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Ambassador (musical)
Encyclopedia
Ambassador is a musical
with a book by Don Ettlinger and Anna Marie Barlow, lyrics by Hal Hackady
, and music by Don Gohman. It is based on the 1903 Henry James
novel
The Ambassadors
.
The show was first produced at Her Majesty's Theatre
in London on October 19, 1971, and ran for 86 performances. The production was directed by Stone Widney, choreographed by Gillian Lynne
, and starred Howard Keel
as Lewis Lambert Strether, Danielle Darrieux
as Marie de Vionnet, Margaret Courtenay as Amelia Newsome, Judith Paris as Sarah, and Blain Fairman as Bilham.
Despite the show's poor reception in London, the producers decided to bring it to Broadway. The show went through several re-writes which included cutting the first scene. The Broadway
production, directed by Widney, conducted by Herbert Grossman
and choreographed, because of Miss Lynne's unavailability, by Joyce Trisler, opened on November 19, 1972 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
, where it ran for 29 performances. The cast included Keel as Lewis, Darrieux as Marie, Michael J. Shannon as Chad, Andrea Marcovicci
as Jeanne de Vionnet, M'el Dowd as Amelia Newsome, and Nicholas Dante
as the bellboy.
to find his fiancée's wayward son and bring him back to America
to take his rightful place as heir to the family fortune. The strait-laced Strether's mission falls by the wayside when he finds the openness of the European lifestyle far more attractive than his stifling existence and comes to the realization the only rescue the young man requires is from the values of his manipulative mother.
Act II
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book by Don Ettlinger and Anna Marie Barlow, lyrics by Hal Hackady
Hal Hackady
Hal Hackady is an American lyricist, librettist, and screenwriter.Hackady began his career writing teleplays for early anthology series General Electric Theater and Alfred Hitchcock Presents...
, and music by Don Gohman. It is based on the 1903 Henry James
Henry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Ambassadors
The Ambassadors
The Ambassadors is a 1903 novel by Henry James, originally published as a serial in the North American Review . This dark comedy, one of the masterpieces of James's final period, follows the trip of protagonist Lewis Lambert Strether to Europe in pursuit of Chad, his widowed fiancée's supposedly...
.
The show was first produced at Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
in London on October 19, 1971, and ran for 86 performances. The production was directed by Stone Widney, choreographed by Gillian Lynne
Gillian Lynne
Gillian Barbara Lynne , CBE, born , is a British ballerina, dancer, actor, theatre director, television director and choreographer noted for her popular theatre choreography associated with the iconic musicals Cats and the current longest running show in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera.-...
, and starred Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
as Lewis Lambert Strether, Danielle Darrieux
Danielle Darrieux
Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux is a French actress and singer, who has appeared in more than 110 films since 1931. She is one of France's great movie stars and her eight-decade career is among the longest in film history....
as Marie de Vionnet, Margaret Courtenay as Amelia Newsome, Judith Paris as Sarah, and Blain Fairman as Bilham.
Despite the show's poor reception in London, the producers decided to bring it to Broadway. The show went through several re-writes which included cutting the first scene. The Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production, directed by Widney, conducted by Herbert Grossman
Herbert Grossman
Herbert Grossman was an American conductor who was chiefly known for his work within opera and musical theatre.-Early life and education:...
and choreographed, because of Miss Lynne's unavailability, by Joyce Trisler, opened on November 19, 1972 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 205 West 46th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by the architectural firm of Carrere and Hastings, it was built by producer Charles Dillingham and opened as the Globe Theatre, in honor of London's Shakespearean playhouse, on...
, where it ran for 29 performances. The cast included Keel as Lewis, Darrieux as Marie, Michael J. Shannon as Chad, Andrea Marcovicci
Andrea Marcovicci
Andrea Louisa Marcovicci is an American actress and singer.- Biography :Marcovicci was born in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of Helen , a singer, and Eugen Marcovicci, a physician and internist of Romanian descent. In her teens, she decided that she wanted to be a singer, but instead...
as Jeanne de Vionnet, M'el Dowd as Amelia Newsome, and Nicholas Dante
Nicholas Dante
Nicholas Dante was an American dancer and writer, best-known for having co-written the book of the musical A Chorus Line.-Biography:...
as the bellboy.
Synopsis
Lewis Lambert Strether experiences a clash of cultures when he journeys to 1906 ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to find his fiancée's wayward son and bring him back to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to take his rightful place as heir to the family fortune. The strait-laced Strether's mission falls by the wayside when he finds the openness of the European lifestyle far more attractive than his stifling existence and comes to the realization the only rescue the young man requires is from the values of his manipulative mother.
Song list
Act I- Lambert's Quandary
- Lilas
- I Know the Man
- The Right Time, the Right Place
- She Passed My Way
- Something More
- Love Finds the Lonely
- Surprise
- Happy Man
Act II
- Lilas, What Happened to Paris
- Young with Him
- Too Much to Forgive
- Why Do Women Have to Call It Love
- Mama
- That's What I Need Tonight
- Gossip
- Not Tomorrow
- All of My Life
- Thank You, No
External links
- Don Gohman Papers, 1946-1974 Music Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
- Internet Broadway Database listing
- Production information from Flyrope.com
- Information about the cast recording and London cast