More Than You Deserve
| More Than You Deserve | |
|---|---|
| Music | Jim Steinman |
| Lyrics | Jim Steinman |
| Book | Michael Weller |
| Productions | 1973 The Public Theater |
More Than You Deserve is a musical written by Jim Steinman and Michael Weller, produced by Joseph Papp and directed by Kim Friedman. It opened at The Public Theater on November 21, 1973, ran for 63 performances and closed on January 13, 1974. Weller's original title for the play was Souvenirs, which referred to the severed ears of killed Viet Cong forces which the soldiers collected and wore as keepsakes on strings around their necks. He was irate when the title was changed to More Than You Deserve.
Original cast
- Major Michael Dillon - Fred Gwynne
- Fiona Markham - Kimberly Farr
- Nurse/Nin Hua - Leata Galloway
- Nurse/Uncle Remus - Mary Beth Hurt
- Nathan/Herbie/Pilot - Stephen Collins
- Dr. Smith/Sgt. Price - Graham Jarvis
- Luke/Lance Moriarty - Seth Allen
- Mike / Brown / Gerald Moore - Larry Marshall
- Perrine / Rabbit - Meat Loaf
- Wiley / Trout - Kim Milford
- Owlsy / Joe - Tom Leo
- Costucci / Lt. Maddox - Edward Zang
- Spooky 1 / Vietnamese - Justin Ross
- Spooky 2 / Vietnamese / Radio man - Eivie McGehee
- Melvin - Terry Kiser
- General Chet Eastacre - Ronald (Ron) Silver
Plot synopsis
The story is set in a United States Army base in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Major Michael Dillon (Gwynne), who is impotent, falls in love with a reporter sent to cover the camp, who turns out to be a nymphomaniac when she is gang-raped by the other soldiers in the camp. However, she realizes at the end that she will be even happier giving up her newfound lust for sex to settle down with the impotent commander.
Songs
- Overture
- Give Me the Simple Life
- Could She Be the One
- Where Did It Go?
- Come With Me (We Know Love)
- Mama, You'd Better Watch Out for Your Daughters
- More Than You Deserve
- O, What a War
- Song of the City of Hope
- To Feel So Needed
- Mama, You'd Better Watch Out for Your Daughters (reprise)
- Go, Go, Go, Guerrillas
- What Became of the People We Were
- If Only
- Midnight Lullabye
- Song of the Golden Egg
- What Became of the People We Were (reprise)
Legacy
Steinman and Meat Loaf first met during the production and would go on to make the multi-platinum album Bat Out of Hell. The title track from the show was recorded by Meat Loaf for the album Dead Ringer. He also performed the song on his show VH1 Storytellers.
Paul Shaffer served as musical director for the show.