Category Archives: N

Musicals staring with letter N

No No Nanette

No, No, Nanette is one of the most popular musicals of the 1920s and enjoyed a fantastic revival in 1971 on Broadway. Featuring music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Irving Caesar, the show is based on the 1919 play ‘My Lady Friends’ by Frank Mandel, who also wrote the book of the musical. The plot involves three couples who come together in Atlantic City in the midst of a blackmail scheme and follows typical farce conventions. The show was successful in its original US tour, before opening in London and later on Broadway. Two film versions have been made, and adaptations continue to be created. The 1971 revival was updated by Burt Shevelove who also directed the production. It is now a favourite piece for American school groups and amateur theatre companies.

No No Nanette 1971 Revival Playbill

Vincent Youmans

Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach

Frank Mandel and Otto Harbach

H. H. Frazee

H. H. Frazee

Sammy Lee

Productions
No No Nanette Original London

Original London Production

Palace Theatre - Opened 11 Mar 1925, closed 1 Jan 1970, 665 performances

No No Nanette Original Broadway

Original Broadway Production

Globe Theatre - Opened 16 Sep 1925, closed 1 Jan 1970, 321 performances

Cast: Louise Groody, Charles Winniger, Josephine Whittell, Wellington Cross, Eleanor Dawn, Georgia O’Ramsey, Mary Lawlor, John Barker

No No Nanette Broadway Revival

Broadway Revival

46th Street Theatre - Opened 19 Jan 1971, closed 3 Feb 1973, 861 performances

Cast: Helen Gallagher, Bobby Van, Jack Gilford, Patsy Kelly, Susan Watson, Dana Swenson

No No Nanette Encores! Revival

New York Concert Revival

Encore! City Center - Opened 1 May 2008, closed 1 Jan 1970

Cast: Sandy Duncan, Beth Leavel, Rosie O’Donnell



What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Jimmy Smith is a millionaire Bible publisher who loves giving his money away to philanthropic causes, much to the displeasure of his wife, Sue, who tries to keep a tight reign on the family’s finances. Their friends Lucille and Billy are the opposite, with Lucille spending every penny Billy earns. Jimmy and Sue are raising a feisty young girl named Nanette, who they have tried to bring up in a respectable way. Unbeknownst to Sue, Jimmy is also giving money to three young girls in a naively platonic way.

Nanette is the subject of a lot of male attention, and has attracted a number of suitors. While visiting Sue, Lucille takes the opportunity to tell Nanette that too much flirtation is not a good thing (“Too Many Rings Around Rosie”). Nanette finally falls in love with Billy’s straitlaced nephew, Tom (“I’ve Confessed to the Breeze”), who wants to get married as soon as possible, but Nanette is not ready to settle down just yet.

Jimmy’s three lady friends attempt to blackmail him, and reluctant for Sue to discover he has been wasting money again, he enlists Billy’s help to get rid of them. Billy arranges to bring the girls to the family’s summer home in Atlantic City, but as both men have told their wives they’ll be away on business, Lucille and Sue decide to leave for the cottage as well.

Things are further complicated when Nanette decides to run off to Atlantic City as well, and gets $200 for the trip from Jimmy (“I Want to Be Happy”). Nanette becomes a “Peach on the Beach,” while Jimmy is confronted by the three girls who remind him of his broken promises (“The Three Happies”). Tom also arrives in Atlantic City and finds Nanette, and they imagine a happy life as a married couple (“Tea for Two”). Meanwhile, Lucille runs into Billy, who manages to convince her that nothing amiss is happening, and Lucille assures him he can “Dance With Any Girl at All” as long as he returns to her.

Sue finds Nanette has come to Atlantic City against her wishes and furiously sends her home. She also comes across the three girls talking to Billy and assumes he is having an affair with them. She tells Lucille, who confronts Billy, and in an effort to protect Jimmy, he does not deny it. Meanwhile, Tom has had enough of Nanette’s partying antics and ends their relationship.
Everyone heads back to New York City after the events on the coast. Billy attempts to reconcile with Lucille but is interrupted by the three meddling girls (“Telephone Girlie”). Lucille is devastated by her perception of Billy’s betrayal and sings the “Where-Has-My-Hubby-Gone Blues.”

