''The People in the Picture'' is a musical with book and lyrics by
Iris Rainer Dart
Iris Rainer Dart ( Rainer; born March 3, 1944) is an American author and playwright for television and the stage. Her most notable novel is ''Beaches'', which was made into a 1988 film of the same name. She has also written several stage musical ...
and music by
Mike Stoller
Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...
and
Artie Butler
Arthur Butler (born December 2, 1942) is an American composer, arranger, songwriter, and session musician. In a long career, he has been involved in numerous hit records and other recordings, and has been awarded over 60 gold and platinum albums ...
. The musical is about a grandmother recalling her life in the Yiddish theater and the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
.
Production
''The People in the Picture'' premiered 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 ...
at
Studio 54
Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater was ...
in a
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 ...
production on April 28, 2011 after previews starting on April 1, 2011. This limited engagement closed as scheduled on June 19, 2011. The musical was directed by
Leonard Foglia
Leonard Foglia (born August 24, 1954) is an American theatre director, librettist, and novelist.
Foglia made his Broadway debut as the assistant director of ''The Heidi Chronicles'' in 1989. He also directed revivals of ''Wait Until Dark'' (1998) ...
, with staging by
Andy Blankenbuehler
Andy Blankenbuehler (born March 7, 1970) is an American dancer, choreographer and director primarily for stage and concerts. He has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Choreography five times, and has won three times: for '' In the Height ...
, musical direction by
Paul Gemignani Paul Gemignani is an American music director, musical director with a career on Broadway theatre, Broadway and West End theatre spanning over forty years.
Career
Gemignani began his career in 1971 as a replacement musical director for Stephen Sondh ...
, sets by Riccardo Hernandez, costumes by
, orchestrations by
Michael Starobin
Michael Starobin (born January 25, 1956) is an orchestrator, conductor, composer, arranger, and musical director, primarily for the stage, film and television. He won Tony Awards for the orchestrations of '' Assassins'' (2004) and ''Next to No ...
and
Doug Besterman
Douglas Besterman (born February 3, 1965) is an American orchestrator, musical arranger and music producer. He is the recipient of three Tony Awards out of six total nominations and two Drama Desk Awards out of six total nominations, and was a 200 ...
, lighting by
James F. Ingalls
James F. Ingalls is a lighting designer who has worked extensively on Broadway, in London and at many regional theaters including Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Opera, Playwrights Horizons, Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, and Steppenwolf. His ...
and projection by
Elaine J. McCarthy. The cast featured
Donna Murphy (Bubbie/Raisel),
Alexander Gemignani
Alexander Cesare Gemignani (born July 3, 1979) is a Broadway actor, tenor, musician, and conductor.
Gemignani was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey and graduated from Tenafly High School in 1997. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan's Mus ...
(Moishe Rosenwald), Christopher Innvar (Chaim Bradovsky),
Nicole Parker
Nicole Frances Parker (born February 21, 1978) is an American actress. She is best known for her work on Fox's sketch comedy show ''Mad TV'' (2003–2009, 2016), which she was a regular cast member. In July 2009, Parker concluded her run as Elph ...
(Red), Rachel Resheff (Jenny), Hal Robinson (Doovie Feldman/Rabbi Velvel),
Lewis J. Stadlen
Lewis J. Stadlen (born March 7, 1947) is an American stage and screen character actor. He is best known for playing Ira Fried in '' The Sopranos''.
Career
Born in Brooklyn, New York, to voice actor Allen Swift, Stadlen studied acting with S ...
(Avram Krinsky),
Joyce Van Patten (Chayesel Fisher) and
Chip Zien
Jerome Herbert "Chip" Zien (born March 20, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the lead role of the Baker in the original Broadway production of ''Into the Woods'' by Stephen Sondheim. He has appeared in all of the "Marvin T ...
(Yossie Pinsker).
Critical reception
Ben Brantley, 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 that the musical "has all the elements of an emotional bulldozer on autopilot: a plucky Jewish theater group working defiantly in the shadow of Nazism; mothers and daughters longing to love but locked in conflict; a family secret—buried in the rubble of postwar Poland—that must be revealed if any of our main characters are to find (no, stop me, please don’t let me say that word) closure." The ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' reviewer wrote, "...it's not just the music that's subpar: The book is full of holes, and pulls at the heartstrings without earning its pathos."
