
Chicago is a 1975 American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Set in Chicago in the Jazz Age, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same title by Maurine Dallas Watkins about actual criminals and crimes on which she reported. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal".
Cabaret is an American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and a book by Joe Masteroff. It is based on the 1951 play I Am a Camera by John Van Druten, which in turn was based on the 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood.
Mame is a musical with a book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Originally titled My Best Girl, it is based on the 1955 novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis and the 1956 Broadway play of the same name by Lawrence and Lee. A period piece set in New York City and spanning the Great Depression and World War II, it focuses on eccentric bohemian Mame Dennis, whose famous motto is "Life is a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death." Her fabulous life with her wealthy friends is interrupted when the young son of her late brother arrives to live with her. They cope with the Depression in a series of adventures.
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, revised considerably by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London. Billy Crocker is a stowaway in love with heiress Hope Harcourt, who is engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Nightclub singer Reno Sweeney and Public Enemy Number 13, "Moonface" Martin, aid Billy in his quest to win Hope. Songs introduced that later became pop and jazz standards are "Anything Goes", "You're the Top", "All Through the Night", and "I Get a Kick Out of You".
Fifty Million Frenchmen is a musical comedy with a book by Herbert Fields and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It opened on Broadway in 1929 and was adapted for a film two years later. The title is a reference to the hit 1927 song "Fifty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong" by Willie Raskin, Billy Rose, and Fred Fisher, which compared free attitudes in 1920s Paris with censorship and prohibition in the United States. The musical's plot is consistent with the standard boy-meets-girl plots of musical comedies of the first half of the twentieth century.
Ron Raines is an American actor. He is known for the role of Alan Spaulding on the television soap opera Guiding Light. Raines also performs in musical theatre and in concert with symphony orchestras.
Irene is a musical with a book by James Montgomery, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, and music by Harry Tierney. Based on Montgomery's play Irene O'Dare, it is set in New York City's Upper West Side and focuses on immigrant shop assistant Irene O'Dare, who is introduced to Long Island's high society when she is hired to tune a piano for a society gentleman.
Randy Lynn Graff is an American actress and singer.
Take Me Along is a 1959 musical based on the 1933 Eugene O'Neill play Ah, Wilderness!, with music and lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Joseph Stein and Robert Russell.
Carrie is a musical with a book by Lawrence D. Cohen, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and music by Michael Gore. It is based on Stephen King's horror novel of the same name, and integrates elements from the 1976 film adaptation.
Billy Liar is a 1963 British CinemaScope comedy-drama film based on the 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse. Directed by John Schlesinger, it stars Tom Courtenay as Billy and Julie Christie as Liz, one of his three girlfriends. Mona Washbourne plays Mrs. Fisher and Wilfred Pickles plays Mr. Fisher. Rodney Bewes, Finlay Currie and Leonard Rossiter also feature. The Cinemascope photography is by Denys Coop and Richard Rodney Bennett supplied the score.
Merrily We Roll Along is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.
Ragtime is a musical with music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by E.L. Doctorow.
Lilla Crawford is an American actress best known for portraying the title role in the 2012 Broadway revival of Annie. She made her feature-film debut playing Little Red Riding Hood in the 2014 Disney film adaptation of Into the Woods. From 2017 to 2020, Crawford had voiced Sunny, the title character, in the Nickelodeon series Sunny Day and has starred in the Netflix series The Who Was? Show starting in 2018.
Bright Star is a musical written and composed by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell. It is set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina in 1945–46 with flashbacks to 1923. The musical is inspired by their Grammy-winning collaboration on the 2013 bluegrass album Love Has Come for You and, in turn, the folk tale of the Iron Mountain Baby.
