Welcome to the Club is a 1989 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...

 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 music and lyrics by Cy Coleman

Cy Coleman

Cy Coleman was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist.-Life and career:He was born Seymour Kaufman on June 14, 1929, in New York City to Eastern European Jewish parents, and was raised in the Bronx. His mother, Ida was an apartment landlady and his father was a brickmason...

. Despite its run of only twelve performances, it was nominated for some 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...

s and other honors.

The musical, set in a 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...

 jail

Jail

A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...

 for alimony

Alimony

Alimony is a U.S. term denoting a legal obligation to provide financial support to one's spouse from the other spouse after marital separation or from the ex-spouse upon divorce...

 violators, opened on April 13, 1989 at the Music Box Theatre

Music Box Theatre

The Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...

. The director of the production was Peter Mark Schifter.

Reviews were poor; the New York Times deemed it "embarrassingly out of touch with the present-day realities of men, women, sex, marriage and divorce", with limited praise given to Coleman's "inconsistent" score. The musical closed nine days after its opening, on April 22nd, and was considered a flop. However, the musical was nominated for two Tonys: Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Scott Wentworth

Scott Wentworth

Scott Wentworth is an American actor currently living and working primarily in Canada.After starting his career in New York City, he began a long association with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in the 1985 production of The Glass Menagerie...

) and Best Direction of a Musical (Schifter). In addition, actress Sally Mayes

Sally Mayes

-Biography:Born in Livingston, Texas, Mayes began her career as a rock and jazz singer in Houston. She made her Broadway debut in April 1989 as Winona Shook in Cy Coleman's Welcome to the Club. For her performance she won a Theatre World Award. This was followed by her appearance in the original...

, in her Broadway debut, won a 1989 Theatre World award.

Songs

Act I

• A Place Called Alimony Jail - Husbands and Wives
• Pay the Lawyer - Husbands
• Mrs. Meltzer Wants the Money Now! - Arlene Meltzer and Husbands
• That's a Woman - Aaron Bates, Carol Bates and Wives
• Piece of Cake - Eve Aiken and Bruce Aiken
• Rio - Milton Meltzer, Arlene Meltzer, Wives and Gus Bottomly
• Holidays - Arlene Meltzer
• The Trouble with You - Aaron Bates, Carol Bates, Husbands and Wives
• Mother-in-Law - Husbands
• At My Side - Bruce Aiken and Kevin Bursteter

Act II

• Southern Comfort - Winona Shook, Aaron Bates, Wives and Husbands
• The Two of Us - Bruce Aiken and Milton Meltzer
• It's Love! It's Love! - Gus Bottomly and Husbands
• The Name of Love - Carol Bates
• Miami Beach - Arlene Meltzer and Husbands
• Guilty - Winona Shook
• Love Behind Bars - Winona Shook, Aaron Bates and Wives
• At My Side (Reprise) - Kevin Bursteter and Betty Bursteter
• It Wouldn't Be You - Husbands and Wives