MUSICAL NOTES AND MORE
A Practical Guide To Staffing and Staging Standards of the American
Musical Theatre
By Carol Lucha-Burns
Edited by Cathleen Duffy
DEDICATED TO MY PARENTS, FAMILY AND STUDENTS
AND TO CHOREOGRAPHER COLLEAGUES JEAN MATTOX AND GAY NARDONE.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This is to acknowledge the following people who helped in the completion of this
CD-ROM. Show synopses credit individual authors so they are not listed here. Thanks to:
Cathleen Duffy, for editorial perseverance; Sarah Scharff O’Malley, Gene Lauze,
for pushing the project forward; John M. Burns, for being a computer literate, supportive
spouse; Erik Haagensen, for incredible knowledge of Musical Theatre and assistance for the
past 20 years; and Mike Wood, for HTML support. Others, who assisted on specific entries
are many of my former UNH students, are credited on specific entries.
ORGANIZATION OF MUSICAL NOTES AND MORE
Entries are organized in the following manner. They begin with the name of the show,
authors, composers, lyricists, the show’s source and information on the
original source. This introductory data is followed by information on the Original
Production. This includes the name of the theatre, date of opening, number of
performances, director, choreographer, musical director, arranger, principals and their
vocal type. Immediately following is a section entitled Chorus and Smaller Roles. This is
usually not according to the original production, but a recommended minimum.
The production information is followed by an in depth Synopsis of each show with
musical numbers in capital letters for quick reference. This section attempts to give the
reader a “feeling” of the show by detailing the story, capturing the
essence of the characters, and giving specific scenic locations.
The Notes on the Production section includes Tony Awards, ideas on technical and
costume requirements, possible pitfalls and budget requirements.
Songs of Special Interest details certain songs suitable for classroom study and
Revues. Instrumentation gives the full orchestration sent by the various rental
organizations. It is possible to trim the size, but this is best left to each musical
director.
The final entry includes data on published materials and the names of the various
Licensing Agencies. The agencies’ full names and addresses are given in the
appendix on sources. Many Scripts are not published, but are available in manuscript form
from the rental agencies. These are listed with an NP. The Records or CDs of most shows
have been published, and their publishing houses are listed. Score means the full score
was published in its complete form while Vocal Selections refers to the collection of the
more popular songs from the shows. This collection is usually geared for the home piano
player and not written in the original key. If Score, Selections or Record is not included
it means the material is not yet commercially available.
Some of the entries may appear to be incomplete, having combined the synopsis with the
notes on the production. This was done in the case of Rock, Nostalgia or Concept Musicals,
which have more complicated production requirements that need to be explained within the
synopsis. It is hoped that this will help the reader to better understand the show.
Musical Notes and More is a work in progress; new shows will be added periodically.