The Comedy of Errors (1976 musical)
Encyclopedia
The Comedy of Errors is a musical
with a book and lyrics by Trevor Nunn
and music by Guy Woolfenden
. It is based on the William Shakespeare
play of the same title
, which previously was adapted for the musical stage as The Boys from Syracuse
by Richard Rodgers
, Lorenz Hart
, and George Abbott
in 1938. The London production won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical
in 1977.
, Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse are mistaken for their long-lost twin brothers Dromio and Antipholus of Ephesus by Adriana, who is married to the latter. Certain her husband's wandering eye has noticed the many temptations awaiting him in town, she is determined to win back his undivided attention. Comic complications arise when she pursues the wrong Antipholus and tries to woo him home.
Theatre critic Irving Wardle
said of the score, "It does not give you much to hum on the way out, but it supplies a springboard into dramatic song and dance." The original Royal Shakespeare Company
production received generally good reviews and was described as "stylish, colorful, and rich in comic detail" by various critics.
production, directed by Nunn, choreographed by Gillian Lynne
, and designed by John Napier
, opened at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
in Stratford-upon-Avon
on 29 September 1976. The cast included Mike Gwilym
as Antipholus of Ephesus, Roger Rees
as Antipholus of Syracuse, Nickolas Grace
as Dromio of Ephesus, Michael Williams as Dromio of Syracuse, and Judi Dench
as Adriana, with Francesca Annis
, Richard Griffiths
, Griffith Jones
, and John Woodvine
in supporting roles.
The production later transferred to the Aldwych Theatre
in the West End
in London, where it won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical
in 1977.
Philip Casson directed a television production based on Nunn's concept for ITV
. Featuring most of the original cast, the programme was broadcast on 18 April 1978.
The Acting Company
staged the musical at the Women's Project Theater in New York City
in May 2001. It was directed by John Rando
and choreographed by Joey McKneely. The production then toured the United States, playing in, among other venues, the Scottsdale Center for the Arts in Scottsdale, Arizona
in April 2001.
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 Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
and music by Guy Woolfenden
Guy Woolfenden
Guy Anthony Woolfenden OBE is an English composer and conductor.-Biography:Woolfenden was born in Ipswich and educated at Westminster Abbey Choir School, London, and Whitgift School, Croydon. He studied music at Christ's College in Cambridge and went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music...
. It is based on the William Shakespeare
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"...
play of the same title
The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
, which previously was adapted for the musical stage as The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors, as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporary rhythms of the 1930s. The show was the first musical...
by Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
, Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
, and George Abbott
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than nine decades.-Early years:...
in 1938. The London production won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical
Olivier Award for Best New Musical
The Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical is an annual presentation by The Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial British musical theatre...
in 1977.
Background
While enjoying a holiday in EphesusEphesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
, Antipholus and Dromio of Syracuse are mistaken for their long-lost twin brothers Dromio and Antipholus of Ephesus by Adriana, who is married to the latter. Certain her husband's wandering eye has noticed the many temptations awaiting him in town, she is determined to win back his undivided attention. Comic complications arise when she pursues the wrong Antipholus and tries to woo him home.
Theatre critic Irving Wardle
Irving Wardle
John Irving Wardle is an English writer and theatre critic.He was born on 20 July 1929 in Manchester, Lancashire, the son of John Wardle and his wife Nellie . His father was drama critic on the Bolton Evening News, and a regular performer at the Bolton Little Theatre...
said of the score, "It does not give you much to hum on the way out, but it supplies a springboard into dramatic song and dance." The original Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
production received generally good reviews and was described as "stylish, colorful, and rich in comic detail" by various critics.
Productions
The Royal Shakespeare CompanyRoyal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
production, directed by Nunn, choreographed by Gillian Lynne
Gillian Lynne
Gillian Barbara Lynne , CBE, born , is a British ballerina, dancer, actor, theatre director, television director and choreographer noted for her popular theatre choreography associated with the iconic musicals Cats and the current longest running show in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera.-...
, and designed by John Napier
John Napier
John Napier of Merchiston – also signed as Neper, Nepair – named Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish mathematician, physicist, astronomer & astrologer, and also the 8th Laird of Merchistoun. He was the son of Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston. John Napier is most renowned as the discoverer...
, opened at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the British playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon...
in Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
on 29 September 1976. The cast included Mike Gwilym
Mike Gwilym
-Early life:Born in Neath, Gwilym is the brother of actor Robert Gwilym, son of Arthur Aubrey Remington Gwilym and Renée Mathilde Eugénie Léonce Dupont. His parents were the proprietors of a women's clothing chain in Wales. Mike's Belgian maternal grandfather was the oil industrialist Edmond Jules...
as Antipholus of Ephesus, Roger Rees
Roger Rees
Roger Rees is a Welsh actor. He is best known to American audiences for playing the characters Robin Colcord on the American television sitcom show Cheers and Lord John Marbury on the American television drama The West Wing...
as Antipholus of Syracuse, Nickolas Grace
Nickolas Grace
Nickolas Grace is a British actor known for his roles on television, including Anthony Blanche in the acclaimed ITV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited and the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1980s series Robin of Sherwood...
as Dromio of Ephesus, Michael Williams as Dromio of Syracuse, and Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
as Adriana, with Francesca Annis
Francesca Annis
Francesca Annis is an English actress, known for her film and television appearances, most recently in the BBC series Wives and Daughters, Cranford, and Deceit.-Early life and education:...
, Richard Griffiths
Richard Griffiths
Richard Griffiths, OBE is an English actor of stage, film and television. He has received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actor and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor...
, Griffith Jones
Griffith Jones (actor)
Griffith Jones was an English film, stage and television actor.Born in London, England, Jones was the son of a Welsh-speaking dairy owner. In 1932, he married Robin Isaac, and they had two children: the actors Gemma Jones and Nicholas Jones...
, and John Woodvine
John Woodvine
John Woodvine is an English stage and screen actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles.-Early life:...
in supporting roles.
The production later transferred to the Aldwych Theatre
Aldwych Theatre
The Aldwych Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Aldwych in the City of Westminster. The theatre was listed Grade II on 20 July 1971. Its seating capacity is 1,200.-Origins:...
in the 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...
in London, where it won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical
Olivier Award for Best New Musical
The Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical is an annual presentation by The Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial British musical theatre...
in 1977.
Philip Casson directed a television production based on Nunn's concept for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. Featuring most of the original cast, the programme was broadcast on 18 April 1978.
The Acting Company
The Acting Company
The Acting Company is a theatre company associated with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1972 by John Houseman, then a professor of acting at the Juilliard School...
staged the musical at the Women's Project Theater in 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...
in May 2001. It was directed by John Rando
John Rando
John Rando is an American stage director, winning the Tony Award for his direction of the musical Urinetown in 2002.-Stage productions:* 1994 Broken Glass * 2000 The Dinner Party* 2001 A Thousand Clowns...
and choreographed by Joey McKneely. The production then toured the United States, playing in, among other venues, the Scottsdale Center for the Arts in Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
in April 2001.