I'm Solomon is a 1968 musical with music by Ernest Gold, lyrics by Anne Croswell, and book by Crowell and Dan Almagor.[1] It opened 23 April 1968 and closed 27 April after seven performances.
original play "King Solomon and the Cobbler" by Sammy Gronemann American adaptation in collaboration with Zvi Kolitz Special material by David Finkle and Bill Weeden
Productions
1968
The play was profiled in the William Goldman book The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway. Goldman wrote, "The show advertised itself as 'A New Musical with a Cast of 60.' That's got to tell you something. I mean, when movies have made "a cast of thousands" a cliché, what's "a cast of 60" supposed to do to your pulse? One peek at the program indicated more trouble: the set designer had a box around his name, and when the outstanding billing for a show goes to the set designer, you just know you're in for a bumpy crossing." Goldman estimated the musical lost between $700,000 and $800,000.[2]
The musical (originally called In Someone Else's Sandals) was based on a 1938 Israeli play, King Solomon and the Cobbler. It had been performed in Palestine and New York in Yiddish, and was turned into a 1964 folk musical which toured the world.[3] A new book and score were written for the American production. The book was originally by Erich Segal and Anne Crosswell, although Segal had his name removed from it. The original director was Michael Benthall and the composer was Ernest Gold, whose work included the film score for Exodus. [4]
When the show closed in a week, coproducer Zvi Kolitz told the press I’m Solomon had been the 'victim of the arbitrariness, haughtiness, shallowness, and heartlessness of the television critics.' It lost over $700,000, making it and the then recent Darling of the Day the most expensive musical flops to date."[6] Kolitz said the musical "had a couple of nice songs and an extremely silly book. But what places it firmly in the category of the bizarre was the absurdly overblown production it received... there were enormous sets, large choral numbers, harlots, concubines, and belly dancers, all swamping the slender plot, which might have been the basis for a cute off-Broadway musical."[7]
Premiseedit
King Solomon and a lookalike peddler change places for the day.
Original castedit
Mary Barnett as F'htar
Salome Jens as Makedah
Carmen Mathews as Bathsheba
Karen Morrow as Na'Ama
Fred Pinkard as Ranor
Paul Reed as Ben-Hesed
Kenneth Scott as Yoel
Richy Shawn as Solomon/Yoni
Barbara Webb as Princess Nofrit
Referencesedit
^Playbill from original production accessed 16 June 2013
solomon, 1968, musical, with, music, ernest, gold, lyrics, anne, croswell, book, crowell, almagor, opened, april, 1968, closed, april, after, seven, performances, musicernest, goldlyricsanne, croswellbookanne, croswelldan, almagorbasisoriginal, play, king, sol. I m Solomon is a 1968 musical with music by Ernest Gold lyrics by Anne Croswell and book by Crowell and Dan Almagor 1 It opened 23 April 1968 and closed 27 April after seven performances I m SolomonMusicErnest GoldLyricsAnne CroswellBookAnne CroswellDan AlmagorBasisoriginal play King Solomonand the Cobbler by Sammy GronemannAmerican adaptation in collaboration with Zvi KolitzSpecial material by David Finkle and Bill WeedenProductions1968 The play was profiled in the William Goldman book The Season A Candid Look at Broadway Goldman wrote The show advertised itself as A New Musical with a Cast of 60 That s got to tell you something I mean when movies have made a cast of thousands a cliche what s a cast of 60 supposed to do to your pulse One peek at the program indicated more trouble the set designer had a box around his name and when the outstanding billing for a show goes to the set designer you just know you re in for a bumpy crossing Goldman estimated the musical lost between 700 000 and 800 000 2 Contents 1 Background 2 Premise 3 Original cast 4 References 5 External linksBackground editThe musical originally called In Someone Else s Sandals was based on a 1938 Israeli play King Solomon and the Cobbler It had been performed in Palestine and New York in Yiddish and was turned into a 1964 folk musical which toured the world 3 A new book and score were written for the American production The book was originally by Erich Segal and Anne Crosswell although Segal had his name removed from it The original director was Michael Benthall and the composer was Ernest Gold whose work included the film score for Exodus 4 Ken Mandelbaum wrote that the show featured two of the most flop prone performers of recent musical theatre history Carmen Mathews Zenda Courtin Time The Yearling Dear World Ambassador Copperfield and Karen Morrow I Had a Ball A Joyful Noise The Selling of the President The Grass Harp John Chapman of the New York News called it a solemn and very colorful spectacle 5 When the show closed in a week coproducer Zvi Kolitz told the press I m Solomon had been the victim of the arbitrariness haughtiness shallowness and heartlessness of the television critics It lost over 700 000 making it and the then recent Darling of the Day the most expensive musical flops to date 6 Kolitz said the musical had a couple of nice songs and an extremely silly book But what places it firmly in the category of the bizarre was the absurdly overblown production it received there were enormous sets large choral numbers harlots concubines and belly dancers all swamping the slender plot which might have been the basis for a cute off Broadway musical 7 Premise editKing Solomon and a lookalike peddler change places for the day Original cast editMary Barnett as F htar Salome Jens as Makedah Carmen Mathews as Bathsheba Karen Morrow as Na Ama Fred Pinkard as Ranor Paul Reed as Ben Hesed Kenneth Scott as Yoel Richy Shawn as Solomon Yoni Barbara Webb as Princess NofritReferences edit Playbill from original production accessed 16 June 2013 Goldman p 376 More opening nights on Broadway a critical quotebook of the musical theatre 1965 through 1981 1997 p 468 Mandelbaum Ken 1992 Not since Carrie forty years of Broadway musical flops St Martin s Press p 41 Chapman John 24 April 1968 I m Solomon Solemn Musical Daily News p 93 Mandelbaum p 42 Mandelbaum p 41External links edit I m Solomon at the Internet Broadway Database I m Solomon at Playbill Review at New York Time subscription required nbsp This musical theatre related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title I 27m Solomon amp oldid 1218304615, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
