''Brownstone'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

written by Josh Rubins (book and lyrics), Andrew Cadiff (book) and Peter Larson (music). It centers on a group of five people living in a

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...

apartment in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. ''Brownstone's'' characters include Claudia, a young lady getting over a breakup; Howard, a writer struggling with his current novel; his wife Mary, who desperately wants children; Joan, a big-time lawyer whose boyfriend lives in Maine; and Stuart, a bright-eyed youngster just excited to finally be in New York. The musical is

sung-through A sung-through (also through-sung) musical, musical film, opera, or other work of performance art is one in which songs entirely or almost entirely replace any spoken dialogue. Conversations, speeches, and musings are communicated musically, for e ...

with little dialogue.

Production history

The show was workshopped in 1979 at

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. Under the ...

in New York City. It then was produced at the Hudson Guild Theater in New York City in June 1984. Directed by Cadiff, the cast featured

Maureen McGovern Maureen Therese McGovern (born July 27, 1949) is an American singer and Broadway actress, well known for her renditions of the songs " The Morning After" from the 1972 film '' The Poseidon Adventure''; " We May Never Love Like This Again" from '' ...

, Kimberly Farr,

Loni Ackerman Loni Ackerman (born April 10, 1949) is an American Broadway musical theatre performer and cabaret singer. Career Born in New York City, she made her Broadway debut in '' George M!'' in 1968, then, in the hit Off-Broadway production of ''Dames ...

, Ralph Bruneau, and

Lenny Wolpe Lenny Wolpe (born March 25, 1951) is an American musical theatre actor who has appeared in Broadway musicals including ''Wicked'' and ''The Drowsy Chaperone''. Early life Wolpe was born in Newburgh, New York. Wolpe majored in American history a ...

. It opened

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

at the

Roundabout Theatre Company The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. History The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fried and Elizabet ...

's Union Square Theatre on October 8, 1986 and closed on December 6, 1986 after 69 performances. The director was Cadiff with musical staging by Don Bondi. 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 ...

(Claudia), Rex Smith (Stuart),

Ben Harney Benjamin Robertson "Ben" Harney (March 6, 1872 – March 2, 1938) was an American songwriter, entertainer, and pioneer of ragtime music. His 1896 composition "You've Been a Good Old Wagon but You Done Broke Down" is the second ragtime compositi ...

(Howard),

Ernestine Jackson Ernestine Jackson (born September 18, 1942) is an American actress and singer. Early life Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, Jackson made her Broadway debut in 1967 as Irene Molloy in the all-black cast of '' Hello, Dolly!'' starring Pearl Bailey. ...

(Mary), and Kimberly Farr (Joan). The musical ran at the

Berkshire Theatre Festival The Berkshire Theatre Festival is one of the oldest professional performing arts venues in the Berkshires, celebrating its 80th anniversary season in 2008. History The main building of the Berkshire Theatre Festival was originally the Stockbridge ...

Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridge is h ...

in August 2002.

Recordings

An original

cast album A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

was recorded in 2003 on

Original Cast (record label) Original Cast Records is a record label based in Georgetown, Connecticut, that specializes in obscure theatre recordings, primarily cast albums from little-known Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway and other stage productions, but also theat ...

. The album cast includes

Rebecca Luker Rebecca Luker (April 17, 1961 – December 23, 2020) was an American actress, singer, and recording artist, noted for her "crystal clear operatic soprano" and for maintaining long runs in Broadway musicals over the course of her three-decade-lo ...

(Mary),

(Claudia) and Brian D'Arcy James (Howard), as well as

Debbie Gravitte Debbie Shapiro Gravitte is an American actress and singer. She was born in Los Angeles, California. Career Gravitte made her Broadway debut in the chorus of '' They're Playing Our Song'' in 1979. She performed on Broadway in '' Blues in the Nig ...

(Joan) and Kevin Reed (Stuart).
talkinbroadway.com, retrieved June 6, 2010 “Since You Stayed Here”, a ballad from Act II of the musical, has been recorded by, among others,

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian. Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' an ...

, and

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

.P. Filichia, “Grand Larson-y,” Theatermania.com, July 4, 2003

Awards

Richard Rodgers Development Award (1984)."Richard Rodgers Awards for Musical Theater"
artsandletters.org, retrieved June 6, 2010

References

{{Authority control 1986 musicals Off-Broadway musicals 1979 musicals Musicals set in apartment buildings