Look to the Lilies 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 Leonard Spigelgass

Leonard Spigelgass

Leonard Spigelgass was an American film producer and screenwriter.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Spigelgass got his start collaborating on the script for Erich Von Stroheim's Hello, Sister!...

, lyrics by Sammy Cahn

Sammy Cahn

Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...

, and music by Jule Styne

Jule Styne

Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...

.

Based on the novel

Lilies of the Field (novel)

Lilies of the Field is a 1962 semi-fictional novel by William Edmund Barrett that is based on the true story of the Sisters of Walburga. It was later adapted into the film Lilies of the Field, and for the musical stage with the title Look to the Lilies.It tells the story of a black itinerant worker...

 and 1963 film Lilies of the Field, it tells the story of an impoverished group of German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 nun

Nun

A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

s, headed by dauntless Mother Superior Maria, who coerce on-the-lam African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 Homer Smith to build a chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 for the New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

 community in which they live.

Background

Styne composed his score with Ethel Merman

Ethel Merman

Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...

 in mind, but director Joshua Logan

Joshua Logan

Joshua Lockwood Logan III was an American stage and film director and writer.-Early years:Logan was born in Texarkana, Texas, the son of Susan and Joshua Lockwood Logan. When he was three years old his father committed suicide...

 cast Shirley Booth

Shirley Booth

Shirley Booth was an American actress.Primarily a theatre actress, Booth's Broadway career began in 1925. Her most significant success was as Lola Delaney, in the drama Come Back, Little Sheba, for which she received a Tony Award in 1950...

 instead. Sammy Davis, Jr.

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....

's salary demands put him out of the running, and the role of Homer went to Al Freeman, Jr.

Al Freeman, Jr.

Al Freeman, Jr., M.Ed. is an African-American actor and director....

, whom Logan later described as "difficult" and "antagonistic."

Production

The musical premiered 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...

 on March 29, 1970 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 25 performances and 31 previews. In addition to Booth and Freeman, the cast included Taina Elg

Taina Elg

Taina Elg is a Finnish-American actress and dancer. She has appeared on stage, film and television.-Biography:She was born in Helsinki, but later raised in Turku by her parents, Helena Dobroumova and Åke Elg, a pianist. In 1957 she won the Golden Globe for the Foreign Newcomer Award - Female...

, Carmen Alvarez, Maria Di Dia, Gary Gendell, Marian Haraldson, Patti Karr, Maggie Task, and Maggie Worth.

It proved to be the last musical for Booth, who garnered unanimous raves from the critics. Raymond Bordner wrote: "MIss Booth is simply marvelous all the way, and it is a real treat to see her again on Broadway." Richard Watts, in the New York Post, mentioned "Miss Booth's warm and gracious appeal." They also praised designer Jo Mielziner

Jo Mielziner

Joseph "Jo" Mielziner was an American theatrical scenic, and lighting designer born in Paris, France. He is "the most successful set designer of the Golden era of Broadway", and worked on both stage plays and musicals.-Career:He was the son of artist Leo Mielziner, Sr...

's use of desert tones, projections, scrims, and lighting to create the atmosphere and mood of the desert

Desert

A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...

 Southwest

Southwestern United States

The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...

, but found little else of merit in the show.

Song list

Act I

• Gott is Gut
• First Class Number One Bum
• Himmlisher Vater
• Follow the Lamb
• Don't Talk About God
• When I Was Young
• Meet My Seester
• One Little Brick at a Time
• To Do a Little Good
• There Comes a Time
• Why Can't He See
• I'd Sure Like to Give It a Shot

Act II

• Them and They
• Does It Really Matter
• Look to the Lilies
• I Admire You Very Much Mr. Schmidt
• Some Kind of Man
• Chant
• Casamagordo, New Mexico
• Follow the Lamb (Reprise)
• One Little Brick at a Time (Reprise)
• I, Yes Me, That's Who

External links

• Time Magazine review