First musical not to have an overture

[morosco]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:21am

In this article Priscilla Lopez says that A CHORUS LINE was the first musical not to have an overture. I never gave this much thought. Is it a fact?
FIRST PERSON: Priscilla Lopez: From the Line to the Heights

[AnnaK<3LMIP]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:24am

I don't know, but I love overtures. It seems like no one else does, but it always hurts me a little when there is no overture.com

[Boq101]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:27am

Well I understand A Chorus Line not having and overture, because then the show wouldn't seem as real. You could count the audition process as an overture if you'd like. It's all music, almost no singing...

[morosco]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:28am

I love overtures too. But an overture for A CHORUS LINE would just be so wrong for the show.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:31am

What about Company, Hair, Zorba!, The Happy Time, Two Gentlemen of Verona ...

Updated On: 7/4/07 at 11:31 AM

[jv92]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:31am

I think it was Sunny Hill or Sunny Farm. It was a Kern and Hammerstein show that was about New Orleans. It opened similarly to Carousel, which did not have an overture.
I think that Ms. Lopez is forgetting a few crucial shows before Chorus Line without overtures- Cabaret and Company for example.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:32am

"A Chorus Line" has an overture, Bennet decided to not use it, and therefore it's not in the show, in any format. Back when the revival's recording came out there was an article in the NY Times about the loss of the overture, and while "A Chorus Line" is usually credited as the first, I want to say there were 3 or 4 shows prior that did not have one. Does "Company" have one??

[ElFantasma14]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:35am

"A Chorus Line" has no overture because Bennett wanted to acquaint the audience with the dead silence that meets auditioners as they're waiting for their audition to start.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:38am

Company never had one, no. Nor did several other shows before 1975.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:44am

""A Chorus Line" has an overture, Bennet decided to not use it..."

Are you sure about that husk_charmer? It has always been my understanding that an overture was ruled out very early so it doesn't seem like any energy would have been wasted on creating one. (And I think the ACL "overture" that Marvin Hamlisch plays in his concert performances is pure schtick.)

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:47am

I was gonna say Carousel...I guess you could say it's the first very well-known musical to not have an overture. It's funny, I'm reading a book analyzing the music in the best musicals, and I just started Carousel, and read about the Carousel Waltz and why they decided to do that in place of an overture and why it worked. Rodgers was never a fan of overtures, he always felt that there was too much brass and not enough strings, so the only parts you could hear are melodies that are blasted. There's this whole debate about whether the Carousel Waltz was originally written for this radio program, but anyway...it introduces all the major musical elements that makes the music to Carousel so distinct.

And let's not forget West Side Story in terms of shows without overtures long before Chorus Line. (Even though the production that's currently licensed does include one, the original just started with the Prologue. Bernstein wrote the overture but then decided not to use it).

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:48am

CABARET doesn't have an overture, does it?

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:54am

Ms. Lopez is forgetting a few crucial shows before Chorus Line without overtures- Cabaret and Company for example.

There you go, ljay.

[Boq101]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 11:55am

I think it just starts with the Drumroll, Cabaret's "overture" is the Entr'acte, by which I mean they play instrumental tracks of songs in the show.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 12:04pm

morosco-
It was written with the intention of being there, but was cut before it started at the Public...it has since been tweaked into what is played at Hamlisch's concerts.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 12:05pm

Lady in the Dark really doesn't have an Overture either.

[morosco]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 12:14pm

husk_charmer-
Thanks for the info. I found further reading here...
Whatever Happened to the Overture?

[sondhead]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 12:16pm

""A Chorus Line" has an overture, Bennet decided to not use it, and therefore it's not in the show, in any format. Back when the revival's recording came out there was an article in the NY Times about the loss of the overture, and while "A Chorus Line" is usually credited as the first, I want to say there were 3 or 4 shows prior that did not have one. Does "Company" have one??"

I read that article. It was ridiculous. It obviously gave no mind to the purpose of an overture as anything other than 3 minutes of music at the beginning of a show. Anyone who has seen A Chorus Line would know that an overture would feel completely out of place there.

Anyone who's heard the Chorus Line overture also know how poor it is. Hamlisch has never been a good overture writer. The "They're Playing Our Song" Overture is terrible as is "Smile"s.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 12:21pm

Wow sondhead, way to say exactly what I said.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 12:25pm

The Sound of Music comes to mind as one that did not have an overture...and that's from 1959.

I am not sure if the original Showboat had one, but I'd assume they did.

[elmore3003]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 1:04pm

If you're talking Broadway, the 1903 BABES IN TOYLAND at the torn-down 59th Street Majestic Theatre had no Overture: after 30 seconds or so of introductory music the Prologue began in pantomime.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 1:07pm

>Anyone who's heard the Chorus Line overture also know how poor it is. Hamlisch has never been a good overture writer.<

Usually, the Overture is the work of the orchestrator, not the composer. The composer might have a hand in the routine or layout, but very few composers actually did the actual work.

>The "They're Playing Our Song" Overture is terrible<

The Overture is really a brief play-thru of the title song, but the Entr'acte is pretty special. Is that what you are calling "terrible"? Quite a bit of They're Playing Our Song was orchestrated by Ralph Burns, who I don't think wrote a bad chart in his life.

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 1:37pm

I think the first musical not to have an overture is CAROUSEL!!!

The whole thing starts with the Carousel Waltz played by the orchestra.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 2:08pm

Fiddler doesn't have an overture, I'm 99% sure...

I think there were plenty before 1976 that didn't have one.

[TapTapTapioca]

Posted: 7/4/07 at 2:13pm

Usually, the Overture is the work of the orchestrator, not the composer. The composer might have a hand in the routine or layout, but very few composers actually did the actual work.

I thought that the music arranger wrote it. I know Glen Kelly wrote it for The Producers.