''Lute Song'' is a 1946 American musical with a

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...

by Sidney Howard and

Will Irwin William Henry Irwin (September 14, 1873 – February 24, 1948) was an American author, writer and journalist who was associated with the muckrakers. Early life Irwin was born in 1873 in Oneida, New York. In his early childhood, the Irwin fam ...

, music by Raymond Scott, and lyrics by Bernard Hanighen. It is based on the 14th-century Chinese play '' Tale of the Pipa'' (''Pi-Pa-Ji'') by

Gao Ming Gao Ming (; 13051370), also known as Kao Ming, Gao Zecheng, and the Cabbage Root Taoist, was a Chinese poet and playwright during the Yuan Dynasty. Gao was born and grew up in Wenzhou. In 1345, needing to find a way to support his widowed mothe ...

. Though not a great success, the show is significant for

Mary Martin Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles on stage over her career, including Nellie Forbush in ''South Pacific'' (194 ...

's meeting of then-unknown cast member

Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (russian: link=no, Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner, was a Russian-born actor. He was best known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in th ...

, whom she later recommended to her friends Rodgers and Hammerstein for the role of the

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

ese

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

in the classic ''

The King and I ''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the chil ...

'', which premiered on Broadway in 1951. It was also the only Broadway appearance of Nancy Davis, future U.S.

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Nancy Reagan.

Development

Cyril Birch, collaborator in a translation of '' The Peach Blossom Fan'', wrote that presumably the basis of the American play was the 1846 Antoine (A. P. L.) Bazin

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

translation of the Chinese play '' Tale of the Pipa''.Birch, p
xvii

Plot

The plot focuses on Tsai-Yong ( Cai Yong), a young student who leaves his wife Tchao-Ou-Niang and parents to make a name for himself. He becomes a notable

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

, but when he marries Princess Nieou-Chi, he is forbidden by her father to contact his family. His impoverished parents die of starvation during a

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompan ...

, and Tchao-Ou-Niang is forced to sell her hair to pay for their funeral. She ultimately is reunited with her husband by Nieou-Chi, and is welcomed to the palace as his #1 wife. Unlike the original work, Tsai-Yong has to decide between love and filial piety. Ultimately Tsai-Yong and Tchao-Ou-Niang are united.Clausen, Starrs, and Wedell-Wedellsborg, p
202
"The dominant theme of the Chinese ''Pipa ji'' is ''xiao'', filial piety. Yet the American ''Lute Song'' changes this ending by having Cai Yong choose between the two. As a result, Niu Ji retreats; Cai Yong and Chao Wuniang are absorbed in their mutual love. The return from polygamy to monogamy at the end of ''Lute Song'' was partly prompted by the actress Mary Martin and her husband-manager, Richard Halliday. The reason is that 'sharing a man was unworthy of a star of Mary's magnitude' ..

Production

The Broadway production was directed by John Houseman and was produced by Michael Meyerberg. It opened at the Plymouth Theatre on February 6, 1946 and closed on June 8 of the same year after running for 142 performances. Scenic, costume, and lighting design were by Robert Edmond Jones. The cast included

as Tsai-Yong,

as Tchao-Ou-Niang,

Mildred Dunnock Mildred Dorothy Dunnock (January 25, 1901 – July 5, 1991) was an American stage and screen actress. She was twice nominated for an Academy Award: first '' Death of a Salesman'' in 1951, then '' Baby Doll'' in 1956. Early life Born in Baltimor ...

and

Augustin Duncan Augustin Duncan (April 17, 1873, San Francisco – 1954, New York City) was an American actor and director active in New York and London during the first half of the 20th century. Biography The eldest boy of four children of Joseph Charles Duncan ...

as the parents, and Helen Craig as Nieou-Chi. Appearing as Si-Tchun, a Lady-in-Waiting, was

Nancy Davis Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in Ne ...

, making her first and only Broadway appearance. A London production opened at the Winter Garden on October 11, 1948, produced by Albert de Courville and starring Brynner and

Dolly Haas Dolly may refer to: Tools *Dolly (tool), a portable anvil * A posser, also known as a dolly, used for laundering * A variety of wheeled tools, including: **Dolly (trailer), for towing behind a vehicle **Boat dolly or launching dolly, a device fo ...

. One factor in the change to the ending was the efforts of Mary Martin and her husband Richard Halliday, who acted as her manager, because of the belief that "'sharing a man was unworthy of a star of Mary's magnitude'".

Song list

;Act 1 *Mountain High, Valley Low ..... Tchao-Ou-Niang and Tsai-Yong *Monkey See, Monkey Do ..... Tchao-Ou-Niang *Where You Are ..... Tchao-Ou-Niang ;Act 2 *Willow Tree ..... Tsai-Yong *Vision Song ..... Tchao-Ou-Niang and Tsai-Yong *Bitter Harvest ..... Tchao-Ou-Niang ;Act 3 *Mountain High, Valley Low (Reprise) ..... Tchao-Ou-Niang *Lute Song ..... Tchao-Ou-Niang

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

released an album containing six tracks - four vocals by Martin and two instrumentals - on three 78 RPM records.

Critical reception

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' called it "the season's loveliest production and most charming failure hatnever quite catches the inner glow of art or the outward stir of theater." It continued, "There should have been either less spectacle or less story. As it is, the old tale is retold at considerable length, but loses much of its flow and human feeling through gorgeous interruptions and sumptuous distractions. What's more, neither the writing nor the acting has quite the stylized quality it reaches after."The Theater: Old Play in Manhattan
" ''

''. Monday February 8, 1946.

References

*Birch, Cyril. "Introduction: '' The Peach Blossom Fan'' as Southern Drama." In: K'ung, Shang-jen. Translators: Chen, Shih-hsiang and Harold Acton. Collaborator: Birch, Cyril. ''The Peach Blossom Fan'' (''T'ao-hua-shan'').

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facul ...

, 1976. . *Clausen, Søren, Roy Starrs, and Anne Wedell-Wedellsborg. ''Cultural encounters: China, Japan, and the West : essays commemorating 25 years of East Asian studies at the University of Aarhus''.

Aarhus University Press Aarhus University Press () is a commercial foundation, founded in 1985 by Aarhus University, Denmark. The main purpose of the press is to publish the scholarly works of researchers at the university, but many authors come from other Danish insti ...

, 1995. , 9788772884974.

Notes

External links

{{Portal, United States, Theatre
Lute Song
at Internet Broadway Database 1946 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals based on plays Works based on Chinese classics