Here's Love (1963)

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 6/21/12 at 8:48pm

I heard about this show and am interested in finding the cast album. Can anyone help?
Also, does anybody know anything about this show?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/21/12 at 9:53pm

One of the first shows I saw. I believe Michael Bennett was one of. the dancers. It was a musical of "Miracle on 34 TH St". It starred Craig (Peter Gunn Stevens and Janis Paige.In the cast was than unknown Fred Gwynne. Music was Meredeth Wilson. One song not on the cast album was "The Plastic Alligator".It was a good but not a great show.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/21/12 at 10:42pm

What always intrigues me is the fact that an almost classic holiday pop song was jukebox-ed into the score by Willson, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas." The number wasn't written for the show (but was by Willson), but was added at its outset (yes?). One of the biggest problems of adapting this film, as opposed to say, CHRISTMAS STORY, is the structural nature of the source material. A whole second act about a court case against Santa, especially a department store edition, isn't very dramatic as a musical libretto. Whereas CHRISTMAS STORY builds to a Christmas morning, with domestic scenes in service of the ultimate reveal(s) re the critical air rifle, HERE'S LOVE is too divided up in focus, the mother-daughter cris, the Santa arc, the romance. It's musical fodder, but the center isn't strong enough perhaps. The show closest in feel: another near-miss BIG.

Updated On: 6/21/12 at 10:42 PM

[darquegk]

Posted: 6/21/12 at 11:41pm

Also, if I recall the anecdote, the creative team didn't want to cash in/sell out by naming the work "Miracle on 34th Street," thinking that the Meredith Wilson pedigree was enough. It wasn't, and the lack of name recognition eventually led to the work being licensed in regionals as "Miracle on 34th Street," similar to the way "A Wonderful Life" eventually caved and became "It's A Wonderful Life: The Musical."

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 12:38am

As a teen I played the opening number BIG CLOWN BALOONS over and over, it was great to dance to in the living room.

I loved that IT'S BEGINNING TO.... was included and counter melodied with PINE CONES AND HOLY BERRIES. It's a charming number.
Fred Gwynne had some stage exposure, he was also in IRMA LA DOUCE.

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 12:42am

MTI is now officially marketing it as Miracle as 34th street the musical.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 5:57am

I don't like when they change the titles of shows. The show was Here's Love, and that's what it should be called.

As for Here's Love itself, yes, the trial scene was a trial, and the score has its clunkers. Yet it offered enjoyment as well, and I too like The Big Clown Balloons, as well as the title song (that is, the real title).

[tazber]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 6:13am

The cast recording is available on amazon as an MP3. There are also a few hard copies for sale for around $17.00.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 6:34am

Agreed that "Clown Balloons" and the title song are infectious, the sort of songs Willson was famous for.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 7:52am

I saw HERE'S LOVE appropriately in the Christmas season. The theatre was half full, despite a score by Meredith Willson. I found it to be a downer, from start to finish. Give me the movie, MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET with it's great cast, especiallly Edmund Gwen as Kris Kringle and Gene Lockhart as the judge.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 9:58am

Here's Love opened big out of town with great buzz coming in from Detroit and Philly. There was a big advance with lots of groups and theatre parties. Then it opened in early October to a blah reception.

One of the hardest things with a Christmas themed show is selling it the other ten months of the year.

Whoever was the original director was canned on the road and producer Stuart Ostrow took over. Michael Kidd got all the good reviews however.

Lisa Kirk took over from Janis Paige, and I think Richard Kiley took over from Craig Stevens.

They may have made their money back, but just barely, and I can't remember if there was a post-Broadway tour. If it did tour, it wasn't for very long.

[NoName3]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 12:17pm

I thought John Payne had replaced Craig Stevens because I've seen Playbills on eBay with him and Lisa Kirk (there's one there now) and I remembered reading years ago how badly he had wanted the part when the show was being cast and had auditioned several times while he was still recovering from a near fatal accident when he was struck by a car on Madison Avenue. But IBDB says Kiley.

So I googled and found the interview linked below with Payne when he was starring in the show in the LA engagement of the national tour. He confirms the stories I remember of how badly he had tried to get the part originally and how the producers came back and asked him to do the tour, which he did after playing the part in New York for three weeks.


ETA that Norman Jewison was the director canned out of town.



John Payne in New Career After Near-Fatal Accident Updated On: 6/22/12 at 12:17 PM

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 1:11pm

Fred Gwynne had also done 2 seasons on television's CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU? so he wasn't exactly unknown.

I bought the LP years ago at a garage sale, listened to it a few times, and put it back on the shelf forevermore.

FWIW, aside from being a ho-hum show, HERE'S LOVE had the misfortune of opening only a month and a half before President Kennedy's assassination. Any boost it may have received from the upcoming holiday season may have been squelched by the somber mood of the nation. By the time HELLO, DOLLY! opened in January 1964, the country was ready to 'rejoin the human race', and DOLLY (a far superior show) became a national sensation, leaving HERE'S LOVE in the dust.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 6/22/12 at 10:30pm

The opening number, "The Big Calown Balloons," was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and it was a terrific number choreographed by Michael Kidd. It was so good, that the show itself never recovered; nothing else could match its exuberance, and neither the familiar story nor the middling score could make the show jump.

