Love Life

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Love Life
Music Kurt Weill
Lyrics Alan Jay Lerner
Book Alan Jay Lerner
Productions 1948 Broadway

Love Life was a musical written by Kurt Weill (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics). It opened at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers) on October 7, 1948 and closed on May 14, 1949 after having played 252 performances. The original production starred Ray Middleton and Nanette Fabray, was directed by Elia Kazan, and choreographed by Michael Kidd.

The show told the story of a married couple, Sam and Susan Cooper, who never age as they progress from 1791 to 1948, encountering difficulties in their marriage (and thus the very fabric of American marriage) as they struggle to cope with changing social mores. One of the earliest examples of the concept musical, the action of Love Life was interspersed with vaudeville-style numbers that commented on the story, in a way very similar to Cabaret (which opened in 1966).

No official cast recording of Love Life has ever been made; a strike at the time of the original production prevented preserving the original cast of this show, as also happened with Where's Charley? the same year.

Note: The song "I Remember it Well," is the original version of a lyric Lerner revised for use in the 1958 film, Gigi.

[edit] Musical Numbers

Operas and musicals by
Kurt Weill
Der Protagonist 1926
Mahagonny-Songspiel 1927
Der Zar lässt sich
photographieren
1928
The Threepenny Opera 1928
Happy End 1929
Der Lindberghflug (with Paul Hindemith) 1929
The Rise and Fall of
the City of Mahagonny
1930
Der Jasager 1930
Die Bürgschaft 1932
Der Silbersee 1933
The Seven Deadly Sins 1933
Der Kuhhandel 1935
Johnny Johnson 1936
The Eternal Road 1937
Knickerbocker Holiday 1938
Lady in the Dark 1940
One Touch of Venus 1943
The Firebrand of Florence 1945
Street Scene 1946
Down in the Valley 1948
Love Life 1948
Lost in the Stars 1949
v  d  e

* "Who Is Samuel Cooper?"

  • "My Name Is Samuel Cooper"
  • "Here I'll Stay"
  • "Progress"
  • "I Remember It Well"
  • "Green Up Time"
  • "Mother's Getting Nervous"
  • "Economics"
  • "My Kind of Night"
  • "Women's Club Blues"
  • "Love Song"
  • "I'm Your Man"
  • "Ho, Billy, Oh"
  • "Is it Him or is it Me?"
  • "Punch and Judy Get a Divorce" (Ballet)
  • "This is the Life"
  • Illusion Minstrel Show: "Madame Zuzu"
  • Illusion Minstrel Show: "Takin' No Chances"
  • Illusion Minstrel Show: "Miss Ideal Man"
  • Illusion Minstrel Show: "Mr. Right"

[edit] External links