On a Clear Day You Can See Forever | |
---|---|
Music | Burton Lane |
Lyrics | Alan Jay Lerner |
Book | Alan Jay Lerner |
Productions | 1965 Broadway 2000 London 2011 Broadway Revival 2013 London Revival |
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is a musical with music by Burton Lane and a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner based loosely on Berkeley Square, written in 1926 by John L. Balderston.[1] It concerns a woman who has ESP and has been reincarnated. The musical received three Tony Award nominations.
Productions[edit]
' On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister ' is the eleventh episode of Season 16. Sep 02, 2005 Directed by Gaby Dellal. With Peter Mullan, Brenda Blethyn, Billy Boyd, Sean McGinley. Frank determines to salvage his self-esteem and tackle his demons by attempting the ultimate test of endurance - swimming the English Channel. On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (Original, Musical, Comedy, Broadway) opened in New York City Oct 17, 1965 and played through Jun 11, 1966. On a clear day, how it will astound you That the glow of your feelings outshines every star You feel part of every mountain, sea and shore You can hear from far and near a world you've never heard before. 4 Bed, 4.5 Bath Secluded Eco-Friendly villa overlooking Francis Bay - $1,179 avg/night - Estate Annaberg - Amenities include: Swimming pool, Internet, Air Conditioning, TV, Satellite or cable, Washer & Dryer, Children Welcome, Parking, No Smoking Bedrooms: 4 Sleeps: 8 Minimum stay from 5 night(s) Bookable directly online - Book vacation rental 442485 with Vrbo.
The Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on October 17, 1965 and closed on June 11, 1966 after 280 performances and 3 previews. The production was directed by Robert Lewis, choreographed by Herbert Ross, and starred Barbara Harris as Daisy Gamble/Melinda, John Cullum as Dr. Mark Bruckner, Clifford David as Edward Moncrief, Titos Vandis as Themistocles Kriakos, and William Daniels (Harris's co-star in A Thousand Clowns) as Warren Smith. Louis Jourdan was the original leading man when the show had its tryout at the Colonial Theatre in Boston but was replaced by Cullum before it reached Broadway. Scenic design was by Oliver Smith and costume design was by Freddy Wittop.
The show was not well received. Ben Brantley of the New York Times recalled: 'Its book was strained and muddled, most critics agreed; its big production numbers were simply cumbersome. But it did have [a] lushly melodic score..'[2] Tours followed, starring such diverse actress-singers as Tammy Grimes, Linda Lavin, and Nancy Dussault as Daisy/Melinda.[3]
A 1970 film adaptation directed by Vincente Minnelli starred Barbra Streisand, Yves Montand, and Jack Nicholson.
In February 2000, the New York City CenterEncores! series presented a staged concert starring Kristin Chenoweth as Daisy/Melinda and Peter Friedman as Dr. Bruckner.[2] The show premiered in London in 2000 at the Bridewell Theatre.
A revised Broadway production began previews on November 12, 2011 at the St. James Theatre and opened on December 11, 2011, directed by Michael Mayer and with a new book by Peter Parnell. Harry Connick Jr. starred as Dr. Mark Bruckner.[4][5] The cast included Jessie Mueller as Melinda and David Turner as David Gamble.[5] The revised version, which had a developmental workshop at The Vineyard Theatre in the fall of 2009[4] and had readings in August 2010 at the Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College, departed from the plot of the original. The patient is now a gay florist David (Turner) who was a female jazz singer Melinda (Mueller) in a former life, and who falls in love with his psychiatrist, widower Dr. Mark Bruckner (Connick).[6] The Vassar concert mixed 'material from the stage and film versions and eliminates overstuffed 1960s-style production numbers.'[7] This production closed on January 29, 2012 after 29 previews and 57 performances.[8]
On A Clear Day You Can See Forever was revived at the Union Theatre in London starring Vicki Lee Taylor as Daisy Gamble and Nadeem Crowe as Dr. Mark Bruckner. The production was directed by Kirk Jameson and opened to rave reviews with the run ending on 28 September 2013.[9]
The 2011 revised Broadway version was revived at The New Conservatory Theater Center in San Francisco, California starring Chris Morell as David Gamble, Melissa O'Keefe as Melinda Wells, and popular local actor William Giammona[10] as Dr. Mark Bruckner. The production was directed by Artistic Director and Founder, Ed Decker, with music direction by Matthew Lee Cannon, choreography by Jayne Zaban and featuring new instrumental arrangements by Ben Prince. It opened May 21, 2016.
