Say, Darling
Encyclopedia
Say, Darling is a three-act comic play
by Abe Burrows
and Marian and Richard Bissell
about the creation of a Broadway musical. Although the play featured nine original songs with lyrics by Betty Comden
and Adolph Green
and music by Jule Styne
, all of the songs were presented as either rehearsal or audition material and not as the thoughts or feelings of the characters.
production featured only two pianos, but RCA Victor released a fully orchestrated original cast recording of the score, leading many to conclude that Say, Darling was actually a musical
.
In a case of art imitating life not once, but twice, the show is an adaptation of Richard Bissell's semi-autobiographical novel
of the same name which chronicled his experience adapting his novel 7½ Cents for The Pajama Game
, making it in essence a play of a book about a musical adaptation of a book.
It focuses on Jack Jordan, who is brought to Broadway
to help develop his best-seller into a musical for leading lady Irene Lovelle. His journey provides him - and the audience - with an education about what goes on behind-the scenes on the Great White Way, from audition
s to rehearsal
s to rewrites in hotel rooms to feuds among cast members, all under the watchful eye of veteran stage producer/director Richard Hackett (loosely based on George Abbott) and a very young fledgling co-producer, Ted Snow, whose financial acumen greatly outweighs his show business
savvy. Because of their similar physical appearance, actor Robert Morse (who played Snow) was widely thought to be imitating producer Harold Prince, who had co-produced The Pajama Game
.
The Broadway production, directed by Burrows and choreographed by Matt Mattox
, opened on April 3, 1958 at the ANTA Playhouse
, transferring to the Martin Beck Theatre for the last five weeks of its 332-performance run. In addition to David Wayne
as Jack Jordan, Vivian Blaine
as Irene Lovelle, and Robert Morse
as Ted Snow, the cast included Johnny Desmond
(Rudy Lorraine), Jerome Cowan
(Richard Hackett), Horace McMahon
(Schatzie Harris), and Constance Ford
(Frankie Jordan). Eddie Albert
replaced Wayne later in the run. Appearing in small roles as chorus performers were Elliott Gould
and Virginia Martin.
Morse was nominated for the Tony Award
for Best Featured Actor in a Play and won the Theatre World Award
for his performance.
The play was revived Off-Broadway
at the West End Theatre in New York City for 16 performances in May through June 1996 under the direction of Robert Armin.
An original cast recording was released by RCA Victor with orchestrations and musical direction by Sid Ramin
. The 2008 CD release on DRG Records was re-edited from the first-generation master recording
and interpolated five dialogue lead-ins that were not included on the 1958 LP
release. The "long-lost" Robert Morse
dialogue was not included.
Act I
Act II
Act III
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
by Abe Burrows
Abe Burrows
Abe Burrows was a Tony and Pulitzer-winning American humorist, author, and director for radio and the stage.-Early years:...
and Marian and Richard Bissell
Richard Bissell
Richard Bissell may refer to:*Richard M. Bissell Jr. , CIA Director for Plans*Richard Pike Bissell , author/playwright...
about the creation of a Broadway musical. Although the play featured nine original songs with lyrics by Betty Comden
Betty Comden
Betty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...
and Adolph Green
Adolph Green
Adolph Green was an American 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 MGM, during the genre's heyday...
and music by Jule Styne
Jule Styne
Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
, all of the songs were presented as either rehearsal or audition material and not as the thoughts or feelings of the characters.
Background
The original 1957 BroadwayBroadway 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 featured only two pianos, but RCA Victor released a fully orchestrated original cast recording of the score, leading many to conclude that Say, Darling was actually 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...
.
In a case of art imitating life not once, but twice, the show is an adaptation of Richard Bissell's semi-autobiographical novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
of the same name which chronicled his experience adapting his novel 7½ Cents for The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game is a musical based on the novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell. It features a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story deals with labor troubles in a pajama factory, where worker demands for a seven-and-a-half cents raise are going unheeded...
, making it in essence a play of a book about a musical adaptation of a book.
It focuses on Jack Jordan, who is brought to 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...
to help develop his best-seller into a musical for leading lady Irene Lovelle. His journey provides him - and the audience - with an education about what goes on behind-the scenes on the Great White Way, from audition
Audition
An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performing artist.Audition may also refer to:* The sense of hearing* Adobe Audition, audio editing software...
s to rehearsal
Rehearsal
For other uses, see Rehearsal or Dress rehearsal A rehearsal is a preparatory event in music and theatre that is performed before the official public performance, as a form of practice, and to ensure that all details of the performance are adequately prepared and coordinated for professional...
s to rewrites in hotel rooms to feuds among cast members, all under the watchful eye of veteran stage producer/director Richard Hackett (loosely based on George Abbott) and a very young fledgling co-producer, Ted Snow, whose financial acumen greatly outweighs his show business
Show business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
savvy. Because of their similar physical appearance, actor Robert Morse (who played Snow) was widely thought to be imitating producer Harold Prince, who had co-produced The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game
The Pajama Game is a musical based on the novel 7½ Cents by Richard Bissell. It features a score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story deals with labor troubles in a pajama factory, where worker demands for a seven-and-a-half cents raise are going unheeded...
