I Had a Ball
Encyclopedia
I Had a Ball is a musical
with a book by Jerome Chodorov
and music and lyrics by Jack Lawrence
and Stan Freeman
.
Set on the Coney Island
boardwalk
, it focuses on matchmaking fortune teller Garside, who finds love with floozy Addie, and recent parole
e Stan, who becomes involved with Ferris wheel
operator Jeannie. Other characters include Ma Maloney, who heads the Alley Gang and tries to keep them out of the clutches of patrolling Officer Millhauser.
I Had a Ball was similar to earlier projects designed to showcase the talents of Bert Lahr
and Ed Wynn
, short on plot and overloaded with vaudeville
-like comedy
routines and musical numbers. In this case the star was nightclub
and television
comic Buddy Hackett
, appearing for the first time in a structured theatrical production. Lloyd Richards
, whose later career would find him serving as the Artistic Director for the Yale Repertory Theatre
and a frequent collaborator with playwright
August Wilson
, was signed to direct, but following a clash with producer Joseph Kipness was replaced by John Allen, although Richards retained official credit in the program.
After a critically and commercially successful run in Detroit, the Broadway
production, choreographed by Onna White
, opened on December 15, 1964 at the Martin Beck Theatre, where it ran for 199 performances. In addition to Hackett as Garside, the cast included Richard Kiley as Stan, Karen Morrow
as Jeannie, Luba Lisa as Addie, Rosetta LeNoire
as Ma Maloney, and Ted Thurston
as Officer Millhauser.
The New York City
critics were less enamored with the show than their Detroit counterparts had been, and without a strong directorial hand to keep him under control, Hackett soon began ignoring the script and breaking character to inject his own routines into the proceedings. Audiences expecting to see a Broadway musical were not enchanted by the comic's often smutty
material, and negative word-of-mouth linked with competition from heavy-hitters like Fiddler on the Roof
, Hello, Dolly!
and Funny Girl ultimately led to a dwindling box office and an early closing.
Luba Lisa was nominated for the Tony Award
for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and received the 1965 Theatre World Award
for her performance. An original cast recording was released by Decca Records
.
Act II
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 Jerome Chodorov
Jerome Chodorov
Jerome Chodorov was an American playwright and librettist.-Biography:He was born in New York City, and entered journalism in the 1930s. He is best known for his 1940 play My Sister Eileen, its 1942 screen adaptation, and the musical Wonderful Town, which based on his play. Joseph A. Fields was...
and music and lyrics by Jack Lawrence
Jack Lawrence
Jack Lawrence was an American songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975.- Biography :...
and Stan Freeman
Stan Freeman
Stanley Freeman was an American composer, lyricist, musical arranger, conductor, and studio musician.-Biography:...
.
Set on the Coney Island
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....
, it focuses on matchmaking fortune teller Garside, who finds love with floozy Addie, and recent parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
e Stan, who becomes involved with Ferris wheel
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
operator Jeannie. Other characters include Ma Maloney, who heads the Alley Gang and tries to keep them out of the clutches of patrolling Officer Millhauser.
I Had a Ball was similar to earlier projects designed to showcase the talents of Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr was an American actor and comedian. Lahr is remembered today for his roles as the Cowardly Lion and Kansas farmworker Zeke in The Wizard of Oz, but was also well-known for work in burlesque, vaudeville, and on Broadway.-Early life:Lahr was born in New York City, of German-Jewish heritage...
and Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
, short on plot and overloaded with vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
-like comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
routines and musical numbers. In this case the star was nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
comic Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...
, appearing for the first time in a structured theatrical production. Lloyd Richards
Lloyd Richards
Lloyd George Richards was a Canadian-American theatre director, actor, and dean of the Yale School of Drama from 1979 to 1991, and Yale University professor emeritus.- Biography :...
, whose later career would find him serving as the Artistic Director for the Yale Repertory Theatre
Yale Repertory Theatre
The Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of the Yale School of Drama in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented students. In the process it has become one of the...
and a frequent collaborator with playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
, was signed to direct, but following a clash with producer Joseph Kipness was replaced by John Allen, although Richards retained official credit in the program.
After a critically and commercially successful run in Detroit, 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, choreographed by Onna White
Onna White
Onna White was a Canadian choreographer and dancer nominated for eight Tony Awards.-Career:Born in Inverness, Nova Scotia, White began taking dance lessons at the age of twelve, and eventually her studies took her to the famed San Francisco Ballet Company, where she danced in the first full-length...
, opened on December 15, 1964 at the Martin Beck Theatre, where it ran for 199 performances. In addition to Hackett as Garside, the cast included Richard Kiley as Stan, 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....
as Jeannie, Luba Lisa as Addie, Rosetta LeNoire
Rosetta LeNoire
Rosetta LeNoire was an American stage, screen, and television actress, as well as a Broadway producer and casting agent....
as Ma Maloney, and Ted Thurston
Ted Thurston
Ted Thurston was an American actor and singer.Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Thurston made his Broadway debut in the short-lived 1951 musical Flahooley. He had better luck with his next show, the Lerner and Loewe musical Paint Your Wagon...
as Officer Millhauser.
The New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
critics were less enamored with the show than their Detroit counterparts had been, and without a strong directorial hand to keep him under control, Hackett soon began ignoring the script and breaking character to inject his own routines into the proceedings. Audiences expecting to see a Broadway musical were not enchanted by the comic's often smutty
Obscenity
An obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...
material, and negative word-of-mouth linked with competition from heavy-hitters like Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in Tsarist Russia in 1905. It is based on Tevye and his Daughters by Sholem Aleichem...
, Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
and Funny Girl ultimately led to a dwindling box office and an early closing.
Luba Lisa was nominated for the 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...
for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and received the 1965 Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for her performance. An original cast recording was released by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
.
Song list
Act I- Coney Island, U.S.A.
- The Other Half of Me
- Red-Blooded American Boy
- I Got Everything I Want
- Freud
- Think Beautiful
- Addie's at It Again
- Faith
- Can It Be Possible?
Act II
- The Neighborhood Song
- The Affluent Society
- Boys, Boys, Boys
- Fickle Finger of Fate
- I Had a Ball
- Almost
- You Deserve Me
- Tunnel of Love Chase