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 a well-off Gilded Age
catgirl
A or neko is a female character with feline traits, such as cat ears, a tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. As a type of '' kemonomimi'', catgirls are associated with Japanese anime and manga but may appear in oth ...
who becomes a jewel thief and captures the heart of the police officer assigned to arrest her. Its Broadway run lasted just eight days. The musical's book and lyrics by
Ira Levin
Ira Marvin Levin (August 27, 1929 – November 12, 2007) was an American novelist, playwright, and songwriter. His works include the novels '' A Kiss Before Dying'' (1953), '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1967), '' The Stepford Wives'' (1972), '' This Perf ...
with music by
Milton Schafer
Milton Schafer (September 24, 1920 – April 12, 2020Gunter Grass put out a book of the same name, prompting Levin and crew to change the name. "I didn’t like it then, I don’t like it now," he wrote in 2005. "Several critics didn’t like it either. (More advice for young playwrights: Never use two exclamation points in a title. One, you can get away with; two, no.)"
In September 1965 the show debuted at the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia for an out-of-town try-out, and it ran for 11 previews. On October 10, the Broadway production at the
Martin Beck Theatre
The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburg ...
, presented by
Jerry Adler
Jerry Adler (born February 4, 1929) is an American theatre director, producer, and film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his films '' Manhattan Murder Mystery'', '' The Public Eye'', '' In Her Shoes'', and ''Prime'', and for hi ...
choreographed
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer creates choreographies thr ...
Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould (; né Goldstein; born August 29, 1938) is an American actor.
Gould's breakthrough role was in the film ''Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice'' (1969), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The ...
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 ...
for Best Scenic Design.
Music
Levin initially wrote the music himself despite a lack of experience in musical composition, and was eventually convinced by his agent Flora Roberts to allow Milton Schafer to write the music.
A recording of the pre-Broadway Philadelphia show was released as a demonstration record Capitol Custom (TB-504) in 1965. Long after the show closed, Blue Pear Records issued an
original 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 ...
from a recording surreptitiously made during a live performance. Gould's wife at the time,
Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
, had a hit with her recording of "He Touched Me", a gender-reversed version of one of the show's songs, which went to number two on the
Easy Listening
Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...
chart. On the B-side of that single, Streisand recorded "I Like Him", also from the show."Singles" barbra-archives.com In 1997,
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and cast recording, original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as ...
Jason Graae
Jason Graae (pronounced "grah" or "graw", but not "gray") (born 15 May 1958) is an American musical theater actor, best known for his musical theater performances but with a varied career spanning Broadway, opera, television and film. He has ...
,
Judy Kaye
Judy Kaye (born October 11, 1948) is an American singer and actress. She has appeared in stage musicals, plays, and operas. Kaye has been in long runs on Broadway in the musicals '' The Phantom of the Opera'', ''Ragtime'', '' Mamma Mia!'', an ...
melodrama
A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...
has at its core Alice Van Guilder, who wants to be a career girl at a time when nice young ladies marry well instead of having careers. Frustrated by the obstacles standing in her way, she becomes a cat burglar and plunders the homes of
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
's
high society
High society, sometimes simply Society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth, power, fame and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open ...
in the 1890s.
Musical numbers
Act I
* "Drat! The Cat!" – Citizens, Patrolman, The Mayor, Pincer and Mallet
* "My Son, Uphold the Law" – Roger Purefoy and Patrolmen
* "Holmes and Watson" – Alice Van Guilder and Bob Purefoy
* "She Touched Me" – Bob
* "Wild and Reckless" – Alice
* "She's Roses" – Bob and Kate Purefoy
* "Ballet: "Ignoble Theft of The Idol's Eyes"" – The Cat, Patrolman, and Attendants of the Idol
* "Dancing with Alice – Bob, Alice, Mr. & Mrs. Van Guilder, and Guests
* "Drat! The Cat! (Reprise)" – Mr. & Mrs. Van Guilder and Guests
* "Purefoy's Lament" – Bob
Act II
* "A Pox Upon the Traitor's Brow" – Pincer, Mallet, Emma & Patrolman
* "Deep in Your Heart" – Bob
* "Let's Go" – Alice and Bob
* "It's Your Fault" – Mr. & Mrs. Van Guilder
* "Wild and Reckless (Reprise)" – Bob
* "Ballet: "The Upside-Down Thief"" – Bob, Citizens, Patrolman & Kate
* "Today is a Day for a Band to Play" – Pincer, Mallet, Emma, Patrolman, and Citizens
* "She Touched Me (Reprise)" – Bob and Alice
* "I Like Him" – Alice
* "Justice Triumphant" – Entire Company
* "Today is a Day for a Band to Play (Reprise)" – Entire Company