A Joyful Noise 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...

 with a book by Edward Padula

Edward Padula

Edward Padula was an American theatre producer, stage manager, and occasional director and writer.Born in Newark, New Jersey, Padula began his theatrical career by directing the book for the early Lerner and Loewe collaboration The Day Before Spring in 1945...

 and music and lyrics by Oscar Brand

Oscar Brand

Oscar Brand is a folk singer, songwriter, and author. In his career, spanning over 60 years, he has composed at least 300 songs and released nearly 100 albums, among them Canadian and American patriotic songs...

 and Paul Nassau

Paul Nassau

Paul Nassau is an American composer and lyricist for the stage. He contributed songs to the musical revue New Faces of 1956, and wrote both the music and lyric to the Broadway shows Happy Town , A Joyful Noise , and The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N . He married Chloe Anderson on December 23,...

. The 1966 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 was a flop but introduced choreographer Michael Bennett

Michael Bennett

Michael Bennett was an American musical theater director, writer, choreographer, and dancer. He won seven Tony Awards for his choreography and direction of Broadway shows and was nominated for an additional eleven....

 in his Broadway debut.

Based on the 1959 novel The Insolent Breed by Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 Borden Deal

Borden Deal

Borden Deal , was an American novelist and short story writer.Born in Pontotoc, Mississippi, Deal attended Macedonia Consolidated High School, after which he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and fought forest fires in the Pacific Northwest...

, the story centers on Shade Motley, a fiddler who arrives in a small Southern

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

 town

Small Town

Small Town is a song written by John Cougar Mellencamp and released on his 1985 album Scarecrow. The song reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.-Content:...

 and shocks the stern community with his exuberant love of hillbilly

Hillbilly

Hillbilly is a term referring to certain people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia but also the Ozarks. Owing to its strongly stereotypical connotations, the term is frequently considered derogatory, and so is usually offensive to those Americans of...

 music and life in general.

Background and production

The musical underwent significant changes, both in performers and creators, during the tryout period. The book originally written by Edward Padula was rewritten by Dore Schary

Dore Schary

Isadore "Dore" Schary was an American motion picture director, writer, and producer, and playwright who became head of production at MGM and eventually president of the studio...

, who also took over as director. However, he quit, and Padula and Michael Bennett became co-directors. Donna McKechnie

Donna McKechnie

Donna McKechnie is an American musical theater dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer. She is known for her professional and personal relationship with choreographer Michael Bennett, with whom she collaborated on her most noted role, "Cassie" from the musical A Chorus Line, for which she...

, as the ingenue lead, was replaced by Susan Watson. Mitzi Welch and James Rado were replaced by Karen Morrow

Karen Morrow

Karen Morrow is an American singer – actress best known for her work in musical theater. Her honors include an Emmy Award and a Theatre World Award, and an Ovation Award and five Drama-Logue Award nominations....

 and Clifford David. It had "laughably stilted dialogue" and "an unconvincing plot." John Raitt

John Raitt

John Emmett Raitt was an American actor and singer best known for his performances in musical theater.-Early years:...

, who was to play Shade Motley, was aware of the show's problems and, in an interview, said that they "could never get by the New York critics."

After four 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 Padula and choreographed by Michael Bennett

Michael Bennett

Michael Bennett was an American musical theater director, writer, choreographer, and dancer. He won seven Tony Awards for his choreography and direction of Broadway shows and was nominated for an additional eleven....

, opened on December 15, 1966 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre

Mark Hellinger Theatre

The Mark Hellinger Theatre is a generally used name of a former legitimate Broadway theater, located at 237 West 51st Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City. Since 1991, it has been known as the Times Square Church...

 where it ran for only twelve performances. The cast included Raitt as Shade Motley, Morrow, Susan Watson

Susan Watson

Susan Watson is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in musical theatre.Watson's first professional role was Velma in the original West End production of West Side Story in 1958. She created the role of Luisa in The Fantasticks and then played Kim on Broadway in Bye Bye Birdie,...

, Leland Palmer

Leland Palmer

Leland Palmer is a fictional character from the television series Twin Peaks, created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. He also appears in the prequel, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me....

, Tommy Tune

Tommy Tune

Thomas James "Tommy" Tune is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won nine Tony Awards and the National Medal of Arts.-Early years:...

 and Baayork Lee

Baayork Lee

Baayork Lee is an Asian-American actress, singer, dancer, choreographer, theatre director, and author.-Early life and career:Lee was born in New York City's Chinatown to an Indian mother and Chinese father...

.

Plot

A wandering minstrel, Shade Motley, arrives in a small Tennessee town with his fiddle under his arm. The young women of the town find the stranger attractive. One young woman in particular, Jenny Lee, falls immediately in love with him, although she is engaged to Brother Locke, the local minister. Shade gives Jenny a locket, but her father Walter Wishenant, tells him to leave town. Just then Bliss Stanley arrives, with an offer to make Shade rich through his singing.

Jenny Lee ends up marrying Brother Locke, and Shade goes off to make his fortune. He returns for a visit with Mary Texas, an extroverted blonde.

Song list

Act I

• "Longtime Travelin'"--Shade Motley
• "A Joyful Noise"--Shade Motley and Townspeople
• "I'm Ready"--Jenny Lee, Miss Jimmie and The Girls
• "Spring Time of the Year"--Shade Motley
• "I Like to Look My Best"--Shade Motley, Sam Fredrickson and Saw Mill Boys
• "No Talent"--Bliss Stanley
• "Not Me"--Jenny Lee and Miss Jimmie
• "Until Today"--Shade Motley and Jenny Lee
• "Swinging a Dance"--Shade Motley and Company
• "To the Top"--Bliss Stanley and Shade Motley

Act II

• "I Love Nashville"--Mary Texas and Her Boys
• "Whither Thou Goest"--Brother Locke
• "We Won't Forget to Write"--Miss Jimmie, Sam Fredrickson and Saw Mill Boys
• "Ballad Maker"--Shade Motley, Mary Texas, The Motley Crew and Ensemble
• "Barefoot Gal"--Mary Texas
• "Clog Dance"--Dancing Ensemble
• "Fool's Gold"--Shade Motley, Mary Texas, The Motley Crew and Ensemble
• "The Big Guitar"--Bliss Stanley
• "Love Was"--Jenny Lee
• "I Say Yes"--Shade Motley, The Motley Crew and Ensemble
• "Lord, You Sure Know How to Make a New Day"--Shade Motley
• "A Joyful Noise (Reprise)"--Shade Motley and Townspeople

Characters

• Shade Motley (John Raitt)-- the wandering minstrel
• Jenny Lee (Susan Watson)-- local young woman who becomes enamoured of Shade
• Bliss Stanley (Swen Swenson)-- an entrepreneur
• Brother Locke (Clifford David)-- a minister and Jenny Lee's fiancé
• Miss Jimmie (Leland Palmer)
• Mary Texas (Karen Morrow)-- Shade's flashy girlfriend
• Tommy (Tommy Tune)-- one of the Saw Mill Boys and The Motley Crew

Awards and nominations

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...

nominations went to Watson and Palmer as Best Featured Actress in a Musical and to Bennett for his choreography.

External links

• Internet Broadway Database listing