Dear World (Revised)

A TAMS-WITMARK TITLE

Full Length Musical, Comedy / 4f, 2m

Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman / Book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee / Based on The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux as adapted by Maurice Valency / New Version by David Thompson

This musical adaptation of Jean Giraudoux’s play The Madwoman of Chaillot is a haunting, delicate charmer celebrating life, passion and madness.

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OVERVIEW

Cast Size

4f, 2m
Duration

120 minutes (2 hours)
Subgenre

Adaptations (Stage & Screen), Period
Target Audience
- Appropriate for all audiences

Accolades

NOMINEE: Two 1969 Tony Awards
WINNER! 1969 Tony Award, Best Actress in a Musical (Angela Lansbury)

Description

Adapted from Jean Giraudoux’s play The Madwoman of Chaillot, Dear World is a haunting, delicate and charming musical celebrating life, passion and madness. A Tony award winner for its original leading lady Angela Lansbury, the musical features some of Jerry Herman’s most beloved songs, including “Kiss Her Now,” “Each Tomorrow Morning,” “I’ve Never Said I Love You,” “I Don't Want To Know” and the title song.

History

Dear World opened on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on February 6, 1969, and played for 122 performances, starring Angela Lansbury and Milo O'Shea. This revised version of the show opened at the Sundance Theatre in Utah in June of 2002, starring Maureen McGovern as the Countess Aurelia.

Keywords

In wartime Paris, the eccentric Countess Aurelia, also known as “The Madwoman of Chaillot,” lives in the cellar of a small bistro, ruing the loss of a long-ago lover and reminiscing about her past. When a heartless corporation decides to blow up the bistro to access the valuable oil beneath it, Aurelia and her band of motley friends conspire to save the café. Meanwhile, the Countess encourages the romance between a young executive named Julian and Nina, the bistro’s waitress.

Considerations

Performing Groups

High School/Secondary
College Theatre / Student
Community Theatre
Professional Theatre
Senior Theatre
Blackbox / Second Stage /Fringe Groups

Licence details

Licensing fees and rental materials quoted upon application.

Specifics

Details

Time Period: 1940s / WWII
Duration: 120 minutes (2 hours)
Setting: An early spring. Postwar Paris.
Additional Features: Mime
Features / Contains: Period Costumes

Casting

4f, 2m

Cast Attributes

Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle)
Parts for Senior Actors

Principals
(4 female; 2 male)

The Countess Aurelia – the Madwoman of Chaillot
Mme. Constance – the Madwoman of Passy
Mme. Gabrielle – the Madwoman of St. Sulpice
The Sewerman – an elegant slob with superb manners, the authority on underground Paris
Nina – a waitress at the Café Francis
Julian – a young assistant to the Presidents

Supporting

The Sergeant – a Police Officer assigned to Chaillot, near the Seine
The Waiter at the Café Francis
The Mute – a young street urchin
President Number One – The International Substrate of Paris, Inc.
President Number Two – The International Substrate of Paris, Inc.
President Number Three – The International Substrate of Paris, Inc.
The Prospector – a Cassius-like cadaver of a man in an oversized raincoat

Music

Musical Style: Classic Broadway
Dance Requirements: Easy
Vocal Demands: Difficult
Orchestra Size: Small/Combo
Chorus Size: No Chorus

Act I

1. Overture – Orchestra
2. Opening Scene – Orchestra
3. “Through The Bottom Of the Glass” – Countess
4. Reprise: “Through The Bottom Of the Glass” – Countess
5. Riverbank – Orchestra
6. “Just A Little Bit More” – President, Prospector, & Lawyer
7. Reprise: “Just A Little Bit More” – President, Prospector, & Lawyer
8. More Playoff & Scene Change – Orchestra
9. Chimes – Concertina Underscore #1 – Orchestra
10. Drowned Man – Orchestra
11. Concertina Underscore #2 – Orchestra
12. “Each Tomorrow Morning” – Countess
13. First Reprise: “Each Tomorrow Morning” – Countess & Chorus
14. Concertina Underscore #3 – Orchestra
15. “I Don’t Want To Know” – Countess
16. Second Reprise: “Each Tomorrow Morning” – Countess
17. “I’ve Never Said I Love You” – Nina
18. Flea Market – Orchestra
19. Sewerman Scherzo – Orchestra
20. “Pretty Garbage” – Sewerman, Countess, Gabrielle, & Constance
21. “Ugly Garbage” – Sewerman, Constance, & Gabrielle
22. Ugly Garbage (Dance) – Sewerman & Company
23. “One Person” – Countess & Chorus

Act II

24. Entr’acte – Orchestra
25. “The Spring of Next Year” – President, Prospector, & Lawyer
26. Stoned Music – Orchestra
27. “Memory” – Constance
28. “Pearls” – Countess & Gabrielle
29. “Dickie” – Gabrielle
30. “Voices” – Constance
31. “Thoughts” – Countess
32. “Tea Party Trio” – Countess, Constance & Gabrielle
33. Ber-ber Underscoring – Orchestra
34. “And I Was Beautiful” – Countess
35. Beautiful Playoff – Scene change – Orchestra
36. “Dear World” – Julian & Company
37. Descent – Reprise: “Spring of Next Year” – President, Lawyer, Prospector, & Pimps
38. “Kiss Her Now” – Countess
39. Finale Ultimo – Countess & Company
40. Bows – Countess & Full Company
41. Exit Music – Orchestra

Full Orchestration

Reed (Piccolo, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, & Bass Clarinet)
Horn
Violin (One Player)
Cello (One Player)
Bass
Keyboard Synthesizer
Percussion

Materials

Scripts

FORMATS AVAILABLE:

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Rehearsal Resources

Music Material Rental Packages

Full Package:
1 Piano/Conductor Score
15 Libretto/Vocal Books
1 Reed
1 Horn
1 Synthesizer
1 Percussion
1 Violin
1 Cello
1 Bass

Piano Only:
1 Piano/Conductor
15 Libretto/Vocal book

Media

Music Samples

Authors

Jerry Herman

Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage Aux Folles are home to some of the most popular, most-often performed and most successful musical hero(in)es of all time, and have given Jerry Herman the distinction of being the only composer/lyricist in history to have had three musicals that ran more t ...

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Jerome Lawrence

JEROME LAWRENCE and ROBERT E. LEE collaborated for more than fifty years and were among the most prolific playwriting teams in the American theatre. In addition to their Pulitzer-nominated Inherit The Wind, their other major stage works include the comedy hit Auntie Mame, the books for the musicals Mame and Dear Wor ...

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Robert E. Lee

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David Thompson

David Thompson's theatre credits include And the World Goes 'Round (Drama Desk and Outer Circle Critics Award), The Look of Love, Thou Shalt Not, Flora the Red Menace (Drama Desk Award nomination), Steel Pier (Tony Award nomination) and the 1996 Broadway revival of Chicago, for wh ...

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Maurice Valency

MAURICE VALENCY was a playwright, author, critic and popular professor of Comparative Literature at Columbia University, best known for his award-winning adaptations of plays by Jean Giraudoux and Fredrich Dürrenmatt.

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Dear World (Revised)

Dear World (Revised)