The Me Nobody Knows
Encyclopedia
The Me Nobody Knows is a musical with music
by Gary William Friedman
and lyrics
by Will Holt
. It debuted off-Broadway
in 1970 and then transferred to Broadway
. It received the Obie Award
and a Tony Award
nomination for Best Musical. The musical is about underprivileged children in New York City
, taken from their own writings.
, who are "complex, introspective characters. Each 'I' is an authentic voice saying attention must be paid." The children are self-assertive in the face of difficult lives. There are various stories told through song by the cast of 12, 8 black and 4 white. One story is about a 13-year old boy taking heroin for the first time. Another involves a child shocked to hear a white boy order "milk and a nigger". A boy watches as a drunk black man is taken away in an ambulance after an accident. In the musical number "If I Had a Million Dollars" the ghetto
children ponder what they would do with the money and express "tightwad selfishness to outrageous spending sprees."
Act II
‡ These songs by The Staple Singers
("This World") and The 5th Dimension ("Light Sings") became hits.
) on May 18, 1970, and closed on November 15, 1970 after 208 performances. It then opened on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre
on December 18, 1970, transferred to the Longacre Theatre
, and closed on November 14, 1971 after 378 performances. Directed by Robert H. Livingston with musical staging by Patricia Birch
, the cast included a young Irene Cara
as Lillie Mae, Hattie Winston
as Nell, [Beverly Ann Bremers] as Catherine, and Northern J. Calloway.
The adaptation
by director Robert H. Livingston and additional lyricist Herb Schapiro was inspired by the anthologized writings of nearly 200 New York City students, aged 7 through 18. Stephen M. Joseph, a teacher, edited the collection, which was subtitled "Children's Voices From the Ghetto" and first published in 1969. The children wrote about "How I See Myself", "How I See My Neighboorhood", "The World Outside", and "Things I Can't See or Touch". According to Mr. Joseph, they wrote "for keeps" and "like it is." At odds with a squalid setting and a cynical, materialistic view of the world, themes of hope and renewal emerged. To guarantee uplift, samples from the students' work were interwoven with a ground-breaking score that combined rock music
, classical
fugue
s, early rap and jazz
.
The musical was revived by the American Stage Company at the Becton Theater, Fairleigh Dickinson University
, Teaneck, New Jersey
, in May 1993.
The German language version, "Ich Bin Ich" was premiered at the Bremen Stadt-Theater, Berman, Germany and was performed there and in Munich on a rotating basis. The stage director was Norman Foster, musical director, Noel Jones. The cast included the soprano who eventually became known as Donna Summers.
in reviewing for The Nation, wrote "What I cherished about the show is the talent and vitality of the cast, the bubble of its playfulness, the raciness of its expression which, with or without the advantages of privileged training among the actors, is still the product of the streets in the dim and sequestered parts of our town.
Clive Barnes
, the theatre critic for The New York Times
wrote (of the off-Broadway opening): "I loved it. I loved its understanding and compassion, and I loved its pain and yet also its unsentimental determination for hope." Steven Suskin noted that he agreed with Barnes and added "The Me was energetic, tuneful, talent-filled and thought-provoking."Barnes, in reviewing the musical upon the Broadway opening, noted that the musical was "one of the best musicals on Broadway-and unequivocally the most moving, the most poignant." He wrote that it offers "an insight into ghetto youth. It is raw, tough, and yet truly compassionate...The effect could be depressing but it isn't. The sheer tenacity of the human spirit against oppression, against rats, against drugs, against the numbing, almost soothing grind of poverty, is glorious and triumphant."
. The recording was released in CD form in September 2001 by 150 Music. (ASIN: B00005NSV9).
Drama Desk Award
Most Promising Musical Writers
1969–1970 Obie Awards
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
by Gary William Friedman
Gary William Friedman
Gary William Friedman is an American musician and composer. He completed his undergraduate work at Brooklyn College, and did advanced training in electronic music at Columbia University....
and lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
by Will Holt
Will Holt
Will Holt is an American singer, songwriter, librettist and lyricist known first and primarily as a folk performer during the 1950s and 1960s and as an interpreter of the music of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht in performances and recordings with Martha Schlamme...
. It debuted off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in 1970 and then transferred to 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...
. It received the Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
and a 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...
nomination for Best Musical. The musical is about underprivileged children 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...
, taken from their own writings.
Synopsis
There is no plot, but the theme is of children in poor neighborhoods of New York CityNew 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...
, who are "complex, introspective characters. Each 'I' is an authentic voice saying attention must be paid." The children are self-assertive in the face of difficult lives. There are various stories told through song by the cast of 12, 8 black and 4 white. One story is about a 13-year old boy taking heroin for the first time. Another involves a child shocked to hear a white boy order "milk and a nigger". A boy watches as a drunk black man is taken away in an ambulance after an accident. In the musical number "If I Had a Million Dollars" the ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
children ponder what they would do with the money and express "tightwad selfishness to outrageous spending sprees."
Songs
Act I- Dream Babies - Melba
- Light Sings ‡ - William and Company
- This World ‡ - Company
- Numbers - Company
- What Happens to Life - Lillian and Lloyd
- Take Hold the Crutch - Nell and Company
- Flying Milk and Runaway Plates - Benjamin and Company
- I Love What the Girls Have - Donald
- How I Feel - Catherine and Carlos
- If I Had A Million Dollars - Company
Act II
- Fugue for Four Girls - Lillie Mae, Catherine, Lillian and Nell
- Rejoice - Clorox
- Sounds - Nell and Catherine
- The Tree - Carlos
- Robert, Alvin, Wendell and Jo Jo - Rhoda, Lillian, Lillie Mae and William
- Jail-Life Walk - Donald, Lloyd, Clorox and Carlos
- Something Beautiful - Rhoda
- Black - Benjamin, Clorox, Lillie Mae, Lloyd, Melba, Nell, Rhoda and William
- The White Horse - Lloyd
- War Babies - Lloyd
- Let Me Come in - Company
‡ These songs by The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples , the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha , Pervis , Yvonne , and Mavis...
