Le monde des musicals

Musical (1945)

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Musique: Arthur Sullivan •
Paroles: George S. Kaufman •
Livret: George S. Kaufman •
Production à la création:

George S. Kaufman’s adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore into a satiric look at the Hollywood studio system seemed like a sure thing.

Starlet Brenda Blossom, pining for a lowly writer, Ralph, is promised in marriage by her father (a director looking to advance his own career) to the studio head, Joseph Porter. If she marries Ralph, she'll be tossed out of Hollywood and forced to make a living on the stage. Everything turns out for the best when it is discovered that a mix-up in Louhedda Hopsons' gossip column was responsible for Ralph's fall from grace. In reality, it was Ralph who was meant to head the studio instead of Porter.

Based on W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s 1878 operetta H.M.S. Pinafore, or The Lass That Loved a Sailor; the production also included music from the team’s other operettas.

It opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on May 31, 1945, and closed on July 14, 1945 after 52 performances.

According to Howard Teichmann's 1972 biography George S. Kaufman: An Intimate Portrait, Kaufman had the inspiration for Hollywood Pinafore during a poker game with his friend Charles Lederer. While Lederer was arranging his cards, he idly sang a few bars of "When I Was a Lad" from Pinafore while ad-libbing a new lyric: "Oh, he nodded his head / and he never said 'no' / and now he's the head of the studio." Kaufman insisted on paying Lederer a token fee for the idea of transplanting Pinafore's setting to a Hollywood studio.

Act I
Simple Movie Folk - Miss Gloria Mundi, Miss Beverly Wilshire, Little Miss Peggy, Girls, Ensemble
Little Butter-Up - Louhedda Hobson
An Agent's Lot Is Not a Happy One - Dick Live-Eye
A Maiden Often Seen - Ralph Rackstraw, Miss Beverly Wilshire, Ensemble
I'm a Big Director at Pinafore - Mike Corcoran, Ensemble
Here on the Lot - Brenda Blossom
Joe Porter's Car is Seen - Male Chorus, Ensemble
I Am the Monarch of the Joint - Joseph W. Porter, Miss Liebe, Ensemble
When I Was a Lad - Joseph W. Porter, Ensemble
A Writer Fills the Lowest Niche - Bob Beckett, Ralph Rackstraw, Guard, Ensemble
Never Mind the Why and Wherefore - Dick Live-Eye, Ensemble
Refrain, Audacious Scribe/Proud Lady, Have Your Way - Ralph Rackstraw, Brenda Blossom, Miss Liebe, Ensemble
Can I Survive This Overbearing? (Finale Act 1) - Dick Live-Eye, Brenda Blossom, Miss Liebe, Ralph Rackstraw, Bob Beckett, Ensemble

ACT II
Fair Moon - Mike Corcoran
I Am the Monarch of the Joint (reprise) - Joseph W. Porter, Miss Liebe, Ensemble
Ballet Interlude: Success Story - Chief Maid, Other Little Maids, Talent Scout, Her True Love, Two More Boys, Armand, the Movie Hero, Director, Studio Assistants
Hollywood's a Funny Place - Louhedda Hobson, Joseph W. Porter
To Go Upon the Stage - Brenda Blossom
He Is a Movie Man - Joseph W. Porter, Dick Live-Eye, Ensemble
The Merry Maiden and the Jerk - Dick Live-Eye, Joseph W. Porter
Carefully on Tiptoe Stealing (music brazenly taken from The Pirates of Penzance) - Brenda Blossom, Ralph Rackstraw, Dick Live-Eye, Mike Corcoran, Ensemble
Pretty Daughter of Mine - Mike Corcoran, Ralph Rackstraw, Miss Liebe, Joseph W. Porter, Dick Live-Eye, Ensemble
Farewell, My Own - Ralph Rackstraw, Brenda Blossom, Miss Liebe, Joseph W. Porter, Louhedda Hobson, Bob Beckett, Ensemble
This Town I Now Must Shake - Louhedda Hobson, Ensemble
Finale Act 2 - Entire Company

Joseph W. Porter, head of Pinafore Pictures
Mike Corcoran, a director
Ralph Rackstraw, a writer
Dick Live-Eye, an agent
Brenda Blossom, a star
Louhedda Hopsons, a columnist (a combination of the names of Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper)
Bob Beckett, a press agent
Miss Liebe, Mr. Porter's secretary
Miss Gloria Mundi
Miss Beverly Wilshire
Little Miss Peggy
Doorman
Secretaries, Guard, Actors, Actresses, Assistant Directors, Cameramen, Technicians, etc. Singers and Dancers

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Hollywood Pinafore

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Hollywood Pinafore