La Strada (musical)
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| LA STRADA (musical) | |
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| Poster La Strada | |
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| Music | Lionel Bart, additional music by Elliot Lawrence |
| Lyrics | Lionel Bart, additional lyrics by Martin Charnin |
| Book | Charles K. Peck, Jr. |
| Based upon | La Strada, a film by Frederico Fellini |
| Productions | Lunt-Fontanne Theatre |
La Strada (musical) is a musical with lyrics and music by Lionel Bart, with additional lyrics by Martin Charnin and additional music by Elliot Lawrence.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
The play follows the story of the film of the same name. Gelsomina, a young girl, is sold by her impoverished mother to a brutish circus strong man, Zampanò, to be his assistant. She shows her abilities as a clown and soon becomes the star of the show. She falls in love with Zampanò, despite his abuse of her. But tragedy strikes when she befriends a circus clown (Mario) and Zampanò kills him in a jealous fit.
[edit] List of Characters
- Gelsomina -- Bernadette Peters
- Zampano -- Stephen Pearlman
- Mother -- Anne Hegira
- Elsa -- Lisa Belleran
- Eva -- Mary Ann Robbins
- Sophia -- Susan Goeppinger
- Castra -- Lucille Patton
- Acrobat -- Paul Charles
- Acrobat -- Harry Endicott
- Mario (The Fool) --Larry Kert
- Mama Lambrini -- Peggy Cooper
- Alberti -- John Coe
- Sister Claudia -- Susan Goeppinger
[edit] List of Musical Numbers
Act 1
- Seagull, Starfish, Pebble -- Gelsomina
- The Great Zampano -- Gelsomina and Zampano
- What's Going on Inside? -- Zampano
- Belonging -- Gelsomina
- Wedding Dance -- Company
- I Don't Like You -- Gelsomina
- Encounters -- Gelsomina and Company
- There's a Circus in Town -- Mario
- You're Musical -- Mario and Gelsomina
- Only More! -- Gelsomina
Act 2
- What a Man -- Gelsomina and Mama Lambrini
- Everything Needs Something -- Gelsomina
- Sooner or Later -- Mario
- Sooner or Later (Reprise) -- Gelsomina
- Belonging (Reprise) -- Gelsomina
- The End of the Road -- Company
[edit] Productions
After 14 previews, La Strada opened on December 14, 1969 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway. The show was directed by Alan Schneider, with choreography by Alvin Ailey and Joyce Trisler. The show closed the same night, losing $650, 000.
There was a studio cast "concept album" produced in 1967 by Lionel Bart and Chris Curtis. Only two or three songs remained in the final play as produced on Broadway. In discussing La Strada 's problems, Steven Suskin wrote that Lionel Bart apparently did not go to the United States to assist in the rehearsal process, and neither the director (Alan Schneider) nor the choregrapher (Alvin Ailey) had done a Broadway musical. [1] Peters confirms that Bart never worked on the show in New York in this interview: "The script really wasn't ready, and Lionel Bart was never coming over. Marty Charnin and his partner at the time [composer Elliot Lawrence] rewrote it." [2]
Ken Mandelbaum analyzed La Strada in his book, Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Flops[3]. During tryouts, the original strongman, Zampano, was replaced; and he discusses the replacing of all but three of the original songs. "...it followed a relentlessly bleak, tragic screenplay, it emerged as one of the most depressing musicals ever... Bernadette Peters, in her first Broadway lead, did not let the show down."
A studio cast recording was released in 1994 on bayview records, with Madeline Bell in the Gelsomina role. (http://www.playbill.com/news/article/87450.html)
[edit] Responses
In his review in the New York Times, Clive Barnes wrote that the book was superficial and the music bland and trite. However, he praised Bernadette Peters, writing "In a different show the birdlike and croaky Bernadette Peters would have become a star overnight." [4]
[edit] External Links
[edit] References
- ^ Playbill.com, "On the Record", Steven Suskin, August 8, 2004.
- ^ Showmusic: The Musical Theatre Magazine, Songs of Bernadette, Eric Grode, Summer 1997, Volume Thirteen, Number Two, pp 21 ff.
- ^ (1991, St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-06428-4, p. 171)
- ^ New York Times, December 15, 1969, p. 63
