Fiorello!
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''Fiorello!'' 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 Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...
about
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
mayor
Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello Henry La Guardia (born Fiorello Raffaele Enrico La Guardia; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives and served as the 99th mayor of New Yo ...
, a reform Republican, which debuted on Broadway in 1959, and tells the story of how La Guardia took on the
Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...
political machine. The book is by Jerome Weidman and
George Abbott George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. He received numerous honors including six Tony Awards, the ...
, drawn substantially from the 1955 volume ''Life with Fiorello'' by Ernest Cuneo,"Ernest L. Cuneo, 82; Owned Newspaper Service"
''The New York Times'', March 5, 1988. Accessed April 23, 2010.
with lyrics by
Sheldon Harnick Sheldon Mayer Harnick (April 30, 1924 – June 23, 2023) was an American lyricist and songwriter best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on musicals such as '' Fiorello!'', '' She Loves Me'', and ''Fiddler on the Roof''. Ear ...
, and music by
Jerry Bock Jerrold Lewis Bock (November 23, 1928November 3, 2010) was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical '' Fiorello!'' and the Tony A ...
. It won the three major theatre awards -
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
(shared with ''
The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...
''), the New York Drama Critics Circle award, and the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...
. It is one of only ten musicals to win the latter award.


Productions

''Fiorello!'' opened on Broadway at the
Broadhurst Theatre The Broadhurst Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 235 West 44th Street (Manhattan), 44th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1917, the thea ...
on November 23, 1959, moved to The Broadway Theatre on May 9, 1961, and closed on October 28, 1961, after 795 performances. It was directed by George Abbott, with choreography by Peter Gennaro.
Tom Bosley Thomas Edward Bosley (October 1, 1927 – October 19, 2010) was an American actor, television personality and entertainer. Bosley is best known for portraying Howard Cunningham (Happy Days character), Howard Cunningham on the American Broadcasti ...
originated the title role opposite Howard Da Silva as the Republican machine boss Ben Marino. The cast featured Ellen Hanley as Thea, Pat Stanley as Dora, Patricia Wilson as Marie, Nathaniel Frey as Morris, and Broadway's future Superman, Bob Holiday, as Neil. The 1962 production opened at the
New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama, and the New York City Center 55th Street Theater) is a performing arts center at 131 West 55th Street (Manhattan), 55th Street between Sixth Avenue, Six ...
on June 13, and closed after 16 performances, on June 24, 1962. The show was directed by
Jean Dalrymple Jean Van Kirk Dalrymple (September 2, 1902 – November 15, 1998) was an American theater producer, manager, publicist, and playwright. She was instrumental in the founding of New York City Center, and is best known for her productions there. B ...
, staged by Dania Krupska, choreography by Kevin Carlisle, scenery and lighting design by William and Jean Eckart, costume supervision by Joseph Codori, musically directed by Jay Blackton, and press by Lilliam Libman. The cast included
Sorrell Booke Sorrell Booke (January 4, 1930 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor who performed on stage, screen, and television. He acted in more than 100 plays and 150 television shows, and is best known for his role as corrupt politician Jefferson ...
(Fiorello La Guardia), Art Lund (Ben Marino), Lola Fisher (Thea),
Dody Goodman Dody Goodman (October 28, 1914 – June 22, 2008) was an American character actress. She played the mother of the title character in the television series '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'', her distinctive high-pitched voice announcing the ...
(Dora), Barbara Williams (Marie), Paul Lipson (Morris), Richard France (Neil), Dort Clark (Floyd), and Helen Verbit (Mrs. Pomerantz). One of the singing ensemble included Rosalind Cash. A staged concert production of ''Fiorello!'' was performed at the first
Encores! Encores! is a Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, Tony-honored concert series dedicated to reviving United States, American Musical theatre, musicals, usually with their original orchestrations. Presented by New York City Center since 1994, E ...
at the
New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama, and the New York City Center 55th Street Theater) is a performing arts center at 131 West 55th Street (Manhattan), 55th Street between Sixth Avenue, Six ...
concert series in February 1994. Directed by Walter Bobbie, the cast featured Jerry Zaks as La Guardia,
Philip Bosco Philip Michael Bosco (September 26, 1930 – December 3, 2018) was an American actor. He was known for his Tony Award-winning performance as Saunders in the 1989 Broadway production of '' Lend Me a Tenor'', and for his starring role in the 2007 f ...
as Ben Marino,
Faith Prince Faith Prince is an American actress and singer, best known for her work on Broadway in musical theatre. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in ''Guys and Dolls'' in 1992, and received three other Tony nominations. Life and career Prince wa ...
as Marie, and Elizabeth Futral as Thea.Holden, Stephe
"Review/Theater; La Guardia Administration In a Dramatic Comeback"
''The New York Times'', February 11, 1994
To celebrate the 20th season of the Encores! series, ''Fiorello!'' was presented by the New York City Center Encores! as a staged concert in January 2013. With direction by Gary Griffin and choreography by Alex Sanchez, the cast starred Danny Rutigliano as La Guardia, Shuler Hensley as Marino, Erin Dilly as Marie and Kate Baldwin as Thea. The production included a new Bock/Harnick song during Act II, as part of "The Name's La Guardia" reprise. The Berkshire Theatre Group (BTG) production of ''Fiorello!'' opened
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
at the East 13th Street Theater on September 4, 2016. Directed by Bob Moss, it received mixed reviews and ran through October 7. The BTG production first ran at The Unicorn Theatre in
Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridg ...
in June and July 2016.


