Carmelina?

[momlovesmillie]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 12:56pm

Hi everyone! I am a huge Marla Schaffel fan, and I know she's in a special this- weekend- only musical in New York right now. I was thinking about making the drive in (from Jersey) but don't know anything about "Carmelina". Is it worth seeing? Does anyone know anything about it?

[philcrosby]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 12:59pm

It's got a marvelous score by Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane, which has been preserved on CD by Paul Sorvino and Georgia Brown, along with members of the original cast. The story is based on the film "Buena Sera, Mrs. Campbell," which also, uncredited, the basis for MAMMA MIA.

It is well worth your visit!

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 1:16pm

I'll be at the Saturday matinee...very excited to see Marla's take on the role. Her voice is very different from Georgia's...should be interesting! My favorite songs are "Someone In April," "It's Time For A Love Song," and "I'm A Woman."
Updated On: 10/19/06 at 01:16 PM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 1:34pm

York did it in Mufti a few years ago with Debbie Gravitte in the lead, and the show is a delight. It's a mostly lovely score, and in the last reading, they took out "Yankee Doodles Are Coming to Town," which is a bit of a clunker, and had added a big new song for Carmelina in Act Two, the title of which escapes me. The song that always knocks me out, though, is "One More Walk Around the Garden". Lerner may have been stuck in a flop mode in his later career, but those lyrics are poetry.

[momlovesmillie]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 1:40pm

Wow!!

It definitely sounds interesting. THank you so much for the info!

I had no idea it was an Alan Jay Lerner show... wow. Did he have a lot of lesser known shows later in his career? I'm sure this one has beautiful lyrics.

I will definitely be buying tickets... and probably dragging along my 13- year- old daughter. Sorry to be a pain with questions, but do you think the show would have appeal to the theatre- going 13 year old?

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 2:07pm

SO SO excited to see this!! I've always wanted to see Carmelina, and I never thought I'd get to... it's such an underappreciated show.

If I was a theatre- going 13 year old, I'd definitely like it. I think it would be a safe bet you can bring her.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 2:22pm

I love the York Theater's Mufti series. They actually put on shows that Encores should really do...I think I like Mufti better, to be completely honest. Maybe next year, Mufti can do Wind in the Willows and Raggedy Ann! (wishful thinking)

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 2:23pm

I love the overture to this show!

One of the best.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 2:25pm

Yeah, Lerner was beset with flops, post-Loewe, including Lolita My Love, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Carmelina and Dance a Little Closer. All of those shows had some ambitions, so they are at least interesting flops, unlike the generally boring flops we have these days (In My Life excepted). And they each have their share of excellent, finely crafted songs amidst the detritus.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 2:30pm

I think the Overture for Carmelina was written especially for the recording. (I'm not even certain whether the show actually had an Overture, or opened with that prayer for Eddie Campbell, heard prior to "It's Time For a Love Song"). The show orchestrations were written by Hershey Kay, but the album used new orchestrations by Phil Lang.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:43pm

I hope "Yankee Doodles Are Coming To Town" is not cut for this incarnation.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:49pm

You're a glutton for punishment! It brings the whole score down a notch.

[WalkOn]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:50pm

SOMEONE IN APRIL is my favorite in the score.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:56pm

I'm a flopaholic and since I wasn't alive during its original run, I'd like to see this flop as it was originally done in 1979! There probably will be a few changes though...I'm sure it will still be a great show!

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 4:04pm

The previous York incarnation opened with "Carmelina" instead of "It's Time For a Love Song". Some other songs had some new lyrics and or titles. (I think "Love Before Breakfast" had new lyrics and a new title). It wasn't quite the Carmelina of 1979, but very enjoyable.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 4:40pm

If the York Theater already did Carmelina, why are they doing it again instead of some other lesser-known shows, such as Raggedy Ann and Wind in the Willows? Maybe these shows can finally get a studio recording! (like the York Theater did with Mata Hari)

