The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is a musical written by David Spencer and Disney composer Alan Menken (eight-time Oscar-winning composer). The play is based on Canadian author Mordecai Richler's 1959 novel of the same name. The musical is a "morality tale" set in 1950s' Montreal, Canada, about 19-year-old Duddy Kravitz, from the Jewish working-class inner city, who is desperate to make his mark and prove himself to his family and community. After his grandfather tells him that "a man without land is nobody," he works and schemes to buy and develop a lakefront property, but his ambition threatens his personal relationships with those who love him, among them a French Canadian girl he meets while working at a summer resort. Duddy often behaves as a "nervy young hustler"[1] but is at the same time fiercely loyal to those whom he loves. He must "ultimately decide what kind of man he's going to be."[2] The story ended on a bleak note with Duddy isolated and morally compromised, having accomplished his goals only by betraying close friends, including his epileptic and paraplegic friend Virgil, and becoming estranged from his grandfather.
An earlier musical adaptation of the same novel called Duddy was scored by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1984 and premiered at Edmonton's Citadel Theater in April 1984, with Lonny Price as Duddy.[3] The unconventional combination of the story's dark tones with a musical style confused audiences, who were further antagonized by Mordecai Richler's dismissive opinion of Edmonton in newspapers.[3] Although the show intended a cross-country run through Canada, poor ticket sales and savage press reviews resulted in the play fizzling by the time it reached Ottawa's National Arts Centre, whereupon it was cancelled before performing in Toronto or even its Montreal setting, losing backers an estimated $500,000.[1]
The same producer, Sam Gesser, hired Menken and Spencer to write the songs for a new adaptation, with book and direction by Austin Pendleton. The play opened in October 1987 in Philadelphia.[2] Ultimately it was again a troubled production as cast and backers feuded over revising the dark ending to please audiences; the play failed to reach New York theaters.[1]
Ticket to "Duddy," April 18, 1984 in Edmonton, Canada
After the second adaptation's failure the play's writers decided to re-investigate the material and soften the ending, although Richler died in 2001 never having seen the final changes.[3] Spencer took over as librettist, starting his adaptation from scratch (he would refer to it as "an altogether different musical with the exact same title"). Approximately 3/4 of the original score was dropped, most of the rest was revised in favor of the new structure, and the piece went through constant refinement as it was worked on over some twenty years.
In June 2015 after refusals from several theaters the new version had its premiere in Montreal at the Segal Center for Performing Arts. This production was directed again by Pendleton and featured a cast headed by Ken James Stewart (Duddy), George Masswohl (Max Kravitz), Marie-Pierre de Brienne (Yvette Durelle), and including Howard Jerome, Adrian Marchuk, Victor A. Young, David Coomber, Sam Rosenthal, Michael Rudder, Kristian Truelsen, Albane Chateau, Gab Desmond, Julia Halfyard, Michael Esposito II, and Michael Daniel Murphy.[4][5][6] The sold-out engagement received mostly positive-to-rave reviews and was twice extended, and an original cast album was released in December 2016 on the Ghostlight label.[7]
References
^ abc"Is Duddy Kravitz finally ready to master the musical? | Toronto Star". thestar.com. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
^ abViagas, Robert. "Alan Menken-David Spencer Musical Duddy Kravitz Will Get Another Chance in Montreal", Playbill, March 28, 2014, accessed February 6, 2016
^ abc"The incredible, unbelievable, meshuga story of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz: The Musical". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
^"404 Error - CENTRE SEGAL". www.segalcentre.org. Retrieved 2022-12-29. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
^"Long Lost Alan Menken Musical Announces Cast in Montreal: Watch Video". 10 March 2015.
^"Cast Set for World Premiere of Alan Menken Musical 'DUDDY KRAVITZ' in Montreal".