Porchlight Music Theatre presented this show as a part of their 'Porchlight Revisits' season where they stage three forgotten musicals per year. It was in Chicago, Illinois in May 2017. It was directed by Lili-Anne Brown.[11]
Synopsis[edit]
On A Clear Day Book
- Act I
Quirky Daisy Gamble sees herself as an unremarkable person and has low self-esteem, even though she can (1) make plants grow remarkably, (2) predict when a telephone will ring or someone will drop in, and (3) tell where to find an object that someone else is looking for. Her current problem, though, is her nasty smoking habit, which will interfere with the chances of her fiancé, Warren, for a job with great benefits. She seeks help from a psychiatrist, Dr. Mark Bruckner, to stop smoking. When he hypnotizes her, she describes living a previous life in late 18th century England as 'Melinda Wells', who died in her late twenties from circumstances beyond her control. Free spirited Melinda was in love with portrait painter Edward Moncrief. Mark keeps to himself what Daisy has revealed to him, and he tells her that she should not be ashamed of her ESP.
At their next session, Daisy, under hypnosis, relates scenes from the salacious London Hellrakers' Club where Melinda met Edward. Melinda and Edward eventually marry, but the painter is unfaithful to her, making love to his subjects. Mark finds himself falling for 'Melinda' and becomes convinced that Daisy is really the reincarnation of Melinda. Melinda finally leaves Edward and sets sail for America, but the ship never reaches Boston. Before Mark can save Melinda from shipwreck, Daisy wakes up.
- Act II
Mark reports on the case to his fellow psychiatrists, who ridicule his findings. Greek shipping magnate Themistocles Kriakos learns of Mark's belief in reincarnation and offers to finance a study of the events of Melinda's life in exchange for Mark's help in discovering who he will be in his next life, which will allow him to leave his fortune to his future self. Daisy accidentally discovers that she is the 'Melinda' at the center of the growing controversy and that Mark prefers Melinda to herself. In her angry confrontation with the psychiatrist about the matter, she tells him that she is 'through being a go-between for you and your dream girl. You're not going to go on using my head for a motel.'
Daisy goes to the airport, ready to return home. Her ESP powers warn her that the plane on which she plans to travel will crash. She realizes at last how special she really is. She leaves her starchy fiancé and she and Mark unite to explore their extraordinary future.
Versions[edit]
![One A Clear Day One A Clear Day](/uploads/1/1/4/1/114140215/950064011.jpg)
The musical is available in at least two noticeably different published versions (aside from the film version), although the basic plot-line remains the same. The first version was published in 1966.[12] The musical numbers recorded in the original Broadway cast album[13] of 1965 correspond to this version.
A second version is evident in the piano-vocal score published in 1967.[14] Here several vocal numbers from the above version are missing ('Ring Out the Bells,' 'Tosy and Cosh', 'Don't Tamper with my Sister'), as is the introduction to the song 'Hurry, It's Lovely Up Here,' which is recorded on the cast album. Also, the Greek millionaire's solo, 'When I'm Being Born Again' is given completely different lyrics ('When I Come Around Again') and sung instead by Daisy's friends. The overture recorded on the cast album combines the 'overture' and 'entr'acte' printed in the vocal score.
The 1970 film version departed from the musical significantly, adding a character for Jack Nicholson (an ex-stepbrother named 'Tad'), and changing details of other characters, moving the period of Melinda's life ahead by a decade or two (into the early 19th century), removing several songs, changing lyrics and adding two new songs.
Songs[edit]
1965 Broadway version[edit]
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2011 Broadway revival version[edit]
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† Songs taken from the musical film Royal Wedding.
Note: In the piano-vocal score, a song appears that was not included in the original Broadway production: 'The Solicitor's Song', during Daisy's first regression-scene. There was also a ballet in the first act of the original production, entitled 'At the Hellrakers' and the song 'Ring Out the Bells' that are not found on the original Broadway recording.
Recordings[edit]
The title song, first introduced by John Cullum in the 1965 musical, has been recorded by a number of artists, including Robert Goulet, Johnny Mathis, baseball pitcher Denny McLain, and Sergio Franchi on his 1976 DynaHouse and TeleHouse albums;[15]Barbra Streisand, star of the 1970 film version, recorded the title song on the film's soundtrack and has frequently included it in her concerts. Sammy Davis Jr. has also performed the title song live in concert, and Harry James released a version in 1967 on his album Our Leader! (Dot DLP 3801 and DLP 25801). In 2012, The Peddlers' 1968 jazz cover was used in season 5 episode 3 ('Hazard Pay') of AMC-TV's Breaking Bad over a montage of Walt and Jesse's meth manufacturing.
