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. |
