Celebration (musical)
| Celebration | |
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| Music | Harvey Schmidt |
| Lyrics | Tom Jones |
| Book | Tom Jones |
| Productions | 1969 Broadway |
Celebration is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt. The musical fable, employing a nearly bare stage, explores the contrasts between youth and old age, innocence and jaded corruption, love and ambition, and poverty and wealth.
It was presented on Broadway in 1969 and was not a financial success. Although the critics found the show interesting, it did not develop a broad following among audiences. The show has been revived occasionally.
Jones and Schmidt's previous work included the long-running Off-Broadway musical The Fantasticks and the more-mainstream Broadway musicals 110 in the Shade and I Do! I Do!.
Celebration is an avant-garde fable played on a set consisting of bare platforms, masks serving as the primary costumes, and a score played by a nine-piece band instead of a full-sized theatre orchestra. There are four main roles (a narrator, a young woman (Angel), a young man (Orphan) and a wealthy old man (Rich)) and a chorus, the Revelers, who play various roles. "At the musical's core is the struggle between youth and old age, innocence and corruption, love and ambition, and poverty and wealth, as Angel tries to decide if she would be better served by her feelings for Orphan or Rich's willingness to fulfill her every dream."
Celebration opened on Broadway on January 22, 1969 at the Ambassador Theatre, and closed on April 26, 1969 after 109 performances and thirteen previews. Directed by Jones and choreographed by Vernon Lusby, the cast featured Ted Thurston as Rich, Susan Watson as Angel and Keith Charles as Potemkin, with Michael Glenn-Smith as Orphan. Ed Wittstein designed the scenic design, costumes and lighting.
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