ANYONE CAN WHISTLE (1964) Savara Gunn

Background Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim Book: Arthur Laurents Opened at the Majestic Theatre Previews started March 24, 1964 (12 Previews) Opened April 4, 1964 Closed April 11, 1964 Only 9 performances

Plot Hated mayor Cora Hoover Hooper led her small town into bankruptcy Creates a fake "miracle" to attract tourist dollars During the tourist rush, the inmates from the local asylum, called the Cookie Jar, escape A Doctor Hapgood says he can identify the "cookies" and separate them from the "sane" members of society The cookies' nurse, Fay Apple, refuses to identify her patients and ends up falling in love with Hapgood.

Musical Numbers Act One: "I'm Like the Bluebird" - Company "Me and My Town" - Cora and The Boys "Miracle Song" - Cora, Cooley and Company "Simple (Interrogation)" - Hapgood and Company Act Two "A-1 March" - The Cookies "Come Play Wiz Me" - Fay and Hapgood "Anyone Can Whistle" - Fay "A Parade in Town" - Cora "Everybody Says Don't" - Hapgood Don't Ballet [instrumental] Act Three "I've Got You to Lean On" - Cora, Cooley, Magruder and Schub "See What It Gets You" - Fay The Cookie Chase - Cora, Dr. Detmold, Schub, Fay and Company "With So Little to Be Sure Of" - Hapgood and Fay + Finale - Orchestra

Cast Cora Hoover Hooper- Angela Lansbury Fay Apple- Lee Remick J. Bowen Hapgood- Harry Guardino Treasurer Cooley- Arnold Soboloff Comptroller Schub- Gabriel Dell Chief Magruder- James Fawley Dr. Detmold- Don Doherty

Crew Director-Arthur Laurents Composer/Lyricist- Stephen Sondheim Choreographer-Herbert Ross Musical Director-Herbert Greene Orchestrations-Don Walker Scenic Design-William and Jean Eckart Costume Design-Theoni V. Aldredge Lighting Design-Jules Fisher

Awards? Tony Award Nominee Literally nothing else Choreography Herbert Ross Literally nothing else Because Hello Dolly, Funny Girl, Fiddler on the Roof

Review: Walter Kerr (Herald Tribune) “Exasperating” “Anyone can whistle, but nobody can sing” “It has trouble on its mind-the trouble the world is in, the trouble we all are in, the trouble that comes when a librettist has nothing on his mind.”

Review: Howard Taubman (NY Times) “The authors of the new musical...have aimed for originality, and for that one respects them. Their trouble is that they have taken an idea with possibilities and pounded it to a pulp.” “What should be fresh turns out to be sick.” “It works best when there is dancing.”

Review: John Chapman (Chicago Tribune) “This book and the lack of a melody I could whistle impeded my enjoyment of the last two acts.” “No musical cast ever offered an audience more good will than the performers in ‘Anyone Can Whistle’”. “Sondheim’s witty chorus songs are generally more appealing than his romantic solos.

Other Productions 1995 Carnegie Hall Concert Benefit for Gay Men’s Health Crisis Used cut songs Lansbury, Madeline Kahn, Bernadette Peters, Scott Bakula 2010 New York City Center Encores! Sutton Foster, Donna Murphy, Raul Esparza

Works Cited "Anyone Can Whistle (Musical) Characters | StageAgent." StageAgent. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016. "Anyone Can Whistle." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016. League, The Broadway. "IBDB.com." Anyone Can Whistle – Broadway Musical – Original. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016. Brantley, Ben. "THEATER REVIEW." New York Times (1923-Current file): 2. Apr 10 2010. ProQuest. Web. 13 Nov. 2016 . By, HOWABD T. "Musical at Majestic is about Madness." New York Times (1923-Current file): 36. Apr 06 1964. ProQuest. Web. 13 Nov. 2016 . Chapman, John. "'Whistle' is a Musical with Bounce." Chicago Tribune (1963-Current file): 1. Apr 08 1964. ProQuest. Web. 13 Nov. 2016 "Photos | The Official Masterworks Broadway Site." The Official Masterworks Broadway Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016. Rigsbee, Valerie. "Anyone Can Whistle." Broadway Musical Home -. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016. "Sondheim Guide / Anyone Can Whistle." Sondheim Guide / Anyone Can Whistle. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016. "Sondheim.com - Putting It Together since 1994." Sondheim.com - Putting It Together since 1994. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.