Hollywood Pinafore
Hollywood Pinafore, or The Lad Who Loved a Salary is a musical comedy in two acts by George S. Kaufman, with music by Arthur Sullivan, based on Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore. It opened on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on May 31 1945, directed by Kaufman himself. The adaptation transplants the maritime satire of the original Pinafore to a satire of the glamorous world of 1940s Hollywood film making, but Sullivan's score is retained with minor adaptations.
Although Kaufman's lyrics are very witty, the book is static for a musical, and the show closed after only 52 performances. However, it has been revived a number of times in recent years.
Synopsis
Starlet Brenda Blossom, pining for a lowly writer Ralph, is promised in marriage to the studio head, Joseph Porter, by her father (a director looking to advance his own career). If she marries Ralph, she'll be tossed out of Hollywood and forced to make a living on the stage. Fortunately, everything turns out for the best when it is discovered that a mix-up in Louhedda Hopsons' gossip column was responsible for Ralph's fall from grace. In reality, it was Ralph who was meant to head the studio instead of Porter.
Roles
- Joseph W. Porter, head of Pinafore Pictures
- Mike Corcoran, a director
- Ralph Rackstraw, a writer
- Dick Live-Eye, an agent
- Brenda Blossom, a star
- Louhedda Hopsons, a columnist
- Bob Beckett, a press agent
- Miss Liebe, Mr. Porter's secretary
- Miss Gloria Mundi
- Miss Beverly Wilshire
- Little Miss Peggy
- Doorman
- Secretaries, Guard, Actors, Actresses, Assistant Directors, Cameramen, Technicians, etc. Singers and Dancers
Musical numbers
ACT 1
- Simple Movie Folk - Miss Gloria Mundi, Miss Beverly Wilshire, Little Miss Peggy, Girls, Ensemble
- Little Butter-Up - Louhedda Hobson
- An Agent's Lot Is Not a Happy One - Dick Live-Eye
- A Maiden Often Seen - Ralph Rackstraw, Miss Beverly Wilshire, Ensemble
- I'm a Big Director at Pinafore - Mike Corcoran, Ensemble
- Here on the Lot - Brenda Blossom
- Joe Porter's Car is Seen - Male Chorus, Ensemble
- I Am the Monarch of the Joint - Joseph W. Porter, Miss Liebe, Ensemble
- When I Was a Lad - Joseph W. Porter, Ensemble
- A Writer Fills the Lowest Niche - Bob Beckett, Ralph Rackstraw, Guard, Ensemble
- Never Mind the Why and Wherefore - Dick Live-Eye, Ensemble
- Refrain, Audacious Scribe/Proud Lady, Have Your Way - Ralph Rackstraw, Brenda Blossom, Miss *Liebe, Ensemble
- Can I Survive This Overbearing? (Finale Act 1) - Dick Live-Eye, Brenda Blossom, Miss Liebe, Ralph Rackstraw, Bob Beckett, Ensemble
ACT 2
- Fair Moon - Mike Corcoran
- I Am the Monarch of the Joint (reprise) - Joseph W. Porter, Miss Liebe, Ensemble
- Ballet Interlude: Success Story - Chief Maid, Other Little Maids, Talent Scout, Her True Love, *Two More Boys, Armand, the Movie Hero, Directorm Studio Assistants
- Hollywood's a Funny Place Louhedda Hobson, Joseph W. Porter
- To Go Upon the Stage - Brenda Blossom
- He Is a Movie Man - Joseph W. Porter, Dick Live-Eye, Ensemble
- The Merry Maiden and the Jerk - Dick Live-Eye, Joseph W. Porter
- Carefully on Tiptoe Stealing (music brazenly taken from Pirates of Penzance)- Brenda Blossom, *Ralph Rackstraw, Dick Live-Eye, Mike Corcoran, Ensemble
- Pretty Daughter of Mine - Mike Corcoran, Ralph Rackstraw, Miss Liebe, Joseph W. Porter, Dick Live-Eye, Ensemble
- Farewell, My Own - Ralph Rackstraw, Brenda Blossom, Miss Liebe, Joseph W. Porter, Louhedda Hobson, Bob Beckett, Ensemble
- This Town I Now Must Shake - Louhedda Hobson, Ensemble
- Finale Act 2 - Entire Company
Reference
Kaufman, George S, Hollywood Pinafore or the Lad Who Loved a Salary, Dramatists Play Service (1998) ISBN 0822216477