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Lorelei is a musical
Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue 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 integrated whole....
 with a book by Kenny Solms and Gail Parent
Gail Parent

Gail Parent is an United States television and screenwriter, television producer, and author.Parent's writing career began with a 1971 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show....
, lyrics by Betty Comden
Betty Comden

Betty Comden , was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, librettos, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful musical films and Broadway theatre shows of the mid-20th century....
 and Adolph Green
Adolph Green

Adolph Green was an United States lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at Metro Goldwyn Mayer, during the genre's heyday....
, and music by Jule Styne
Jule Styne

Jule Styne was a United Kingdom-born United States songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway theatre musical theatre, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows....
. It is a revision of the Joseph Fields
Joseph Fields

Joseph Fields was a Tony Award-winning United States playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, and film producer....
-Anita Loos
Anita Loos

Anita Loos , was an acclaimed United States screenwriter, playwright and author. On pronouncing her name, "The family has always used the correct French pronunciation which is lohse....
 book for the 1949 production Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (musical)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a musical theatre with a book by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos, lyrics by Leo Robin, and music by Jule Styne. Based on the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Loos, it launched the career of Carol Channing....
 and includes many of the Jule Styne-Leo Robin
Leo Robin

Leo Robin was an United States composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Academy Award for Best Song-winning song "Thanks for the Memory", sung by Bob Hope in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938....
 songs written for the original.

The 1974 Broadway production of Lorelei, directed by Robert Moore
Robert Moore (director)

Robert Moore was an United States theatre director, film director and television director....
 and starring Carol Channing
Carol Channing

Carol Elaine Channing is an United States singer and actor. The recipient of three Tony Awards , a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination, Channing is best remembered for her role Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , and as Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! ....
, ran for 320 performances.

itled Gentlemen Still Prefer Blondes, it opens with the title character, a heavily-bejeweled, very wealthy widow
Widow

A widow is a woman whose husband has died. A man whose wife has died is a widower. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or viduity....
, about to set sail on the SS Ile de France
SS Ile de France

The SS Ile de France was a France ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France for the Compagnie G?n?rale Transatlantique. The ship was the first major ocean liner built after the conclusion of World War I and was the first liner ever to be entirely decorated with the Art Deco designs....
.






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Lorelei is a musical
Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue 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 integrated whole....
 with a book by Kenny Solms and Gail Parent
Gail Parent

Gail Parent is an United States television and screenwriter, television producer, and author.Parent's writing career began with a 1971 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show....
, lyrics by Betty Comden
Betty Comden

Betty Comden , was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, librettos, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful musical films and Broadway theatre shows of the mid-20th century....
 and Adolph Green
Adolph Green

Adolph Green was an United States lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at Metro Goldwyn Mayer, during the genre's heyday....
, and music by Jule Styne
Jule Styne

Jule Styne was a United Kingdom-born United States songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway theatre musical theatre, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows....
. It is a revision of the Joseph Fields
Joseph Fields

Joseph Fields was a Tony Award-winning United States playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, and film producer....
-Anita Loos
Anita Loos

Anita Loos , was an acclaimed United States screenwriter, playwright and author. On pronouncing her name, "The family has always used the correct French pronunciation which is lohse....
 book for the 1949 production Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (musical)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a musical theatre with a book by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos, lyrics by Leo Robin, and music by Jule Styne. Based on the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Loos, it launched the career of Carol Channing....
 and includes many of the Jule Styne-Leo Robin
Leo Robin

Leo Robin was an United States composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Academy Award for Best Song-winning song "Thanks for the Memory", sung by Bob Hope in the film The Big Broadcast of 1938....
 songs written for the original.

The 1974 Broadway production of Lorelei, directed by Robert Moore
Robert Moore (director)

Robert Moore was an United States theatre director, film director and television director....
 and starring Carol Channing
Carol Channing

Carol Elaine Channing is an United States singer and actor. The recipient of three Tony Awards , a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination, Channing is best remembered for her role Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , and as Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! ....
, ran for 320 performances.

