Jennie
Encyclopedia
For the Douglas Preston
novel, see Jennie (novel)
.
For the name, see Jennifer (given name)
Jennie is a musical
with a book by Arnold Schulman
, music by Arthur Schwartz
, and lyrics by Howard Dietz
, and starred Mary Martin
.
The plot focuses on actors and married couple Jennie Malone and James O'Connor, who tour the country in popular melodrama
s. Much of the action consists of elaborate spoof
s of the type of entertainment offered to audiences in the early 20th century.
's early life and career, based on a biography
written by her daughter Marguerite Courtney. While it was still in its early stages, a non-musical adaptation of the book starring Judy Holliday
closed after a week in New Haven. Undaunted, the creative team forged ahead, tailoring what was then called Blood and Thunder specifically for the talents of Mary Martin
who, with her husband Richard Halliday, agreed to produce the show with Cheryl Crawford
. Martin and Halliday financed half of the $500,000 production costs and Crawford and Alan Pakula the other half.
S. N. Behrman
used Taylor's son Dwight's biography as a source for the musical's book, which centered on Taylor's husband Charles and the various women in his life, all portrayed by Martin. His book ultimately was abandoned, and Shulman was called in to write a new version, which fiction
alized the story and its characters. The end result bore no resemblance to either the original concept or Taylor.
Jennie was plagued with problems from the start. In Boston
,
the major character of Jennie's second husband (J. Hartley Manners, who was to be played by Robin Bailey) was eliminated, and Carol Haney
replaced Matt Mattox
as choreographer. Schwartz sued the Boston Globe and its critic Kevin Kelly, on the basis that his review implied the composer had "stolen or plagiarized" from other composers. In summarizing the Boston reviews, The New York Times noted that while the critics unanimously praised Martin, they were "disappointed" in the show. It was "too long, too cultured, and sometimes even too solemn for its own good", according to Elliot Norton of The Record American.
In Detroit, the leading man was replaced (George Wallace replaced Dennis O'Keefe), and animosity developed between Schwartz and Dietz and the Hallidays, who decided not to bring the show to New York City
. When the composers threatened to sue the couple for the $1.35 million advance sale, they agreed to open as scheduled.
Broadway
The musical opened on Broadway
at the Majestic Theatre on October 17, 1963 and closed on December 28, 1963, after 82 performances and four previews. Directed by Vincent J. Donehue
, choreographed by Matt Mattox (official IBDB credits) and with costumes by Irene Sharaff
, the cast included George D. Wallace
as O'Connor, Robin Bailey
as Cromwell, Jack De Lon as Abe O'Shaughnessy, Jeremiah Morris
as The Bear, Sydney Harris, and Indian Fakir, and Ethel Shutta
as Nellie Malone.
The critics were delighted by the score and Martin's slapstick
antics but found little else to praise. Howard Taubman, in The New York Times wrote: "Not that Miss Martin has lost her luster...she continues to be a game and resourceful trouper, willing to do an impossible backbend while being carried aloft and game enough to let herself be whirled head over heels on a torture rack and come up smiling and belting out a top note." Walter Kerr
reviewing in the Herald Tribune wrote: "a woeful tale of some woeful people told in a woeful way." This was Martin's first Broadway flop (though she starred in "Nice Goin'" and "Dancing in the Streets" which closed out-of-town
s; they are both an acting team and married couple. In a small town in South Dakota, Jennie is appearing in the play "The Mountie Gets His Man, or Chang Lu, King of the White Slaver", and must perch on a tree limb, which lowers her over a fake waterfall. In another play, Jennie plays Shalimar in "The Sultan's Last Bride" with bells on her fingers. Jennie and James, with cane and straw hat, do a soft-shoe dance in another show.
When Jennie leaves her husband the English playwright
Christopher Lawrence Cromwell offers her work.
Act II
Douglas Preston
Douglas Preston is an American author who has written seventeen popular techno-thriller and horror novels, four alone and the rest with Lincoln Child...
novel, see Jennie (novel)
Jennie (novel)
Jennie is a novel by American author Douglas Preston published in 1994.-Plot summary:Jennie is a chimpanzee, living in the 1970s.Naturalist Dr. Hugo Archibald delivers Jennie from her dying mother in the Cameroons and brings her home to his American family. His young son, Sandy, becomes extremely...
