Wish You Were Here

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 1:28am

So my voice teacher is having me do the song Wish You Were Here from Wish you were here and I have never even heard of the musical before. Can someone fill me in on the plot and what the show is about. THanks!

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 2:41am

It's based on the play HAVING WONDERFUL TIME and tells a story of young adults finding romance at a summer resort in the Catskills. The show was legendary for a swimming pool being installed in the stage of the Imperial Theatre. This precluded out-of-town try-outs and the show opened cold in New York to terrible reviews. But the authors went back to work re-writing it and invited the critics back for a second look. The reviews were somewhat better this time and with little competition, plus Eddie Fisher's hit single of the title song the show ran for 598 performances and even showed a modest profit.

[Trish2]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 8:50am

They actually did a charming little revival of it in the 80's at the now defunct Equity Library Theatre. Naturally, there was no swimming pool, but the cast did a nice job. I posted a link to the NY TIMES review which might give you more insight into the show. I was a regular at that theatre as they used to revive many old shows. Think ENCORES without a budget.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE3DF1F3BF935A25756C0A961948260

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 2:15pm

They also did it at St. John Terrell's old Music Circus in the 1950s. They flooded the orchestra pit with water, the orchestra sat in the front row with raincoats on, and the second row also were provided with plastic coverings. It's really not a very good show and the title song is the only one that's survived. It also was recorded by RCA; the CD tranfer has long been out of print. What with Fanny and Me and Juliet now having been re-released on Flame records, maybe Wish You Were Here and New Girl in Town will be reissued. Also, the very young Jack Cassidy sang the title song in the original production.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 2:25pm

The plot is very much boy-meets-girl etc. Passe is a nice word for it.

The title song is lovely.

The song is a letter. Decide who your letter is to and why are you so wistful. Why do you wish the absentee were here? The plot point in the show is irrelevant since the plot is so flimsy. Make it work for you.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 7:01pm

Ed - the british label is Flare, and they do not license the masters from th originating lables: they merely copy Lp's onto CD-R's. It's fine if that is the ONLY way to get a show but anyone who wants this CD will want Victor's legitimate release.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/17/07 at 9:00pm

In addition to Jack Cassidy, the original Broadway cast (over 50 performers!) also featured Florence Henderson, Phyllis Newman, (author/actor) Tom Tryon, Leila Martin and Larry Blyden.