''Baby'' is a
musical with a book by
Sybille Pearson
Sybille Pearson (born January 25, 1937, in Prague, Czechoslovakia)
filmreference.com, accessed February 18, 2011< ...
, based on a story developed with Susan Yankowitz, music by
David Shire
David Lee Shire (born July 3, 1937) is an American songwriter and composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. The soundtracks to the 1976 film '' The Big Bus'', '' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'', ''The Conversation'' and ''All ...
, and lyrics by
Richard Maltby Jr. It concerns the reactions of three couples each expecting a child. The musical first ran on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
from 1983 to 1984.
Plot
Act I
Lizzie and Danny are a young couple still in college living together, and Danny is a musician. Alan and Arlene are a couple in their 40s who have just come back home after a trip together. Pam and Nick are a young couple in their thirties who want a baby more than anything. The couples sing a song about hopeful change for the future and how the year is passing by. Lizzie, Arlene and Pam all go to the doctor for different reasons- Lizzie thinks she has the flu, Arlene has a check-up, and Pam has missed her period again. At the doctor's office, each couple finds out the woman is pregnant ("We Start Today").
Danny decides if Lizzie is to keep the baby, they must get married, which Lizzie does not agree with. They then sing a song about how their child will be a perfect mix of both of them ("What Could Be Better?"). While exercising together, Arlene tells Alan that she has been pregnant for about a month. While singing, they surmise that she must have gotten pregnant on their anniversary trip the night they both had too much champagne. Alan is ecstatic about having the child, while Arlene seems unsure. Meanwhile, Pam and Nick are ecstatic that Pam is finally pregnant. They sing to their unborn child about how loved it will be and how they will do everything for him or her. Arlene and Alan reminisce about their past. The three couples then sing together about the babies they are to have and how they will love them ("Baby, Baby, Baby").
Lizzie, Pam and Arlene are all seated in a doctor's office. Pam shows off the basketball she has received from her team at the baby shower they gave her. She tells Lizzie and Arlene about how excited she is to be pregnant. They then discover that all three of them are pregnant. They all speak to one another about their excitements, concerns and wisdom about having children. Pam then sings about how she wants to experience everything while pregnant, from stretch marks to morning sickness. Lizzie agrees with her, but Arlene seems to think having everything is not possible, until she suddenly blurts out that it is also her fantasy to "have it all" as a mother ("I Want it All").
Danny laments to Nick about how Lizzie doesn't want to marry him, and Nick replies by saying that he has to give Lizzie some space and let her thrive, because at the end of the night she will always come back to Danny. A concerned nurse calls Pam in to view her test results. After Danny and Nick sing some more, Pam comes out of the test room and reveals that she has just been told she isn't pregnant, and that the test results belonged to a relative of Nick's. She is devastated, and Nick tries to comfort her as she cries in his arms.
Danny tries again to convince Lizzie to marry him, but she still refuses. He says he wants to take a job with a band that he doesn't really like, but he is willing to do so to support the child. Oona doesn't want him to, but he wants to help support the child. Pam and Nick go to a specialist to figure out why Pam isn't able to get pregnant. However, the doctor has a problem with his contact lenses and an impatient Pam is distraught when he reveals that it's not Pam's irregular cycle that is preventing pregnancy, but rather Nick's abnormal sperm. The doctor tells them that in order for Pam and Nick to have a child, their sex life must be by the book, which they eagerly agree to. Later, at a faculty vs. student softball game, Nick is annoyed that the only topic people seem interested in discussing is children. He is still upset from the meeting with the doctor.
The men (not Nick) sing about the "fatherhood blues" and what it's like to be expecting a child. Nick sings about how it seems unfair that everyone except him is able to have children, but then joins in singing with the others in hopeful spirits about the excitement of expecting a child. Alan and Arlene further discuss the idea of having the baby. Arlene openly expresses her doubts to Alan and he seems shocked and upset. However, they drop the matter quickly and go to bed.
At a bus station, Lizzie and Danny are parting ways as he leaves for his summer job with the band. Pam and Nick begin discussing their new sex ritual prescribed by the doctor. Alan and Arlene have someone look at their house so they can sell it and live in a small apartment with just the two of them, meaning they aren't going to have the baby after all. Danny proposes to Lizzie again at the train station before he leaves, and sings to her as a farewell ("I Chose Right"). Arlene then reveals to Alan that she wants to keep the baby and they shouldn't sell the house after all.
Now living alone, Lizzie feels the baby kick in her stomach for the very first time. She tries to call and tell both Danny and mother in excitement, however she is unable to reach either of them by phone. She has a sudden revelation that this child will live after she is gone, and that life will just keep going, and that her child may have a child, and so on, and that her family is her purpose now ("The Story Goes On").