.
For the name, see Jennifer (given name)
Jennifer (given name)
Jennifer is a female given name; it became a common first name for females in English-speaking countries during the 20th century. The name Jennifer is a Cornish variant of Guinevere, meaning The White Fay or White Ghost...
Jennie 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 Arnold Schulman
Arnold Schulman
Arnold Schulman is an American playwright, screenwriter, producer, a songwriter and novelist. He was a stage actor long associated with the American Theatre Wing and the Actors Studio....
, music by Arthur Schwartz
Arthur Schwartz
Arthur Schwartz was an American composer and film producer.Schwartz supported his legal studies at New York University and postgraduate studies at Columbia University by playing piano before concentrating his talents on vaudeville, Broadway theatre and Hollywood.Among his Broadway musicals are The...
, and lyrics by Howard Dietz
Howard Dietz
Howard Dietz was an American publicist, lyricist, and librettist.-Biography:Dietz was born in New York City and studied journalism at Columbia University...
, and starred Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
.
The plot focuses on actors and married couple Jennie Malone and James O'Connor, who tour the country in popular melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
s. Much of the action consists of elaborate spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
s of the type of entertainment offered to audiences in the early 20th century.
Background
In the late 1950s, the project began as an account of actress Laurette TaylorLaurette Taylor
Laurette Taylor was an American stage and silent film actress.-Personal life:Laurette Taylor was born in New York City of Irish extraction as Loretta Helen Cooney.-Personal life:...
's early life and career, based on a biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
written by her daughter Marguerite Courtney. While it was still in its early stages, a non-musical adaptation of the book starring Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday was an American actress.Holliday began her career as part of a night-club act, before working in Broadway plays and musicals...
closed after a week in New Haven. Undaunted, the creative team forged ahead, tailoring what was then called Blood and Thunder specifically for the talents of Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
who, with her husband Richard Halliday, agreed to produce the show with Cheryl Crawford
Cheryl Crawford
Cheryl Crawford was an American theatre producer and director.Born in Akron, Ohio, Crawford majored in drama at Smith College. Following graduation, she moved to New York City and enrolled at the Theatre Guild's school...
. Martin and Halliday financed half of the $500,000 production costs and Crawford and Alan Pakula the other half.
S. N. Behrman
S. N. Behrman
Samuel Nathaniel Behrman was an American playwright and screenwriter, who also worked for the New York Times.-Early Years:...
used Taylor's son Dwight's biography as a source for the musical's book, which centered on Taylor's husband Charles and the various women in his life, all portrayed by Martin. His book ultimately was abandoned, and Shulman was called in to write a new version, which fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
alized the story and its characters. The end result bore no resemblance to either the original concept or Taylor.
Productions
Out-of-town tryoutsJennie was plagued with problems from the start. In Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
,
the major character of Jennie's second husband (J. Hartley Manners, who was to be played by Robin Bailey) was eliminated, and Carol Haney
Carol Haney
Carol Haney was an American dancer and actress. After assisting Gene Kelly in choreographing films, Haney won a Tony Award for her role in The Pajama Game...
replaced Matt Mattox
Matt Mattox
Matt Mattox is a jazz and ballet dancer.Mattox was a protegé of the legendary jazz dance pioneer Jack Cole, with whom he worked on Broadway in Magdalena . His other Broadway credits include Harry Beaton in the 1957 revival of Brigadoon. Mattox also performed concert engagements with his own...
as choreographer. Schwartz sued the Boston Globe and its critic Kevin Kelly, on the basis that his review implied the composer had "stolen or plagiarized" from other composers. In summarizing the Boston reviews, The New York Times noted that while the critics unanimously praised Martin, they were "disappointed" in the show. It was "too long, too cultured, and sometimes even too solemn for its own good", according to Elliot Norton of The Record American.
In Detroit, the leading man was replaced (George Wallace replaced Dennis O'Keefe), and animosity developed between Schwartz and Dietz and the Hallidays, who decided not to bring the show to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. When the composers threatened to sue the couple for the $1.35 million advance sale, they agreed to open as scheduled.
