''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' 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 ...

with a book by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay, music by Gene de Paul,

Al Kasha Alfred Kasha (January 22, 1937 – September 14, 2020) was an American songwriter, whose songs include " The Morning After" from '' The Poseidon Adventure''. Life Kasha started songwriting and producing at a young age and was hired as a producer ...

and

Joel Hirschhorn Joel Hirschhorn (December 18, 1937 – September 17, 2005) was an American songwriter. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song on two occasions. He also wrote songs for a number of musicians, including Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison. Hirsc ...

, and lyrics by Johnny Mercer,

and

. It is based on the 1954

Stanley Donen Stanley Donen ( ; April 13, 1924 – February 21, 2019) was an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are '' On the Town,'' (1949) and ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), both of which he co-directed with Gene Kell ...

film of the same name which is, itself, an adaption of the short story "The Sobbin' Women," by

Stephen Vincent Benét Stephen Vincent Benét (; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'' (1928), for which he receiv ...

, based on the Ancient Roman legend of ''

The Rape of the Sabine Women The Rape of the Sabine Women ( ), also known as the Abduction of the Sabine Women or the Kidnapping of the Sabine Women, was an incident in Roman mythology in which the men of Rome committed a mass abduction of young women from the other citi ...

''. The show's 1978–79 premiere tour was canceled without reaching

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 ...

: after touring for eighteen months from 1981 a subsequent production opened on Broadway in July 1982 to close three days and five performances after its official opening. In 1985 a West End production had a six-week limited engagement run, with a further five and a half week West End run at The Prince of Wales Theatre. Revised versions of the musical have met with success in U.S. regional theatres and in amateur productions on both sides of the Atlantic.

Synopsis

;Act 1 In 1850s

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, Adam goes into town seeking a wife to run the household that consists of just himself and his six brothers. There he meets Milly, a waitress at a local restaurant. Milly and Adam rush into marriage and immediately return to Adam's remote ranch in the mountains. As soon as they return home, Adam reverts to his true self: an ill-mannered and inconsiderate slob. Milly meets his six brothers, Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frank and Gideon, all of whom also share Adam's love for all things disorderly. Milly decides to reform the brothers and help them change their ways. She teaches them to dance and then takes them to a

barn-raising A barn raising, also historically called a raising bee or rearing in the U.K., is a collective action of a community, in which a barn for one of the members is built or rebuilt collectively by members of the community. Barn raising was particular ...

. There, the six brothers meet six girls they like and start

courting Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private ...

them. Conflicts arise when each of the six girls turns out to have her own jealous suitor. Upon returning home Adam reads his brothers the story of

, inciting them to kidnap the girls and bring them back home with them. ;Act 2 The brothers kidnap the girls and then cause an

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...

to fall and block the suitors' way, making the brothers' house unreachable until spring. The girls are crying and furious by the time they reach the house. An angry Milly scolds the boys and sends them all to live in the barn, and Adam flees up to their

hunting cabin A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

in the mountains to live by himself. They live there all through the winter, but by the time spring arrives, the girls miss the brothers' attention and find themselves to be in love. Gideon goes to the cabin and attempts to get Adam to return home by telling him that Milly had a baby girl. A changed Adam returns home to find his wife and newborn daughter waiting for him. The snow clears up and the angry suitors make their way up to the house in the mountains to find that the girls are happy and want to marry the brothers. The story ends with a shotgun wedding of the six remaining couples.

Productions

;U.S. national tours and Broadway The stage musical version of ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' was first performed in June 1978 in the Dallas Summer Musicals season with

Howard Keel Harold Clifford Keel (April 13, 1919November 7, 2004), known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer, known for his rich bass-baritone singing voice. He starred in a number of MGM musicals in the 1950s and in the CBS te ...

and

Jane Powell Jane Powell (born Suzanne Lorraine Burce; April 1, 1929 – September 16, 2021) was an American actress, singer, and dancer who first appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals in the 1940s and 50s. With her soprano voice and girl-next-door image ...

