| Greenwillow | |
|---|---|
 Original Recording | |
| Music | Frank Loesser |
| Lyrics | Frank Loesser |
| Book | Lesser Samuels Frank Loesser |
| Basis | Novel by B.J. Chute |
| Productions | 1960 Broadway |
Greenwillow is a musical with a book by Lesser Samuels and Frank Loesser and music and lyrics by Loesser. The musical is set in the magical town of Greenwillow. It ran on Broadway in 1960.
Based on the novel by B. J. Chute, the musical is a fantasy, set in the magical town of Greenwillow. In Greenwillow, the eldest in each generation of Briggs men must obey the "call to wander", while the women they leave behind care for the home and rear their children in the hope that some day their husbands will return. Gideon loves his girlfriend, Dorrie, and would like nothing better than to settle down with her, and finds in the town's newest inhabitant, the Reverend Birdsong, an ally who will try to help him make his dream come true. [1]
The musical had a pre-Broadway try-out at the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia.[ when? ] It opened on Broadway on March 8, 1960, at the Alvin Theatre, and closed on May 28, 1960, after 97 performances. The director was George Roy Hill and choreographer was Joe Layton, with scenery by Peter Larkin and costumes by Alvin Colt. The cast included Anthony Perkins as Gideon Briggs, Cecil Kellaway, Pert Kelton, Ellen McCown as Dorrie Whitbred, William Chapman, Marian Mercer and Tommy Norden. [2] [3] Greenwillow was being rehearsed in New York while Perkins was filming Psycho (1960) in Los Angeles. [4] Because Perkins had a stand-in for the film's shower scene, Hitchcock allowed him to attend rehearsals for the musical in New York. [5]
The show received mixed reviews. The New York Times described it as "an enchanted fable" with "an ideal libretto [and a] warm and varied score that captures the simple moods of the story ... [a] winning cast [and] joyous ballets." [6] Ward Morehouse wrote in the Long Island Star-Journal, "Frank Loesser retains his standing as a composer but he is lost as a librettist ... the book that he has written in collaboration with Lesser Samuels is hopelessly stodgy." Morehouse praised the cast, sets and choreography, but concluded, "Greenwillow is a lost cause." [7] The Philadelphia Inquirer excerpted opening-week reviews from several New York papers: "The new musical is do-it-yourself folklore, which means that it is spun right out of someone’s head instead of out of somebody else’s past. ... Greenwillow is [not] good Broadway ... a mélange" (Walter Kerr, New York Herald Tribune ). "[It] has moments of fresh charm, but it also turns out to be upsettingly flat, stodgy and lacking in emotional effectiveness ... scenes and characters that possessed touching or humorous charm in the novel become excessively whimsical and uncomfortably coy, when not simply dull, on the stage" (Richard Watts, Jr., New York Post ). "[It] brings heart and hope. ... It is not, perhaps, what the trade regards as a 'sockoo success' ... but it is musically more ambitious, and is loaded with the sort of homespun pathos and humor which should keep it running until the scenery quietly comes apart" (John McClain, New York Journal-American ). [8]
The musical was presented in 2004 by the off-Broadway York Theatre Company in its "Musicals-in-Mufti" series. Peter Filichia described the score as "grand". [9]
| Character | Broadway (1960) [10] |
|---|---|
| Gideon Briggs | Anthony Perkins |
| Reverend Birdsong | Cecil Kellaway |
| Gramma Briggs | Pert Kelton |
| Dorrie Whitbred | Ellen McCown |
| Reverend Lapp | William Chapman |
| Thomas Clegg | Lee Cass |
| Amos Briggs | Bruce MacKay |
| Andrew | Grover Dale |
| Maidy | Elaine Swann |
| Martha Briggs | Lynn Brinker |
| Clara Clegg | Dortha Duckworth |
| Emma | Saralou Cooper |
Source: Internet Broadway database; [11] AllMusic; [12] Playbill
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The musical received 1960 Tony Award nominations: [3] [13]
Cecil Kellaway won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. [3]
Bing Crosby recorded "The Music of Home" in 1960; [14] for RCA Victor. [15] Nancy Wilson recorded "Never Will I Marry" on Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley (1962). [16] Caterina Valente performed both "Summertime Love" and "Never Will I Marry" in 1963 for her album Valente in Swingtime. [17]
Judy Garland performed "Never Will I Marry" frequently in the 1960s, including for her aborted 1962 album Judy Takes Broadway and on The Judy Garland Show .[ citation needed ] Barbra Streisand recorded "Never Will I Marry" for The Third Album in 1964, [18] and sang it live in her early club act.[ citation needed ]
Linda Ronstadt recorded "Never Will I Marry" on her final solo studio album Hummin' to Myself in 2004. [19]