'What Did I Have That I Don't Have' was covered with some success by Eydie Gorme and was also sung by Streisand on the soundtrack of the film version. 'Come Back to Me' was recorded by swing revival band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies in 1994, which later appeared on their multi-platinum 1997 compilation Zoot Suit Riot and was re-recorded for their 2014 Rat Pack tribute Please Return the Evening.
Citrix workspace apps for windows. The title song is reminiscent of Ravel's 'Dawn' movement from his ballet Daphnis et Chloé.[16]
Awards and nominations[edit]
Original Broadway production[edit]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1966 | Tony Award | Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical | John Cullum | Nominated |
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical | Barbara Harris | Nominated | ||
Best Original Score | Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner | Nominated | ||
Theatre World Award | John Cullum | Won |
2011 Broadway revival[edit]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | Tony Award | Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical | Jessie Mueller | Nominated |
Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Nominated |
References[edit]
- ^Wearing, J. P. (March 27, 2014). The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN9780810893023 – via Google Books.
- ^ abBrantley, Ben. 'Reincarnation With a Green Thumb'The New York Times, February 12, 2000
- ^'Talkin' Broadway Regional News & Reviews: San Francisco 'Steel Kiss' and 'On a Clear Day' - 9/12/1999'. Talkinbroadway.com. 1999-12-09. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
- ^ abJones, Kenneth. 'A New Life! Harry Connick, Jr. Will Star in Broadway's 'On a Clear Day', as Reconceived by Michael Mayer' Playbill, March 1, 2011, accessed December 3, 2016
- ^ abJones, Kenneth.'On a Clear Day', Nov. 12, You Can See Harry Connick Jr., Beginning Broadway Run'Archived 2011-11-15 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, November 12, 2011
- ^Voss, Brandon.'New Vision for 'On a Clear Day'Archived 2011-11-14 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, November 12, 2011
- ^Itzkof, Dave.'A Clear Day’ Is Born Again in New Concert Production'New York Times, June 17, 2010
- ^Jones, Kenneth (January 12, 2012). 'Broadway's On a Clear Day, a Reincarnation of a Past Cult-Hit, Will Die Jan. 29'. Playbill. Archived from the original on January 16, 2012. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
- ^'Theatre review: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever at Union Theatre'. Britishtheatreguide.info. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
- ^'On a Clear Day You Can See Forever a gay pastiche that pleases at NCTC'. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
- ^'Porchlight Revisits On A Clear Day You Can See Forever at Stage 773 | Metromix Chicago'. chicago.metromix.com. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
- ^On a Clear Day You Can See Forever: a musical play, by Alan Jay Lerner. Music by Burton Lane. New York: Random House, c. 1966.
- ^On a Clear Day You Can See Forever: the original Broadway cast recording. RCA Victor. LSOD-2006 Stereo, LP. c1965. (also on CD)
- ^On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Vocal score. Piano reduction by Robert H. Noeltner. New York: Chappell & Co., Inc., 1967.
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2014-07-13. Retrieved 2011-10-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^Lin, Andrew. 'Violins and Valentines', The Harvard Independent (February 2016).
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=On_a_Clear_Day_You_Can_See_Forever&oldid=1010567243'
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever | |
---|---|
Directed by | Vincente Minnelli |
Produced by | Howard W. Koch |
Written by | Alan Jay Lerner |
Based on | On a Clear Day You Can See Forever by Alan Jay Lerner |
Starring | |
Music by | |
Cinematography | Harry Stradling |
Edited by | David Bretherton |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date | |
Running time | 129 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $8 million[1] |
Box office | $14 million[2] |
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is a 1970 American musicalcomedy-dramafantasy film starring Barbra Streisand and directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner is adapted from his book for the 1965 stage production of the same name. The songs feature lyrics by Lerner and music by Burton Lane.
Plot[edit]
At the behest of her mainstream conservative fiancé Warren, scatterbrained five-pack-a-day chain smoker and clairvoyant Daisy Gamble attends a class taught by psychiatrist Marc Chabot for help in kicking her habit. She becomes unintentionally hypnotized and manages to convince Chabot to attempt to cure her nicotine addiction with hypnotherapy. While undergoing hypnosis, it is discovered she is the reincarnation of Lady Melinda Winifred Waine Tentrees, a seductive 19th century coquette who was born the illegitimate daughter of a kitchen maid. She acquired the paternity records of the children housed in the orphanage where her mother had to send her and used the information to blackmail their wealthy fathers. She eventually married nobleman Robert Tentrees during the period of the English Regency, then was tried for espionage and treason after he abandoned her.