reprising the lead roles they had played in the original movie 24 years earlier. The production – with Keel and Powell still attached – then proceeded on what was touted as a pre-Broadway tour playing limited engagements in St Louis, Kansas City (Missouri), Toronto and Atlanta. An engagement at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles was announced for November 1978 but instead the production went on hiatus until January 1979, revived then to play three Florida venues with the tour's end announced during its February 1979 Parker Playhouse (Fort Lauderdale) engagement, future engagements (in Cincinnati, Chicago and at the Pantages in Los Angeles) then being canceled. Columnist Liz Smith had in September 1978 shared "the story from the road" that Keel and Powell "are both saying that unless director-producer and script co-author Larry Kasha withdraws rom the production, itwill never come into New York o play Broadway, and in February 1978 columnist Earl Wilson attributed the show's folding to "squabbling between the stars...and the producers": Kasha's co-producer Zev Bufman would attribute the tour's preemption to the financial backer, subsequent to a "corporate shuffle", no longer making theatrical investments. The musical was revived in 1981 as a vehicle for singer

Debby Boone Deborah Anne Boone (born September 22, 1956) is an American singer, author, and actress. She is best known for her 1977 hit, " You Light Up My Life", which spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and led to her winning the ...

, with a June showcase engagement in the

Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

-based

Kenley Players The Kenley Players was an Equity summer stock theatre company which presented hundreds of productions featuring Broadway, film, and television stars in Midwestern cities between 1940 and 1996. ''Variety'' called it the "largest network of theater ...

season of 1981. Those performances were followed by an eighteen-month US tour launched with a December 1981 engagement at the Fox Theater (San Diego). ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' would then open 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 8 July 1982 subsequent to fifteen preview performances: directed by Lawrence Kasha and choreographed by Jerry Jackson, the cast included Debby Boone as Milly and David-James Carroll as Adam as well as Jeff Calhoun, Lara Teeter, Craig Peralta, and Nancy Fox. Despite faring well with audiences and critics while on tour, the show did not impress the Broadway critics, with a particularly scathing ''

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 ...

'' critique by

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 ...

being blamed for the show's 11 July 1982 closure after five performances. (The closure caused a protest outside the ''New York Times'' building, where a group of some twenty cast members – Boone not among them – and fans of the show chanted and held picket signs demanding Rich retract his review presumably in vain hopes of a resultant reprieve for ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers''.) ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' would receive a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

nomination for Best Original Score. ;1985 West End The musical premiered in the West End at the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

, starting on July 2, 1985, and running for 41 performances. It starred Roni Page and Steve Devereaux and included

Michaela Strachan Michaela Evelyn Ann Strachan (born 7 April 1966) is an English television presenter and singer. Early life Born in Ewell, Surrey, Strachan grew up in Hinchley Wood and attended Chadsworth Stage School, then Claremont Fan Court School, both i ...

as the bride Liza. The show also played at the

Prince of Wales Theatre The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in London. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner. The theatre ...

, Leicester Square produced by Michael Winter, and had a unique North American engagement playing for five weeks at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. A

cast recording 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 ...

of the London production was released by First Night Records produced by Norman Newell. This West End production actually opened at the York Theatre Royal in April 1984 and had been on a successful UK tour with Newpalm Productions. Because of the early closure of “The Com is Green” with Deborah Kerr, the Old Vic was suddenly available for a few weeks until the planned opening of “The Cradle Will Rock” on August 14. This production filled the gap – though there was an ongoing dispute that said the show did not have the rights to play in London itself, only in the provinces. However, the situation seems to have resolved itself when “Seven Brides” returned to the West End – at the Prince of Wales – the following year where it ran for five-and-a-half months from 8 May 1986 to 26 October 1986, and again Newpalm Productions toured the UK a number of times during the following years. A 2002 tour of the UK starred

Dave Willetts Dave Willetts (born 24 June 1952) is an English singer and actor known for having leading roles in West End musicals. Early life Born in Marston Green, Birmingham, in 1952 and then brought up in Acocks Green. He first went to Cottesbrooke ...

. ;2003 Madrid A

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

production premiered at Teatro Nuevo Apolo on August 29, 2003, starring David Castedo as Adam and Xana García as Milly, and directed by

Ricard Reguant Ricard is a surname, as well as a Catalan name. Notable people with the surname include: * Étienne Pierre Sylvestre Ricard (1771–1843), French general under Napoleon * Hámilton Ricard (born 1974), Colombian footballer *Jean-François Ricard (bo ...

with choreography by

María Giménez Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, d ...

. ;2005 Goodspeed Opera House A major revival ran from April 15, 2005, through June 26, 2005, at the

Goodspeed Opera House Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. A distinctive feature of the view from the Connecticut River, th ...

