Charlie and Algernon 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 and lyrics by David Rogers and music by Charles Strouse

Charles Strouse

Charles Strouse is an American composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Strouse was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ira and Ethel Strouse...

. It is based on the novel Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960...

by Daniel Keyes

Daniel Keyes

Daniel Keyes is an American author best known for his Hugo award-winning short story and Nebula award-winning novel Flowers for Algernon. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.-Early life and career:Keyes was born in Brooklyn, New...

. It received its premiere on 21 December 1978 at The Citadel Theater, in Edmonton, Canada.

The title characters are a mentally retarded

Mental retardation

Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...

 man and a laboratory

Laboratory

A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...

 mouse

Mouse

A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...

, respectively. Charlie volunteers to participate in an experiment

Experiment

An experiment is a methodical procedure carried out with the goal of verifying, falsifying, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis. Experiments vary greatly in their goal and scale, but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results...

al intelligence

Intelligence

Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....

-enhancing treatment, and his rapid progress parallels that of Algernon, who had been treated earlier. When the mouse's enhanced intelligence begins to fade, Charlie realizes he too is fated to revert to his original mental state.

A 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 was directed by Louis W. Scheeder and choreographed by Virginia Freeman. After 12 previews, it opened on September 14, 1980 at the Helen Hayes Theatre

Helen Hayes Theatre

Helen Hayes Theatre with 597 seats is the smallest Broadway theatre and is located at 240 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan....

 and ran for 17 performances. The cast included P. J. Benjamin and Sandy Faison

Sandy Faison

Sandy Faison is an American actress and singer.In 1977, Faison made her Broadway debut as Grace Farrell, secretary to Daddy Warbucks, in Annie. Additional theatre credits include Charlie and Algernon, Is there life after high school?, and You Can't Take It With You.Faison's feature film credits...

.

On June 14, 1979, the musical opened as Flowers for Algernon at Queen's Theatre

Queen's Theatre

The Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

's West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 with Michael Crawford

Michael Crawford

Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...

 as Charlie. In the London staging, Michael Crawford performed one number in a spotlight while the trained white mouse ran from one of his hands to the other, by way of Crawford's shoulders and neck. The audience reaction to this was so positive that Crawford repeated it with another live mouse (while playing an entirely different character) in 2003 while starring in the West End musical The Woman in White

The Woman in White (musical)

The Woman in White is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Zippel with a book by Charlotte Jones, based on the novel The Woman in White written by Wilkie Collins...

.

Charlie and Algernon was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Original Score

Tony Award for Best Original Score

The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics...

. A London cast album was released on the Original Cast Records label.

West End song list

• His Name is Charlie Gordon
• I Got a Friend
• Some Bright Morning
• Our Boy Charlie
• Hey Look at Me!
• Reading
• No Surprises
• Midnight Riding
• Dream Safe With Me
• I Can't Tell You
• Now
• Charlie and Algernon
• The Maze
• Whatever Time There Is
• Charlie
• I Really Loved You

Broadway song list

• Have I the Right
• I Got a Friend
• Some Bright Morning
• Jelly Donuts and Chocolate Cake
• Hey Look at Me
• Reading
• No Surprises
• Midnight Riding
• Dream Safe with Me
• Not Another Day Like This
• Somebody New
• I Can't Tell You
• Now
• Charlie and Algernon
• The Maze
• Whatever Time There Is
• Everything Was Perfect
• Charlie
• I Really Loved You
• Whatever Time There Is (Reprise)

External links

• Musical Notes, synopsis and details of the musical
• Internet Broadway Database entry
• Flowers for Algernon song list