("This World") and The 5th Dimension ("Light Sings") became hits.
Productions
The Me Nobody Knows premiered off-Broadway at the Orpheum Theatre (New York CityNew 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...
) on May 18, 1970, and closed on November 15, 1970 after 208 performances. It then opened on Broadway 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....
on December 18, 1970, transferred to the Longacre Theatre
Longacre Theatre
The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 220 West 48th Street in midtown Manhattan.-Theatre History:Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts in 1912, it was named for Longacre Square, the original name for Times Square...
, and closed on November 14, 1971 after 378 performances. Directed by Robert H. Livingston with musical staging by Patricia Birch
Patricia Birch
Patricia Birch is an American choreographer and director for musical theatre and film.Born in Englewood, New Jersey, Birch began her career as a dancer in Broadway musicals, including Brigadoon, Goldilocks, and West Side Story . She has directed and choreographed music videos for Cyndi Lauper, the...
, the cast included a young Irene Cara
Irene Cara
Irene Cara is an American singer and actress. Cara won an Academy Award in 1984 in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing "Flashdance... What a Feeling." She is also known for her recording of the song "Fame", and she also starred in the 1980 film Fame.She married Hollywood stuntman...
as Lillie Mae, Hattie Winston
Hattie Winston
Hattie Mae Winston is an American television, film and Broadway actress best known for her role as Margaret on Becker and as a prominent cast member of the PBS children's series The Electric Company.-Early career:...
as Nell, [Beverly Ann Bremers] as Catherine, and Northern J. Calloway.
The adaptation
Theatrical adaptation
In a theatrical adaptation, material from another artistic medium, such as a novel or a film is re-written according to the needs and requirements of the theatre and turned into a play or musical....
by director Robert H. Livingston and additional lyricist Herb Schapiro was inspired by the anthologized writings of nearly 200 New York City students, aged 7 through 18. Stephen M. Joseph, a teacher, edited the collection, which was subtitled "Children's Voices From the Ghetto" and first published in 1969. The children wrote about "How I See Myself", "How I See My Neighboorhood", "The World Outside", and "Things I Can't See or Touch". According to Mr. Joseph, they wrote "for keeps" and "like it is." At odds with a squalid setting and a cynical, materialistic view of the world, themes of hope and renewal emerged. To guarantee uplift, samples from the students' work were interwoven with a ground-breaking score that combined rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
s, early rap and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
.
The musical was revived by the American Stage Company at the Becton Theater, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university founded as a junior college in 1942. It now has several campuses located in New Jersey, Canada, and the United Kingdom.-Description:...
, Teaneck, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, in May 1993.
The German language version, "Ich Bin Ich" was premiered at the Bremen Stadt-Theater, Berman, Germany and was performed there and in Munich on a rotating basis. The stage director was Norman Foster, musical director, Noel Jones. The cast included the soprano who eventually became known as Donna Summers.
Response
The musical was "universally praised for its candidness and honesty." Harold ClurmanHarold Clurman
Harold Edgar Clurman was a visionary American theatre director and drama critic, "one of the most influential in the United States". He was most notable as one of the three founders of the New York City's Group Theatre...
in reviewing for The Nation, wrote "What I cherished about the show is the talent and vitality of the cast, the bubble of its playfulness, the raciness of its expression which, with or without the advantages of privileged training among the actors, is still the product of the streets in the dim and sequestered parts of our town.
Clive Barnes
Clive Barnes (critic)
Clive Alexander Barnes, CBE was a British-born American writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977 he was the dance and theater critic for the New York Times, the most powerful position he had held, since its theater critics' reviews historically have had great influence on the success or failure of...
, the theatre critic for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote (of the off-Broadway opening): "I loved it. I loved its understanding and compassion, and I loved its pain and yet also its unsentimental determination for hope." Steven Suskin noted that he agreed with Barnes and added "The Me was energetic, tuneful, talent-filled and thought-provoking."Barnes, in reviewing the musical upon the Broadway opening, noted that the musical was "one of the best musicals on Broadway-and unequivocally the most moving, the most poignant." He wrote that it offers "an insight into ghetto youth. It is raw, tough, and yet truly compassionate...The effect could be depressing but it isn't. The sheer tenacity of the human spirit against oppression, against rats, against drugs, against the numbing, almost soothing grind of poverty, is glorious and triumphant."
Recording
The Original cast album was released January 1, 1970 by Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. The recording was released in CD form in September 2001 by 150 Music. (ASIN: B00005NSV9).
Awards and nominations
Tony AwardTony 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...
- Best Musical -- Produced by Jeff Britton (nominee)
- Best Book of a Musical -- Adapted by Robert H. Livingston, Herb Schapiro (nominee)
- Best Original Score -- Music by Gary William Friedman (nominee)
- Best Direction of a Musical -- Robert H. Livingston (nominee)
- Best Lyrics -- Lyrics by Will Holt (nominee)
Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
Most Promising Musical Writers
- Music by Gary William Friedman (winner); Lyrics by Will Holt (winner)
1969–1970 Obie Awards
- Best Musical