Original Broadway production
The original production opened on Broadway at the Playhouse on November 1, 1976 and closed on November 14, 1976 after 16 performances. The show was directed and choreographed by Jonathan Karmon, musical direction by David Krivoshei, scenery James Tilton, costumes Pierre D'Alby, lighting William H. Bachelder, production stage manager Daniel E. Early, stage manager Karen Winer, and press by Max Eisen.
The cast included Gail Benedict, Darleen Boudreaux, Karen DiBianco, Ron Eliran, Carla Farnsworth, Riki Gal, Hanan Goldblatt, David Kottke, Ruthi Navon, Rivka Raz, Joel Robertson, Donald Ronci, Lisa Gould Rubin, Daniel Stewart, and John Windsor.
Ruthi Navon Zmora is an Israeli Jewish singer and actress. She first came to prominence in the 1970s with her role in the Broadway musical Don't Step on My Olive Branch and her self-titled debut album, which sold well in her home country. After becoming religious through Chabad, she began a new career in the 1980s as a religious Jewish singer, beginning with the album Lead Me to Your Way (1988), which was marked "For Women Only" in accordance with kol isha. She has toured throughout the United States, Europe, and South Africa.
My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a lady. The original Broadway and London shows starred Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews.
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. Several of his songs have been widely recorded and were hits outside of their parent musicals, notably "The Music of the Night" and "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera, "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar, "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" from Evita, "Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and "Memory" from Cats. In 2001 The New York Times referred to him as "the most commercially successful composer in history". Ranked the "fifth most powerful person in British culture" by The Daily Telegraph in 2008, the lyricist Don Black stated "Andrew more or less single-handedly reinvented the musical."
Oliver! is an English musical, with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
John Harold Kander is the American composer of a number of musicals as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb. His best-known stage musicals as composer are Cabaret and Chicago, both of which were later adapted into films.
A Chorus Line is a concept musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Centered on seventeen Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line, the musical is set on the bare stage of a Broadway theatre during an audition for a musical. A Chorus Line provides a glimpse into the personalities of the performers and the choreographer as they describe the events that have shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers.
Showtune is a musical revue celebrating the words and music of Broadway composer and lyricist Jerry Herman. Its title was inspired by Herman's autobiography of the same name. The revue's original title was Tune the Grand Up. After its 1985 San Francisco premiere and several regional productions through the 1990s, the piece played in the West End in 1998 under the title The Best of Times, and Off-Broadway in 2003, titled Showtune.
Barnum is an American musical with a book by Mark Bramble, lyrics by Michael Stewart, and music by Cy Coleman. It is based on the life of showman P. T. Barnum, covering the period from 1835 through 1880 in America and major cities of the world where Barnum took his performing companies. The production combines elements of traditional musical theater with the spectacle of the circus. The characters include jugglers, trapeze artists and clowns, as well as such real-life personalities as Jenny Lind and General Tom Thumb.
The Boy from Oz is a jukebox musical based on the life of singer and songwriter Peter Allen, featuring songs written by him. The original book is by Nick Enright, with a revised book by Martin Sherman. Premiering in Australia in 1998 starring Todd McKenney, the musical opened in a revised version on Broadway in 2003 with Hugh Jackman in the title role.
Rhetta Hughes is a retired American soul singer and musical theatre and occasional screen actress.
Let My People Come is the title of an explicit musical written by Earl Wilson, Jr. about love, sex and relationships, which ran from January 8, 1974 to July 5, 1976 in New York City, at The Village Gate in Greenwich Village. Subtitled "A Sexual Musical," the show began previews on Broadway on July 7, 1976 at the Morosco Theatre and closed on October 2, 1976 after 108 performances without officially opening.
Jersey Boys is a 2005 jukebox musical with music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe, and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and eventual break-up of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The musical is structured as four "seasons", each narrated by a different member of the band who gives his own perspective on its history and music. Songs include "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Sherry", "December 1963 ", "My Eyes Adored You", "Stay", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", "Working My Way Back to You" and "Rag Doll", among others.
Carnival! is a musical, originally produced by David Merrick on Broadway in 1961, with the book by Michael Stewart and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The musical is based on the 1953 film Lili, which again was based on the novel Love of Seven Dolls by Paul Gallico. The show's title originally used an exclamation point; it was eventually dropped during the show's run, as director Gower Champion felt it gave the wrong impression, saying, "It's not a blockbuster. It's a gentle show."
Ronald Norman Miller was an American popular songwriter and record producer who wrote for Motown artists in the 1960s and 1970s and attained many Top 10 hits. Some of his songs, such as "For Once in My Life," have become pop standards.
Jose Llana is a Filipino-American singer and actor best known for his roles on Broadway.
Daniel Gwyn Evans is a Welsh actor and director.
Karen Olivo is an American stage and television actress.
Donald "Don" Correia is an American dancer, actor and choreographer of American stage, film and television. He has been married to actress Sandy Duncan since July 21, 1980. He was nominated in 1986 for the Tony Award for Best Actor (Musical) for Singin' in the Rain.
Steven Levenson is an American playwright and television writer. He won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Dear Evan Hansen.