Act II
Lizzie is seated on a park bench and many women approach her, touch her stomach and ask her about her pregnancy, which she finds uncomfortably personal and strange. She sings about how it seems to happen to her wherever she goes ("The Ladies Singin' Their Song"). After Lizzie leaves the park bench, Arlene enters and sits there, singing about how she feels her life is just an endless cycle of patterns and that life is slipping away from her while she goes nowhere ("Patterns").
Meanwhile, Pam and Nick continue the methods the doctor recommended to them, one of which includes Pam's feet being raised in the air for an hour at a time. Nick reads to her to help pass the time. They sing of the sexual ritual they must follow, and they both reveal that they never knew love could be this much work. Time passes, and they are still following the same ritual. Pam is uncomfortable and sick of repeating the ritual. Nick seems irritable and has lost his sense of humor, especially when Pam says she needs to break the ritual and get up from her position. She sings about how she misses the love in her relationship and she feels that everything has become too routine and that everything revolves around trying to have a baby with Nick. She misses the romance they once had. Nick then reveals he feels the same way, and says that they're not going to do the ritual anymore since it's not making either of them happy. At dinner, Arlene and Alan discuss how Arlene feels that they aren't a couple, but parents. She feels they're only together for the kids and goes up to bed. Alan sings about how much easier it is to take care of and love kids than it is to care for and love a wife.
Time passes and Danny returns home to Lizzie, where she has decorated the apartment to look very "homey". Lizzie then tells Danny that she really does want to marry him and sings of a vision she has. Danny joins in and they sing of the intensity of their love ("Two People in Love"). Meanwhile, Arlene and Alan seem to be in some kind of quarrel and Arlene has her bags packed to leave. Pam and Nick have a failed attempt at love-making and are both disappointed. They get into a small fight, then both realize that having a child isn't worth them fighting, because they ultimately love each other more than anything ("With You"). Alan and Arlene further discuss their marriage, and how they feel everything they've done has been for the kids rather than for each other. They question if they ever really did love each other, and end up realizing how great they could be together if they really did love each other in the ways they wanted to, and share a kiss ("And What if We Had Loved Like That").
Lizzie begins having contractions three weeks early and she and Danny go to the hospital. Pam and Nick continue trying to have a child, and say that even if it takes years, they want to keep trying. Lizzie finally gives birth, and Alan and Arlene smile at the birth in anticipation of what is to come. Pam and Nick are also at the birth, and they seem jealous, but hopeful ("The Birth/Finale").
Musical numbers
;Act I
*Opening/We Start Today – Danny, Lizzie, Alan, Arlene, Nick, Pam, People in the Town
*What Could Be Better? – Danny, Lizzie
*The Plaza Song – Alan, Arlene
*Baby, Baby, Baby – Nick, Pam, Alan, Arlene, Danny, Lizzie
*I Want It All – Pam, Lizzie, Arlene
*At Night She Comes Home To Me – Nick, Danny
*What Could Be Better? (Reprise) – Danny, Lizzie
*Fatherhood Blues – Danny, Alan, Nick, Mr. Weiss and Dean
*Romance – Nick, Pam
*I Chose Right – Danny
*We Start Today (Reprise) – Company
*The Story Goes On – Lizzie
;Act II
*The Ladies Singin' Their Song – Lizzie, Women in the Town
*Patterns – Arlene
*Baby, Baby, Baby (Reprise) – Arlene*
*Romance (Reprise) – Nick, Pam
*Easier to Love – Alan
*The End of Summer - Lizzie, Arlene, Pam**
*Two People In Love – Danny, Lizzie
*With You – Nick, Pam***
*And What If We Had Loved Like That – Alan, Arlene***
*We Start Today (Reprise) – Danny, Lizzie, Nick, Pam, Alan, Arlene
*The Story Goes On (Reprise) – Company
"Baby, Baby, Baby (Reprise)" was replaced in the initial run and the original cast recording with the song "Patterns," wherein Arlene contemplates her circular life as mother and wife.
"The End of Summer" was written for the Paper Mill Playhouse production, and is now part of the newly revised score available for licensing.
"With You" and "And What If We Had Loved Like That" are in reverse order in the new libretto.
Productions
The
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
production, directed by Richard Maltby, Jr. and choreographed by
Wayne Cilento
Wayne Louis Cilento (born August 28, 1949) is an American director and choreographer. He is best known for originating the role of Mike in the Broadway show ''A Chorus Line'', and later becoming one of Broadway's most prolific choreographers.
...
