The Three Musketeers 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 William Anthony McGuire

William Anthony McGuire

William Anthony McGuire was a playwright, theatre director, and producer and an Academy Award-winning American screenwriter. He won an Oscar for the 1936 film The Great Ziegfeld....

, lyrics by Clifford Grey and P. G. Wodehouse

P. G. Wodehouse

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...

, and music by Rudolf Friml

Rudolf Friml

Rudolf Friml was a composer of operettas, musicals, songs and piano pieces, as well as a pianist. After musical training and a brief performing career in his native Prague, Friml moved to the United States, where he became a composer...

. It is based on the classic 1844 novel

The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard...

 by 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...

.

Set in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1626, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan

D'Artagnan

Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, Comte d'Artagnan served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard and died at the Siege of Maastricht in the Franco-Dutch War. A fictionalized account of his life by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras formed the basis for the d'Artagnan Romances of...

 after he leaves home to become a Musketeer of the Guard

Musketeers of the Guard

The Musketeers of the Guard were a fighting company of the military branch of the Maison du Roi, the Royal Household of the French monarchy.-History:...

. The three men of the title are his friends Athos

Athos (fictional character)

Olivier d'Athos de la Fère, Comte de la Fère is a fictional character, a Musketeer of the Guard in the novels The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas, père....

, Porthos

Porthos

Porthos, Baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds is a fictional character in the novels The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers Athos and Aramis are friends of the novel's protagonist, d'Artagnan...

, and Aramis

Aramis

C. René d'Aramis de Vannes is a fictional character in the novels The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas, père...

.

Production history

The original 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...

 production was produced by Florenz Ziegfeld

Florenz Ziegfeld

Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. , , was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat...

, directed by librettist

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 McGuire, and choreographed by Albertina Rasch

Albertina Rasch

Albertina Rasch was a naturalized American dancer and choreographer.-Early life:Born in Vienna in 1891 to a family of Polish Jewish descent, Rasch studied at the Vienna State Opera Ballet school and became leading ballerina at the New York Hippodrome in...

. It opened on March 13, 1928 at the Lyric Theatre

Lyric Theatre (New York)

The Lyric Theatre was a prominent Broadway theatre built in 1903 in Manhattan, New York City in the 42nd Street Theatre District. It had two entrances, one at 213 West 42nd Street and another at 214-26 West 43rd Street and was one of the few New York houses that had two formal entrances. In 1934,...

 and ran for 318 performances. The cast included Dennis King

Dennis King (actor)

Dennis King was an English actor and singer.Born in Coventry as Dennis Pratt, King had a stage career in both drama and musicals. He emigrated to the USA in 1921 and went on to a successful career on the Broadway stage. He appeared in two musical films and played non-singing roles in two other...

 as d'Artagnan, Douglass R. Dumbrille as Athos, Detmar Poppen as Porthos, Joseph Macaulay as Aramis, Clarence Derwent

Clarence Derwent Awards

The Clarence Derwent Awards are theatre awards given annually by the Actors' Equity Association on Broadway in the United States and by Equity, the performers union, in the West End in the United Kingdom....

 as Louis XIII of France

Louis XIII of France

Louis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...

, and Reginald Owen

Reginald Owen

John Reginald Owen was a British character actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American movies and later in television programs.-Personal:...

 as Cardinal Richelieu.

King reprised his role for a 1930 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...

 production at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...

 that ran for 242 performances.

A 1984 revival with a new book by Mark Bramble

Mark Bramble

Mark Bramble is a theatre director, author and producer. He has been nominated for the Tony Award three times, for the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for Barnum and 42nd Street and Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical, 42nd Street .-Biography:Mark Bramble has been involved in the...

 was directed by Joe Layton

Joe Layton

Joe Layton was an American director and choreographer known primarily for his work on Broadway.-Biography:Born Joseph Lichtman in Brooklyn, New York, Layton began his career as a dancer in Wonderful Town , and he appeared uncredited in the ensemble of the original live TV production of Rodgers and...

, with dance choreography by Lester Wilson and sword fights and stunts staged by Steve Dunnington. After 15 previews, it opened on November 11 at The Broadway Theatre

The Broadway Theatre

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

and closed after 9 performances. The cast included Michael Praed

Michael Praed

Michael Praed born Michael David Prince, 1 April 1960 in Berkeley, Gloucestershire) is a British actor, is probably best known for his role as Robin of Loxley in the British television series Robin of Sherwood, which attained cult status worldwide in the 1980s...

 as d'Artagnan, Chuck Wagner

Chuck Wagner

Chuck Wagner is an American actor, Director, Musical Theatre Historian, and Teacher.-Education and early career:Wagner was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Hartsville, Tennessee. He attended public school in Gallatin, TN...

 as Athos, Ron Taylor

Ron Taylor (actor)

Ronald James Taylor was an American actor, singer and writer. He grew up in Galveston, Texas and later moved to New York to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After graduating, he began working in musical theater, appearing in The Wiz , before getting his break with the 1982...

