Shinbone Alley

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For the song by Spin Doctors, see Pocket Full of Kryptonite.
Shinbone Alley
New York Tribune columns Archy and Mehitabel
Productions1957 Broadway
1960 US television
2005 Melbourne, Australia

Shinbone Alley (sometimes performed as archy & mehitabel

New York Tribune columns by Don Marquis (illustrated by Krazy Kat author George Herriman), it focuses on poetic cockroach archy (who wasn't strong enough to depress the typewriter's shift-key), alley cat mehitabel, and her relationships with theatrical cat tyrone t. tattersal and tomcat big bill, under the watchful eye of the newspaperman, the voice-over narrator and only human being in the show.[3]

Productions and background

The project began in 1954 as a

Little Orchestra Society at The Town Hall in New York City. With an expanded book, the addition of several lengthy ballet sequences, and a cast of animal characters, the rechristened Shinbone Alley preceded Cats by a couple of decades and was a precursor of the far more successful Andrew Lloyd Webber hit. It was one of the first Broadway
shows to feature a fully integrated cast.

The original Shinbone Alley was in Manhattan.[4]

With neither an out-of-town tryout nor a preview period, the Broadway production opened on April 13, 1957, at

choreographed by Joe and Rod Alexander, with production design by Eldon Elder, costumes by Motley, and lighting by Tharon Musser. The cast featured Bracken, reprising his role as archy, Eartha Kitt as mehitabel, Erik Rhodes as tyrone, and George S. Irving as big bill. Supporting players included Cathryn Damon, Jacques d'Amboise, Ross Martin, Lillian Hayman, and Allegra Kent. Relative newcomer Chita Rivera
was Kitt's standby.

The show's sole

cast album recorded in a studio, a tape of a live performance was transferred to acetate and released on the Legend label. In 2005 the musical had its Australian premiere in Melbourne, under the name archy & mehitabel. Produced by Magnormos, it was directed by Aaron Joyner and starred Jane Badler in the role of mehitabel, and Michael Lindner as archy.[1][2] The "Musicals Tonight!" series presented a staged concert version in November 2006 in New York City.[5]

Current licensing

Licensing and performance rights are being held by Music Theatre International, under the archy & mehitabel title.[6]

Film and TV adaptations

On May 16, 1960, an abridged version of the musical was broadcast under the original title archy & mehitabel[7] as part of the syndicated TV anthology series Play of the Week presented by David Susskind. The cast included Bracken, Tammy Grimes, and Jules Munshin.[8]

Bracken and Channing reunited to provide the voices for the

Allied Artists animated feature film in 1971, Shinbone Alley, directed by John David Wilson for Fine Arts Films.[8][9]

Songs

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Entertainment News: archy & mehitabel (November 28–30, 2005)". Entertainmentdepot.com.au. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  2. ^ a b "archy & mehitabel (November 28–30, 2005)". Magnormos.com. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  3. ^ John. "Photos From 'archy and mehitabel' (1954) | Don Marquis". Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  4. ^ "LOVEJONES". Forgotten New York. April 5, 2007. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  5. ^ "Shinbone Alley". musicalstonight.org. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016.
  6. ^ "Archy & Mehitabel". MTIShows.com. September 16, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  7. ^ "archy and mehitabel". Imdb.com. 1960. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  8. ^ a b "archy and mehitabel" donmarquis.com, retrieved March 18, 2010
  9. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7
    . Retrieved 6 June 2020.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shinbone Alley (Manhattan).


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