A Grand Night for Singing is a musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 revue showcasing the music of Richard Rodgers

Richard Rodgers

Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...

 and the lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II

Oscar Hammerstein II

Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...

.

Featuring songs from such lesser-known works as Allegro

Allegro (musical)

Allegro is a musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II , their third collaboration for the stage. Opening on Broadway on October 10, 1947, the musical centers on the life of Joseph Taylor, Jr.—Joe follows in the footsteps of his father as a doctor, but is tempted by fortune and fame at...

, Me and Juliet

Me and Juliet

Me and Juliet is a musical comedy by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and their sixth stage collaboration. The work tells a story of romance backstage at a long-running musical: assistant stage manager Larry woos chorus girl Jeanie behind the back of her electrician boyfriend, Bob...

, State Fair

State Fair (musical)

State Fair is a musical with a book by Tom Briggs and Louis Mattioli, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and music by Richard Rodgers.Rodgers and Hammerstein originally adapted the Phil Stong novel of the same name for a 1945 movie musical, which was remade in 1962...

, and Pipe Dream

Pipe dream

- Music :* Pipe Dreams , 2009* Pipedream , the first solo album from Lindisfarne front man Alan Hull* Pipe Dreams , 1995* "Pipe Dream", a song by Project 86 from the album Project 86...

, modest successes like Flower Drum Song

Flower Drum Song

Flower Drum Song was the eighth stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was based on the 1957 novel, The Flower Drum Song, by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. The piece opened in 1958 on Broadway and was afterwards presented in the West End and on tour...

and hits like Carousel

Carousel (musical)

Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II . The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline...

, Oklahoma!

Oklahoma!

Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...

, The King and I

The King and I

The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...

, South Pacific

South Pacific (musical)

South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...

, Cinderella and The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...

, it originally was presented cabaret

Cabaret

Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...

-style at Rainbow & Stars at the top of Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...

.

After 41 previews, the Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 production, directed by Walter Bobbie

Walter Bobbie

Walter Bobbie is an American theatre director, choreographer, and occasional actor and dancer. Bobbie has directed both musicals and plays on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and was the Artistic Director of the New York City Center Encores! concert series...

 (who wrote the minimal book linking the tunes) and choreographed by Pamela Sousa, with vocal arrangements by Fred Wells and orchestrations by Michael Gibson and Jonathan Tunick, opened on November 17, 1993 at the Criterion Center Stage Right, where it ran for 52 performances. Victoria Clark

Victoria Clark

Victoria Clark is an American musical theatre singer and actress. Clark has performed in many Broadway musicals and in other theatre, film and television work, and her soprano voice can be heard on numerous cast albums and several animated films...

, Jason Graae

Jason Graae

Jason Graae is an American actor noted for his musical theater performances but with a varied career spanning Broadway, opera, television and film...

, Alyson Reed

Alyson Reed

Alyson Reed is an American dancer and actress.Reed grew up in Anaheim, California and attended Anaheim High School, where she graduated in 1976. She was a varsity songleader for two years, and was ASB President as a senior. She began performing in high school, and one of her major roles was as...

, Martin Vidnovic

Martin Vidnovic

Martin Vidnovic is an American actor and singer.Born in Falls Church, Virginia, Vidnovic made his Broadway debut in the ill-fated Home Sweet Homer which, following a one-year tour, closed on opening night...

, and Lynne Wintersteller

Lynne Wintersteller

Lynne Wintersteller is an American actress best known for her work in the theatre. A gifted soprano, she has appeared in several musicals including starring in the original production of Maltby and Shire's hit Off-Broadway musical Closer Than Ever in 1989 at the Cherry Lane Theatre...

 comprised the cast. Martin Vidnovic is replaced by Gregg Edelman

Gregg Edelman

Gregg Edelman is an American movie, television and theatre actor.Edelman was born in Chicago, Illinois, attended Niles North High School, where he starred as Lil' Abner opposite future soap star Nancy Lee Grahn, and was trained at Northwestern University...

 in the cast recording, and some later performances.

It was nominated for two Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

s, for Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical, and the Drama Desk Award

Drama Desk Award

The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...

 for Outstanding Revue.

An original cast recording was released by Varèse Sarabande

Varèse Sarabande

Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums as well as newer releases by artists no longer under a contract...

.

Song list

Act I

• Carousel Waltz
• So Far
• It's a Grand Night for Singing
• The Surrey with the Fringe on Top
  The Surrey With the Fringe On Top
  "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" is a show tune from the 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Oklahoma! It is the second song of the show, following the opening number, "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'."...
  
  
• Stepsisters' Lament
• We Kiss in a Shadow
  We Kiss in a Shadow
  "We Kiss in a Shadow" is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I.In this song, Tuptim and Lun Tha declare their love for each other, even though they fear that the King of Siam would know about it....
  
  
• Hello, Young Lovers
• A Wonderful Guy
• I Cain't Say No
  I Cain't Say No
  I Cain't Say No is a song from the musical play Oklahoma! written by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II....
  
  
• Maria
• Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?
• The Gentleman is a Dope
• Don't Marry Me
• I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair
  I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair
  "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" is a song from the musical South Pacific, sung by Nellie Forbush, the female lead, originally played by Mary Martin beginning in 1949. Her character, fed up with a man and singing in the shower, claims she will forget about him...
  
  
• If I Loved You
  If I Loved You
  "If I Loved You" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.The song was introduced by John Raitt as "Billy Bigelow" and Jan Clayton as "Julie"...
  
  
• Shall We Dance?
• That's The Way It Happens
• All at Once You Love Her
• Some Enchanted Evening
  Some Enchanted Evening (song)
  "Some Enchanted Evening" is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific.In the musical, it is sung as a solo by Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner, who falls in love with the American navy nurse Nellie Forbush. In this song he sings of seizing the moment so...
  
  

Act II

• Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'
• Wish Them Well
• The Man I Used To Be
• It Might as Well Be Spring
• When The Children Are Asleep
• I Know It Can Happen Again
• My Little Girl
• It's Me
• Love, Look Away
• When You're Driving Through the Moonlight
• A Lovely Night
• Something Wonderful
  Something Wonderful (song)
  "Something Wonderful" is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I.The song was first sung in the original Broadway production by Dorothy Sarnoff, who played Lady Thiang. Later, in the 1956 film adaptation starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner it was sung by Terry...
  
  
• This Nearly Was Mine
• Impossible
• I Have Dreamed
  I Have Dreamed (song)
  "I Have Dreamed" is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I. In the original Broadway production it was sung by Doretta Morrow and Larry Douglas. It has since become a standard, with many artists recording the song...
  
  

External links

• Internet Broadway Database listing