| And the World Goes 'Round | |
|---|---|
 Original Cast Recording | |
| Music | John Kander |
| Lyrics | Fred Ebb |
| Book | Revue |
| Productions | 1991 Off-Broadway 1992 U.S. Tour |
And the World Goes 'Round is a musical revue showcasing the songs of John Kander and Fred Ebb. The revue takes its title from a tune the songwriting team wrote for Liza Minnelli to sing in the film New York, New York (that song, however, is titled "But the World Goes 'Round").
The show consists of an eclectic collection of love songs, torch songs, and acerbically witty comic numbers. It was conceived by director Scott Ellis, choreographer Susan Stroman, and librettist David Thompson, who collaborated on such Kander and Ebb shows as Steel Pier and the 1996 revival of Chicago . David Loud created the vocal and dance arrangements.
It opened on March 18, 1991 Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre, and closed on March 8, 1992, after 408 performances. The original cast featured Karen Ziemba, Robert Cuccioli, Karen Mason, Brenda Pressley, and Jim Walton. Natalie Venetia Belcon, Joel Blum and Marin Mazzie were replacements later in the run.
It won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical, and Cuccioli received the Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance. Additional honors included Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Musical Revue, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Ziemba), and Outstanding Director of a Musical. [1]
An original cast recording was released by RCA Records.
Starting in August 1992, Ziemba, Blum, and Mazzie were joined by John Ruess and Shelley Dickinson for a 10-month US national tour. With scenic and technical embellishments added and the title simplified to The World Goes 'Round, the revised edition included mostly upbeat, unfamiliar songs from the team's lesser musicals: The Happy Time , The Rink , The Act , Flora the Red Menace , and what was then a work-in-progress, Kiss of the Spider Woman . [2]
Throughout the years the revue has been staged by regional and community theatre groups and as a fringe theatre production in London.
With direction and choreography by Nikki Snelson and musical direction by Ben Kiley, the show premiered in Singapore on September 26, 2013, in the Singapore Airlines Theatre at LASALLE College of the Arts. The shows cast included Kimberly Chan, Chinie Concepcion, Samantha Kwok, Brett Khaou, Hannah Lucas, Renfred Ng, Jordan Prainito and Rachel Tay. [3]
Sources: IBdb [4] AllMusic [5]
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In his New York Times review, Frank Rich wrote:
And the World Goes 'Round: The Songs of Kander and Ebb, the new revue at the commodiously renovated Westside Theater, may be its authors' long overdue smash. The evening is an unexpected delight: a handsome, tasteful, snazzily staged outpouring of song and dance that celebrates all the virtues of the Kander-Ebb catalogue while scrupulously avoiding most of the cloying cliches of and-then-I-wrote anthologies. The revue is sophisticated enough to satisfy aficionados like myself, who recently spent a week's allowance to replace a worn copy of the out-of-print cast album of The Happy Time, and welcoming enough to convert new audiences to the Kander-Ebb fold. The five fresh performers, mostly familiar but unheralded Broadway hands, are the best team of its sort to hit town since the quintet in Ain't Misbehavin'. [6]
Kander and Ebb were a highly successful American songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb. Known primarily for their stage musicals, which include Cabaret and Chicago, Kander and Ebb also scored several movies, including Martin Scorsese's New York, New York. Their most famous song is the theme song of that movie. Recorded by many artists, "New York, New York" became a signature song for Frank Sinatra. The team also became associated with two actresses, Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera, for whom they wrote a considerable amount of material for the stage, concerts and television.
John Harold Kander is an American composer and composer, known largely for his work in the musical theater. As part of the songwriting team Kander and Ebb, Kander wrote the scores for 15 musicals, including Cabaret (1966) and Chicago (1975), both of which were later adapted into acclaimed films. He and Ebb also wrote the standard "New York, New York" . He and Ebb sang All That Jazz from Chicago.
Fred Ebb was an American musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera.
Susan P. Stroman is an American theatre director, choreographer, film director and performer. Her notable theater productions include Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Crazy for You, Contact, The Producers, The Frogs, The Scottsboro Boys, Bullets Over Broadway, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, and New York, New York.
Forbidden Broadway is an Off-Broadway revue parodying musical theatre, particularly Broadway musicals. It was conceived, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini and has been updated many times to parody new musicals and productions. Typically, the revue is performed by a cast of four with a piano. Versions of the show have been seen in more than 200 cities in the U.S., as well as London, Tokyo and elsewhere. In 2024, after four decades of performances off-Broadway, a Broadway version of the revue is planned to be staged for the first time.
Joseph Stein was an American playwright best known for writing the books for such musicals as Fiddler on the Roof and Zorba.
Robert Cuccioli is an American actor and singer. He is best known for originating the lead dual title roles in the musical Jekyll & Hyde, for which he received a Tony Award nomination and won the Joseph Jefferson Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, and the Fany Award for outstanding actor in a musical.
Michael Gibson was a musician, trombonist and orchestrator, nominated twice for the American Theatre Wing's Tony Award for Best Orchestrations. He won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations for My One and Only in 1983.
Marin Joy Mazzie was an American actress and singer known for her work in musical theatre.
Steel Pier is a musical written by the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb from the original book by David Thompson.
Rick Crom is an American actor, singer, comedian, lyricist, and composer. He has appeared in numerous television shows and specials, Broadway and off-Broadway musicals, as well as written several off-Broadway revues, and has 3 times been nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics.
Karen Ziemba is an American actress, singer and dancer, best known for her work in musical theatre. In 2000, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Contact.
David Thompson is an American writer, playwright, and producer. His notable theater productions include Chicago, The Scottsboro Boys, The Prince of Broadway, and New York, New York.
Jason D. Danieley is an American actor, singer, concert performer and recording artist. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and was married to fellow performer Marin Mazzie.
The Scottsboro Boys is a musical with a book by David Thompson, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. Based on the Scottsboro Boys trial, the musical is one of the last collaborations between Kander and Ebb prior to the latter's death. The musical has the framework of a minstrel show, altered to "create a musical social critique" with a company that, except for one, consists "entirely of African-American performers".
David Loud is an American music supervisor, music director, conductor, vocal and dance arranger, pianist and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with and interpretations of the music of both Kander and Ebb and Stephen Sondheim.
Larry Hochman is an American orchestrator and composer. He has won four Emmy Awards for his original music on the TV series Wonder Pets! and a Tony Award for his orchestrations for The Book of Mormon.
Jeffry Denman is an American actor, director, choreographer and author.
Judy Gordon is an American theater producer of plays and musicals on Broadway and off-Broadway as well as internationally. Her productions include the musical Barnum with music by Cy Coleman, starring Jim Dale and Glenn Close on Broadway and Michael Crawford in London. She also produced A History of the American Film by Christopher Durang on Broadway, and 2x5 by John Kander and Fred Ebb off Broadway.
Kid Victory is a musical with the story by John Kander and Greg Pierce, and music by John Kander, book and lyrics by Greg Pierce, co-produced by Vineyard Theatre and Signature Theatre.