, began previews at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles ...
on November 8, 1983, and opened officially on December 4 that same year. It ran for 241 performances and 35 previews before closing on July 1, 1984. The original cast included
Liz Callaway
Liz Callaway (born April 13, 1961) is an American actress, singer and recording artist, who is best known for having provided the singing voices of many female characters in animated films, such as Anya/Anastasia in '' Anastasia'', Odette in ''T ...
as Lizzie Fields,
Beth Fowler
Beth Fowler is an American actress and singer, best known for her performances on Broadway and for her role as Sister Ingalls, on ''Orange Is the New Black''. She is a two-time Tony Award nominee.
Life and career
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, ...
as Arlene McNally,
Todd Graff
Todd Graff (born October 22, 1959) is an American actor, writer and director, best known for his 2003 independent film '' Camp'' and his role as Alan "Hippy" Carnes in the 1989 science fiction film ''The Abyss''.
Early life
Graff was born in N ...
as Danny Hooper,
Catherine Cox as Pam Sakarian, James Congdon as Alan McNally, and
Martin Vidnovic
Martin Vidnovic (born January 4, 1948) is an American actor and singer.
Career
Born in Falls Church, Virginia, Vidnovic graduated from the College-Conservatory of Music (part of the University of Cincinnati) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.Lovendus ...
as Nick Sakarian. Set design was by
John Lee Beatty
John Lee Beatty is an American scenic designer who has created set designs for more than 115 Broadway shows and has designed for other productions. He won two Tony Awards, for ''Talley's Folly'' (1980) and ''The Nance'' (2013), was nominated for ...
, costume design by
Jennifer von Mayrhauser
Jennifer von Mayrhauser is an American costume designer who has designed costumes for more than thirty Broadway productions, and is notable for her significant contributions in film, television, and theatre.
Life and studies
Von Mayrhauser was ...
, and lighting design by
Pat Collins.
Paper Mill Playhouse
Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey on the Rahway River. Due to its relatively close location to Manhattan, it draws from the pool of actors (and audience members) who live i ...
in
Millburn, New Jersey
Millburn is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 20,149, reflecting an increase of 384 (+1.9%) from the 19,765 counted in the 2000 Census, which had ...
, presented an updated version of the musical from March 31, 2004 to May 9, 2004. The cast featured
Carolee Carmello
Carolee Ann Carmello (born September 1, 1962) is an American actress best known for her performances in Broadway musicals and for playing the role of Maple LaMarsh on the television series ''Remember WENN'' (1996–1998). She is a three-time ...
(Arlene),
Chad Kimball
Chad Kimball (born September 2, 1976) is an American stage actor known for roles in musical theatre, especially Huey Calhoun in the Broadway musical ''Memphis'' and Milky White in the 2002 Broadway revival of ''Into the Woods''.
Early life and ca ...
(Danny),
LaChanze
Rhonda LaChanze Sapp, known professionally as LaChanze (; born December 16, 1961), is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical in 2006 for her role as Celie Harris Johnson ...
(Pam),
Norm Lewis
Norm Lewis (born June 2, 1963) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in Europe, on Broadway, in film, television, recordings and regional theatre. Productions that he has been involved in include ''Dessa Rose'', ''Miss Saigon'', '' T ...
(Nick), Moeisha McGill (Liz), and
Michael Rupert
Michael John Rupert (born October 23, 1951, Denver, Colorado) is an American actor, singer, director and composer. In 1968 he made his Broadway debut in '' The Happy Time'' as Bibi Bonnard for which he received a Tony Award nomination and the ...
(Alan).
The updated Paper Mill Playhouse script and score were then finalized for a March 2010 production at TrueNorth Cultural Arts in
Sheffield Village, Ohio
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and ...
. This is now the only version licensed by
Music Theatre International
Music Theatre International (MTI) is a theatrical licensing agency based in New York City.
Description
MTI was founded in 1952 by American composer and lyricist Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker. Along with the licensing rights to Lo ...
. The cast was headed by Natalie Green (Lizzie), Shane Joseph Siniscalchi (Danny), Michael Dempsey (Alan), Bernadette Hisey (Arlene), David Robeano (Nick) and Maggie Stahl-Floriano (Pam) under the direction of Fred Sternfeld. The production won ten ''Cleveland Times'' Tribute Awards for Outstanding Theatre in 2010.
Showbiz Theatre Company in
Stockton, California, presented the Music Theatre International production of ''Baby'' from March 29 to April 14, 2019. The cast featured Mary Peterson (Arlene), Tayler Thompson (Lizzie), Karene Vocque (Pam), Cole Bryant (Nick), Jason Kell (Alan), and Asante Azevedo (Danny). The production was directed by Jon Robinson with Assistant Director Christine Martin, Choreographer Adam Green, Lighting Designer Nikki Pendley, Sound Designer Craig Vincent, Scenic Designer Tony Parker, and Costume Designer Kathie Dixon.
