''Music in the Air'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

written by

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight ...

(lyrics and book) and

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in ove ...

(music). It introduced songs such as "

The Song Is You "The Song Is You" is a popular song and jazz standard composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was written for their musical ''Music in the Air'' (1932) and sung in that show by Tullio Carminati. In the subsequent 1934 f ...

", "In Egern on the Tegern See" and " I've Told Ev'ry Little Star". The musical premiered on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 1932, and followed the team's success with the musical ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'' from 1927.

Productions

The original

production opened at the Alvin Theatre on November 8, 1932, moved to the 44th Street Theatre on March 31, 1933 and closed on September 16, 1933 after 342 performances.''Music in the Air'' Original 1932 production listing
ibdb.com, Retrieved November 17, 2007 It was directed by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, and the cast included

Reinald Werrenrath Reinald Werrenrath (August 7, 1883 – September 12, 1953) was an American baritone opera singer, who also recorded popular songs and appeared regularly on radio in the early decades of the twentieth century. Werrenrath commonly used the ps ...

(Cornelius), Natalie Hall (Frieda Hatzfeld),

Tullio Carminati Tullio Carminati (September 21, 1894 – February 26, 1971) was an Italian actor. He rose to fame in Italy and the United States initially as a silent film actor, starring in such films as '' The Duchess of Buffalo'' (1926), '' The Bat'' (1 ...

(Bruno Mahler), Katherine Carrington (Sieglinde Lessing),

Al Shean Abraham Elieser Adolph Schönberg (May 12, 1868 – August 12, 1949), known as Al Shean, was a comedian and vaudeville performer. Other sources give his birth name variously as Adolf Schönberg, Albert Schönberg, or Alfred Schönberg. He is mos ...

(Dr. Walter Lessing),

Walter Slezak Walter Slezak (; 3 May 1902 – 21 April 1983) was an Austrian-born film and stage actor active between 1922 and 1976. He mainly appeared in German films before migrating to the United States in 1930 and performing in numerous Hollywood producti ...

(Karl Reder), Nicholas Joy (Ernst Weber), and

Marjorie Main Mary Tomlinson (February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975), professionally known as Marjorie Main, was an American character actress and singer of the Classical Hollywood period, best known as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s and 1 ...

(Anna). The music was orchestrated by

Robert Russell Bennett Robert Russell Bennett (June 15, 1894 – August 18, 1981) was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwi ...

."Orchestrator on His Own"
– ''Time Magazine (Monday, Dec. 12, 1932)'', Retrieved May 1, 2008"Robert Russell Bennett"
– ''Internet Broadway Database'', Retrieved May 1, 2008 The musical opened in the West End at His Majesty's Theatre on May 19, 1933 and ran for 199 performances. The musical was staged at

The Muny The St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre (commonly known as The Muny) is an amphitheatre, amphitheater located in St. Louis, Missouri. The theatre seats 11,000 people with about 1,500 free seats in the last nine rows that are available on a first ...

outdoor musical theatre, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1934, and again in 1937, 1944 and 1951. The 1934 film version starred

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...

, John Boles,

Douglass Montgomery Robert Douglass Montgomery (also credited as Kent Douglass; October 29, 1909 – July 23, 1966) was an American film actor. Early years The son of Chester Montgomery, a jeweler, Montgomery graduated from Los Angeles High School. Career ...

, June Lang, and

. The director was

Joe May Joe May (born Joseph Otto Mandl; 7 November 1880 – 29 April 1954) was an Austrian film director and film producer and one of the pioneers of German cinema. Biography After studying in Berlin and a variety of odd jobs, he began his career as ...

, and the screenplay was by Howard Irving Young and

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holly ...

. It was released by

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film C ...

