The Robber Bridegroom (musical)
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| The Robber Bridegroom | |
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| Music | Robert Waldman |
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| Lyrics | Alfred Uhry |
| Book | Alfred Uhry |
| Productions | 1975 Broadway 1976 Broadway |
The Robber Bridegroom is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alfred Uhry and music by Robert Waldman.
Based on the novella by Eudora Welty, it focuses on Robin Hood-like Jamie Lockhart, a legendary character in Mississippi folklore, who rescues Clemment Musgrove (the wealthiest plantation owner in Natchez Trace) from the Harp gang and attempts to woo and win his daughter Rosamund. Standing in his way is her stepmother Salome, whose romantic designs on the gentleman robber lead her to plot the girl's murder, a scheme that falls apart when the clueless henchman she hires to do the deed mistakenly kidnaps Salome instead. What ensues is a series of escapades worthy of a Grimm fairy tale, which it was before inspiring Welty, whose adaptation placed it in an early 19th century American setting.
The show began life in an early 1970s production in producer Stuart Ostrow's Musical Theatre Lab, which invented the concept of the "workshop" development process for musicals. Raul Julia starred as Lockhart. John Houseman's group The Acting Company took the show to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York with Kevin Kline replacing Julia, Patti LuPone as Rosamund, and Mary Lou Rosato as Salome. It then was staged at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago in the summer of 1975.
After one preview, the first Broadway production, with the same Ravinia cast directed by Gerald Freedman and choreographed by Donald Saddler, opened on October 7, 1975 at the Harkness Theatre, where it ran for 14 performances before setting out on a one-year US national tour. Its success on the road convinced the producers to mount a revamped Broadway production with an extended book and expanded, heavily bluegrass-tinged score.
After twelve previews, the second Broadway production, directed by Freedman and choreographed by Saddler, opened on October 9, 1976 at the Biltmore Theatre, where it ran for 145 performances. The cast included Barry Bostwick as Lockhart, Rhonda Coullet as Rosamund, and Barbara Lang as Salome.
An original cast recording of this production was released by CBS.
Since its inception, the show has been staged regularly by regional theatres throughout the country.
[edit] Song list
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[edit] Awards and nominations
1975 production
- Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (LuPone, nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical/Book (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (LuPone, nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Rosato, nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience (nominee)
1976 production
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (Bostwick, winner)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Bostwick, nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Lang, nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design (nominee)