Synopsis

The story follows the life of Fiorello H. La Guardia during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and ten years later. As
Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The Mayoralty in the United States, mayor's office administers all ...
La Guardia reforms city politics by helping end
Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...
's vaunted political machine.


Act I

Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia is reading the comics over the radio because there is a newspaper strike. As he does so, the time changes to 1915 and the law office where clients are eagerly waiting to speak to La Guardia. His law clerks assure the crowd that he will help one and all, regardless of their ability to pay ("On the Side of the Angels"). Fiorello's secretary Marie and her friend Dora discuss a crisis. Thea Almerigatti, the leader of the women shirtwaist strikers, has been arrested. La Guardia promises to help the strikers. As the district leader Ben and his political buddies play poker ("Politics and Poker"), Marie introduces La Guardia as a potential Congressional candidate. They want to beat the corrupt machine of Tammany Hall. While helping the women strikers ("Unfair"), Fiorello asks Marie to dinner, but Thea, newly released from prison, arrives. She asks Fiorello to dinner to plan strategy, and he breaks his date with Marie. Marie feels foolish for caring while he cares so little ("Marie's Law"). Next year, Fiorello is campaigning for Congress, and Thea introduces him. Fiorello promises to break the stranglehold of Tammany Hall ("The Name's La Guardia!"). La Guardia wins the election ("The Bum Won"). In another year, La Guardia enlists in the Air Force and proposes to Thea. He and Marie say their farewells as he is about to leave for the war ("Till Tomorrow"). La Guardia's participation in the war is presented as a series of montages, staged and on film. With the war over, Fiorello returns home ("Home Again"), with both Marie and Thea waiting for him. He goes to Thea, who has agreed to marriage. Morris, the office manager, comforts Marie.


Act II

In 1929, La Guardia runs for mayor of New York, after he and Thea are married. Thea, home from a visit to the doctor, exclaims her love ("When Did I Fall In Love"). At Dora and her husband Floyd's (who has retired from the police force) home, the corrupt backers of
Jimmy Walker James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Jimmy Walker and Beau James, was an American attorney, lyricist, and Democratic Party politician who served as the 97th mayor of New York City from 1926 until his resign ...
, Fiorello's competitor for mayor, meet. As one of the gang wants to have Fiorello killed at his public speech, Dora rushes to secretly warn Marie. However, Fiorello's campaign is in turmoil, with Ben being fired and his worry over Thea's deteriorating health. At La Guardia's speech the gang's plan to kill him is foiled. But Thea dies, and Marie, Morris, and Neil have to tell Fiorello. The race for mayor is won by Jimmy Walker. Fiorello is inspired by tragedy to continue his campaign. In 1933, Ben and his political friends are again playing poker ("Little Tin Box"). Marie arrives and announces that she is quitting her job and will marry "The Very Next Man" who asks her. She convinces Ben to return to Fiorello to help him win the upcoming mayoral election. She then helps Fiorello to overcome his fears of losing and run again. He runs with Ben's help, and also asks Marie to marry him. She accepts and Fiorello finally becomes the mayor.