Finally Tom finds his love for Nanette again and proposes to her; Nanette resolves to leave her single days behind and agrees to get married (“Waiting for You”). Jimmy arrives and unravels the confusion with the three girls, and both couples make up. Sue decides that in order to prevent Jimmy from wasting his money, she should spend it all on herself and buys a fabulous party dress. The entire cast join in the jubilant finale “Take a Little One-Step.”

Songs
  • Overture
  • Too Many Rings Around Rosie
  • I’ve Confessed to the Breeze
  • Call of the Sea
  • I Want to be happy
  • No no Nanette
  • Peach on the Beach
  • Tea for Two
  • You Can Dance With Any Girl at All
  • Telephone Girlie
  • Finaletto Act II
  • Where Has My Hubby Gone Blues
  • Waiting for You
  • Take a Little One Step
Awards

1971 Tony Awards: Best Actress in a Musical (Helen Gallagher), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Patsy Kelly), Best Costume Design (Raoul Pene Du Bois), Best Choreography (Donald Saddler).

Nominated for: Best Actor in a Musical (Bobby Van),  Best Direction (Shevelove)

Licensing

UK: Music Scope UK

USA: Tams-Witmark

 

Nine

Nine is written by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit and is based on the Italian film maker Federico Fellini’s semi-autobiographical film ’8 1/2′. The show concerns the film director Guido Contini who is facing a midlife crisis as he struggles to put together his latest film. Set in 1960s Venice, the show had a spectacular original production on Broadway and has since been made into a movie starring Antonio Banderas.

nine

Maury Yeston

Maury Yeston

Arthur Kopit & Mario Fratti

Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½

Michel Stuart, Harvey Klaris & Roger Berlind

Tommy Tune

Tommy Tune & Thommie Walsh

Productions
Nine Original Broadway

Original Broadway Production

46th Street Theatre - Opened 9 May 1982, closed 1 Jan 1970, 729 performances

Cast: Raul Julia, Karen Akers, Liliane Montevecchi, Anita Morris, Shelly Burch, Camille Saviola, Kathi Moss, Cameron Johann, and Taina Elg

Nine London

Festival Hall Production

Royal Festival Hall - Opened 7 Jun 1992, closed 1 Jan 1970

Cast: Raul Julia, Karen Akers, Liliane Montevecchi, Anita Morris, Shelly Burch, Camille Saviola, Kathi Moss, Cameron Johann, and Taina Elg

Nine Donmar

Donmar Warehouse Production

Donmar Warehouse - Opened 12 Dec 1996, closed 1 Mar 1996

Nine Broadway Revival

Broadway Revival

Eugene O'Neill - Opened 10 Apr 2003, closed 1 Jan 1970, 283 performances



What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

The show opens as Guido Contini, the famous Italian film director turns forty and faces a mid-life crisis. He is struggling to write the script for his next film and his marriage is on the verge of breaking down due to his lack of attention. After being married to film star Luisa del Forno, her words are drowned out by those of the other women in his life and his past and current lovers who have created the division in his marriage.

The pair retire away from the public eye to a Spa town but are soon followed by the press. Guido tells Luisa about his next project and she is not impressed. His mistress arrives in Venice and tempts him with a naughty phone call as he struggles to find a topic on which he can successfully write about. His producer Liliane La Fleur adds pressure and tells him he needs to write a musical, reminicing about her days at the Folies Bergeres. Luisa laments her husband’s job and the tension it creates in their marriage.

Through a flashback we see Guido’s relationship with his mother who bathed him as a child. He watches his young self sneak out of his catholic school to the beach where he meets with Saraghina the prostitute who teaches him all about love. She teaches him a dance and we see how the punnishment from the nuns and rejection from his mother affected him growing up. As the young Guido runs back to the beach, Saraghina has vanished.

In the present day Guido is again on the beach where he meets Claudia, his usual muse who he asks for help with his latest film. She turns down the role and he is upset, not noticing that she loves him too and as she prepares to leave him he is stuck with inspiration. He decides to make the movie with every woman in his life.

