MOLLY from 1973

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MOLLY from 1973

Posted: 8/23/14 at 4:02pm

Did anyone see this show based on the TV / radio hit The Goldbergs? It starred Kaye Ballard and featured Swen Swensen apparently.

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I saw it. It was fine and not the disaster it's been made out to be. Kaye was polished and a pro. I remember the show went through a huge overhaul out of town - new director, new songs, new book, new plot, new cast members. One song stood out - 'In Your Eyes.' I don't think it's a show Encores would tackle but it's perfect for the Mufti series.

MOLLY from 1973

Posted: 8/23/14 at 7:32pm

Those were the days we lined up for blocks early in the morning the day the box office opened. I remember they had a beauty pageant winner handing out bottles of Yoohoo! Playing on the "Yoohoo! Moly Goldberg " catch phrase from the TV series. I remember my mom being excited about resurrecting Molly and I was excited to see one of The Mothers In Laws.

It was a boring mess not worth waiting on line for. Completely forgettable.

It was around the same time we did the line thing for Sugar, another drag of a musical which at least had some production values some nice star turns and a classic story to tell. I swore off waiting in line for tickets after those two shows.

In those years 72/73 we had A Little Night Music, Pippin, Raisin, Seesaw, Purlie, Irene, Grease, Don't Bother Me I Can't Cope amongst which Molly and Sugar both seemed to be throw backs in style to an earlier time.

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MOLLY from 1973

Posted: 8/23/14 at 7:37pm

Wow, were there a lot of great shows that year! Too bad MOLLY apparently wasn't one of them.

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MOLLY from 1973

Posted: 8/23/14 at 7:39pm

I remember seeing this at the than Alvin

Mildly enjoyable. Daniel Fortus who played Harpo Marx was in it . I still have the tri color Playbill from it. It was not a Fiddler but it did have a pleasant score as I recall

Missed the free Yoo Hoo

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Updated On: 8/23/14 at 07:39 PM

MOLLY from 1973

Posted: 8/23/14 at 8:47pm

Kaye Ballard discusses the show at length in her autobiography. Its failure was heartbreaking for her.

MOLLY from 1973

Posted: 8/24/14 at 1:51am

^^^^^^
That's so sad to hear. I'm sure she was great despite the mediocre material. It was her only true starring role onstage though (how did she not have more???).

Keeping BroadwayWorld Illustrated

MOLLY from 1973

Posted: 8/24/14 at 2:39pm

Great show curtain: the curtains in her kitchen window, which she opened at the top of the show for her first appearance high above the stage.

MOLLY from 1973

Posted: 8/24/14 at 2:49pm

Here's some information and mp3 songs from Dennis Livingston's website:

MOLLY: THE BROADWAY MUSICAL (1973)

BOOK by Louis Garfinkle and Leonard Adelson

MUSIC by Jerry Livingston

LYRICS by Leonard Adelson and Mack David

DIRECTOR: Alan Arkin (replacing Paul Aaron)

CHOREOGRAPHER: Grover Dale (replacing Bert Michaels)

PRODUCERS: Don Saxon, Don Kaufman, George Daley

Based on characters from THE GOLDBERGS by Gertrude Berg

Original cast:
Kaye Ballard (as Kay Ballard): Molly Goldberg

Lee Wallace: Jake Goldberg

Daniel Fortus: Sammy Goldberg

Lisa Rochelle: Rosie Goldberg

Swen Swenson: Michael Stone

Eli Mintz: Uncle David

Information and MP3's from Molly's score.

Updated On: 8/24/14 at 02:49 PM

#10

MOLLY from 1973

Posted: 8/24/14 at 2:58pm

I saw it and the main problem with it was that they based it off of the radio show instead of the play called Me and Molly. Ms. Ballard gave it her all, but the show lacked focus and was kind of a mess and would have been quite a bit better if they had another out-of-town tryout to fix it. The music was decent if I recall, but totally forgettable and I have no desire to seek out the demo recording. It was certainly a lot better than Raisin, Purlie, Seesaw, and Grease, but came nowhere near as good as Sugar or Irene that year.

#11

MOLLY from 1973

Posted: 4/6/15 at 10:34pm

Just stumbled on some great photos from this show. Thought I'd share them.

MOLLY from 1973

Keeping BroadwayWorld Illustrated

#12

MOLLY from 1973

Posted: 4/7/15 at 12:18am

I remember there was a full page ad in the Times with the calender year spread out showing the next 12 months. Many dates were blacked out as Sold Out. I thought, wow this is gonna be a hit. A couple of months later it was gone.

#13

MOLLY from 1973

Posted: 4/7/15 at 12:42am

"If everyone got what they wanted..."

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