| The Liar | |
|---|---|
 Sheet music | |
| Music | John Mundy |
| Lyrics | Edward Eager |
| Book | Alfred Drake and Edward Eager |
The Liar is a musical comedy in two acts with a book by Alfred Drake and Edward Eager, music by John Mundy and lyrics by Mr. Eager. It was produced on Broadway in 1950.
After a try-out at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia for two weeks beginning Monday, April 24, 1950, [1] The Liar premiered on Broadway at Broadhurst Theatre on May 18, 1950, and closed on May 27, 1950, after only 12 performances. It was produced by Dorothy Willard and Thomas Hammond. The production was directed by Drake, with choreography by Hanya Holm. The scenic and lighting design was by Donald Oenslager, costume design by Motley, and orchestration by Lehman Engel and Ben Ludlow. Mr. Engel was also the musical director. [2]
The opening night cast starred Martin Balsam as Servingman and Walter Matthau, as Guard. The cast included Melville Cooper, Paula Laurence, and Philip Coolidge. [3]
Title character Lelio can't stop lying and can't stop chasing the ladies, including the two daughters of Doctor Balanzoni who are respectively and romantically involved with Florindo and Octavio. Moreover, Lelio's servant Arlecchino becomes interested in Columbina, although she too is involved with another. But the romantic misadventures are resolved when it is revealed that Lelio is already married to Cleonice. So Lelio, Cleonice, and Arlecchino head for home, and the various Venetian couples pairing up without interference from Lelio and Arlecchino. [4]
Richard Watts of The New York Post called the evening a "tedious and self-conscious antic . . . a very sedate jest." [5]
Alfred Drake was an American actor and singer.
"A Bushel and a Peck" is a popular song written by Frank Loesser and published in 1950. The song was introduced in the Broadway musical Guys and Dolls, which opened at the 46th Street Theater on November 24, 1950. It was performed on stage by Vivian Blaine and a women's chorus as a nightclub act at the Hot Box. It is the first of two nightclub performances in the musical. Although Blaine later reprised her role as Miss Adelaide in the 1955 film version of the play, "A Bushel and a Peck" was omitted from the film and replaced by a new song, "Pet Me, Poppa."
Out of This World is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Dwight Taylor and Reginald Lawrence. The show, an adaptation of Plautus's comedy Amphitryon, first opened on Broadway in 1950.
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Russell Brown was an American actor of stage, television, and screen. He also had a career as a journalist, working for several newspapers in the city of Philadelphia. On stage, he is a best known for his Tony Award-winning role of Benny Van Buren in the 1955 Broadway musical Damn Yankees; a role he also reprised on film in 1958. Other highlights of his work in film were his portrayal of Captain Brackett in Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1958 movie version of the 1949 Broadway musical South Pacific, and as park caretaker George Lemon in the classic courtroom drama, Anatomy of a Murder (1959). On television he portrayed the recurring character of Thomas Jones, the father of the title character, in the legal drama The Law and Mr. Jones from 1960–1962.
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Courtin' Time is a musical adapted by William Roos from Eden Phillpotts's 1916 play The Farmer's Wife, with lyrics and music by Jack Lawrence and Don Walker.
Orange Blossoms is a 1922 musical comedy with music by Victor Herbert, lyrics by Buddy DeSylva, and a book by Fred de Gresac, based on her own 1902 French play La Passerelle which had also been translated and staged on Broadway in 1903 as The Marriage of Kitty.
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D. Frank Dodge was an American scenic designer who had a prolific career on Broadway from the 1890s into the early 1920s. Theatre historian Gerald Bordman in The Concise Oxford Companion to American Theatre stated that Dodge was "one of the busiest turn‐of‐the‐century set designers" who "specialized in colorful settings for musicals".
When Claudia Smiles is a musical in three acts with music by Jean Schwartz and both book and lyrics by Anne Caldwell. Set in New York City, the work is based on Leo Ditrichstein's 1903 play Vivian's Papas. The musical began its Broadway run at the 39th Street Theatre on February 2, 1914, and then transferred to the Lyric Theatre where it ultimately closed on March 21, 1914, after 56 performances. The production was directed by Charles Winninger and produced by Frederic McKay. The cast included Blanche Ring, Mahlon Hamilton, Anna Laughlin, and Bertha Mann.
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