A DREAM TO SEE THIS MUSICAL
As Musical Theatre West will no doubt prove on Sunday, March 12 at 7, even a flop Rodgers and Hammerstein musical has its surefire appeal. Get ready to discover a score that was lost on the American public because the show itself was a turkey. With a live 14-piece orchestra, MTW will present a talent-rich, concert-staged reading of this truly rarely produced Broadway musical. (New York’s Encores! presented a restored version in 2012, and that great recording is available on CD.) The story ain’t grand, but the songs make it a grand night for singing. Set in Monterey, California, the musical tells the story of the romance between Doc, a marine biologist, and Suzy, who in the novel is a prostitute but here she’s a feisty vagrant (her profession is only alluded to in the stage work). The romance is prodded by Fauna, the Madame of the Bear Flag “Cafe.”
Pipe Dream was certainly an unlikely story for the boys, as it’s inspired by characters in John Steinbeck’s gritty novel, Cannery Row—I mean, we’re dealing with itinerant screwballs and prostitutes, for one. For many reasons—Rodgers was dealing with cancer; Steinbeck should have written the libretto, not Hammerstein—the book ended up way too light (Hammerstein actually drew inspiration from Steinbeck’s unpublished manuscript of Sweet Thursday). As such, it gave birth to a slew of musical comedy songs which should have been at least as dark as, say, Carousel. (Producer Billy Rose said upon opening in 1955, “You know why Oscar shouldn’t have written that? The guy’s never been to a whorehouse in his life!”) So with sappy, corny humor and a central romance that gives way to a bunch of rather inconsequential side-plots, R&H just couldn’t find their inspiration on this one, and—with them being the sole investors—the show lost a ton of money. With My Fair Lady opening a few months later, Pipe Dream became just that, and the show closed after 246 performances. “It is so warm-hearted about a cold world,” Louis Kronenberger wrote in Time magazine, “so high-minded about its lowlifes as to emerge mere hootch-coated butterscotch.”
Directed by LEWIS WILKENFELD
Music Direction by RYAN O’CONNELL
Starring
KELLEY DORNEY as Suzy
CRAIG MCELDOWNEY as Doc
MARY GORDON MURRAY as Fauna
with
MICHAEL DOTSON
GABRIEL KALOMAS
BENJAMIN PEREZ
ADAM TRENT
and
MAGGIE DARAGO
HANZ ENYEART
SARA FREEDLAND
Pipe Dream
Musical Theatre West
part of the Reiner Staged Reading Series
produced by Michael Betts and Gabriel Kalomas
Beverly O’Neill Theatre at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center
300 East Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach (parking is at 330 East Seaside Way)
Sunday, March 12 at 7:00
for tickets (only 27 bucks!), call 562.856.1999 ext. 4 or visit MTW