Synopsis

Subtitled Gentlemen Still Prefer Blondes, it opens with the title character, a heavily-bejeweled, very wealthy widow
Widow

A widow is a woman whose husband has died. A man whose wife has died is a widower. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or viduity....
, about to set sail on the SS Ile de France
SS Ile de France

The SS Ile de France was a France ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France for the Compagnie G?n?rale Transatlantique. The ship was the first major ocean liner built after the conclusion of World War I and was the first liner ever to be entirely decorated with the Art Deco designs....
. The moment reminds her of a past voyage she took with her best friend and fellow showgirl
Showgirl

A showgirl is a dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show."Showgirl" is often used as a term for a promotional model in trade fairs and car shows, etc....
 Dorothy Shaw, and in a flashback
Flashback

In history, film, television and other media, a flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the Plot has reached....
 we relive their madcap adventures after Lorelei's plans to marry Gus Esmond are derailed by his father and the two women sail from New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 to Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 and settle in at the Hôtel Ritz
Hôtel Ritz Paris

The H?tel Ritz is a hotel located at Place Vend?me, in the heart of Paris, France. It is one of the most prestigious and luxurious hotels in the world and is one of the seven Paris palace recognized by The Leading Hotels of the World organization ....
.

Productions

The show toured the country for nearly a year before opening on Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
. Directed by Robert Moore
Robert Moore (director)

Robert Moore was an United States theatre director, film director and television director....
 and choreographed by Ernest O. Flatt, it opened at the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, New York

The Palace Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre theater located at 1564 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan....
 on January 27 1974 following 11 previews, and ran for a total of 320 performances.

Carol Channing
Carol Channing

Carol Elaine Channing is an United States singer and actor. The recipient of three Tony Awards , a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination, Channing is best remembered for her role Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , and as Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello, Dolly! ....
, who had originated the role of Lorelei Lee in 1949, reprised her role, and was nominated for the Tony Award
Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live United States theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City....
 for Best Actress in a Musical. Also in the cast were Tamara Long as Dorothy and Peter Palmer
Peter Palmer (actor)

Peter Palmer is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Li'l Abner, both on Li'l Abner and on Li'l Abner .He was offered scholarships to a number of universities; however, he chose the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to study voice under Bruce Foote....
 as Gus, with Brandon Maggart
Brandon Maggart

Brandon Maggart is an United States actor.Maggart was born Roscoe Maggart, Jr. in Carthage, Tennessee. His acting career began in the early 1950s, at first in local and regional theatre in Tennessee, which eventually branched out to New York's Broadway theatre....
, Dody Goodman
Dody Goodman

Dolores "Dody" Goodman was an United States character actor known for her portrayal of the title character's mother on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman....
, and Lee Roy Reams
Lee Roy Reams

Lee Roy Reams is an United States musical theatre actor, choreographer, and theatre director.Born in Covington, Kentucky, Reams earned a Master of Arts degree and was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati....
 in supporting roles.

In her review in Time
Time (magazine)

Time is a weekly United States newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report. A European edition is published from London....
, Martha Duffy described the show as "a particularly tawdry retread . . . The book, which always had the flaw of seeming more heartless than its heroine, now seems just plain crass." Of its star, she noted, "Channing, who is now 51, looks much too old for the part . . . Instead of throwing herself into the proceedings, Carol seems to expend her energy with utmost calculation . . . she remains almost stationary and is offstage altogether for the strenuous tap-dance sequences."

Song list

Act I
  • Looking Back
  • Bye, Bye Baby (from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
  • High Time (from Gentlemen)
  • Little Rock (from Gentlemen)
  • I Love What I'm Doing (from Gentlemen)
  • I'ts Delightful Down in Chile (from Gentlemen)
  • I Won't Let You Get Away
  • Keeping Cool With Coolidge (from Gentlemen)
  • Men
Act II
  • Coquette (from Gentlemen)
  • Mamie is Mimi (from Gentlemen)
  • Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend (from Gentlemen)
  • Homesick (from Gentlemen)
  • Miss Lorelei Lee
  • Button Up With Esmond (from Gentlemen)
  • Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend (Reprise)


Recordings

The show's cast album was recorded on February 18, 1973 , prior to the tryout tour. During eleven months on the road, songs were discarded and new ones added, so when the show reached New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, it was decided to make a new recording on March 1 1974 . In 2003, Decca Broadway
Decca Records

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 in music by Edward Lewis . Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
 combined the two recordings, resulting in a definitive cast recording that includes all the songs from both .

External links