^"Top 10 Musical Theatre Cast Recordings of 2016". London Theatre. 30 Nov 2016. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
March 16, 2023
apprenticeship, duddy, kravitz, musical, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, citation, style, several, templa. This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as Reflinks documentation reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation August 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is a musical written by David Spencer and Disney composer Alan Menken eight time Oscar winning composer The play is based on Canadian author Mordecai Richler s 1959 novel of the same name The musical is a morality tale set in 1950s Montreal Canada about 19 year old Duddy Kravitz from the Jewish working class inner city who is desperate to make his mark and prove himself to his family and community After his grandfather tells him that a man without land is nobody he works and schemes to buy and develop a lakefront property but his ambition threatens his personal relationships with those who love him among them a French Canadian girl he meets while working at a summer resort Duddy often behaves as a nervy young hustler 1 but is at the same time fiercely loyal to those whom he loves He must ultimately decide what kind of man he s going to be 2 The story ended on a bleak note with Duddy isolated and morally compromised having accomplished his goals only by betraying close friends including his epileptic and paraplegic friend Virgil and becoming estranged from his grandfather An earlier musical adaptation of the same novel called Duddy was scored by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in 1984 and premiered at Edmonton s Citadel Theater in April 1984 with Lonny Price as Duddy 3 The unconventional combination of the story s dark tones with a musical style confused audiences who were further antagonized by Mordecai Richler s dismissive opinion of Edmonton in newspapers 3 Although the show intended a cross country run through Canada poor ticket sales and savage press reviews resulted in the play fizzling by the time it reached Ottawa s National Arts Centre whereupon it was cancelled before performing in Toronto or even its Montreal setting losing backers an estimated 500 000 1 The same producer Sam Gesser hired Menken and Spencer to write the songs for a new adaptation with book and direction by Austin Pendleton The play opened in October 1987 in Philadelphia 2 Ultimately it was again a troubled production as cast and backers feuded over revising the dark ending to please audiences the play failed to reach New York theaters 1 Ticket to Duddy April 18 1984 in Edmonton Canada After the second adaptation s failure the play s writers decided to re investigate the material and soften the ending although Richler died in 2001 never having seen the final changes 3 Spencer took over as librettist starting his adaptation from scratch he would refer to it as an altogether different musical with the exact same title Approximately 3 4 of the original score was dropped most of the rest was revised in favor of the new structure and the piece went through constant refinement as it was worked on over some twenty years In June 2015 after refusals from several theaters the new version had its premiere in Montreal at the Segal Center for Performing Arts This production was directed again by Pendleton and featured a cast headed by Ken James Stewart Duddy George Masswohl Max Kravitz Marie Pierre de Brienne Yvette Durelle and including Howard Jerome Adrian Marchuk Victor A Young David Coomber Sam Rosenthal Michael Rudder Kristian Truelsen Albane Chateau Gab Desmond Julia Halfyard Michael Esposito II and Michael Daniel Murphy 4 5 6 The sold out engagement received mostly positive to rave reviews and was twice extended and an original cast album was released in December 2016 on the Ghostlight label 7 References Edit a b c Is Duddy Kravitz finally ready to master the musical Toronto Star thestar com 9 June 2015 Retrieved 2017 05 04 a b Viagas Robert Alan Menken David Spencer Musical Duddy Kravitz Will Get Another Chance in Montreal Playbill March 28 2014 accessed February 6 2016 a b c The incredible unbelievable meshuga story of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz The Musical The Globe and Mail Retrieved 2017 05 04 404 Error CENTRE SEGAL www segalcentre org Retrieved 2022 12 29 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a Cite uses generic title help Long Lost Alan Menken Musical Announces Cast in Montreal Watch Video 10 March 2015 Cast Set for World Premiere of Alan Menken Musical DUDDY KRAVITZ in Montreal Top 10 Musical Theatre Cast Recordings of 2016 London Theatre 30 Nov 2016 Retrieved 2022 02 14 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz musical amp oldid 1130224409, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