 as Porthos, Brent Spiner

Brent Spiner

Brent Jay Spiner is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films. His portrayal of Data in Star Trek: First Contact and of Dr...

 as Aramis, Roy Brocksmith

Roy Brocksmith

-Biography:Brocksmith was born in Quincy, Illinois, the son of Vera Marguerite and Otis E. Brocksmith, who was a mechanic. He graduated from Quincy University in 1970. He then moved to New York City where he began a career on Broadway...

 as Louis XIII, Liz Callaway

Liz Callaway

Liz Callaway is an American actress and singer, famous for providing the singing voices of many female characters in films, such as Anya in Anastasia, Odette in The Swan Princess, and Kiara in The Lion King II:Simba's Pride....

 as Lady Constance Bonacieux, Marianne Tatum as Milday de Winter, Ed Dixon as Cardinal Richelieu, and Mark McGrath

Mark McGrath

Mark Sayers McGrath is an American singer of the rock band Sugar Ray. McGrath is also known for his work as a co-host of Extra, and he was the host of Don't Forget the Lyrics! in 2010...

 as one of the Cardinal's guards. In his review in the New York Times, Frank Rich

Frank Rich

Frank Rich is an American essayist and op-ed columnist who wrote for The New York Times from 1980, when he was appointed its chief theatre critic, until 2011...

 observed:

"The Three Musketeers is a good-natured attempt to jazz up Rudolf Friml's Dumas-inspired operetta

Operetta

Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...

, a Florenz Ziegfeld extravaganza of 1928, much as the New York Shakespeare Festival

New York Shakespeare Festival

New York Shakespeare Festival is the previous name of the New York City theatrical producing organization now known as the Public Theater. The Festival produced shows at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, as part of its free Shakespeare in the Park series, at the Public Theatre near Astor Place...

 retooled The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...

a few seasons ago. But this time the source material is many rungs below Gilbert and Sullivan

Gilbert and Sullivan

Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...

 - and the new accouterments add no wit, style, sexiness or show-biz dazzle.... The man behind this enterprise is Mark Bramble... [whose] idea of writing a musical book, as he has previously demonstrated in his collaborations on Barnum

Barnum (musical)

Barnum is a musical with a book by Mark Bramble, lyrics by Michael Stewart, and music by Cy Coleman. It is based on the life of showman P. T. Barnum, covering the period from 1835 through 1880 in America and major cities of the world where Barnum took his performing companies. The production...

and 42nd Street

42nd Street (musical)

42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...

, is to minimize the book. The baroque plot of The Three Musketeers is so frenetically and confusingly conveyed that no child is likely to understand who the Duke of Buckingham is, or why Cardinal Richelieu is such a pill, or why everyone is chasing after a diamond brooch throughout Act II.... The title characters have little dialogue and often seem like interchangeable stand-ins for the Three Stooges

Three Stooges

The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...

.... Joe Layton has tried to give the show the illusion of excitement by staging it at a frantic pace and by sending the actors running up and down the aisles... [but] everyone seems to be scurrying pointlessly about just to keep busy. After a while, the company begins to look like a road troupe of Camelot

Camelot (musical)

Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King....

on amphetamine

Amphetamine

Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...

s."

Tatum was nominated for the 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...

 for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.

Plot synopsis

After Cardinal Richelieu learns the Queen has a diamond heart, which was a present from the King to her, as a token of love to the Duke of Buckingham, a suggests the King should ask the Queen to wear it at a royal gala. Richelieu dispatches the Comte de Rochefort and Lady de Winter to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

to recover the gem, which he plans to unveil at the gala in order to reveal the Queen has been unfaithful. Meanwhile, the Queen asks her lady-in-waiting Constance to involve the Musketeers in the jewel's recovery, but trouble ensues when d’Artagnan steals it. After a rousing sword fight, the Musketeers reclaim it and bring it to the gala, where King Louis fastens it to the Queen's shoulder just as he did when he first gave it to her.

1928 song list

Act I

• Summer Time
• All for love
• The 'He' for Me
• My Sword
• Heart of Mine
• My Sword and I
• Vesper Bell
• Dreams
• Te Deum
• March of the Musketeers
• Colonel and Major
• Love is the Sun
• Heart of Mine
• Welcome to the Queen

Act II

• With Red Wine
• My Belle
• Kiss Before I Go
• Pages
• Queen of My Heart
• Gossip
• Until We Say Goodbye

1984 song list

Act I

• Prologue
• Gascony Bred
• All for love
• Only a Rose
• My Sword and I
• Carnival of Fools
• L'Amour, Toujours L'Amour
• Come to Us
• March of the Musketeers
• Bless My Soul
• Only a Rose (Reprise)
• Act One Finale

Act II

• Vive La France
• The Actor's Life
• My Belle
• The Chase
• My Belle (Reprise)
• Dreams
• L'Amour, Toujours L'Amour (Reprise)
• All For One (Reprise)
• Gossip
• Finale

External links

• Internet Broadway Database entry