Come Summer
Come Summer is a Broadway musical with a book and lyrics by Will Holt and music by David Baker, based on Rainbow on the Road by Esther Forbes and vocal arrangements by Trude Rittmann . The original Broadway production opened on March 18, 1969 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre starring, Ray Bolger, Leonard John Crofoot, David Cryer, Cathryn Damon, Margaret Hamilton, and Barbara Sharma. Directed by Agnes de Mille it closed after 7 performances on March 22, 1969. Despite its short run, David Cryer won the 1969 Theatre World Award.
Come Summer | |
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Ray Bolger and Margaret Hamilton as Phineas Sharp and Dorinda Pratt, 1969 | |
Music | David Baker |
Lyrics | Will Holt |
Book | Will Holt |
Basis | Rainbow on the Road by Esther Forbes |
Productions | 1969 Broadway |
The story tells of an itinerant peddlar in 19th century New England, and the people whose lives he affects.
Behind the scenes, the musical was a disaster. Ray Bolger demanded that the producers expand his role;[1] several rewrites later, de Mille herself was fired and replaced by Burt Shevelove. Only a few days after that, Shevelove exited, and "the producers asked Agnes to come back, but only to choreograph."[2] De Mille's assistant director, James Mitchell, turned down the director's chair, but became the de facto director anyway. As a result, "neither she [de Mille] nor anyone else could say who directed the show."[3] Come Summer turned out to be de Mille's final Broadway production.
Songs
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References
- Carol Easton, No Intermissions: The Life of Agnes de Mille (New York: Da Capo, 2000), 421.
- Easton, 422.
- Easton, 422.