Background and analysis

The musical contains several songs built around a group of machine politicians. In "Politics and Poker", Republican machine politicians try to pick a
congressional A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...
candidate in a district they consider hopeless, while playing a game of
poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...
, and compare politics to poker. The lyric is set to waltz tempo "to underscore the frivolity of their cynicism." In "The Bum Won", these same politicians commiserate with one another after La Guardia has won the election without their support. In "Little Tin Box", they imagine a series of Tammany politicians attempting to explain to a judge that their wealth came from their scrupulous habits of saving ("I can see Your Honor doesn't pull his punches/ And it looks a trifle fishy, I'll admit,/ But for one whole week I went without my lunches/ And it mounted up, Your Honor, bit by bit./ Up Your Honor, bit by bit.") In "I Love a Cop", a woman factory worker describes her hapless situation of having fallen in love with a policeman who was called out against a
strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...
by her union; "The Name's La Guardia" has La Guardia campaigning in English,
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
and
Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
. There is also a
ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...
number, "Gentleman Jimmy" about ''bon vivant'' mayor James J. "Jimmy" Walker, and the comic "Marie's Law", in which Marie proposes a "law" about how husbands should treat their wives. ("Every girl shall have a honeymoon, which will last at least a year,/ During which aforesaid honeymoon, every care shall disappear…".) Besides the invention of some peripheral characters, the musical changes some basic facts of La Guardia's life. La Guardia's first wife, Thea, died after only three years of marriage, but the fictional Thea lives another eight years, so that her death can be one more calamity during La Guardia's unsuccessful 1929 mayoral campaign; also, the script downplays La Guardia's generally successful congressional career to make him seem more of an outsider and increase the triumph of his eventual mayoral victory in 1933.


Songs

; Act I * "On the Side of the Angels" – Neil, Morris, and Dora * "Politics and Poker" – Ben, Politicians * "Unfair" – Fiorello, Dora, and Girls * "Marie's Law" – Marie and Morris * "The Name's La Guardia" – Fiorello and Company * "The Bum Won" – Ben, Politicians * "I Love a Cop" – Dora * "I Love a Cop" (reprise) – Dora and Floyd * "Till Tomorrow" – Thea and Company * "Home Again" – Company ; Act II * "When Did I Fall in Love" – Thea * "Gentleman Jimmy" – Mitzi and Dancing Girls * "Gentleman Jimmy" (reprise) – Company * "Little Tin Box" – Ben, Politicians * "The Very Next Man" – Marie * "The Very Next Man" (reprise) – Marie * "Finale" – Company An additional song, "Where Do I Go from Here?" (originally written for Marie to sing in Act I) was cut out of town; a fully orchestrated recording, sung by Broadway actress
Liz Callaway Liz Callaway (born April 13, 1961) is an American actress, singer and recording artist, who is best known for having provided the singing voices of many female characters in animated films, such as Anya (Anastasia), Anastasia in ''Anastasia (1997 ...
, can be heard on the anthology album ''Lost in Boston I'' (Varèse Sarabande VSD-5475). "Till Tomorrow" and "Unfair" were written "on spec" before Bock and Harnick were hired for the show. "Little Tin Box" was added on the road in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
.Frank Kelly
''Unofficial'' Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick Appreciation Page
retrieved January 1, 2010.


Critical response

In his review for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'',
Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theater 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 his ...
wrote: "... It is exciting; it is enjoyable and it is decent ... Jerry Bock has set ... a bouncy score ... the writer of lyrics, Sheldon Harnick is in an unfailingly humorous frame of mind ... der Mr. Abbott's invincible stage direction, the whole show comes alive with gusto ... e cast could not be more winning or in better voice." Louis Calta wrote: Fiorello!' is the town's latest stage hit ... the attraction earned flowery praise from all of the New York drama critics."


Original cast album

The original cast recording of ''Fiorello!'' was made by
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
on November 29, 1959, just six days after the show opened, and was released on December 14. The album debuted on ''Billboard's'' best-selling albums chart January 11, 1960, peaked at No. 7 and remained on the charts for 89 weeks. It has been reissued on CD twice, first by Capitol and then later in a much improved release on EMI's Broadway Angel label (CD #ZDM 7 65023-2).


In popular culture

On the television show ''
Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...
'',
Don Draper Donald Francis "Don" Draper, born Richard "Dick" Whitman, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the AMC television series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), portrayed by Jon Hamm. At the beginning of the series, Draper is the charismatic yet en ...
and his wife Betty attend a performance of ''Fiorello!'' in the season one episode ''Shoot''.Dean, Will
"Mad Men: season one, episode nine"
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 25 May 2010


See also

* Jimmy (musical), about New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker * Mayor (musical), about New York City Mayor Ed Koch


Awards and nominations


Original Broadway production


References


External links

*
Fiorello!
at the Music Theatre International website
Tony Awards listing for 1960, Musical

Pulitzer Prize Winners by Category – Drama
{{Authority control 1959 musicals Biographical musicals Biographical plays about politicians Broadway musicals Cultural depictions of American people Cultural depictions of politicians Musicals by George Abbott Musicals by Jerry Bock Musicals by Sheldon Harnick New York City in popular culture Musicals set in New York City Musicals set in the 1920s Musicals set in the 1930s Pulitzer Prize for Drama–winning musicals Pulitzer Prize for Drama–winning works Tony Award for Best Musical Tony Award–winning musicals Fiorello La Guardia