.
Productions
Matt Mattox
Matt Mattox is a jazz and ballet dancer.Mattox was a protegé of the legendary jazz dance pioneer Jack Cole, with whom he worked on Broadway in Magdalena . His other Broadway credits include Harry Beaton in the 1957 revival of Brigadoon. Mattox also performed concert engagements with his own...
, opened on April 3, 1958 at the ANTA Playhouse
August Wilson Theatre
The August Wilson Theatre, located at 245 West 52nd Street in New York City, is a Broadway theatre.Designed by architects C. Howard Crane and Kenneth Franzheim and constructed by the Theatre Guild, it opened as the Guild Theatre in 1925 with a revival of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and...
, transferring to the Martin Beck Theatre for the last five weeks of its 332-performance run. In addition to David Wayne
David Wayne
David Wayne was an American actor with a career spanning nearly 50 years.-Early life and career:...
as Jack Jordan, Vivian Blaine
Vivian Blaine
Vivian Blaine was an American actress and singer best known for originating the role of Miss Adelaide in the musical theater production Guys and Dolls.-Life and career:...
as Irene Lovelle, and Robert Morse
Robert Morse
Robert Morse is an American actor and singer. Morse is best known for his appearances in musicals and plays on Broadway. He has also acted in movies and television shows. His best known role is that of J. Pierrepont Finch in the 1961 Broadway musical, and 1967 film How to Succeed in Business...
as Ted Snow, the cast included Johnny Desmond
Johnny Desmond
Johnny Desmond , born Giovanni Alfredo De Simone, was a popular American singer.-Early years:...
(Rudy Lorraine), Jerome Cowan
Jerome Cowan
Jerome Palmer Cowan was an American film and television actor. At eighteen he joined a travelling stock company, shortly afterwards enlisting in the navy in World War I. After the war he returned to the stage and became a vaudeville headliner, then gained success on the New York stage...
(Richard Hackett), Horace McMahon
Horace McMahon
Horace McMahon was an American actor.- Biography :In his early career he mostly played thugs or jailbirds, but in 1949 he starred in his most acclaimed role, as Lieutenant Monaghan in the drama play Detective Story and in 1951 he reprised his character in Paramount Pictures' film version Detective...
(Schatzie Harris), and Constance Ford
Constance Ford
Constance Ford was an American actress and model. She is best known for her long-running role as Ada Hobson on the daytime soap opera Another World.-Career:...
(Frankie Jordan). Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
replaced Wayne later in the run. Appearing in small roles as chorus performers were Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination...
and Virginia Martin.
Morse 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 Actor in a Play and won the 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 his performance.
The play was revived Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
at the West End Theatre in New York City for 16 performances in May through June 1996 under the direction of Robert Armin.
An original cast recording was released by RCA Victor with orchestrations and musical direction by Sid Ramin
Sid Ramin
Sidney Norton Ramin is an American orchestrator, arranger, and composer.- Personal life :The son of Ezra Ramin, a window trimmer, and Beatrice D. Ramin, he was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 22, with various sources indicating either a birth year of 1919 or 1924. Ramin married Gloria...
. The 2008 CD release on DRG Records was re-edited from the first-generation master recording
Master recording
A multitrack recording master tape, disk or computer files on which productions are developed for later mixing, is known as the multi-track master, while the tape, disk or computer files holding a mix is called a mixed master.It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording, known as...
and interpolated five dialogue lead-ins that were not included on the 1958 LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
release. The "long-lost" Robert Morse
Robert Morse
Robert Morse is an American actor and singer. Morse is best known for his appearances in musicals and plays on Broadway. He has also acted in movies and television shows. His best known role is that of J. Pierrepont Finch in the 1961 Broadway musical, and 1967 film How to Succeed in Business...
dialogue was not included.
Songs
Act I
- Try to Love Me
- It's Doom
- The Husking Bee
Act II
- It's the Second Time You Meet That Matters
- Chief of Love
- Let the Lower Lights Be Burning (by Philip P. Bliss)
- Say, Darling
- The Carnival Song
Act III
- Try to Love Me
- Dance Only with Me
- Something's Always Happening on the River