The film becomes an improvised collision between real life and art as the women on set declare their feelings and issues, and Guido struggles to contain everyone together. Luisa is captured in a scene of ultimate desolation and their marriage ends in shatters. Guido is left alone where he contemplates suicide, lamenting the fact that he can’t make the movie. As he prepares to shoot himself, he sees his 9 year old self who tells him it is time to move on. The women return this time to let him go, apart from Luisa and he finally realises the aching void left by the only woman he ever loved.

Songs

Act I

  • Overture Delle Donne” – Company
  • “Not Since Chaplin” – Company
  • “Guido’s Song” – Guido
  • “Coda di Guido” – Company
  • “The Germans at the Spa” – Maddelena, Italians, Germans
  • “My Husband Makes Movies” – Luisa
  • “A Call From the Vatican” – Carla
  • “Only With You” – Guido
  • “The Script/Folies Bergeres” – Lilli, Stephanie, Company
  • “Nine” – Mamma, Company
  • “Ti Voglio Bene/Be Italian” – Saraghina, Boys, Company
  • “The Bells of St. Sebastian” – Guido, Boys, Company
Act II
  • “A Man Like You/Unusual Way/Duet” – Claudia, Guido
  • “The Grand Canal” (Every Girl in Venice/Amor/Only You/Finale) – Guido, Company
  • “Simple” – Carla
  • “Be On Your Own” – Luisa
  • “I Can’t Make This Movie” – Guido
  • “Getting Tall” – Young Guido
  • “Nine/Long Ago/Nine” (Reprise) – Guido
Awards

1982 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Performance by a Featured Actress, Best Direction, Best Costume Design

1982 Drama Desk: Outstanding Musical Production, Outstanding Featured Actress, Outstanding Director, Outstanding Lyrics, Outstanding Music, Outstanding Costume Design, Outstanding Lighting Design.

2003 Tony Award: Best Revival, Best Featured Actress in a Musical

Licensing

UK: Samuel French

USA: Samuel French

 

Next to Normal

Next to Normal features music by Tom Kitt and Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey. The tight suburban drama focuses on a family who struggle to come to terms with the mother’s worsening bi-polar disoder. The show was developed off-Broadway and picked up a lot of positive press before opening on Broadway in 2009. The show was a critical hit and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Alice Ripley starred as Diana the mother and won the Tony Award for her magnificent portrayal.

Next to Normal

Tom Kitt

Brian Yorkey

Brian Yorkey

David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo and Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director;

Michael Greif

Sergio Trujillo

Productions
Next to Normal Original Broadway

Original Broadway Production

Booth Theatre - Opened 15 Apr 2009, closed 16 Jan 2011

Cast: Alice Ripley, J.Robert Spencer, Adam Chanler-Berat, Jennifer Damiano, Louis Hobson, Aaron Tveit



What was your favourite production? Add your thoughts in the comments box

Synopsis

Twitter Synopsis:

An suburban American family struggle to come to terms with the mother’s worsening bi-polar disorder brought on by a tragic family crisis

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A suburban family try to go about their normal lives whilst teetering on the edge of disaster. Diana sits up waiting for her son to return after his curfew whilst comforting her nervous daughter Natalie who suffers from overachieving. The next morning Diana’s husband Dan helps her prepare everyone for the day ahead, but an incident making sandwiches makes him think that something isn’t quite right. Natalie rehearses piano in a school practice room, and is interrupted by Henry who likes her music and has feelings for her.

Dan encourages Diana to visit the Doctor and over the course of a few weeks she is diagnosed with bipolar disorder which have been giving her hallucinations. She is put on medication to stabilise her feelings. Henry continues to pursue Natalie and she gives in to his advances, finally kissing him. Diana feels happy for her daughter, and her son encourages her to flush away her medications. Later, at a family Dinner Dan is feeling positive about Diana’s condition, until she enters with a birthday cake for her son. Dan explains to her that their son died 16 years ago and tries to comfort her, but her son tries to convince her to listen to him and ignore her living family. Natalie rushes off to vent to Henry and is confused at her mother’s feelings.

