Musical (1971)


Musique: John Barry
Paroles: Alan Jay Lerner
Livret: Alan Jay Lerner
Production à la création:

Version 1

Lolita, My Love (1971-02-Shubert Theatre-Philadelphia)

Type de série: Pre-Broadway Try Out
Théâtre: Shubert Theatre (Philadelphia - Etats-Unis)
Durée : 1 semaine
Nombre : 1 previews -
Première Preview : lundi 15 février 1971
Première : mardi 16 février 1971
Dernière : samedi 27 février 1971
Mise en scène : Noel Willman
Chorégraphie : Dan Siretta
Producteur :
Commentaires : Tryout Dates
Shubert Theatre [Philadelphia, PA] 16/2/1971 - 27/2/1971
Shubert Theatre [Boston, MA] 23/3/1971 - 27/3/1971

Scheduled to open March 30, 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. When the show ran into problems in Philadelphia and the Boston tryout had to be added, the opening was pushed to April 13. On March 30, three days after the tryout in Boston ended, lyricist/book writer Alan Jay Lerner and producer Norman Twain announced that the opening would again be postponed as "the show needed additional revisions".
The production lost $900,000.
In December 1970, Lorna Luft was cast, although unclear about who she would play.
The 5-week Philadelphia tryout cut short on Feb. 27 for revisions.
In a Feb. 25 program, Dan Siretta is listed as a character named Quincey. Irwin Pearl played Nelson Quimby. Dan Siretta is also listed as part of the dancing ensemble. This is the only program in which they were credited.
The character of Mrs. Thornbush was eliminated after Philadelphia (played by Fran Stevens). She was the head of the summer camp where Humbert picks up Lolita. The camp counsellors were played by Jacqueline Johnson, Jacqueline Britt, and Jacque Dean.

Reactions: In refusing many previous offers to adapt the novel, Nabokov insisted that the distasteful plot was acceptable because it existed only in his head; to make a real twelve-year-old girl play the part, particularly in person on stage night after night, "would be sinful and immoral." The skeletal plot alone, without Nabokov's authorial voice, is indeed quite salacious, and critics and audiences reacted negatively to it.

Subsequent writers (notably Ken Mandelbaum and Frank Rich) have found elements of the show worthy of praise, with Mandelbaum contending that it is unlikely anyone could produce a better musical version of what is probably fundamentally impossible material. In 1982, a non-musical adaptation of Lolita by Edward Albee opened to memorably negative reviews, and many critics specifically pointed out ways in which this version was lacking when compared to the earlier musical; Rich contended that Albee's version had a hideous set, pointing out that even the "flop musical version...got the scenery right."

1 Lolita, My Love peut-être considéré comme un Flop musical


Lolita, My Love was initiated by Lerner, the well-known lyricist of My Fair Lady and other major hits, who recruited Barry to write the score. Nabokov, who had several times refused to allow adaptations of his novel, stated that "Mr. Lerner is a most talented and excellent classicist. If you have to make a musical version of Lolita, he is the one to do it."[1] Like most musicals of the time, the production was scheduled for a multi-city "tryout" tour, during which rewrites could be done as needed, before opening on Broadway. The original director was opera impresario Tito Capobianco, and choreography was provided by Jack Cole, although Cole was fired during rehearsals and replaced by Danny Daniels.

Upon opening in Philadelphia on February 16, 1971, the show got savage reviews and immediately closed for more work. Capobianco was fired and replaced by Noel Willman, and Daniels was replaced as choreographer by Dan Siretta. Even the actress playing Lolita was let go.

The show reopened in Boston but did lukewarm business and received mixed reviews, although critics acknowledged good performances by John Neville as Humbert and Dorothy Loudon as Lolita's vulgar mother, Charlotte, and found the music and lyrics strong. Lolita was played by actress Denise Nickerson, and Oscar Nominee Leonard Frey was Claire Quiltey. The production closed before its scheduled opening at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, the site of many previous Lerner triumphs; it lost $900,000.


