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The opening night audience was angered by the musical's story. "Clearly, Boston was not the place to open an unconventional musical like this one." Oliver Smith noted that "the audience absolutely resented every moment of it, and just booed and hissed and carried on." The critics were brutal. Critic
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South. He was blatantly unfaithful to her ("You Ain't Hurtin' Your Ole Lady None"), and when he suddenly dies, she ambivalently mourns him ("To a Small Degree"). Leroy's ghost returns ("Back from the Great Beyond"), and boasts of his hate crimes against
African Americans. She is horrified ("How Could
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attacks
Prettybelle's house. However, the local hippies help her clean her house up ("God's Garden"). But, then, at the climax, Mason shockingly betrays Prettybelle and she goes into hiding at the state asylum ("Prettybelle" reprise).
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was dissatisfied with director/choreographer
Champion's approach to the material and his dictatorial treatment of the cast, and the latter ultimately banned him from rehearsals. Leading lady Angela Lansbury pledged to boycott a move to
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wrote that it was "a collection of ethnic slams and four-letter words." However, critic Elliot Norton praised the show, writing that "this bold new show...could become a memorable
American musical play. It can and it should."
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A spectral
Folksinger sings the ballad of one Prettybelle Sweet... In 1968: Prettybelle is writing her memoirs from an insane asylum ("Manic-Depressives"). She was the ladylike wife of Leroy Sweet, a bigoted sheriff in the
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record label) reunited the principal members of the original cast (Angela
Lansbury, Mark Dawson, Peter Lombard and Bert Michaels) to record a new studio album of the show. The LP was re-issued on CD in 1993 by
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According to Steven Suskin, the musical was "rather fascinating if unconventional, and the score is not uninteresting. But the show's subject matter, back in the dark days of 1971, doomed it."
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and offering herself sexually to
Mexicans and African American men ("I Never Did Imagine"). Prettybelle becomes involved with Mason Miller, a liberal lawyer ("I Met a Man"). As a result, the
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Although bootleg recordings of the entire show are known to exist, no original cast recording was ever released at the time. In 1982, record producer Bruce Yeko (who headed the
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films never was fulfilled. Champion wanted a "no-glitz approach" and so the set design was a unit set that had to "take on...different aspects...and wasn't complex". Producer
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The show was plagued with problems from the start. Merrill's and
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wrote that "it did not work and was a serious turn-off to the audience. Angela
Lansbury was never better than in the title role."
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for several weeks to work on the musical, but Saks eventually decided not to do the show. Merrill then suggested
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eligibility, in order to get publicity for the show. The Boston tryout opened on
February 1, 1971 at the
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201:. Much to Lansbury's relief, Cohen closed the show in Boston on March 6, 1971.
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Before the Parade Passes By: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical
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I Know?"), and attempts to make amends by writing checks to the
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260:"You Never Looked Better" (cut before Boston, never performed)
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unless everything was fixed during the out-of-town tryout in
466:"Ken Mandelbaum's Musicals On Disc: Remembering Bob Merrill"
141:, who agreed to tackle the project because "It grabbed me."
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Balancing Act: The Authorized Biography of Angela Lansbury
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Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies
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liked the idea of an intimate show for a small theatre.
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synopsis, song list, and cast list at musicalheaven.com
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Prettybelle: A Lively Tale of Rape and Resurrection
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193:. Champion was the director, scenic design was by
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399:"Off-Broadway/Regional, 'Prettybelle' (1971)"
185:. In addition to Lansbury, the cast included
133:Bob Merrill and Jule Styne met with director
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173:Cohen scheduled the Broadway opening at the
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448:(2010 ED. 4), Oxford University Press US,
320:Kevin Kelly said it was "pretty bad", and
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257:"You Ain't Hurtin' Your Ole Lady None"
408:julestyne.com, accessed July 30, 2010
7:
177:for March 15, 1971, the last day of
248:"The Twice Weekly Piciyumi Gazette"
504:. Little, Brown and Company 1999.
275:"New Orleans Poon" (cut in Boston)
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919:Musicals about race and ethnicity
894:Musicals set in the United States
381:. Hal Leonard Corporation 2005.
904:Ku Klux Klan in popular culture
301:"I'm in a Tree" (cut in Boston)
117:(Dial Press, 1970). It starred
766:Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol
304:"When I'm Drunk I'm Beautiful"
125:and closed in Boston in 1971.
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284:The John Sweet Suite (ballet)
307:"Give Me A Share In America"
266:"Back from the Great Beyond"
121:, but never was produced on
468:playbill.com, March 1, 1998
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105:with a book and lyrics by
909:Musicals set in the 1960s
899:Ghosts in popular culture
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278:"In the Japanese Gardens"
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884:Musicals based on novels
759:Subways Are for Sleeping
696:Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
310:"Prettybelle" (reprise)
37:Original Cast Recording
889:Musicals by Jule Styne
605:Breakfast at Tiffany's
480:Gilvey, John Anthony,
272:"I Never Did Imagine"
914:Fiction set in 1968
500:Gottfried, Martin,
350:Gilvey, pp. 208-211
269:"How Could I Know?"
263:"To a Small Degree"
251:"Manic-Depressives"
808:Look to the Lilies
801:Darling of the Day
787:Fade Out - Fade In
612:Henry, Sweet Henry
484:. Macmillan 2005.
404:2022-10-12 at the
281:"Individual Thing"
154:Alexander H. Cohen
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794:Hallelujah, Baby!
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584:Take Me Along
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287:"I Met a Man"
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254:"Prettybelle"
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815:Prettybelle
780:Wonderworld
710:Hazel Flagg
619:Prettybelle
565:Bob Merrill
523:Prettybelle
150:avant-garde
107:Bob Merrill
98:Prettybelle
84:Productions
77:Prettybelle
68:Bob Merrill
57:Bob Merrill
24:Prettybelle
873:Categories
773:Funny Girl
677:Jule Styne
598:Funny Girl
476:References
446:Show Tunes
291:ACT TWO
187:Jon Cypher
179:Tony Award
169:Production
111:Jule Styne
47:Jule Styne
717:Peter Pan
591:Carnival!
240:Song list
135:Gene Saks
752:Do Re Mi
456:, p. 224
402:Archived
389:, p. 127
315:Response
244:ACT ONE
224:Jim Crow
217:Synopsis
199:Ann Roth
159:Broadway
123:Broadway
829:Lorelei
322:Variety
129:History
103:musical
16:Musical
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163:Boston
89:Boston
53:Lyrics
822:Sugar
745:Gypsy
626:Sugar
338:Notes
229:NAACP
101:is a
87:1971
73:Basis
43:Music
506:ISBN
486:ISBN
450:ISBN
383:ISBN
189:and
64:Book
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
