Kean 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 Peter Stone

Peter Stone

Peter Hess Stone was an American writer for theater, television and movies.-Life and career:Stone was born in Los Angeles. His mother, Hilda , was a film writer, and his father, John Stone was the writer and producer of many silent films, including Shirley Temple and Charlie Chan movies...

 and music and lyrics by Robert Wright

Robert Wright (writer)

Robert [Craig] Wright was an American composer-lyricist for Hollywood and the musical theatre best known for the Broadway musical and musical film Kismet, for which he and his professional partner George Forrest adapted themes by Alexander Borodin and added lyrics...

 and George Forrest

George Forrest (author)

George Forrest was a writer of music and lyrics for musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin.-Biography:...

.

Using material by Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...

 and Alexandre Dumas, père

Alexandre Dumas, père

Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...

 as its source, it centers on the adventures of Edmund Kean

Edmund Kean

Edmund Kean was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever.-Early life:Kean was born in London. His father was probably Edmund Kean, an architect’s clerk, and his mother was an actress, Anne Carey, daughter of the 18th century composer and playwright Henry Carey...

, considered the greatest Shakespearean

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 of the 18th century, focusing primarily mainly on his wild behavior offstage. Trouble ensues as Kean desperately tries to juggle the two women in his life - the Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 Ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

's wife, Elena, and a young aspiring actress, Anna.

After one preview, the Broadway production

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...

, directed and choreographed by Jack Cole

Jack Cole (choreographer)

Jack Cole was an American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director known as the father of theatrical jazz dance.-Early life:...

, opened on November 2, 1961 at the Broadway Theatre

The Broadway Theatre

The Broadway Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1681 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan....

, where it ran for 92 performances. The cast included Roderick Cook

Roderick Cook

Roderick Cook was an English playwright, writer, theatre director and actor of stage, television and film...

, Alfred Drake

Alfred Drake

Alfred Drake was an American actor and singer.-Biography:Born as Alfred Capurro in New York City, the son of parents emigrated from Recco, Genoa, Drake began his Broadway career while still a student at Brooklyn College...

, Larry Fuller

Larry Fuller

Larry Fuller is an American choreographer, theatre director, dancer, and actor.Fuller began his career as a dancer/actor, appearing on Broadway in Carousel, The Music Man, Kean, Bravo Giovanni, and Funny Girl...

, Christopher Hewett

Christopher Hewett

Christopher Michael Hewett was an English actor and theatre director best known for his role as Lynn Belvedere on the ABC sitcom Mr. Belvedere.-Career:...

, Joan Weldon

Joan Weldon

Joan Weldon is an American film and television actress. She began her career singing in the San Francisco Grand Opera Company chorus. Later she became a contract actress with Warner Bros. where she remained until her contract ended in 1954...

, and Lee Venora

Lee Venora

Lee Venora is an American operatic soprano and stage actress. She was highly active with the New York City Opera between 1957 and 1967 and was also a regular performer at the San Francisco Opera between 1961 and 1966. She also appeared in a few Broadway musicals, Lincoln Center Revivals, and...

.

Drake was nominated for the Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

 for Best Actor in a Musical, and the show was nominated for Best Conductor and Musical Director.

An original cast recording was released by Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

. This album is one of the most valuable original cast albums because of its scarcity.

Song list

Act I

• Penny Plain, Twopence Colored
• Man and Shadow
• Mayfair Affair
• Sweet Danger
• Queue at Drury Lane
• King of London
• To Look Upon My Love
• Let's Improvise
• Elena
• Social Whirl
• The Fog and the Grog

Act II

• Civilized People
• Service for Service
• Willow, Willow, Willow
• Fracas at Old Drury
• Chime In
• Swept Away
• Domesticity
• Clown of London
• Apology?

External links

• Kean at the Internet Broadway Database
  Internet Broadway Database
  The Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....