While the show was not officially recorded, a bootleg recording from the theater sound board has surfaced and is sold openly. A track listing on the recording gives the following list of songs:
1.Overture
2.Going, Going, Gone - Quiltey and guests
3.The Same Old Song - Lolita & Charlotte
4.Saturday - Lolita
5.In the Broken Promise Land of 15 - Humbert
6.The Same Old Song (Reprise) - Humbert,Lolita,Charlotte
7.Dante, Petrarch and Poe - Humbert
8.Sur Les Quais - Charlotte
9.Charlotte's Letter - Humbert & Charlotte
10.Farewell, Little Dream - Humbert
11.At the Bed-D-By Motel -Ensemble
12.Tell Me, Tell Me - Quiltey & Humbert
13.Buckin' for Beardsley/Beardsley School for Girls - Lolita & Humbert
14.March Out of My Life
15.The Same Old Song (Reprise) - Lolita
16.All You Can Do is Tell Me You Love Me
17.How Far is It to the Next Town - Lolita & Humbert
18.How Far is It to the Next Town (Reprise) - Quiltey & Humbert
19.Lolita - Humbert
20.Finale

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant Lolita, My Love


Version 1

Lolita, My Love (1971-02-Shubert Theatre-Philadelphia)

Type de série: Pre-Broadway Try Out
Théâtre: Shubert Theatre (Philadelphia - Etats-Unis)
Durée : 1 semaine
Nombre : 1 previews -
Première Preview : lundi 15 février 1971
Première : mardi 16 février 1971
Dernière : samedi 27 février 1971
Mise en scène : Noel Willman
Chorégraphie : Dan Siretta
Producteur :
Commentaires : Tryout Dates
Shubert Theatre [Philadelphia, PA] 16/2/1971 - 27/2/1971
Shubert Theatre [Boston, MA] 23/3/1971 - 27/3/1971

Scheduled to open March 30, 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. When the show ran into problems in Philadelphia and the Boston tryout had to be added, the opening was pushed to April 13. On March 30, three days after the tryout in Boston ended, lyricist/book writer Alan Jay Lerner and producer Norman Twain announced that the opening would again be postponed as "the show needed additional revisions".
The production lost $900,000.
In December 1970, Lorna Luft was cast, although unclear about who she would play.
The 5-week Philadelphia tryout cut short on Feb. 27 for revisions.
In a Feb. 25 program, Dan Siretta is listed as a character named Quincey. Irwin Pearl played Nelson Quimby. Dan Siretta is also listed as part of the dancing ensemble. This is the only program in which they were credited.
The character of Mrs. Thornbush was eliminated after Philadelphia (played by Fran Stevens). She was the head of the summer camp where Humbert picks up Lolita. The camp counsellors were played by Jacqueline Johnson, Jacqueline Britt, and Jacque Dean.

Version 2

Lolita, My Love (1971-03-Shubert Theatre-Boston)

Type de série: Pre-Broadway Try Out
Théâtre: Shubert Theatre (Boston - Etats-Unis)
Durée :
Nombre :
Première Preview : mardi 23 mars 1971
Première : mardi 23 mars 1971
Dernière : samedi 27 mars 1971
Mise en scène : Noel Willman
Chorégraphie : Dan Siretta
Producteur :
Commentaires : Tryout Dates
Shubert Theatre [Philadelphia, PA] 16/2/1971 - 27/2/1971
Shubert Theatre [Boston, MA] 23/3/1971 - 27/3/1971

Scheduled to open March 30, 1971 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. When the show ran into problems in Philadelphia and the Boston tryout had to be added, the opening was pushed to April 13. On March 30, three days after the tryout in Boston ended, lyricist/book writer Alan Jay Lerner and producer Norman Twain announced that the opening would again be postponed as "the show needed additional revisions".
The production lost $900,000.
In December 1970, Lorna Luft was cast, although unclear about who she would play.
The 5-week Philadelphia tryout cut short on Feb. 27 for revisions.
In a Feb. 25 program, Dan Siretta is listed as a character named Quincey. Irwin Pearl played Nelson Quimby. Dan Siretta is also listed as part of the dancing ensemble. This is the only program in which they were credited.
The character of Mrs. Thornbush was eliminated after Philadelphia (played by Fran Stevens). She was the head of the summer camp where Humbert picks up Lolita. The camp counsellors were played by Jacqueline Johnson, Jacqueline Britt, and Jacque Dean.

 Pas encore de video disponible pour ce spectacle