The Night That Made America Famous

Last updated
The Night That Made
America Famous
Night that Made America Famous playbill.jpg
Original Broadway Playbill
Music Harry Chapin
Lyrics Harry Chapin
BasisThe songs of Harry Chapin
PremiereFebruary 26, 1975 (1975-02-26)
Productions1975 Broadway

The Night That Made America Famous is a 1975 musical revue featuring the songs of Harry Chapin. The music consists of a combination of songs written for the musical and songs from Chapin's four previous albums, the latter including "What Made America Famous?", a song about a plumber who rescues a group of hippies from a fire. A lyric from that song gives the musical its title. [1]

Contents

Chapin appeared in the mixed–media musical, alongside a cast that included his brothers, Tom and Stephen, who were both featured performers and musicians. [2] The production was directed by Gene Frankel. Originally scheduled to open February 4, 1975, it opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York on February 26, 1975, after fourteen previews, and closed on April 5, 1975 after 47 performances. [3]

Cast

Awards and nominations

1975 Tony Award nominations

1975 Drama Desk Award nominations

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Dale</span> British actor, singer, songwriter

Jim Dale is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter. In the United Kingdom he is known as a pop singer of the 1950s who became a leading actor at the National Theatre. In British film, he became one of the regulars in the Carry On films, along with Leslie Phillips, Valerie Leon, Kenneth Cope, Julian Holloway, Hugh Futcher, Anita Harris, Amanda Barrie, Jacki Piper, Angela Douglas and Patricia Franklin.

<i>No, No, Nanette</i> 1925 musical

No, No, Nanette is a musical comedy with lyrics by Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach, music by Vincent Youmans, and a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, based on Mandel's 1919 Broadway play My Lady Friends. The farcical story involves three couples who find themselves together at a cottage in Atlantic City in the midst of a blackmail scheme, focusing on a young, fun-loving Manhattan heiress who naughtily runs off for a weekend, leaving her unhappy fiancé. Its songs include the well-known "Tea for Two" and "I Want to Be Happy".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethel Barrymore</span> American actress (1879–1959)

Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarded as "The First Lady of the American Theatre". She received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, winning for None but the Lonely Heart (1944).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Lavin</span> American actress and singer

Linda Lavin is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing the title character in the sitcom Alice and for her stage performances, both on and off-Broadway.

Lynn Ahrens is an American songwriter, singer, and librettist for the musical theatre, television and film. She has collaborated with Stephen Flaherty for many years. She won the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for the Broadway musical Ragtime. Together with Flaherty, she has written many musicals, including Lucky Stiff, My Favorite Year, Ragtime, Seussical, A Man of No Importance, Dessa Rose, The Glorious Ones, Rocky, Little Dancer and, recently on Broadway, Anastasia and Once on This Island.

<i>Timbuktu!</i> Musical

Timbuktu! is a musical, with lyrics by George Forrest and Robert Wright, set to music by Borodin, Forrest and Wright. The book is by Luther Davis. It is a resetting of Forrest and Wright's musical Kismet. The musical is set in 1361 in Timbuktu, in the Empire of Mali, West Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chita Rivera</span> American actress, dancer, and singer

Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Anderson; born January 23, 1933), professionally known as Chita Rivera, is an American actress, singer and dancer best known for originating roles in Broadway musicals including Anita in West Side Story, Velma Kelly in Chicago, and the title role in Kiss of the Spider Woman. She is a ten-time Tony Award nominee and a three-time Tony Award recipient, including one for Lifetime Achievement. She is the first Latina and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honor and is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her autobiography, Chita: A Memoir, was published in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna McKechnie</span> American actress

Donna McKechnie is an American musical theater dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer. She is known for her professional and personal relationship with choreographer Michael Bennett, with whom she collaborated on her most noted role, the character of Cassie in the musical A Chorus Line. She earned the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for this performance in 1976. She is also known for playing Amanda Harris/Olivia Corey on the Gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows from 1969 to 1970.

David Norman Yazbek is an American writer, musician, composer, and lyricist. He wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals The Full Monty (2000), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010), The Band's Visit (2017), and Tootsie (2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marian Seldes</span> American actress

Marian Hall Seldes was an American actress. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for A Delicate Balance in 1967, and received subsequent nominations for Father's Day (1971), Deathtrap (1978–82), Ring Round the Moon (1999), and Dinner at Eight (2002). She also won a Drama Desk Award for Father's Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raúl Esparza</span> American actor

Raúl Eduardo Esparza is a Cuban-American stage, screen, and voice actor, as well as singer. Considered one of Broadway's leading men since the 2000s, he is best known for his Tony Award-nominated performance as Bobby in the 2006 Broadway revival of Company and for his television role as New York Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Rafael Barba in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where he had a recurring role in Season 14 and was promoted to a series regular in Seasons 15 to 19.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dana Ivey</span> American actress

Dana Robins Ivey is an American actress. She is a five-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, and won the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her work in both Sex and Longing and The Last Night of Ballyhoo. She originated the title role in Driving Miss Daisy and was nominated for a Drama Desk award for Best Actress in a Play. Her film appearances include The Color Purple (1985), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), The Addams Family (1991), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Addams Family Values (1993), Two Weeks Notice (2002), Rush Hour 3 (2007), and The Help (2011).

Jack O'Brien is an American director, producer, writer and lyricist. He served as the Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California from 1981 through the end of 2007.

<i>The Tale of the Allergists Wife</i>

The Tale of the Allergist's Wife is a play by Charles Busch.

Martin Vidnovic is an American actor and singer.

<i>Look Homeward, Angel</i> (play)

Look Homeward, Angel is a 1957 stage play by the playwright Ketti Frings. The play is based on Thomas Wolfe's 1929 largely autobiographical novel of the same title.

Ernestine Jackson is an American actress and singer.

Kelly Garrett was an American actress and singer known for her work on the Broadway stage and on television. She was nominated for a Tony Award in 1976 for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

<i>Paradise Square</i> (musical) American stage musical

Paradise Square is a stage musical, with music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Masi Asare and Nathan Tysen, and a book by Christina Anderson, Larry Kirwan and Craig Lucas. Set in New York City during the Civil War and the New York City draft riots, the musical follows conflict between Irish Americans and Black Americans. The production is directed by Moisés Kaufman and choreographed by Bill T. Jones, with intimacy direction by Gaby Labotka. The musical opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on April 3, 2022.

Ethel Barrymore Colt was an American actress and producer and a soprano who sang in more than 100 concerts in the United States, Canada, and South America. She was a member of the ninth generation of the Barrymore acting family. Her obituary in The Washington Post described her as "a versatile and talented singer, actress and producer, playing dramatic roles on Broadway and in summer stock and singing in grand opera, operetta, musical comedy and on the concert stage."

References

  1. "CLASSIC CONCERT: Harry Chapin's The Night That Made America Famous @ Ethel Barrymore Theatre / New York, NY / May 23, 1975". Music City Mike. 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  2. Holden, Stephen (1985-04-30). "THE STAGE: STORIES BY CHAPIN". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  3. Gambaccini, Paul (January 16, 1975). "Harry & Sandy Chapin's Cat". Rolling Stone. p. 15.