Lua cheat sheet. As their sessions progress, complications arise when Chabot begins to fall in love with Daisy's exotic former self and Daisy begins to fall for him, and his university colleagues demand he either give up his reincarnation research or resign his position with the school. While waiting for Chabot in his office, Daisy accidentally hears a tape recording of one of her sessions and when she discovers Chabot's interest is limited to Melinda, she storms out of the office. When she returns for a final meeting with him, she mentions fourteen additional lives, including her forthcoming birth as Laura and subsequent marriage to the therapist in the year 2038.
Cast[edit]
- Barbra Streisand as Daisy Gamble (Melinda, Lady Tentrees)
- Yves Montand as Marc Chabot
- Larry Blyden as Warren Pratt
- Bob Newhart as Dr. Mason Hume
- Simon Oakland as Dr. Conrad Fuller
- John Richardson as Sir Robert Tentrees
- Jack Nicholson as Tad Pringle
- Mabel Albertson as Mrs. Hatch
- Roy Kinnear as The Prince Regent, later King George IV
- Irene Handl as Winnie Wainwhisle, Melinda's mother (a kitchen maid in the household of the Prince Regent)
- Pamela Brown as Mrs Maria Fitzherbert
Musical numbers[edit]
- 'Hurry! It's Lovely Up Here' – Daisy
- 'On a Clear Day' – Orchestra and Chorus
- 'Love with All the Trimmings' – Daisy
- 'Wait Till We're 65' - Warren and Daisy (cut before the film's release)
- 'Melinda' – Marc
- 'Go to Sleep' – Daisy
- 'He Isn't You' – Daisy
- 'What Did I Have That I Don't Have?' – Daisy
- 'Who Is There Among Us Who Knows' – Tad with Daisy (cut before the film's release)
- 'Come Back to Me' – Marc
- 'On a Clear Day' – Marc
- 'On a Clear Day' (Reprise) – Daisy
Production[edit]
Alan Jay Lerner made a number of changes in adapting his stage play for the screen. The character of Frenchman Marc Chabot originally was Austrian Mark Bruckner. The period of Melinda's life was shifted ahead by a decade or two, her family background is different, and the cause of her death was changed from drowning at sea to unjust execution. In the stage play, the question of whether Daisy really was a reincarnation of Melinda went unresolved, but the film script made it clear she was. The character of Daisy's stepbrother Tad Pringle was added, although most of his scenes and his song 'Who Is There Among Us Who Knows?' ended up on the cutting room floor. Additionally, the future of Daisy and Marc's relationship was altered, and several ensemble musical numbers were excluded from the film.
New York City locations include Central Park, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Pan Am Building, the Upper West Side, and Lexington and Park Avenues. Scenes set in the UK were filmed at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, Kemp Town, and East Sussex.
Nelson Riddle served as the film's music supervisor, arranger, and conductor.
Cecil Beaton designed the period costumes. It proved to be his final project.
Paramount Pictures originally intended the film to be a nearly three-hour-long roadshow theatrical release, but executives ultimately had Minnelli cut nearly an hour from the running time.[3] Along with Tad's song, the deleted material included 'Wait Till We're Sixty-Five', a duet between Daisy and Warren, 'She Isn't You', Marc's response to Daisy's 'He Isn't You', and 'On the S.S. Bernard Cohn' although the melody can be heard in the background of the scene where Marc and Daisy drink and talk in a cocktail lounge.
In A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli (Da Capo Press, 2010), author Mark Griffin examines the excised scenes, including a song entitled 'People Like Me'. According to Griffin: 'Even among die-hard 'Clear Day' fans, this missing number is something of a mystery. It's often referred to as 'E.S.P.', which may have been the song's title at one point. Stills of [Barbra] Streisand wearing a futuristic outfit at the Central Park Zoo have surfaced, offering what appears to be a tantalizing glimpse of this deleted sequence. In [Alan Jay] Lerner's script dated April 18, 1969, Montand's character croons 'People Like Me', which features the lyrics, 'To a sober-minded man of reason, E.S.P. is worse than treason.' It's been suggested that throughout the song, there would have been cutaways to Streisand in her various incarnations—past, present and future.'
Release[edit]
On A Clear Day Musical
The film opened on June 17, 1970 at the State I and Cine Theatres in New York City and then expanded in July and August before a broad release in September.[4] Chase my workspace.