(

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

). It starred Jacquelyn Piro Donovan and

Burke Moses Burke William Moses (born December 10, 1959, New York City) is an American actor. His older brother is actor Mark Moses. Career Moses attended Boston University and Carnegie Mellon University.Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. The New York Times reviewer wrote: "Goodspeed Musicals has reshaped it with a couple of new musical numbers, Patti Colombo's athletic choreography, welcome humor and a good-natured energy that overshadows many shortcomings." Two songs, "Where Were You?" and "I Married Seven Brothers" were added, "Glad That You Were Born" was revised, and the book was heavily rewritten. With a realistic approach, rustic orchestrations and a focus on the Oregon Trail, the show was quite different from its film predecessor. Plans for a 2005-2006 National Tour of this production failed. ;2006 West End revival A production ran at the West End Haymarket Theatre from August 16, 2006, through November 18, 2006. ;Revised 2007 U.S. production A revised version played at several venues, including the

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 ...

(New Jersey) (April 11 – May 11, 2007),

North Shore Music Theatre North Shore Music Theatre is the largest operating regional theater in New England. It is located in Beverly, Massachusetts and is one of the few remaining theatre-in-the-round stages left in the United States. The theater is owned by Massachuset ...

(May 29 – June 17, 2007), Theatre Under the Stars (June 26 – July 1, 2007), and Theater of the Stars (Atlanta) (June 26 – July 1, 2007). Under the direction of

Scott Schwartz Scott Schwartz (born May 12, 1968) is an American actor best known for his roles as a child actor in '' The Toy'', ''A Christmas Story'' and ''Kidco''. Life and career Schwartz co-starred opposite Richard Pryor and Jackie Gleason in 1982's ' ...

, set design was by Tony Award nominee, Anna Louizos and lighting by Tony Award winner

Donald Holder Donald Holder is an American lighting designer in theatre, opera and dance based in New York. He was born in 1962. He has been nominated for fourteen Tony Awards, winning the 1998 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design as well as the Drama Desk Awar ...

. This production was a hybrid between the literal approach of the Goodspeed production and the slapstick camp of the original film. The Paper Mill Playhouse announced a week prior to ''Seven Brides for Seven Brotherss scheduled premiere that a million dollar plus shortfall in operating expenses threatened to not only cancel the production but close the theater down indefinitely. Paper Mill would in fact be enabled to fund the production of ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' throughout its scheduled run, the critical and popular success of the production clinching the 69-year old iconic theater's survival. Subsequent engagements of the production drew weak reviews, with some praise afforded Patti Colombo's acrobatic, athletic, and inventive choreography. The 2007 revival is expected to be the version that will be 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 ...

for stock and regional use. ;UK regional tour (2008) The musical toured in the UK during 2008, starring Steven Houghton and Susan McFadden, and played in over thirty cities, including The

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Empire. ;UK & Ireland National Tour (2013–14) A new restaged version of the show is currently being produced and will open at The Churchill Theatre Bromley on 13 September 2013 before touring the UK & Ireland. The new re-staged production stars Sam Attwater & Helena Blackman and directed/choreographed by Patti Colombo. www.sevenbridesthemusical.com ;Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (2015) With

Rachel Kavanaugh Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her au ...

directing a cast led by

Alex Gaumond Alex Gaumond (born ) is a Canadian actor, singer, songwriter and filmmaker best known for his involvement in West End theatre. He plays series regular gendarme Caron, the chief of police in Sainte Victoire, in the Channel 5 television series '' T ...

as Adam and

Laura Pitt-Pulford Laura Pitt-Pulford is a British actress, best known for her work in musical theatre and for playing Carol Butler in ''Emmerdale''. Early life Pitt-Pulford grew up in Rugby, joined a local youth operatic group at age 12, and trained in drama at ...

as Milly, ''Seven Brides For Seven Brothers'' was mounted at

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is an open-air theatre in Regent's Park in central London. The theatre Established in 1932, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is one of the largest theatres in London (1,256 seats) and is situated in Queen Mary� ...