The reviewer for ''Bloomberg'' wrote:
"In Donna Murphy, the creators have a shimmering star who can play a tender, doting grandma and yet evoke Lombard, that irresistible mix of winks and minx … Leonard Foglia’s hyperactive production is lovely, with set designer Riccardo Hernandez taking the title at face value and offering up lots of gilded frames to frame the action. James F. Ingalls’s lighting evokes an Old World glow in Warsaw, steelier light in Manhattan, and Ann Hould-Ward’s costumes also place us in those cities with subtle specificity. And the cast couldn’t be bettered. The standouts include Alexander Gemignani, Chip Zien and Lewis J. Stadlen as troupers, Parker as the mother and a young charmer, Rachel Resheff, as Jenny."
''TheaterMania's'' reviewers said that the show "asks us to take a hard look at the suffering and the loss that resulted from this tragedy—and it moves us deeply in the process … The triumph of The People in the Picture is that the show insists upon—and earns—heroic stature for even small gestures of humanity."
Mark Kennedy of the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
wrote, "Dart, the playwright, gets full credit for conceiving of a cute way to have one generation talk to its descendants and has movingly captured an unconventional history lesson into a musical." ''Talkin' Broadway's'' reviewer called it "an unbelievably powerful look at the history we create and destroy, and the lives that are shattered or strengthened in our wakes … an achingly affecting antidote to the plethora of recent musicals, from this season and others, that throw everything at you except honesty."
[Murray, Matthew]
"Talkin' Broadway's Broadway Reviews" ''The People in the Picture''
''Talkin' Broadway'', April 28, 2011
Musical numbers
;Act 1
*Bread and Theatre ≠ – Bubbie/Raisel, The Warsaw Gang and Company
*Matryoshka ≠ – Jenny and Bubbie
*Matryoshka Reprise ≠ – Red
*Shtetl Circuit – Pinsker and Krinsky
*Before We Lose the Light/The Dybbuk ≠ – Bubbie/Raisel, The Warsaw Gang and Company
*Remember Who You Are ≈ – Yossie Pinsker and Avram Krinsky
*Hollywood Girls ≠ – Chaim Bradovsky, Bubbie/Raisel and Company
*Remember Who You Are (Reprise) – Avram Krinsky, Yossie Pinsker, Bubbie/Raisel, Moishe Rosenwald, Chaim Bradovsky and Chayesel Fisher
*And God Laughs ≠ – Moishe Rosenwald, Bubbie/Raisel and Rabbi Velvel
*Oyfen Pripitchik § – Bubbie/Raisel and Dobrisch
*Red's Dilemma ≠ – Red
*For This ≠ – Red, Jenny, and Bubbie
*Oyfen Pripitchik (Reprise) – Jenny, Avram Krinsky, and Company
;Act 2
*We Were Here ≈ – Bubbie/Raisel, Moishe Rosenwald, Chayesel Fisher, Avram Krinsky and Company
*Now and Then ≠ – Red
*Ich, Uch, Feh ≈ – Bubbie/Raisel and Company
*Selective Memory ≠ – Bubbie/Raisel
*Saying Goodbye ≈ – Bubbie/Raisel, Dobrisch, Red and Young Red
*Child of My Child ≠ – Bubbie
*Remember Who You Are (Reprise) ≈ – Bubbie
*Bread and Theatre (Reprise) ≠ – Bubbie/Raisel and The Warsaw Gang
*We Were Here (Reprise) ≈ – Bubbie/Raisel and The Warsaw Gang
''Note: Lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart except as noted; ≠ music by Mike Stoller; ≈ music by Artie Butler; § music and lyrics by Mark Warshavsky.''
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
References
External links
''The People in the Picture'' listing (Internet Broadway Database)Roundabout Theatre website
{{DEFAULTSORT:People in the Picture
2011 musicals
Broadway musicals