''Dance a Little Closer'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by
Alan Jay Lerner and music by
Charles Strouse
Charles Strouse (born June 7, 1928) is an American composer and lyricist best known for writing the music to such Broadway musicals as '' Bye Bye Birdie'', ''Applause'', and '' Annie''.
Life and career
Strouse was born in New York City, to Jewis ...
. The story is an updated version of
Robert E. Sherwood
Robert Emmet Sherwood (April 4, 1896 – November 14, 1955) was an American playwright and screenwriter.
He is the author of '' Waterloo Bridge, Idiot's Delight, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Rebecca, There Shall Be No Night, The Best Years of Our ...
's 1936 antiwar comedy ''
Idiot's Delight''.
Plot overview
The musical is set on New Year's Eve "in the avoidable future" in the grand Alpine Barclay Palace Hotel, where the guests find themselves in the midst of a potential
nuclear Armageddon
According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
. The characters are American singer Harry Aikens and Cynthia Brookfield-Bailey, who may have had a romantic fling years earlier. Among the others present are Cynthia's current paramour,
Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...
-like diplomat Dr. Josef Winkler, a gay couple, a minister, and a
freedom fighter
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...
.
Production
The musical opened on Broadway at the
Minskoff Theatre
The Minskoff Theatre is a Broadway theater on the third floor of the One Astor Plaza office building in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1973, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization and is named ...
on May 11, 1983, where it closed after one performance and 25 previews. Directed by Lerner and choreographed by
Billy Wilson, the cast included
Len Cariou
Leonard Joseph Cariou (; born September 30, 1939) is a Canadian actor and stage director, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'', for which he won the Tony Award ...
,
Noel Craig,
Liz Robertson,
George Rose,
Don Chastain,
Jeff Keller,
Brent Barrett
Brent Barrett (born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and tenor who is mostly known for his work within American theatre. Barrett has performed in musicals and in concerts with theatres, symphony orchestras, opera houses, and concert halls ...
, and
Alyson Reed
Alyson Reed is an American dancer and actress.
Life and career
Alyson Reed was born in Fullerton and grew up in Anaheim, California. She began ballet at age 4, started performing in musicals at age 7, and was working professionally by age 12. R ...
. Show business insiders dubbed it "Dance a Little Faster...Close a Little Sooner."
In his ''New York Times'' review
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 ...
described it as "a huge, extravagant mishmash...that seems to have taken on a rampaging, self-destructive life of its own," a sentiment similar to those expressed by the other critics.
[Rich, Frank]
"Stage: Lerner Musical 'Dance A Little Closer'"
''New York Times'', May 12, 1983
An original cast recording is available on CD.
Song list
;Act I
*It Never Would've Worked
*Happy, Happy New Year
*No Man Is Worth It
*What Are You Going to Do About It?
*A Woman Who Thinks I'm Wonderful
*Pas de Deux
*There's Never Been Anything Like Us
*Another Life
*Why Can't the World Go and Leave Us Alone?
*He Always Comes Home to Me
*I Got a New Girl
*Dance a Little Closer
*There's Always One You Can't Forget
;Act II
*Homesick
*Mad
*I Don't Know
*Auf Wiedersehen
*I Never Want to See You Again
*On Top of the World
*I Got a New Girl (Reprise)
*Dance a Little Closer (Reprise)
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1983 musicals
Broadway musicals
Musicals based on plays
LGBT-related musicals
Musicals by Alan Jay Lerner
Musicals by Charles Strouse
New Year fiction
Plays set in Austria
Works set in hotels