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| Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 02:03 pm EST 01/08/22 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 01:57 pm EST 01/08/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Report from the Bahamas that Sidney Poitier has died - comedywest 12:04 pm EST 01/07/22 | |
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| One of the most memorable moments in ''Lilies of the Field'' is Homer (Poitier) teaching the nuns to sing ''Amen.'' I guess that inspired the 1970 musical with a book by Leonard Spigelgass, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jule Styne. Styne reportedly wrote the score with Ethel Merman in mind, but director Josh Logan cast Shirley Booth, who got raves. It would be her last Broadway musical. The show ran for 31 previews and 25 performances, but two of its songs - ''Gott Is Gut'' and ''Follow the Lamb'' - were featured on ''The Ed Sullivan Show.'' |
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| Link | Shirley Booth & Al Freeman Jr. from 'Look to the Lilies' on 'Ed Sullivan Show' |
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| re: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? | |
| Posted by: den 06:48 pm EST 01/09/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? - WaymanWong 01:57 pm EST 01/08/22 | |
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| Yes, I saw it. I was in high school at the time, Catholic school at that, so the nun thing was interesting to me. I was very excited to see Shirley Booth from ‘Hazel’ perform live, and Al Freeman, Jr. was terrific, very dynamic and charismatic. I didn’t have much of a critical sensibility then, but I thought the show was very pleasant, and I recall not quite understanding the hostile reception it received., though the book was unapologetically corny. Was it ever recorded? It’s a Julie Styne score, after all. | |
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| re: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? | |
| Last Edit: FAIRBOY 11:11 pm EST 01/09/22 | |
| Posted by: FAIRBOY 10:59 pm EST 01/09/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? - den 06:48 pm EST 01/09/22 | |
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| It was on the Blue Pear label which I believe was just a recording of a performance. It was paired with Pleasure and Palaces. | |
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| re: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 07:59 pm EST 01/09/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? - den 06:48 pm EST 01/09/22 | |
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| Look to the Lilies did not get a Broadway Cast Recording. The show received mostly bad reviews, including 3 pans, according to Suskin. However, both Suskin and Mandlebaum lead me to believe that the critics were too tough on the show. Booth and Freeman seem to be well cast. Styne's music sounds pleasant, but he really needed collaborators like Comden, Green, and Laurents. The source film, Lilies of the Field, was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and is regarded as a classic. Poitier won the Best Actor Oscar -- the picture got 5 noms total. Jerry Goldsmith's score, including the rousing gospel number "Amen", probably could not have been equaled by Styne's music. Cahn's lyrics were not very good. |
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| re: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? | |
| Posted by: den 08:25 pm EST 01/09/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? - BroadwayTonyJ 07:59 pm EST 01/09/22 | |
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| I think that may have been one of the reasons for the show's failure. The 'Amen' number from the film was not in the show, but I suspect that's what audiences came to hear, and there was nothing in the score, pleasant though it was, that compensated for its absence. | |
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| re: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 05:22 pm EST 01/10/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? - den 08:25 pm EST 01/09/22 | |
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| I bet the stage adaptation of the film SISTER ACT had the same problem, although it seems to have had a life post-Broadway. The stage adaptation of PRETTY WOMAN finally included the Roy Orbison song as a post-curtain call sing-a-long because, apparently, audiences were disappointed that it wasn't included in the show's otherwise original score. I always wondered if the cast got a salary bump for performing added material after the opening night. Actually, there's probably been a lot of movie-to-stage adaptations that had to deal with the "Do we include the hit song?" question. Did the flop BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S musical include "Moon River?" |
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| re: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? | |
| Posted by: larry13 01:05 am EST 01/11/22 | |
| In reply to: re: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? - JereNYC 05:22 pm EST 01/10/22 | |
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| "Moon River" was NOT in the flop musical according to both the Internet Broadway Database and Wikipedia. Even thought neither source is infallible, I would have been greatly surprised to learn the song had been included in a 1966 Bob Merrill musical. | |
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| I saw it but don’t remember much about it. | |
| Posted by: kieran 10:05 pm EST 01/08/22 | |
| In reply to: Anyone see 'Look to the Lilies,' the Broadway musical of 'Lilies of the Field'? - WaymanWong 01:57 pm EST 01/08/22 | |
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| I’m pretty sure I thought the film was better. | |
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