Preview
Identifier
Revue Program_Page_24
Creation Date
4-23-2021
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | Theatre and Performance Studies
Description
DRAMATURGY - “NORMANDY”
Normandy is a song from the musical Once Upon a Mattress. Although the musical is not well known, it certainly gained a following while carrying a notable reputation. During the era of “Golden Age’’ musicals, it was one of the few musicals composed by a woman. Even in the 21 shows featured in this production of Revue, this song features one of only three women who either wrote or composed in a musical.
Once Upon a Mattress premiered on Broadway on May 11, 1959 at the Alvin Theatre, eventually moving to four different venues, before ending at the St. James Theatre. This set the record for most venues performed during a single run for a Broadway musical. The musical featured music by Mary Rodgers, daughter of Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Marshall Barer, who also co-wrote the book with Jay Thompson and Dean Fuller. It’s an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s well-known fairy tale The Princess and the Pea.
Once Upon a Mattress only lasted for a total of 244 performances on Broadway. Critical and audience responses were mixed during the initial run, but overtime, the musical would later gain popularity. Despite its short run, the musical was nominated for two Tony Awards in 1960. Interestingly, during the Tony Awards, Mary Rodgers was competing for Best Musical against her father Richard Rodgers for his musical The Sound of Music. Once Upon a Mattress had a revival on Broadway in 1996, starring Sarah Jessica Parker. There was also a 2005 TV movie adaptation of the musical. The Minstrel character was notably cut from the movie; therefore, “Normandy” was reconstructed, becoming a song about Larken and Sir Harry’s honeymoon.
In the song “Normandy”, the King, the Minstrel and the Jester catched Lady Larken trying to escape the kingdom, after a fight with her beloved, the knight Sir Harry. However, the three eventually decided to assist her in taking her to Normandy. The music for “Normandy” is in typical fashion with the “Golden Age”, with lavish orchestral instrumentation, a changing tempo, and some trio harmonies.
Publisher
Arkansas State University
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Theatre Program
Keywords
musical, compliation, retrospective, medley
