''Lorelei'' 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 characters are interwo ...

with a book by Kenny Solms and Gail Parent, lyrics by

Betty Comden Betty Comden (May 3, 1917 - November 23, 2006) was an American lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter who contributed to numerous Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century. Her writing partnership with Adolph Green spanned ...

and

Adolph Green Adolph Green (December 2, 1914 – October 23, 2002) was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved film musicals, particularly as part of Ar ...

, and music by

Jule Styne Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also becam ...

. It is a revision of the

Joseph Fields Joseph Albert Fields (February 21, 1895 – March 4, 1966)According to the State of California. ''California Death Index, 1940–1997''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, Californiaancestry.com/ ...

Anita Loos Corinne Anita Loos (April 26, 1888 – August 18, 1981) was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put h ...

book for the 1949 production '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' and includes many of the Jule Styne-

Leo Robin Leo Robin (April 6, 1900 – December 29, 1984) was an American composer, lyricist and songwriter. He is probably best known for collaborating with Ralph Rainger on the 1938 Academy Award for Best Original Song, Oscar-winning song "Thanks for t ...

songs written for the original. The 1974 Broadway production of ''Lorelei'', directed by Robert Moore and starring

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, ...

, ran for 320 performances.

Synopsis

Subtitled ''Gentlemen Still Prefer Blondes'', it opens with the title character, a heavily-bejeweled, very wealthy

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...

, about to set sail on the

SS Ile de France SS is an abbreviation for ''Schutzstaffel'', a paramilitary organisation in Nazi Germany. SS, Ss, or similar may also refer to: Places *Guangdong Experimental High School (''Sheng Shi'' or ''Saang Sat''), China *Province of Sassari, Italy (vehi ...

. The moment reminds her of a past voyage she took with her best friend and fellow

showgirl A showgirl is a female dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show intended to showcase the performer's physical attributes, typically by way of revealing clothing, toplessness, or nudity. History Showgirls date back to the late 180 ...

Dorothy Shaw, and in a flashback we relive their madcap adventures after Lorelei's plans to marry Gus Esmond are derailed by his father and the two women sail from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

and settle in at the Hôtel Ritz.

Productions

In 1973

, who had originated the role of Lorelei Lee in 1949, reprised her role when ''Lorelei'' premiered in Oklahoma City at the (6000 seat) Civic Center Music Hall and broke box office records after six straight days of performances sold out within 24 hours. ''Lorelei'' then toured the country for nearly a year and earned a tidy profit. According to Steven Suskin, writing in ''Playbill'', "Channing did great business in some places, and only so-so in others; the star pleased audiences, by and large, but the show didn't. If the show had impressive grosses along the way, it also had outsized costs as they added songs and threw out songs along the way." The musical opened 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 the

Palace Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia * Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, M ...

on January 27, 1974, following 11 previews and closed on November 3, 1974 after 321 performances. The musical was directed by Robert Moore, with choreography by Ernest Flatt and costumes by Alvin Colt. The cast featured

Tamara Long __NOTOC__ Tamara may refer to: People * Tamara (name), including a list of people with this name * Tamara (Spanish singer) (born 1984) * Tamara, stage name of Spanish singer Yurena (born 1969) * Tamara, stage name of Macedonian singer Tamara To ...

as Dorothy and Peter Palmer as Gus, with

Brandon Maggart Brandon Maggart (born December 12, 1933) is an American actor, painter and author. Life and career Maggart was born Roscoe Maggart, Jr., in Carthage, Tennessee. His acting career began in the early 1950s, at the University of Tennessee. He san ...

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 s ...

, and Lee Roy Reams.Dietz, Dan. "Lorelei, or Gentelmen Still Prefer Blondes", ''The Complete Book of 1970s Broadway Musicals'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2015, , pp. 188-190 Carol Channing was nominated for the 1974

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 c ...

for Best Actress in a Musical. In her review in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'', Martha Duffy described the show as "a particularly tawdry retread . . . The book, which always had the flaw of seeming more heartless than its heroine, now seems just plain crass." Of its star, she noted, "Channing, who is now 51, looks much too old for the part . . . Instead of throwing herself into the proceedings, Carol seems to expend her energy with utmost calculation . . . she remains almost stationary and is offstage altogether for the strenuous tap-dance sequences."

Song list

Act I *Overture (1974 Broadway Version) *Looking Back *Bye, Bye Baby (from ''Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'') *It's High Time (from ''Gentlemen'') *A Little Girl from Little Rock (from ''Gentlemen'') *I'm A'Tingle, I'm A'Glow *I Love What I'm Doing (from ''Gentlemen'') *It's Delightful Down in Chile (from ''Gentlemen'') *Paris, Paris *I Won't Let You Get Away *Keeping Cool With Coolidge (from ''Gentlemen'') *Men Act II *Coquette (from ''Gentlemen'') *Mamie is Mimi (from ''Gentlemen'') *

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" is a jazz song introduced by Carol Channing in the original Broadway production of '' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'' (1949), with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Leo Robin. Marilyn Monroe version American actr ...

(from ''Gentlemen'') *Lorelei *Homesick Blues (from ''Gentlemen'') *Just a Kiss Apart *"Looking Back"… on… "Diamonds" *Button Up With Esmond (from ''Gentlemen'') *Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend (Reprise) *Overture (1973 Tour Version)

Recordings

The show's

cast album 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 ...

was recorded on February 18, 1973''Lorelei''
ebay prior to the tryout tour. During eleven months on the road, songs were discarded and new ones added, so when the show reached New York City, it was decided to make a new recording on March 1, 1974. In 2003,

Decca Broadway Decca Broadway is an American record label specializing in musical theater recordings founded in 1999 by Decca Records and is a unit of Universal Music Group. Decca Broadway issued both new original cast albums as well as reissues of classic mus ...

combined the two recordings, resulting in a definitive cast recording that includes all the songs from both."''Lorelei'' Listing"
allmusic.com, accessed February 11, 2016

References

External links

*

{{Authority control 1974 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals by Betty Comden and Adolph Green Musicals by Jule Styne