Carmelina is a musical

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 Joseph Stein

Joseph Stein

Joseph Stein was an American playwright best known for writing the books for such musicals as Fiddler on the Roof and Zorba.-Biography:...

 and Alan Jay Lerner

Alan Jay Lerner

Alan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both the stage and on film...

, lyrics by Lerner, and music by Burton Lane

Burton Lane

Burton Lane was an American composer and lyricist. His most popular and successful work is the musical Finian's Rainbow, "the score for which Lane will always be most remembered."-Biography:...

.

Based on the 1968 film Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell is a 1968 American comedy film directed by Melvin Frank, who co-wrote the original screenplay with Denis Norden and Sheldon Keller.The United Artists release was filmed at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome...

(which also inspired the book for Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia! is a stage musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, former members of the band. Although the title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia", the plot is fictional, not...

), it focuses on an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 woman who has raised her teenaged daughter Gia to believe her father was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 who died heroically in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Supposedly she spurns the constant advances of local café owner Vittorio because her heart still belongs to the man she tragically lost. In reality, she had affairs with three different GIs and has no idea who fathered the girl. Trouble ensues when the three veterans decide to reunite in Carmelina's small hometown.

After eleven previews, 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 José Ferrer

José Ferrer

José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...

 and choreographed by Peter Gennaro

Peter Gennaro

Peter Gennaro was an American dancer and choreographer.-Biography:Gennaro was born in Metairie, Louisiana. He made his Broadway debut in the ensemble of Make Mine Manhattan in 1948. He followed this with Kiss Me, Kate and Guys and Dolls...

, opened on April 8, 1979 at the St. James Theatre

St. James Theatre

The St. James Theatre is located at 246 W. 44th St. Broadway, New York City, New York. It was built by Abraham L. Erlanger, theatrical producer and a founding member of the Theatrical Syndicate, on the site of the original Sardi's restaurant. It opened in 1927 as The Erlanger...

, where it ran for only seventeen performances. The cast included Georgia Brown

Georgia Brown (English singer)

Georgia Brown was a British singer and actress.Born Lillian Claire Laizer Getel Klot in the East End of London to Mark and Annie Kirschenbaum Klot, Jewish immigrants to the United Kingdom, she was dispatched to Wales during the Blitz to escape the bombings in London...

, Cesare Siepi

Cesare Siepi

Cesare Siepi was an Italian opera singer, generally considered to have been one of the finest basses of the post-war period. His voice was characterised by a deep, warm timbre, and a ringing, vibrant upper register. On stage, his tall, striking presence and elegance of phrasing made him a natural...

, Grace Keagy

Grace Keagy

Grace Keagy was an American actress, best-known for her work on the stage in character roles. She is best known for her Drama Desk Award nominated performance as "Rosa" in the original 1979 production of Joseph Stein and Alan Jay Lerner's Carmelina.-Career:Keagy was born in Youngstown, Ohio and...

, and Josie de Guzman

Josie de Guzman

Josie de Guzman is an American actress of Puerto Rican descent best known for work in the theatre. After studying at the Boston Conservatory of Music, Guzman made her Broadway debut in 1978 as Lidia in the original production of Elizabeth Swados's Runaways...

.

A nomination for Best Original Score was its sole recognition from the Tony Awards committee.

A cast recording was released in 1980 on the Original Cast

Original Cast (record label)

Original Cast Records is a record label based in Georgetown, Connecticut, that specialises in obscure theatre recordings, primarily cast albums from little-known Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway and other stage productions, but also theatre-related film scores, cabaret, concert and solo...

 label, which specialises in preserving musicals that might not otherwise be recorded. Co-produced by Bruce and Doris Yeko, the LP was made with the participation of original Broadway cast members Georgia Brown, Josie de Guzman, Grace Keagy, Gordon Ramsey

Gordon Ramsey

Gordon Ramsey was an American television, stage and voice actor, who was based in New York City.Some of his notable performances included hosting a local children's television show as "Bozo the Clown" and voicing characters in the animated series Star Blazers...

 and Howard Ross. Leading man Cesare Siepi declined to participate in the project, so his role on the recording was filled by Paul Sorvino

Paul Sorvino

Paul Anthony Sorvino is an American actor. He often portrays authority figures on both sides of the law, and is possibly best known for his roles as Paulie Cicero, a portrayal of Paul Vario in the film Goodfellas and Sgt. Phil Cerreta on the police procedural and legal drama television series Law...

.

Song list

Act I

• It's Time for a Love Song
• Why Him?
• I Must Have Her
• Someone in April
• Signora Campbell
• Love Before Breakfast
• Yankee Doodles Are Coming to Town
• One More Walk Around the Garden
• All That He'd Want Me To Be
• It's Time for a Love Song (Reprise)

Act II

• Carmelina
• The Image of Me
• I'm a Woman
• The Image of You
• It's Time for a Love Song (Reprise)