Isabel's a Jezebel is a British 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 music by Galt MacDermot

Galt MacDermot

Galt MacDermot is a Canadian composer, pianist and writer of musical theatre. He won a Grammy Award for the song African Waltz in 1960. His most successful musicals have been Hair and Two Gentlemen of Verona...

 and book and lyrics by William Dumaresq, based loosely on one of the Grimm's Fairy Tales

Grimm's Fairy Tales

Children's and Household Tales is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales .-Composition:...

, centers around Isabel and her deep-sea lover, who spend their time copulating and arguing about bringing children into a world committed to death.

After out-of-town tryouts, the musical premiered on December 15, 1970 on the West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 at the Duchess Theatre

Duchess Theatre

The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street, near Aldwych.The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest 'proscenium arched' West End theatres. It has 479 seats on two levels....

, running for only 61 performances. The cast included Frank Aiello, Sharon Campbell, Helen Chappelle, Peter Farrell

Peter Farrell

Peter Desmond Farrell was an Irish footballer who played as an a right-half for, among others, Shamrock Rovers, Everton and Tranmere Rovers. As an international, Farrell also played for both Ireland teams - the FAI XI and the IFA XI...

, Carole Hayman

Carole Hayman

Carole Hayman is an English writer, broadcaster and journalist was born in Kent, and attended Leeds University and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School...

, Michele Mowbray, Maria Popkiewitz, Miguel Sergides, Howard Wakeling. The production was co-directed by Michael Wearing

Michael Wearing

Michael Wearing is a British television producer, who has spent much of his career working on various drama productions for the BBC. He is best known as the producer of the highly-acclaimed serials Boys from the Blackstuff and Edge of Darkness , which created for him a reputation as one of...

 and Julie Arenal, who also choreographed.

After his spectacular success with the musical Hair

Hair (musical)

Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...

, expectations for MacDermot's next work, Isabel's a Jezebel, were high. The musical underwent several last minute cast changes, including Hayman's joining the show just before opening night. The New York Times praised the score but called the book "irretrievably inert."

A cast album was released in 1972 (Item 377673) Kilmarnock.

Musical numbers

• More than earth
• More than air
• Down by the ocean
• Oh fish in the sea
• On sand by the sea
• Isabel's a Jezebel
• In another life
• Nothing
• Sand
• Oh mummy darling
• God, it matters now
• The saddest moon
• Mama don't want no baby
• These are the things
• Stanley irritability
• Use my name
• The moon should be rising soon
• The weeds in the wind
• My god when I think
• Hah
• Love knows no season
• So ends our night

External links

• Information from CastalbumDB.com