''Rumple'' is a musical with a book by

Irving Phillips Irving Walter Phillips (November 29, 1904 – October 28, 2000) was a noted American cartoonist, playwright, television scriptwriter, author, illustrator and educator. He is best remembered for his daily newspaper comic panel '' The Strange Wor ...

, music by Ernest G. Schweikert, and lyrics by Frank Reardon. The story, based on Phillips' 1955 play ''The Funnyman'', concerns a comic strip creator and his character, Rumple, who resists the discontinuation of the strip. It 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 ...

in 1957.

Production

After a pre-Broadway tryout at the Shubert Theatre in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

starting October 21, 1957, ''Rumple'' premiered on

at the

Alvin Theatre The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 250 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for ...

on November 6, 1957, and closed on December 14, 1957, after 45 performances. It was produced by Paula Stone and Mike Sloan.''Rumple''
Internet Broadway Database, accessed September 14, 2019 It was directed by Jack Donohue with choreography by Bob Hamilton, settings and lighting by George Jenkins, costumes by

Alvin Colt Alvin Colt (July 5, 1916 – May 4, 2008) was an American costume designer. Colt worked on over 50 Broadway shows. His first job was in a theatrical fabric house, he also worked on painting scenery during the summer. '' On the Town'' was the firs ...

, and orchestrations by

Ted Royal Ted Royal ewar'' (6 September 1904, Skedee, Oklahoma - 27 March (?) 1981) was an American orchestrator, conductor and composer for Broadway theatre. He was most active in the 1940s and 1950s, being associated with the very successful original pr ...

Chester O'Brien Chester Lee "Chet" O'Brien (June 28, 1909 – July 14, 1996) was an American chorus dancer in the 1930s who became a stage manager. He worked on ''Oh! Calcutta!'' and on ''Sesame Street'', where he also performed as "Mr. Macintosh". Biography As ...

was the stage manager. The cast starred

Eddie Foy Jr. Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. (February 4, 1905 – July 15, 1983), known professionally as Eddie Foy Jr., was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. was born on February 4, 1905, in New Rochelle, New York, the ...

Gretchen Wyler Gretchen Wyler (born Gretchen Patricia Wienecke; February 16, 1932 – May 27, 2007) was an American actress and dancer. She was also an animal rights advocate and founder of the Genesis Awards for animal protection. Biography Early life ...

, and Stephen Douglass, and included several actors in minor roles who later became famous, including Elliott Gould and Barbara Perry. Phillips, a newspaper cartoonist, based the plot of the musical on his 1955 play, ''The Funnyman''.Kronenberger, p. 37

Synopsis

Nelson Crandal, a cartoonist, has been traumatized by an accident and is unable to draw. He decides to discontinue his newspaper feature called Mr. Rumple, but the Rumple character comes to life and objects to being canceled and condemned to Oblivia (the land of forgotten cartoon characters). Rumple has 48 hours to persuade his creator to continue his existence and uses magical tricks on the humans. Anna is another character in the comic strip, Rumple's dumb-blonde girlfriend, who is trying to avoid Oblivia. The humans other than Nelson cannot see Rumple or Anna (so that when Nelson is talking to them, he appears insane), but the comic strip characters can see and hear the humans. Judy is Nelson's fiancé; Kate is a man-hunting gag writer who pens the stories for Crandal's strip. Dr. Winslow is an understanding psychiatrist. When Rumple is forced by the police to draw a picture of his girl for the missing-person investigation, the two comic strip characters are saved from Oblivia.

Roles and original cast

*Rumple – Eddie Foy, Jr. *Kate Drew –

*Nelson Crandal – Stephen Douglass *Judy Marlowe – Lois O'Brien *Anna – Barbara Perry *Dr. Wellington Winslow –

Jerome Cowan Jerome Palmer Cowan (October 6, 1897 – January 24, 1972) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early years Cowan was born in New York City, the son of William Cowan, a confectioner of Scottish descent, and Julia Cowan, née Palm ...

*Barney – Jackie Warner *J. B. Conway – Milo Boulton *Brannigan, Lt. Mallory, Voice of Oblivia – Ken Harvey *Photographer, Weird One, He Who Gets Slapped – Elliott Gould *Weird One, The Powder Room, Ensemble – Patricia White *The Dissenter, Ensemble –

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

Songs

;Act I * “It’s You for Me” – Nelson and Judy * “In Times Like These” – Rumple and Anna * “Red Letter Day” – Kate, Ensemble and Barney * “The First Time I Spoke of You” – Nelson and Judy * “Oblivia” – Rumple and Anna * “Peculiar State of Affairs” – Rumple and Kate * “How Do You Say Goodbye” – Judy * “Gentlemen of the Press” – Nelson, Cartoon characters and Holiday girls ;Act II * “To Adjust Is a Must” – Dr. Winslow and Weird Ones * “Coax Me” – Kate * “All Dressed Up” – Kate and Ensemble * “Wish” – Rumple * “Finale” – Company

Reception

Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theatre critic. He worked for '' The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of hi ...

of ''

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 ...

'' called it “an elaborately dull show that is strangled in plot, and not distinguished musically.”''

'', November 7, 1957, p. 42 Another commentator wrote that the musical "was predominantly a mess ... in fact, the evening's only asset was that jaunty master of the soft shoe, the dead pan and the faraway smile, Eddie Foy."

References

Sources

*Kronenberger, Louis (ed.) ''The Burns Mantle Yearbook: The Best Plays of 1957–1958'', Dodd, Mead & Company, New York

External links

*
''Rumple''
review in ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

''
''Rumple''
at BroadwayWorld.com * {{Playbill production, rumple-alvin-theatre-vault-0000000914 Rumple Rumple Broadway musicals