''LoveMusik'' 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

Alfred Uhry Alfred Fox Uhry (born December 3, 1936) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has received an Academy Award, two Tony Awards and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing for ''Driving Miss Daisy''. He is a member of the Fellowship ...

, using a selection of music by

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

. The story explores the romance and lives of

and

Lotte Lenya Lotte Lenya (born Karoline Wilhelmine Charlotte Blamauer; 18 October 1898 – 27 November 1981) was an Austrian-American singer, diseuse, and actress, long based in the United States. In the German-speaking and classical music world, she is best ...

, based on ''Speak Low (When You Speak Love): The Letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya'', edited and translated by

Lys Symonette Bertlies "Lys" Symonette (born Berta Weinschenk: 21 December 1914 – 27 November 2005) was a German-American pianist, chorus singer and musical stage performer. In 1945 she took a job as rehearsal pianist, coach, understudy or multi-tasking "swi ...

and Kim H. Kowalke.

Harold Prince Harold Smith Prince (born Harold Smith; January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019), commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre. One of the foremost figures in 20th century America ...

had read ''Speak Low'' and suggested the idea for a musical to Uhry. Uhry and Prince worked on ''LoveMusik'' for four years to develop it into a stage work. The story spans over 25 years, from the first meeting of Lenya and Weill as struggling young artists, to their popularity in Europe and America, to Weill's death from a heart attack at age 50.

Productions

The musical was produced 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 ...

as a limited run by the

Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has gr ...

at the Biltmore Theatre beginning previews on April 12, 2007, opening on May 3, 2007, and closing on June 24, 2007. The show was directed by

with musical staging by

Patricia Birch Patricia Birch (born October 16, 1934) is an American dancer, choreographer, film director, and theatre director. Early life Born in Englewood, New Jersey, Birch began her career as a dancer in Broadway musicals, including ''Brigadoon (musical), ...

and starred

Michael Cerveris Michael Cerveris (born November 6, 1960) is an American actor, singer, and guitarist. He has performed in many stage musicals and plays, including several Stephen Sondheim musicals: ''Assassins'', ''Sweeney Todd'', '' Road Show'', and '' Passio ...

Donna Murphy Donna Murphy (born March 7, 1959) is an American actress, best known for her work in musical theater. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she has twice won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical: for her role as Fosca in '' Passion'' (1994–1995) ...

David Pittu David Jonathan Pittu ( ro, Pitu; born April 4, 1967) is an American actor, writer and director. Early life Pittu was born and grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut where, as a high school senior, he was a finalist in the NFAA's Arts Recognition Tale ...

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

and John Scherer as George Davis. The ensemble included Judith Blazer, Edwin Cahill, Herndon Lackey,

Erik Liberman Erik Liberman is an American actor, author, and director. Early life and education Liberman was born in Miami, the son of social worker Marsha and Havana-born vision scientist and author Jacob. He attended New World School of the Arts, where he ...

Ann Morrison Ann Morrison (born April 9, 1956) is an American actress, best known for her Broadway debut as Mary Flynn in the Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical, '' Merrily We Roll Along'' directed by Harold Prince for which she won the 1982 Theatre World ...

, Graham Rowat, Rachel Ulanet and Jessica Wright. The production received mixed to positive reviews. It was noted for the performances of Donna Murphy and Michael Cerveris. For example, the ''TheaterMania'' reviewer wrote: "Cerveris – calculatedly diffident and consistently sympathetic as the dour Weill."

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...

, reviewing 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 ...

'', wrote: "Two luminous, life-infused portraits glow from within a dim, heavy frame at the Biltmore Theater, where ''LoveMusik'' opened last night. This bio-musical about the marital and professional relationship of the German-born composer Kurt Weill and the actress Lotte Lenya, directed by Harold Prince, is sluggish, tedious and (hold your breath) unmissable."

Japanese production

A production of ''LoveMusik'' was confirmed for Japan for the 2009–2010 Japanese theatre season. The production was translated entirely into Japanese. Masachika Ichimura was cast as Kurt Weill in the Japanese production.

Plot synopsis

;Act I In 1924, Weill is visiting a friend in Europe, and Lenya is sent to meet him. They are immediately attracted to each other and their subsequent romance and marriage follow the course of events in pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Germany. Weill collaborates with

, and the two write ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music ...

'', among other important works. But Brecht's ego and politics cause a rift, and the two part. Weill and Lenya divorce and later remarry. As the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Weill becomes a popular and successful composer, Weill and Lenya are forced to leave Germany. ;Act II Now in the United States, Weill has successful musicals produced on Broadway, such as ''

Lady in the Dark ''Lady in the Dark'' is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fictional fashion magazine who ...

'', and also spends time in California. The couple have an

open marriage Open marriage is a form of non-monogamy in which the partners of a dyadic marriage agree that each may engage in extramarital sexual relationships, without this being regarded by them as infidelity, and consider or establish an open relatio ...

