Love Life (musical) explained
Love Life is a musical written by Kurt Weill (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics).
The musical opened at the 46th Street Theatre on Broadway (now the Richard Rodgers) on October 7, 1948, and closed on May 14, 1949, after having played 252 performances. The original production starred Ray Middleton and Nanette Fabray, was directed by Elia Kazan, and choreographed by Michael Kidd.[1] Nanette Fabray won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance.
Synopsis
The show told the story of a married couple, Sam and Susan Cooper, who never age as they progress from 1791 to 1948, encountering difficulties in their marriage (and thus the very fabric of marriage) as they struggle to cope with changing social mores. One of the earliest examples of the concept musical, the action of Love Life was interspersed with vaudeville-style numbers that commented on the story, in a way very similar to Cabaret (which opened in 1966).
2025 revival
The show will be revived for the first time by New York City Center in 2025 as part of their Encores series. [2]
Original cast and characters
Musical Numbers
Part One
- The Magician
- Opening (Waltz) - The Magician, Sam, and Susan
- The Cooper Family
- Who Is Samuel Cooper? - Mary Jo, George, Jonathan, Charlie, Hank, and Women
- My Name Is Samuel Cooper - Sam
- Here I'll Stay - Sam and Susan
- Eight Men
- Progress - The Go-Getters
- The Farewell
- I Remember It Well - Sam and Susan
- Green Up-Time - Susan, Men and Women
- Polka and Green Up-Time (Reprise) - Susan, Johnny, Men and Women
- I Remember It Well (Reprise) - Sam, Susan, Johnny and Elizabeth
- Quartette
- Economics - Quartette
- Susan's Dream [Cut Song] - Quartette
- The New Baby
- Prelude and Postlude to Scene - Orchestra
- Three Tots and A Woman
- Mother's Getting Nervous - Three Tots
- Trapeze Specialty - Trapeze Artist
- Foxtrot (with Encore) - Three Tots
- My Kind of Night
- My Kind Of Night - Sam
- Women's Club Blues - Susan and Women
- My Kind of Night (Reprise) - Sam
- Love Song
- Progress (Reprise with Soft Shoe) [Cut Song] - The Go-Getters
- Love Song - Hobo
- The Cruise
- I'm Your Man - Sam, Slade, Boylan, Harvey, and Leffcourt
- You Understand Me So [Cut Song] - Susan and Taylor
- Finale Part One: I'm Your Man (Reprise) - Entire Company
Part Two
- Madrigal Singers
- Ho, Billy O! - Leader and Singers
- Radio Night
The Locker Room Boys [Cut and Replaced with Madrigal Singers]
- The Locker Room - Locker Room Boys
- Farewell Again
- I Remember It Well (Reprise) - Sam and Susan
- Is It Him or Is It Me? - Susan
- The All-American Puppet Ballet Present Punch and Judy Get A Divorce
- Prologue - Punch, Judy, Lawyer, Judge, Bell Hop, Correspondent
- Courtroom - The same in addition to Two Lawyers, Flighty Pair, and Speedy Pair
- Family Trio (Green Up-Time) - Child, Father, and Mother
- Hep Cats (Economics) - Hep Cats
- A Hotel Room
- The Minstrel Show
- Here I'll Stay (Reprise) - Interlocutor
- We're Sellin' Sunshine - Interlocutor and Minstrels
- Introduction - Interlocutor, Sam, Susan, and Minstrels
- Madame Zuzu - Miss Horoscope and Miss Mysticism
- Takin' No Chances - Mr. Cynic
- Mr. Right (Introduction) - Miss Ideal Man
- Mr. Right - Susan
- Finale Ultimo - Sam and Susan
No official cast recording of Love Life has ever been made; a strike at the time of the original production prevented preserving the original cast of this show, as also happened with Where's Charley?, which opened four days later, on Oct. 11, 1948.
The song "I Remember it Well" is the original version of a lyric Lerner revised for use in the 1958 film, Gigi.
External links
Notes and References
- News: Willard. Charles. A New Life For 1948's Love Life The Kurt Weill-Alan Jay Lerner Musical. 16 July 2015. philly.com. Philadelphia Media Network. June 10, 1990.
- https://www.nycitycenter.org/events-tickets/2024-2025-season/
- https://playbill.com/production/love-life-46th-street-theatre-vault-0000003125#carousel-cell157068 Playbill 1949 Bio Cast List