Not a bad show, but not good enough to have an afterlife.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 6/23/12 at 3:02am

I saw the original Broadway production. I was five. I found it tremendously boring.

When I was three, my parents took me to see "The Sound of Music" starring Mary Martin, which I adored. I remember it to this day with great fondness and affection. "Here's Love" I remember also...because I was annoyed with my parents for forcing me to sit through something so agonizingly bland.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 12/7/13 at 6:51pm

I was very surprised to learn this show is touring the UK, fifty years after what I read to be an inauspicious Broadway run. The producers are obviously a bit nervous since it is using the film's title (just as Sugar toured as Some Like it Hot a few years ago) and only playing for half a week in each town it visits. The Music Man was never a big success here either, which also makes it a curious choice of show.

Intrigued I decided to check it out and was pleasantly surprised - I found it to be sweet without being saccharine and, regarding it as a period piece, not without charm - kudos to a cast of unknowns who knew how to pitch the material just right. I guess there must have been some rewrites and editing at some point as the show barely lasted two hours including the interval and the ending felt contrived.

The Plastic Alligators song died in this production as well and the Trouble-in-River-City imitation was just that but there was much else to enjoy in the score. I think the Americana went over a lot of the audiences head, as indeed some of it went over mine - I'm kind of guessing Meredith Willson didn't travel much.

The stalls were full of schoolchildren who weren't that enthusiastic but the silvertops in the dress circle loved it. All the performances I considered booking for were nearly full, which is a good thing and, compared to my recent trip to the cold, serviceable and functional From Here to Eternity it was nice to see a bit of Broadway heart again.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 12/7/13 at 7:15pm

I saw it and I think it has potential. The opening number is fabulous..it's the Macy's parade and all you see are these giant feet of floats going by. It has a lot of sweet songs (and some duds) but with the right case, it could be fun.

it's never going to be a show that holds over the other 10 months of the year but for a holiday show, it has promise.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/7/13 at 10:06pm

It could come back every Christmas season like the others have done (Elf,Grinch,A Christmas Story etc)

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 12/7/13 at 11:17pm

I directed a production of it last year and it's a long slog. The score is only mediocre and the book is a mess. Despite what others have said, the opening "Big Ca-lown Balloons" is only effective if you can put the Macy's parade onstage to somewhat distract from the ditty, and good luck with that! The script deletes one of the more heartfelt characters from the story, the simple young man, Alfred, whose warmth is missed. Willson was entirely out of his element in the NYC setting. A song for the leading man and his Marine pals at a poker game (don't ask) is a retread of "Rock Island" from "The Music Man" and painfully out of place, as is a courtroom hoe-down about Kansas (again, don't ask). Not a pleasant or rewarding experience.

[Scripps2]

Posted: 12/8/13 at 4:43am

"it's the Macy's parade and all you see are these giant feet of floats going by."

That helps - the audience were left to assume what the big ca-lown balloons were.

"painfully out of place, as is a courtroom hoe-down about Kansas."

That helps too. I assumed I'd missed the point of this song - I'm glad to have it confirmed that there wasn't one.

Updated On: 12/8/13 at 04:43 AM

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 12/12/15 at 8:33pm

I have just read "The Great Parade" about the 1963-1964 Broadway season, and there is a chapter about "Here's Love" that I found quite interesting. The author Peter Filichia has gone to far as to point out where Meredith Wilson should have written songs. I have recently come across the script, and am reading it to get some sense as to what it might have been like.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/13/15 at 6:30pm

I was a kid in the chorus in a regional production in Ontario.  I remember NOTHING about the show, except for the choreography for the opening number.  I think it's remarkably (given the credentials) nondescript/

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/13/15 at 6:35pm

It looked good on paper. The source material was the classic movie " Miracle On 34 th Street". The composer had The Music Man & The Unsinkable Molly Brown on his resume. It just was not as good as everyone thought it was.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/13/15 at 7:50pm

It seems to me it was a bad idea, since its catharsis and resolution are about a not terribly exciting court decision.  Though Santa invites magic, it just doesn't sing, despite the Macy's setting (in a way, "Big," a far better show, had the same problem: "She Loves Me" aside, retail isn't a great milieu for song and dance).  I recently watched the not terrible remake of the film, and the story just grinds along, everyone pretty and decked out in pricey duds. It's odd, it's about rich people in NYC who have the blues about ... being rich people in Manhattan  So the big emotional moment is about a little girl living in a 5.5 million co-op getting a 3 million bucks home.  Not exactly "Annie" or "Oliver."  It pretends to be middle-class, but uh-uh.  It's curiously unmoving. 

 

Isn't it funny?  Willson could've been ideal for "A Christmas Story," the midwest, the era, even the plot had his name all over it. 

Updated On: 12/13/15 at 07:50 PM

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 12/13/15 at 8:19pm

I've always found the score to be enjoyable but largely forgettable (except that INFECTIOUS opening number about the ca-lown balloons). The logo is an odd one too. Doesn't hint at the Christmas setting one bit. The source material doesn't even get a mention either even in the fine print.

 

I've always enjoyed the movie although I agree its an odd plot.

 

Updated On: 12/13/15 at 08:19 PM