Carnival!
OPENING: April 13, 1961
CLOSING: January 5, 1963
Date Seen: Summer 1961
LOCATION: Majestic
My father does not remember what his first Broadway show was.
As the former Ultimate Theater Kid turned performer-writer, this is sacrilege. It’s sacrilege to write it. It physically hurts me.
Alas, the man is in his seventies and is partially brain damaged. So I must accept that his first Broadway show has been lost to the tides of time.
My father was the youngest of four. He still is. My Aunt Emily, number two of said four, remembers seeing the original production of Peter Pan. She remembers sitting in the front row of the Winter Garden mezzanine and being so close to Mary Martin as she flew past that she could almost touch her. (She was smart enough at eight to not try). However, my father was three years old for the entire run of Peter Pan. Knowing my grandparents, it is equally likely that they brought him or they left him home with a nanny. He has no recollection of going, and my aunt has no memory as to who was with her.
Auntie Em also has fond memories of GreenWillow – a long forgotten musical that ran from March to May in 1960. Again – we cannot confirm or deny that my father was there.
My dad’s official collection in the summer of 1961 with David Merrick’s Carnival! Again – he has no memory of seeing it, but neither does Emily. I hesitate to say it is a reflection on either of them or the show – I should be so lucky to someday say “I saw Wicked for the first time sixty years ago”.
Carnival! was based on the 1953 film “Lili” starring Leslie Caron, which in turn was based on the short story “The Man Who Hated People, by Paul Gallico, which in turn was based on a puppet show. (IMDB). It follows the story of Lili, an orphan girl who finds herself at the circus and falls into the love triangle, and then finds solace with the puppets within the show, naively not realizing that there is a man behind them.
Carnival! was produced by David Merrick and directed and choreographed by Gower Champion who was fresh off his success with Bye Bye Birdie. The book was written by Michael Stewart and the music was written by Bob Merrill. To play the role of Lili, Merrick enlisted the talents of Anna Maria Alberghetti, a noted Italian soprano who had made her Carnegie Hall debut at thirteen. Another notable cast member was an early-career Jerry Orbach playing Paul, one corner of the love triangle Lili finds herself trapped in.
Tensions between Merrick and Alberghetti arose almost immediately. Since Alberghetti was hailed in the press – and ultimately took home the 1962 Tony for Best Actress in a Musical – for her portrayal of Lili, the movie offers began to roll in. Several months into Carnival!’s run, Alberghetti suddenly and apparently voluntarily admitted herself into a hospital for a few weeks. The rumor is that she was offered a movie role that would have required her to take some time off from the show and Merrick refused. (Isherwood, 2004) I am unable to confirm whether the hospital visit was a ruse, an act of rebellion, or a legitimate visit.
What I am also not sure of is the novelty of the set. In all of the reviews I have been able to dig up, the critics gush about how Scenic Designer Will Steven Armstrong transformed the Imperial Theatre into a circus ring. While extending the set into the house is now common practice, the extent of praise he received leads me to believe that this was one of, if not the first, instances of this. Another pioneering moment? Carnival! was one of the first shows to employ the use of a body mic, as Alberghetti’s voice did not travel as those of her seasoned Broadway castmates did. (Merrill, 1996).
It would be cool if my dad or aunt could remember this show, but I’ll settle for reviews and articles of the time. We’ll see if they remember anything about the other rare gems tucked away into the binders.
CAST: ORIGINAL
JACQUOT: Pierre Olaf
MR. SCHLEGEL: Henry Lascoe
GROBERT: Will Lee
ROUSTABOUTS: George Marcy, Tony Gomez, Johnny Nola, Buff Schurr
CYCLIST: Bob Murray
MIGUELITO: George Marcy
DOG TRAINER: PAUL SYDELL
WARDROBE MISTRESS: CARVEL CARTER
HAREM GIRLS: Nicole Barth, Iva March, Beti Seay
BEAR GIRL: Jennifer Billingsley
PRINCESS OLGA: Luba Lisa
BAND: C.B. Bernard, Peter Lombard
STILT WALKER: Dean Crane
JUGGLERS: Martin Brothers
CLOWNS: Bob Dixon, Harry Lee Rogers
STRONGMAN: Pat Tolson
GLADYS ZUWICKI: Mary Ann Niles
GLORIA ZUWICKI: Christina Bartel
GYPSY: Anita Gillette
MARCO THE MAGNIFICENT: James Mitchell
THE INCOMPARABLE ROSALIE: Kaye Ballard
GRETA SCHLEGEL: June Meshonek
LILI: Anna Maria Alberghetti
PAUL BERTHALET: Jerry Orbach
BLUE BIRDS: Nicole Barth, Jennifer Billingsley, Iva March, Beti Seay
AERIALIST: Dean Crane
DR. GLASS: IGORS GAVON
Bordman, Gerald. “American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle.” New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1978.
Holden, Steven. “Carnival!.” New York Times, April 14, 1993. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1993/04/14/485093.html?pageNumber=60
Internet Broadway Database. “Carnival!” Accessed August 15, 2022. https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/carnival-2302
Isherwood, Charles. “Broadway’s No-Show Business.” New York Times, December 19, 2004. https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/19/theater/newsandfeatures/broadways-noshow-business.html
Merrill, Bill. “Amplification Run Amok” New York Times, June 30 1996. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1996/06/30/645230.html?pageNumber=200
Playbill. “Carnival!” Accessed August 15, 2022. https://playbill.com/production/carnival-imperial-theatre-vault-0000006053#carousel-cell209719
Rich, Frank. “David Merrick, 88, Showman Who Ruled Broadway, Dies.” New York Times, April 27 2000. https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/27/theater/david-merrick-88-showman-who-ruled-broadway-dies.html
Taubman, Howard. “Flashy Musical: Carnival!, Based on the Film Lili, Celebrates a Traveling Circus”. New York Times, April 23rd, 1961. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/04/23/issue.html