– both have other romantic interests; and Weill is a workaholic. But they remain with each other until his death in 1950. Lenya, although devastated at his loss, is urged to return to the stage in Weill's ''The Threepenny Opera''. The musical uses songs written by Weill for stage musicals such as ''

One Touch of Venus ''One Touch of Venus'' is a 1943 musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the 1885 novella ''The Tinted Venus'' by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygma ...

'', ''

Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny ''Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' (german: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, links=no) is a political-satirical opera composed by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht. It was first performed on 9 March 1930 at the i ...

'', '' Street Scene'', ''

Knickerbocker Holiday ''Knickerbocker Holiday'' is a 1938 musical written by Kurt Weill (music) and Maxwell Anderson (book and lyrics); based loosely on Washington Irving's ''Knickerbocker's History of New York'' about life in 17th-century New Netherland (old New ...

'', and '' Happy End'', as well as individual songs.

Musical numbers

;Act I *

Speak Low "Speak Low" (1943) is a popular song composed by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Ogden Nash. Background It was introduced by Mary Martin and Kenny Baker in the Broadway musical ''One Touch of Venus'' (1943). The 1944 hit single was by Guy Lombardo and ...

(Lyrics by

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York Times'' the country's best ...

) — Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya * Nanna's Lied (Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht) — Woman on Stairs * Kiddush — Weill's Family * Songs of the Rhineland (Lyrics by

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

) — Lenya's Family * Klops Lied (Meatball Song) — Kurt Weill * Berlin im Licht — Lotte Lenya * Wooden Wedding (Lyrics by Ogden Nash) — Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya, Magistrate and Court Secretary * Tango Ballad (Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht) — Bertolt Brecht and Brecht's Women *

Alabama Song The "Alabama Song"—also known as "Moon of Alabama", "Moon over Alabama", and "Whisky Bar"—is an English version of a song written by Bertolt Brecht and translated from German by his close collaborator Elisabeth Hauptmann in 1925 and set to m ...

(Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht) — Auditioners and Lotte Lenya * Girl of the Moment (Lyrics by Ira Gershwin) — Ensemble * Moritat (Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht) — Bertolt Brecht, Lotte Lenya, Otto and Ensemble * Schickelgruber (Lyrics by Howard Dietz) — Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht * Come to Paris (Lyrics by Ira Gershwin) — Ensemble * I Don't Love You (Lyrics by Maurice Magre) — Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya * Wouldn't You Like to Be on Broadway (Lyrics by

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

and

Elmer Rice Elmer Rice (born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein, September 28, 1892 – May 8, 1967) was an American playwright. He is best known for his plays ''The Adding Machine'' (1923) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of New York tenement life, '' Street Sce ...

) — Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya * Alabama Song (Reprise) (Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht) — Lotte Lenya, Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht and Ensemble ;Act II * How Can You Tell an American (Lyrics by

Maxwell Anderson James Maxwell Anderson (December 15, 1888 – February 28, 1959) was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist, and lyricist. Background Anderson was born on December 15, 1888, in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, the second of eight children to ...

) — Ensemble * Very, Very, Very (Lyrics by Ogden Nash) — Kurt Weill * It's Never Too Late to Mendelssohn (Lyrics by Ira Gershwin) — Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya, Stenographer and Judge * Surabaya Johnny (Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht) — Lotte Lenya * (Lyrics by ) — Bertolt Brecht and Brecht's Women * Buddy on the Night Shift (Lyrics by

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Ton ...

) — Allen Lake * That's Him (Lyrics by Ogden Nash) — Kurt Weill * Hosannah Rockefeller (Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht) — Bertolt Brecht and Brecht's Women * I Don't Love You (Reprise) (Lyrics by Maurice Magre) — Lotte Lenya and Kurt Weill * The Illusion Wedding Show (Lyrics by

Alan Jay Lerner Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre bot ...

) — George Davis and Ensemble * It Never Was You (Lyrics by Maxwell Anderson) — Kurt Weill * A Bird of Passage (Lyrics by Maxwell Anderson) — Ensemble * September Song (Lyrics by Maxwell Anderson) — Lotte Lenya and George Davis

Recording

''LoveMusik'' (the world premiere recording) was recorded in July 2007 at

Avatar Studios Power Station at BerkleeNYC, formerly known as Avatar Studios (1996–2017) and Power Station, is a recording studio at 441 West 53rd Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The bui ...

in New York City and was released on November 27, 2007, by Ghostlight Records (an imprint of

Sh-K-Boom Records Sh-K-Boom Records is an independent record label and producer of recorded and live entertainment, which was founded in 2000 by Kurt Deutsch with the mission of bridging the gap between pop music and theater. In 2004 Sh-K-Boom created their second ...

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

References

External links

*
Review from ''Variety''"Review: ''Lost in the Stars''"
by

Hilton Als Hilton Als (born 1960) is an American writer and theater critic. He is a teaching professor at the University of California, Berkeley, an associate professor of writing at Columbia University and a staff writer and theater critic for ''The New Yor ...

, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', May 7, 2007 {{Authority control Broadway musicals 2007 musicals Musicals inspired by real-life events Works by Alfred Uhry Kurt Weill tribute albums