House of Flowers (musical)

Last updated
House of Flowers
Music Harold Arlen
LyricsHarold Arlen
Truman Capote
Book Truman Capote
BasisTruman Capote's short story
"House of Flowers"
Productions1954 Broadway

1968 off-Broadway

2003 New York City concert

House of Flowers is a musical by Harold Arlen (music and lyrics) [1] and Truman Capote (lyrics and book). A short story of the same name was published in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958).

Contents

Synopsis

The story concerns two neighboring bordellos that battle for business in an idealized Haitian setting. One of the sex workers, Ottilie, turns down a rich lord to marry a poor mountain boy named Royal. Her madam plots to keep her by having Royal sealed in a barrel and tossed into the ocean. Royal escapes the watery death by taking refuge on the back of a turtle. The lovers are eventually married and live happily ever after.

Production history

This was Capote's first musical, and was the first theatrical production outside of Trinidad and Tobago to feature the new Caribbean instrument—the steel pan. It was produced by Saint Subber who was also responsible for Kiss Me, Kate and seven plays by Neil Simon.

In the early 1950s Truman Capote became further involved in the performing arts. He was approached once again by producer Saint Subber, who was interested in his recent story "House of Flowers": would he be interested in adapting the work as a musical play for Broadway? Despite the difficulties they had had in turning "The Grass Harp" into a stage play, Capote agreed for a second time to collaborate with producer Saint Subber and set to work. Much of the writing was done in the Italian fishing village of Portofino; but Capote and Jack Dunphy found time to travel to Switzerland and Paris before turning to America, where Capote met again with Saint Subber and continued his work in the musical. After a Philadelphia try-out, the show opened on Broadway on December 30, 1954 at the Alvin Theatre and played for 165 performances. The director was Peter Brook. The cast included Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll, Juanita Hall, Ray Walston, Carmen de Lavallade, Alvin Ailey, Mary Mon Toy, and Geoffrey Holder (who also provided a section of choreography and went on to direct the 1992 revival starring Patti LaBelle [2] ). Most of the original orchestral score by Ted Royal has been lost, but the piano score survives. [3]

Cast

House of Flowers featured a remarkable gem of an opening night cast. [4]

Reception and legacy

Although the show received generally poor reviews, the dance-rhythm infused score has been praised for its mix of blues and calypso.

Oliver Messel won the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design. [5]

In 2003, Columbia Masterworks reissued the original cast recording. In addition to such tunes as "A Sleepin' Bee" and "Don't Like Goodbyes", the CD also included bonus tracks of "Mardis Gras Waltz" (Percy Faith and His Orchestra), "Two Ladies in the Shade" (Enid Mosier), "Ottilie and the Bee" (Truman Capote), and "A Sleepin' Bee" (a demo recording by Harold Arlen). [6]

Revivals

There was an unsuccessful off-Broadway revival in 1968 at Theater de Lys. [7] In 2003, there was an Encores! production, starring Tonya Pinkins and Armelia McQueen as the battling bordello madams and Maurice Hines as Captain Jonas, the smuggler. The virginal Ottilie was played by Nikki M. James, and the mountain boy, Royal, was played by Brandon Victor Dixon. Roscoe Lee Browne played the voodoo priest, Houngan.

Musical numbers

Related Research Articles

<i>Carmen Jones</i> 1943 Broadway musical

Carmen Jones is a 1943 Broadway musical with music by Georges Bizet and lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II which was performed at The Broadway Theatre. Conceptually, it is Bizet's opera Carmen updated to a World War II-era, African-American setting. Bizet's opera was, in turn, based on the 1846 novella by Prosper Mérimée. The Broadway musical was produced by Billy Rose, using an all-black cast, and directed by Hassard Short. Robert Shaw prepared the choral portions of the show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truman Capote</span> American author (1924–1984)

Truman Garcia Capote was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's (1958) and the true crime novel In Cold Blood (1966). His works have been adapted into more than 20 films and television productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diahann Carroll</span> American actress and singer (1935–2019)

Diahann Carroll was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. Carroll was the recipient of numerous nominations and awards for her stage and screen performances, including a Tony Award in 1962, Golden Globe Award in 1968, and five Emmy Award nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvin Ailey</span> American dancer and activist (1931–1989)

Alvin Ailey Jr. was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Holder</span> Trinidadian-American actor and dancer (1930–2014)

Geoffrey Lamont Holder was a Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, musician, director, choreographer, and artist. He was a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet before his film career began in 1957 with an appearance in Carib Gold. In 1973, he played the villainous Baron Samedi in the Bond film Live and Let Die. He also carried out advertising work as the pitchman for 7 Up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Mitchell (dancer)</span> American ballet dancer and choreographer (1934–2018)

Arthur Mitchell was an American ballet dancer, choreographer, and founder and director of ballet companies. In 1955, he was the first African-American dancer with the New York City Ballet, where he was promoted to principal dancer the following year and danced in major roles until 1966. He then founded ballet companies in Spoleto, Washington, D.C., and Brazil. In 1969, he founded a training school and the first African-American classical ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem. Among other awards, Mitchell was recognized as a MacArthur Fellow, inducted into the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame, and received the United States National Medal of Arts and a Fletcher Foundation fellowship.