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 5:24pm

Oh, I'd rather they hit Donnybrook!, Prettybelle, Goldilocks, Lolita My Love, We Take the Town, Pleasures and Palaces, The Prince of Grand Street or some other worthwhile flops before having to settle for the likes of Raggedy Ann or Wind in the Willows.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 5:32pm

But just for you, Without a Trace, here's the Nederlander marquee, circa 1985.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 7:19pm

omggg that marquee made my LIFE!!!!!

i am counting down the days (years? sad) until they do Prettybelle! that would rock!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 7:22pm

I actually saw it with Georgia Brown. I saw it & enjoyed it & the score is a treasure

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 8:09pm

WOW! That marquee is incredible! I really wish I could have seen that show...

Thanks for that, Smaxie!
Updated On: 10/19/06 at 08:09 PM

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 10:28pm

Yes, thank you Smaxie!

Though, Ethan Mordden's "Happiest Corpse I've Ever Seen" says that "Wind In The Willows" and "Raggedy Ann" both had their good points.

And, so as not to thread-jack, "It's Time For A Love Song" is one of the best. I seriously like Lerner and Lane better than I like Lerner and Lowe. I would love to hear what Alan and Burton wrote for the proposed musical version of "Huck Finn"...

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 12:37pm

So wonderful!!! Saw the show last night... cannot recommend it enough.

[Broadway Matt]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 3:48pm

Damn you guys aren't making it any easier for me to figure this out. I've finally got a Sunday off, and am trying to decide which I should go see: CARMELINA at the York or URINETOWN at Gallery Players. Decisions decisions! Last thing I saw at Mufti was DARLING OF THE DAY, which I imagine will be hard to top, but if y'all are recommending this one then I just might have to check it out tomorrow. I'd like to see Mufti do SHOGUN one year. That'd be something!

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 10/21/06 at 6:52pm

Saw it this afternoon and enjoyed it, but I didn't appreciate all the book rewrites. Two songs "Why Him?" and "Yankee Doodles Are Coming To Town" were cut, one song "Sorry As I Am" was added and a bunch of lyrics were rewritten. For example, "All That He'd Want Me To Be" was changed to "All That I Dreamed He Would Be," "Love Before Breakfast" was changed to "Love Me Tomorrow," and "I Must Have Her" was changed to "I Must Kill Her" and placed in Act 2 instead of Act 1. I would have also preferred that "It's Time For A Love Song" stayed at the beginning of the show instead of the Act 1 finale.

That being said, the story is still the same basic idea as it was in the original 1979 production, and I think (being the purist that I am) that I would have enjoyed the show more had I not had the cast recording memorized.

Marla Schaffel was excellent as Carmelina. I had no idea she could do such a great Italian accent. Ray Wills was great as Vittorio and Camille Saviola had some hilarious moments as Rosa. (after seeing this show, I can understand why Grace Keagy was nominated for a Drama Desk for the same role in the original cast...it is a great role)

The score is still wonderful and "One More Walk Around the Garden" gave me chills. The three men did a fabulous job with that song...the harmonies were perfect!

This is the third Mufti show I have seen and the only one where the cast members had to be on book for the dialogue AND the musical numbers. The past two I had seen (Is There Life After High School? and Take Me Along), the actors were on book for the dialogue but off book for the songs. Just an observation...which kind of pulled focus away from the show for me. Still, even with the book, the acting and singing were great.

I also attended the talkback after the show and it was interesting to learn that Georgia Brown and Cesare Siepi were not speaking off stage, which may have affected their chemistry on stage (which may be one of the reasons why the show only lasted 17 performances). Some speculated that Siepi was miscast...and as some of you know, he refused to be on the original cast recording (Paul Sorvino is on the recording).

About half of the audience at the talkback had seen the original production...I wish I could have seen it...too bad I wasn't born until three years after it closed...I hate being so young! When the York Theater starts doing shows that I did see the original productions of though, I may be singing a different tune...

If you love flops like I do, I would definitely recommend seeing this...it is not likely to be done anywhere else for a while.

Updated On: 10/21/06 at 06:52 PM