Broadway
The musical opened on 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...
at the Majestic Theatre on October 17, 1963 and closed on December 28, 1963, after 82 performances and four previews. Directed by Vincent J. Donehue
Vincent J. Donehue
Vincent Julian Donehue was an American director noted mainly for his theatre work, with occasional film and television credits....
, choreographed by Matt Mattox (official IBDB credits) and with costumes by Irene Sharaff
Irene Sharaff
Irene Sharaff was an American costume designer for stage and screen. Her work earned her five Academy Awards and a Tony Award.- Background :...
, the cast included George D. Wallace
George D. Wallace
George Dewey Wallace was an American stage and screen actor.Wallace co-starred with Mary Martin in the Broadway musical Jennie and was nominated for a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for playing the male lead in New Girl in Town opposite Gwen Verdon...
as O'Connor, Robin Bailey
Robin Bailey
Robin Bailey was an English actor. He was born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.Although often chosen for upper class and tradition-bound roles such as Judge Graves in Thames Television's Rumpole Of The Bailey, Bailey is perhaps most fondly remembered for his portrayal of Uncle Mort in I Didn't Know...
as Cromwell, Jack De Lon as Abe O'Shaughnessy, Jeremiah Morris
Jeremiah Morris
Jeremiah Morris was an American actor and television and theater director...
as The Bear, Sydney Harris, and Indian Fakir, and Ethel Shutta
Ethel Shutta
Ethel Shutta was an American actress and singer, who came to prominence through her performances on Jack Benny's radio show, her role in the early Eddie Cantor musical Whoopee!, and her Broadway comeback in Follies at the age of 74.By age 7, she was known as "the little girl with the big voice"...
as Nellie Malone.
The critics were delighted by the score and Martin's slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
antics but found little else to praise. Howard Taubman, in The New York Times wrote: "Not that Miss Martin has lost her luster...she continues to be a game and resourceful trouper, willing to do an impossible backbend while being carried aloft and game enough to let herself be whirled head over heels on a torture rack and come up smiling and belting out a top note." Walter Kerr
Walter Kerr
For the RN admiral see Lord Walter KerrWalter Francis Kerr was an American writer and Broadway theater critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals.-Biography:...
reviewing in the Herald Tribune wrote: "a woeful tale of some woeful people told in a woeful way." This was Martin's first Broadway flop (though she starred in "Nice Goin'" and "Dancing in the Streets" which closed out-of-town
Synopsis
In 1906 Jennie Malone and James O'Connor tour the United States in popular melodramaMelodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
s; they are both an acting team and married couple. In a small town in South Dakota, Jennie is appearing in the play "The Mountie Gets His Man, or Chang Lu, King of the White Slaver", and must perch on a tree limb, which lowers her over a fake waterfall. In another play, Jennie plays Shalimar in "The Sultan's Last Bride" with bells on her fingers. Jennie and James, with cane and straw hat, do a soft-shoe dance in another show.
When Jennie leaves her husband the English playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Christopher Lawrence Cromwell offers her work.
Song list
Act I- Waitin' for the Evening Train - Jennie Malone and James O'Conner
- When You're Far Away from New York Town - Abe O'Shaughnessy and Company
- I Still Look at You That Way - Jennie Malone
- When You're Far Away from New York Town (Reprise)
- For Better or Worse - Nellie Malone
- Born Again - James O'Conner, Abe O'Shaughnessy and Company
- Over Here - Christopher Lawrence Cromwell and Jennie Malone
- Before I Kiss the World Good-Bye - Jennie Malone
- Sauce Diable - Dancing Ensemble
- Where You Are - Christopher Lawrence Cromwell and Jennie Malone
- The Jig - Christopher Lawrence Cromwell, Jennie Malone and Company
- See Seattle - James O'Conner
Act II
- High Is Better Than Low - James O'Conner, Jennie Malone and Company
- The Night May Be Dark - Jennie Malone and Nellie Malone
- Dance Rehearsal - Harem Girls
- I Believe in Takin' a Chance - James O'Conner and Abe O'Shaughnessy
- Welcome - Harem Girls
- Lonely Nights - Jennie Malone
- Before I Kiss the World Good-Bye (Reprise) - Jennie Malone