Content deleted Content added
Opencooper (talk | contribs) m proper Unicode minus sign (via WP:JWB) |
David Gerard (talk | contribs) generally unreliable, redundant |
||
(7 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 14:
}}
'''''Baby It's You!''''' is a [[jukebox musical]] written by [[Floyd Mutrux]] and [[Colin Escott]], featuring pop and rock hits of the 1960s, with a special emphasis on songs by [[the Shirelles]] and other acts signed to [[Scepter Records]]. The show "tells the story of [[Florence Greenberg]] and Scepter Records, the label Greenberg started when she signed the Shirelles."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jones|first=Kenneth|date=October 20, 2010|title=Shirelles Musical ''Baby It's You!'' Takes More Steps Toward Broadway|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/shirelles-musical-baby-its-you-takes-more-steps-toward-broadway-com-172843
== Background ==
Line 24:
=== Mutrux and Escott's collaborations ===
Mutrux and Escott had collaborated on the book for the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway musical]] ''[[Million Dollar Quartet (musical)|Million Dollar Quartet]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gans|first=Andrew|date=January 21, 2010|title=Foster and Stanley Will Join Original Chicago Quartet for Broadway's ''Million Dollar Quartet''|url=https://www.playbill.com/article/foster-and-stanley-will-join-original-chicago-quartet-for-broadways-million-dollar-quartet-com-165125
=== Involvement of Epps ===
Line 33:
==Synopsis==
[[Florence Greenberg]] is an average [[New Jersey]] [[housewife]]. A talent show is held at her daughter's school, and a group of African-American girls are preparing to perform. Florence's daughter is surprised at their talent, quickly notifying her mother, and Florence decides to make the group [[recording artist]]s. To accommodate them, she founds [[Scepter Records]]. After the success of [[the Shirelles]], the new name of the group, Florence and Scepter Records go on to "discover recording artists like [[the Kingsmen]], [[the Isley Brothers]] and [[Dionne Warwick]]."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Itzkoff|first=Dave|date=2011-01-24|title=Jukebox Musical 'Baby It's You!' Will Get Broadway Rotation This Spring|url=https://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/jukebox-musical-baby-its-you-will-get-broadway-rotation-this-spring/
== Musical numbers ==
Line 104:
| Bernie Greenberg || [[Barry Pearl]]
|-
| Mary Jane Greenberg || [[Kelli Barrett]]
|-
| Stanley Greenberg || [[Brandon Uranowitz]]
Line 119:
=== California (2009) ===
The show premiered at the Coast Playhouse in Los Angeles on July 18, 2009, playing until August 30, 2009,<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 10, 2009|title=World Premiere Musical BABY IT'S YOU! Begins 7/18 At The Coast Playhouse|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/World-Premiere-Musical-BABY-ITS-YOU-Begins-718-At-The-Coast-Playhouse-20090710
=== Broadway (2011) ===
The show opened on Broadway at the [[Broadhurst Theatre]], starring [[Beth Leavel]] as Florence,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Jones|first=Kenneth|date=January 14, 2011|title=Producers of ''Baby It's You!'' Eyeing Broadhurst Theatre and Beth Leavel|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/producers-of-baby-its-you-eyeing-broadhurst-theatre-and-beth-leavel-com-175208
== Response ==
''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'''s Clark Collis gave the musical a "B−" rating, calling it "a night out that is easy on the ear ... 'Baby It's You' gives Leavel, a [[Tony Award]]-winner for ''[[The Drowsy Chaperone]]'', a platform for both her vocal and her dramatic talents ... [T]he quartet playing the Shirelles are given little to do but capably sing and dance their way through the group's repertoire while breaking a succession of costume change land speed records. But there is never any doubt that the main attractions here ARE the hits — this is a jukebox musical so unashamed about its nature that it starts with the projected image of an actual jukebox."<ref>{{cite
[[Charles Isherwood]] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' called the production "dismal" and criticized the "[i]nvitations to sing along" and the "inducements to wallow in visions of happy yesterdays".<ref>{{cite news|last=Isherwood|first=Charles|date=April 27, 2011|title=Girl Group Tale Is Reharmonized|work=The New York Times|url=http://theater.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/theater/reviews/baby-its-you-story-of-the-shirelles-review.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1303956639-xYht5Zle67syffPxnjRuVw
[[Steven Suskin]] in ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' unfavorably compared the show to ''[[Jersey Boys]]'': "Imagine [the latter] without the carefully integrated character development of [[Frankie Valli]] and [[Bob Gaudio]], and with a tunestack only one quarter as imperishable. You needn't imagine it; just wander to the Broadhurst for ''Baby It's You!''" He further stated that Leavel did a capable job filling a poorly scripted role.<ref>{{cite news|last=Suskin|first=Steven|title=Baby It's You!|url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117945106|work=Variety Magazine|accessdate=April 28, 2011|date=April 27, 2011}}</ref>
Line 155:
== Recordings ==
An original Broadway [[cast recording]] was released by [[Universal Music Group]] on June 14, 2011. The album, recorded from April 17 to 25, 2011, is produced by [[Richard Perry]] and associate-produced by Rahn Coleman.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jones|first=Kenneth|date=April 26, 2011|title=The Shirelles Live Again on Disc; ''Baby It's You!'' Cast Album Due June 14|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/the-shirelles-live-again-on-disc-baby-its-you-cast-album-due-june-14-com-178578
== 2011 lawsuit ==
On April 27, 2011, the date the production opened on Broadway, it was announced that a [[personality rights]] lawsuit against the play's producers had been filed with the [[New York Supreme Court|Supreme Court of the State of New York]]. The suit alleged unauthorized and uncompensated use of the names, likenesses, and biographical information of Beverly Lee (a surviving member of The Shirelles who owns the trademark to the group's name); late Shirelles members Doris Coley Jackson and Addie Harris Jackson; Dionne Warwick; and Chuck Jackson. The suit sought damages on the plaintiffs' behalf. (The other surviving member of the original Shirelles, [[Shirley Owens|Shirley Alston Reeves]], was not named as a plaintiff.)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jones|first=Kenneth|date=April 27, 2011|title=''Baby It's You!'' Producers Being Sued by Beverly Lee of The Shirelles, Dionne Warwick and Others|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/baby-its-you-producers-being-sued-by-beverly-lee-of-the-shirelles-dionne-warwick-and-others-com-178629
== References ==
Line 175:
[[Category:Broadway musicals]]
[[Category:Musicals by Floyd Mutrux]]
[[Category:Musicals set in New Jersey]]
|