16 July – 29 August 2015. The production was critically well-received, as exemplified by the assessment of Michael Billington of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'': " fnot exactly...in tune with modern gender politics

he play He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

comes off well ostlythanks to some exhilarating dancing here beingseveral high points...vividly realised in Alistair David's choreography...Laura Pitt-Pulford endows the far-from-modern Milly with the right dogged determination, and Alex Gaumond even manages to find a few redemptive qualities in the Petruchio-like figure of Adam, who seems to think a wife is a domestic slave. Clearly the original book has ost someinherent chauvinism, and it says a lot for Kavanaugh's production that dam's song'A Woman Ought to Know Her Place'...seems less...a crude manifesto than the cry of a man in crisis. The show...boasts some good songs. But in the end it's the choreography, which rivals anything on the London stage, that makes this a musical worth reviving." ;2nd US National Tour (2015) In January 2015, Prather Touring (a subsection of Prather Entertainment Group) produced a National Tour of the production. The tour played at venues in over 30 states and was followed by an eight-week sit-down at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre in Ft Myers, FL. The cast was headed up by Justun Hart as Adam and Kate Marshall as Milly. The brothers were played by Wes Drummond (Benjamin), Carver Duncan (Caleb), Matt Casey (Daniel), Ben Cramer (Ephraim), Will Leonard (Frank) and Max King (Gideon). The brides were played by Diane Huber (Dorcas), Danielle Barnes (Ruth / Dance Captain), Kelsey Beckert (Liza), Avery Bryce Epstein (Martha), Corinne Munsch (Sarah) and Kiersten Benzing (Alice). The suitors were played by Sean Cleary (Nathan), Marty Craft (Luke), Joshua Kolberg (Matt), Olin Davidson (Joel), Corey John Hafner (Zeke), and Glenn Britton (Jeb). The cast was rounded out by Dustin Cunningham and Courtney Cunningham as the Hoallums, Michael Weaver as the Preacher and Katharine Gentsch as the Swing. The production was directed by Dean Sobon, choreographed by Kerry Lambert, and music directed by Scott Williams.Tour 2015
sevenbridestour2015.com, accessed March 4, 2015

Musical numbers

;Act I * Bless Your Beautiful Hide - Adam * Wonderful, Wonderful Day - Milly and Brides * One Man - Milly * Goin' Courtin' - Milly and Brothers * Social Dance - Milly, Adam, Brides, Brothers, Suitors and Townspeople * Love Never Goes Away - Adam, Milly and Gideon * Sobbin' Women - Adam and Brothers ;Act II * The Townsfolk's Lament - Suitors and Townspeople * A Woman Ought To Know Her Place - Adam * We Gotta Make It Through The Winter - Brothers * We Gotta Make It Through The Winter (Reprise) - Milly and Brides * Spring Dance - Brides and Brothers * A Woman Ought To Know Her Place (Reprise) - Adam and Gideon * Glad That You Were Born - Milly, Brides, Brothers * Love Never Goes Away (Reprise) - Milly and Adam * Wonderful, Wonderful Day (Reprise) - Milly and Adam * Wedding Dance - Milly, Adam, Brides, Brothers and Townspeople

Notes

"One Man", "Love Never Goes Away", "The Townsfolk's Lament", " A Woman Ought To Know Her Place", "We Gotta Make It Through The Winter", "Spring Dance", and "Glad That You Were Born" were written by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn for the musical. "Bless Your Beautiful Hide", "Wonderful Wonderful Day", "Goin' Courtin'", and "Sobbin' Women" are from the 1954 film and written by Gene de Paul and Johnny Mercer. NEW REVISED VERSION Act I * Opening Act I (Adam's Introduction) - Adam * Gallant and Correct - Mr. & Mrs. Sander, Mr. Hoallum, Preacher, Brides, Suitors, Town Elders * Bless Your Beautiful Hide - Adam * Wonderful, Wonderful Day - Milly, Mrs. Sander, Mrs. Hoallum, Brides * I Married Seven Brothers - Milly, Townspeople * Goin' Courtin' - Milly, Brothers * Challenge Dance - Orchestra * Love Never Goes Away - Adam, Gideon, Milly * Sobbin' Women - Adam, Brothers Act II * The Suitor's Lament - Suitors, Townspeople * Where Were You? - Adam * We Gotta Make It Through the Winter - Brothers * We Gotta Make It (reprise)/Lonesome Polecat - Milly, Brothers * Spring Dance - Orchestra * Glad That You Were Born - Milly, Brothers, Brides * Love Never Goes Away (reprise) - Adam, Milly * Wonderful Day (reprise) - Milly, Adam * Wedding Dance/Finale Act II - Company

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

Sources

Broadwayworld.com article, June 1, 2007, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” Romps in the Regions

References

External links

*
''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers''
at the Music Theatre International website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (Musical) 1982 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals based on films Musicals by Johnny Mercer