<i>Black Nativity</i> Play written by Langston Hughes

Black Nativity is an adaptation of the Nativity story by Langston Hughes, performed by an entirely black cast. Hughes was the author of the book, with the lyrics and music being derived from traditional Christmas carols, sung in gospel style, with a few songs created specifically for the show. The show was first performed Off-Broadway on December 11, 1961, and was one of the first plays written by an African American to be staged there. The show had a successful tour of Europe in 1962, one of its appearances being at the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in Italy.

<i>The Grass Harp</i> 1951 novel by Truman Capote

The Grass Harp is a novel by Truman Capote published on October 1, 1951. It tells the story of an orphaned boy and two elderly ladies who observe life from a tree. They eventually leave their temporary retreat to make amends with each other and other members of society.

Hope Clarke is an American actress, dancer, vocalist, choreographer, and director. Clarke, a Tony Award nominee, made history in 1995 when she became the first African-American, as well as the first African-American woman, to direct and choreograph a major staging of the classic opera, Porgy and Bess. Clarke began her career as a principal dancer with the Katherine Dunham Company and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and as an actress appeared in many stage, film, and television productions. As a choreographer, Clarke is credited with staging and movement for more than 30 shows on and off Broadway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Collins</span> American prima ballerina, choreographer and teacher

Janet Collins, OblSB was an African American prima ballerina, choreographer, and teacher. She performed on Broadway, in films, and appeared frequently on television. She was among the pioneers of black ballet dancing, one of the few classically trained Black dancers of her generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desmond Richardson</span> American dancer, actor and artistic director

Desmond Richardson is an American dancer, actor and co-founder, and co-artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet. He has mastered a wide range of dance forms including hip hop, classical, modern, classical ballet, and contemporary ballet.

<i>Carmen Jones</i> (film) 1954 film by Otto Preminger

Carmen Jones is a 1954 American musical film featuring an African American cast starring Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge, and Pearl Bailey and produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Harry Kleiner is based on the lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II, from the 1943 stage musical of the same name, set to the music of Georges Bizet's 1875 opera Carmen. The opera was an adaptation of the 1845 Prosper Mérimée novella Carmen by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.

"A Sleepin' Bee" is a popular song composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Arlen and Truman Capote. It was introduced in the musical House of Flowers (1954) and performed by Diahann Carroll. While House of Flowers was a flop, "A Sleepin' Bee" became a standard of the American songbook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lana Gordon</span> American singer

Lana Jean Gordon is an American singer, best known for her appearances in Broadway and theatre productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmen de Lavallade</span> American dancer and actress (born 1931)

Carmen de Lavallade is an American actress, choreographer and dancer. For many years, she was associated with and married to Tony Award-winning actor, dancer, and director Geoffrey Holder. In 2017, she received the Kennedy Center Honors award for lifetime achievement and contributions to American culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josephine Premice</span> Haitian-American actress

Josephine Mary Premice was a Haitian-American actress and singer known for her work on the Broadway stage.

<i>Something to Swing About</i> 1960 studio album by Carmen McRae

Something to Swing About is a 1960 album by jazz singer Carmen McRae, arranged by Ernie Wilkins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loretta Abbott</span> American actress

Loretta Agatha Abbott was an American educator, dancer, choreographer, singer, director, dance captain, and actress. She was an early member and foundation builder for the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. She was also a founding member of the Clark Center for the Performing Arts, and worked with the organization from 1959 to 1989.

<i>The Grass Harp</i> (play) Play by Truman Capote

The Grass Harp is a play written by Truman Capote based on his novel of the same name. Producer Saint Subber staged it on Broadway in 1952. It was Capote's first play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vivian Bonnell</span> American actress

Vivian Bonnell was an actress and calypso singer, originally from Antigua, British West Indies. In 1954, she starred opposite Pearl Bailey in the Broadway musical House of Flowers. She and her fellow cast members recorded calypso albums as "Enid Mosier and her Trinidad Steel Band". She later married one of those performers, Austin Stoker.

References

  1. "House of Flowers (Original Broadway Cast Recording)". Presto Music.
  2. "Mechanic adds LaBelle in 'House of Flowers'". Baltimore Sun.
  3. "Original Orchestrations for House of Flowers Reported Lost, So Encores! Will Perform New Ones". TheaterMania.
  4. https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/house-of-flowers-2493#OpeningNightCast [ bare URL ]
  5. "Winners". Tony Awards.
  6. "House of Flowers (Original Broadway Cast Recording) - Pearl Bailey, Original Broadway Cast | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  7. "House of Flowers". Time . February 9, 1968.