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The Martin Charnin Season Broadway USA! - New York - Spring 2001 Martin Charnin - Guest Artistic Director |
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The Rose and the Ring Music by Michael Jeffrey. Lyrics & Libretto by Peter Morris Based on a novella by William Thackeray, The Rose and the Ring is a musical fairy tale about a magic rose and a magic ring that render their owners irresistible to all the world. Comedy and chaos abound as these mystic talismans change hands. But all is set right and everyone - well, almost everyone - lives happily ever after. |
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Cupid & Psyche Music by Jihwan Kim. Lyrics & Libretto by Sean Hartley Cupid & Psyche is a vibrant, vivacious retelling of the Greek myth. The book sparkles with sly wit as Venus (with the aid of Mercury, as himself and a cast of thousands!) tells the tale of her thwarted efforts to come between her son Cupid and the bright and beautiful Psyche, a mere mortal. The songs are by turns laugh-out-loud funny and achingly romantic, and the classical tale shines anew, making for a luminous, magical musical. |
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Shine! Music by Roger Anderson. Lyrics by Lee Goldsmith. Libretto by Richard Seff 1876, a year when Wall Street was king — virtue its own reward, and anything can happen to those fair of heart and not faint of diligence and ambition. Based on the Horatio Alger character of "Ragged Dick," Shine! follows the tale of Dick Hunter from penniless bootblack to budding Wall Street entrepreneur. Dick's adventures bring him face to face with scheming ex-convicts, kind benefactors, and colorful street characters in a charming rags-to-riches romp for the whole family. |
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"With the possible exception of the recent, still seemingly unresolved results in the seesaw reportage of our National elections, nothing in my recollection (after some 40 years in the theatre) gets as much concentrated and disparate column space as whether Broadway — and musicals in particular — are alive or dead. Well folks - the answer is a resounding "ALIVE!" Add "kicking!" As is usual, the nay-sayers and disciples of doom only take satisfaction in celebrating bad news, which in its own way is balm to their own inadequacies and frustrations. What the Network and other organizations are doing, reflected in the simple fact that material is being heard, read, sung, staged, produced, enjoyed and celebrated, is proof positive that a healthy, vibrant and ultimately - oh, God! I'm going to say the "C" word - commercial theatre is still around. And while it may take a bit longer to get things produced than it did in the past, produced they will be and ultimately join the canon of wonderful, creative entertainments that fill up our hearts and souls; and do as Annie certainly has done for me - something little girls should do - take care of their fathers in their dotage. I look forward to the BroadwayUSA! presentations of these three new works and hope that we all respond with excitement and enthusiasm to the new and creative works; but most importantly, view them as works in progress, that still may have short distances to travel to reach total fruition. Musicals aren't written - they're re-written, and your involvement as an audience completes the circle of collaboration that begins when an author types "ACT ONE: Scene one"; when a lyricist scribbles "There's a bright golden haze on the"; or a composer plays an E minor chord." — Martin Charnin |