Out of the Box Theatrics, New York, presented a modern off Broadway version of the musical featuring Pam and Nick Sakarian (originally heterosexual) as a lesbian couple on December 10, 2019. It was directed and choreographed by Ethan Paulini. The cast featured
Alice Ripley
Alice Ripley (born December 14, 1963) is an American actress, singer, songwriter and mixed media artist. She is known, in particular, for her various roles on Broadway in musicals, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning ''Next to Normal'' (2009 To ...
(Arlene), Gabrielle McClinton (Nicki), Christina Sajous (Pam), Evan Ruggeiro (Danny), Elizabeth Flemming (Lizzie) and Robert H. Fowler (Alan).
International
The first Australian production of ''Baby'' was staged at the
Suncorp Theatre
The State Government Insurance Office Theatre (also known as the SGIO Theatre or Suncorp Theatre), was a 600-seat proscenium theatre built within the SGIO office building at 179 Turbot Street, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
History
The Que ...
in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
, for the
Royal Queensland Theatre Company from February through March 1986. The cast included Patrick Phillips as Danny,
Rhonda Burchmore
Rhonda Suzanne Burchmore OAM (born 15 May 1960) is an Australian entertainer.
Career
Burchmore appeared as Kate in the 1982 film, ''The Pirate Movie''. Burchmore gave her first Australian theatre performance in the 1988 production of '' Sugar ...
as Pam and Geraldine Morrow as Arlene.
''Baby'' was staged at the
Meralco Theatre in
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
from August 18 through September 5, 2004. The cast included
Lea Salonga in the role of Lizzie Fields and David Shannon as Danny. A Brazilian production opened on May 15, 2011, starring
Tadeu Aguiar Tadeu may refer to:
* José Tadeu Carneiro Cardoso (born 1956), aka Mestre Camisa, Capoeira master who created the organization ABADÁ-Capoeira
* Tadeu Hasdeu or Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu (1838–1907), Romanian writer and philologist
* Tadeu Jesus ...
,
[ Tadeu Aguiar - Baby (musical) - Brazil january/2012.] Sylvia Massari,
Olavo Cavalheiro, Sabrina Korgut, Daíra Sabóia, André Dias and Amanda Acosta.
Response
Critical reception
Frank Rich
Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO.
Rich is curren ...
, theatre critic for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', wrote, "At a time when nearly every Broadway musical, good and bad, aims for the big kill with gargantuan pyrotechnics, here is a modestly scaled entertainment that woos us with such basic commodities as warm feelings, an exuberant cast and a lovely score. Perfect ''Baby'' is not, but it often makes up in buoyancy and charm what it lacks in forceful forward drive... Sybille Pearson has chosen her characters as if she were a pollster in search of a statistical cross-section of modern (and uniformly model) parents. Worse, this writer... values hit-and-miss one-liners over substance... Miss Pearson is also fond of such plot contrivances as mixed-up lab reports, and, in Act II, the story runs out altogether. The last trimester for the mothers in ''Baby'' is as much of a waiting game as it can be in real life. Yet David Shire, the composer, and Richard Maltby Jr., the lyricist, rush to the book's rescue by addressing the show's concerns with both humor and intelligence... To keep up with the varied ages of the characters, Mr. Shire writes with sophistication over a range that embraces rock, jazz and the best of Broadway schmaltz... Mr. Maltby's lyrics are not just smart and funny, but often ingenious." He concluded, "If the virtues of ''Baby'' can't override all its hitches, so be it. In achievement, this show is a throwback to the early 1960s - the last era when Broadway regularly produced some casual-spirited musicals that were not instantly categorizable as blockbusters or fiascos. Those musicals - like, say, ''
Do Re Mi'' or ''
110 in the Shade
''110 in the Shade'' is a musical with a book by N. Richard Nash, lyrics by Tom Jones, and music by Harvey Schmidt.
Based on Nash's 1954 play '' The Rainmaker'', it focuses on Lizzie Curry, a spinster living on a ranch in the American southwest, ...
'' - weren't built for the ages but could brighten a theater season or two: They were ingratiatingly professional, had both lulls and peaks, and inspired you to run to the record store as soon as the original cast album came out. So it is with ''Baby,'' and wouldn't it be cheering if such a show could find a home on the do-or-die Broadway of today?"
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
References
External links
*
Synopsis and other information at MTI Shows
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baby (Musical)
1983 musicals
Broadway musicals
Original musicals