Oh! Calcutta!

Oh! Calcutta!
Oh! Calcutta! original soundtrack cover
Music	Peter Schickele, Robert Dennis and Stanley Walden
Lyrics	Peter Schickele, Robert Dennis and Stanley Walden
Book	various
Productions	1969 New York 1970 West End 1976 Broadway revival 1977 Madrid

Oh! Calcutta! is an avant-garde theatrical revue, created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in the West End in 1970. It ran in London for over 3,900 performances, and in New York initially for 1,314. Revivals enjoyed even longer runs, including a Broadway revival that ran for 5,959 performances, making the show the longest-running revue in Broadway history at the time.

As of 2012, its revival was still the seventh longest-running show in Broadway history, the second longest-running revival, after Chicago, and the fourth longest-running Broadway show ever, after Chicago, A Chorus Line and The Lion King.

The show sparked considerable controversy at the time, because it featured extended scenes of total nudity, both male and female. The title is taken from a painting by Clovis Trouille, itself a pun on "O quel cul t'as!" French for "What an you have!".

Tynan had hoped that Harold Pinter would direct the production, in order to give it avant-garde legitimacy, but Pinter declined. Sketches were written by, amongst others, Nobel prize winner Samuel Beckett, John Lennon, Sam Shepard, Leonard Melfi, Edna O'Brien, Jules Feiffer, and Tynan himself, and featured the cast naked. Peter Schickele (aka "PDQ Bach"), Robert Dennis and Stanley Walden were the revue's composers, known as The Open Window. Beckett's contribution, Breath, was used as a Prologue in the original New York staging, but Beckett eventually withdrew permission for its use.