Critical reception[edit]
Upon its release, the film received mixed reviews, though it has endured its initial criticism, being one of the few films with a 100% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[5]
In his review in The New York Times, Vincent Canby called it 'a movie of fits and starts' and added,
- 'because the fits are occasionally so lovely, and the starts somewhat more frequent than Fifth Avenue buses, I was eventually hypnotized into a state of benign though not-quite-abject permissiveness . . . The movie is quite ordinary and Broadway-bland in most of its contemporary sequences. Miss Streisand, as a 22-year-old New Yorker whose Yiddish intonations are so thick they sound like a speech defect, defines innocence by sitting with her knees knocked together and her feet spread far apart, a mannerism she may have picked up from Mary Pickford. Minnelli's camera also is hard-pressed to find interesting things to look at in the humdrum settings . . . and a lot of the time it just records exits and entrances, as if it all were taking place on a stage. However, the movie, Minnelli and Miss Streisand burst into life in the regression sequences, filmed at the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. Minnelli's love of décor transforms the movie into very real fantasy, and the star into a stunning looking and funny character who mouths her arch, pseudo-Terence Rattigan lines as if she were parodying Margaret Leighton. She is so fine, in fact, that if I didn't know she was not terribly good at lip-sync, I would suspect someone else was reading her.'[6]
Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and declared it 'a musical to see more than once, if not forever.'[7]Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times called the film 'just about as good as it could be,' yet 'dull. Nothing to get mad about, nothing to dislike. Just nothing to care about, to put your arm around your wife or sweetheart about, nothing to get so enthused about you forget there's a smoggy and war-infested world outdoors.'[8]Tom Milne of The Monthly Film Bulletin expressed disappointment that 'two of the best and liveliest songs in the show,' 'On the S.S. Bernard Cohn' and 'Wait Till We're Sixty-Five,' were not included in the final cut of the movie. 'Without them,' Milne wrote, 'it is merely a charming romantic comedy agreeably tricked out with charming songs.'[9]
TV Guide rates the film 2½ out of a possible four stars and comments, '[It] boasts great sets and costumes, but its script leaves much to be desired, and even the usually reliable Vincente Minnelli is unable to inject much life into the proceedings.'[10]
Time Out London says: 'Minnelli is able to decorate his material with beguiling visual conceits – the opening time-lapse photography, the colour contrasts between past and present. But he can do nothing to combat the script's length and shallowness, and there are some thumb-twiddling moments in between Burton Lane's delightful songs. The two star performers make an odd team, with their varying kinds of professionalism and vowel sounds.'[11]
Box office[edit]
The film was produced on a budget of $8 million.[1] It grossed $14 million at the box office in the United States and Canada, returning $5.35 million in theatrical rentals.[2][12]
Accolades[edit]
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
- 2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – Nominated[13]
Soundtrack[edit]
The soundtrack album to the film was released by Columbia Records in 1970.
See also[edit]
![One A Clear Day One A Clear Day](/uploads/1/1/4/1/114140215/367451325.png)
References[edit]
- ^ ab'Par At Columbus Circle Will Open With 'Clear Day,' $8,000,000 Tuner'. Variety. December 24, 1969. p. 3.
- ^ abOn a Clear Day You Can See Forever at Box Office Mojo
- ^'On a Clear Day at DVDVerdict.com'.
- ^'Paramount's Summer Playoff Strategy: 5,000 Bookings For Eight Major Films'. Variety. June 3, 1970. p. 5.
- ^On a Clear Day You Can See Forever at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^'Movie Review - Screen: 'On a Clear Day You Can See Forever' Begins Its Run - NYTimes.com'. movies.nytimes.com.
- ^Siskel, Gene (August 18, 1970). 'On a Clear Day'. Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 3.
- ^Champlin, Charles (July 8, 1970). 'La Streisand Sings Along in 'Clear Day'. Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 1.
- ^Milne, Tom (September 1971). 'On a Clear Day You Can See Forever'. The Monthly Film Bulletin. 38 (452): 184.
- ^'On A Clear Day You Can See Forever'. TVGuide.com.
- ^'Time Out London review'. Archived from the original on 2009-07-12. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
- ^'All-time Film Rental Champs'. Variety. 7 January 1976. p. 46.
- ^'AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals Nominees'(PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-13.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (film). |
- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever at IMDb
- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever at the TCM Movie Database
- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever at AllMovie
- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever at Box Office Mojo
- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever at Rotten Tomatoes
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