Dan takes Diana to the Doctor again, and despite her son’s continued efforts to assert himself, she finally convinces herself to let him go. She tries hypnotherapy which seems to help, although as she begins to clean out his room her son invites her to dance with him, and she does. Diana is then admitted to hospital and restrained and it is clear that she has been self harming. The Doctor explains that ECT will be used, but Diana lashes out and refuses the treatment. Dan tries his hardest to convince her that ECT is their last hope.

Whilst Diana undergoes a series of treatments Natalie begins to go off the rails with alcohol and drugs, and Henry is worried about her, inviting her to the school dance with him. Diana returns home and has lost 19 years worth of memory. The Doctor tells the family to help jog her memory with photos and stories which they do, but Diana knows there is something she wants to remember but can’t. As Henry arrives to see Natalie Diana studies his face convinced she knows him. She finds a music box that Natalie hid from her, and the memories of her son come flooding back to her. She argues with Dan who refuses to help her control the memory, and he smashes the music box, just as Henry arrives to take Natalie to the dance.

Her son reappears and she is rushed to the doctor again, but Diana refuses to take therapy. In an intimate moment, she explains her feelings to Natalie for the first time and urges her to go and meet Henry at the school dance. Diana decides to leave Dan as not to be a weight around his neck. Their son appears to taunt Dan and he faces the boy, revealing his name to be Gabriel.

Natalie comes home to see her father distressed and they both comfort each other saying things will somehow be alright. Diana goes to stay with her parents, and although she is still ill she is more hopeful. Their lives continue and Gabe continues to watch over them all.

Songs

Act I 

  • “Prelude” – Orchestra
  • “Just Another Day” – Diana, Natalie, Gabe, Dan, Henry, Doctor Madden
  • “Everything Else” – Natalie
  • “Who’s Crazy” / “My Psychopharmacologist and I” – Dan, Doctor Fine, Diana, ensemble
  • “Perfect for You” – Henry, Natalie
  • “I Miss the Mountains” – Diana
  • “It’s Gonna Be Good” – Dan, Natalie, Gabe, Henry,
  • “He’s Not Here” – Dan
  • “You Don’t Know” – Diana
  • “I Am the One” – Dan, Gabe, Diana
  • “Superboy and the Invisible Girl” – Natalie, Diana, Gabe
  • “I’m Alive” – Gabe
  • “Make Up Your Mind” / “Catch Me I’m Falling” – Doctor Madden, Diana, Dan, Natalie, Gabe
  • “I Dreamed a Dance” – Diana, Gabe
  • “There’s a World” – Gabe
  • “I’ve Been” – Dan
  • “Didn’t I See This Movie?” – Diana
  • “A Light in the Dark” – Dan, Diana
Act II 
 
  • “Wish I Were Here” – Diana, Natalie
  • “Song of Forgetting” – Dan, Diana, Natalie
  • “Hey #1″ – Henry, Natalie
  • “Seconds and Years” – Doctor Madden, Dan, Diana
  • “Better Than Before” – Doctor Madden, Dan, Natalie, Diana
  • “Aftershocks” – Gabe
  • “Hey #2″ – Henry, Natalie
  • “You Don’t Know” (Reprise) – Diana, Doctor Madden
  • “How Could I Ever Forget?” – Diana, Dan
  • “It’s Gonna Be Good” (Reprise) – Dan, Diana
  • “Why Stay?” / “A Promise” – Diana, Natalie, Dan, Henry
  • “I’m Alive” (Reprise) – Gabe
  • “The Break” – Diana
  • “Make Up Your Mind” / “Catch Me I’m Falling” (Reprise) – Doctor Madden, Diana, Gabe
  • “Maybe (Next to Normal)” – Diana, Natalie
  • “Hey #3″ / “Perfect for You” (Reprise) – Henry, Natalie
  • “So Anyway” – Diana
  • “I Am the One” (Reprise) – Dan, Gabe
  • “Light” – Diana, Dan, Natalie, Gabe, Henry, Doctor Madden
Awards

2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

2009 Tony Awards: Best Orchestrations, Best Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley), Best Original Score.

Licensing

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: Musical Theatre International