.''Music in the Air'' (1934 film)
Internet Movie Database, Accessed May 1, 2008 The 1934 film, however, omitted the show's best-known number, ''The Song Is You''. The song was filmed, but deleted from the final print. A 1951 Broadway revival ran from October 8, 1951 through November 24, 1951 at the Ziegfeld Theatre. Directed by Oscar Hammerstein II, the cast featured Jane Pickens,

Dennis King Dennis King (born Dennis Pratt, 2 November 1897 – 21 May 1971) was an English actor and singer. Early years Born on 2 November 1897 in Coventry, Warwickshire, or Birmingham, England, King was the son of John and Elizabeth King Pratt. He ...

and

Charles Winninger Charles J. Winninger (May 26, 1884 – January 27, 1969) was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals. Life and career Winninger was born in Athens, Wisconsin, the son of Rosalia (Grassler) and Franz Winninger ...

."Old Musical in Manhattan"
– ''Time Magazine (Monday, Oct. 22, 1951)'', Retrieved May 1, 2008 Because of possible anti-German feeling after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Hammerstein changed the setting from Munich to Zurich with the resulting Swiss nationalities. In 2009,

Encores! Encores! is a Tony-honored concert series dedicated to performing rarely heard American musicals, usually with their original orchestrations. Presented by New York City Center since 1994, Encores! has revived shows by Irving Berlin, Rodgers & ...

at New York City Center presented a staged concert version of the show, starring

Douglas Sills Douglas Howard Sills (born July 5, 1960) is an American actor. Early life Sills was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Rhoda (Nemeth) and Archie Sills, and grew up in the suburb of Franklin, in a Jewish household. He was friends (and did ama ...

(Bruno Mahler),

Sierra Boggess Sierra Marjory Boggess (; born May 20, 1982) is an American theater actress and singer. She is best known for originating the role of Ariel in ''The Little Mermaid'' on Broadway, and for her multiple appearances as Christine Daaé in ''The Phan ...

(Sieglinde Lessing), Dick Latessa (Herr Direktor Kirschner),

Marni Nixon Margaret Nixon McEathron (February 22, 1930 – July 24, 2016), known professionally as Marni Nixon, was an American soprano and ghost singer for featured actresses in musical films. She is now recognized as the singing voice of leading a ...

(Frau Direktor Kirschner), Ryan Silverman (Karl Reder) and

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

(Frieda Hatzfeld, filling in for an originally announced Marin Mazzie). It ran from February 5 until February 8.Gans, Andre
"There's Music in the Air at City Center Beginning Feb. 5"
playbill.com, February 5, 2009

Principal characters

* Cornelius, a bird-seller * Frieda Hatzfeld, an operetta star * Bruno Mahler, a composer * Sieglinde Lessing, a young singer in love with Karl * Dr Walther Lessing, Sieglinde's father, a composer and music teacher * Karl Reder, the local schoolteacher * Ernst Weber, publisher * Lili Kirschner, wife of the producer

Synopsis

The musical takes place in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

during the 1930s but some contemporary productions have modified it to present day. In the simple mountain town of Edendorff in Bavaria, music teacher Dr. Walther Lessing has a beautiful daughter Sieglinde. She is in love with Karl Reder, the local schoolmaster. Karl and Sieglinde travel to the sophisticated city of Munich and try to get a song written by Walther and Karl published. Karl becomes enamored of glamorous operetta diva Frieda Hatzfeld while Sieglinde is smitten by Bruno Mahler, an operetta librettist with whom Frieda lives. Mahler wants Sieglinde to appear in his new work "Tingle-Tangle". Frieda moves out of Mahler's apartment and moves to an hotel where she can see Karl on a regular basis. Bruno takes Sieglinde to the Munich zoo where Sieglinde is warned by Cornelius, a bird-seller, that as she and Karl are country people, it is not wise to stay in the big city. Sieglinde spurns an unwanted pass from Bruno while Frieda finds Karl equally unresponsive. Frieda plans to leave for Berlin to star in a new film. Before she leaves, she warns Karl that Bruno will cast Sieglinde aside as soon as he has used her. It is up to Karl to tell the producer of the show that Frieda has left. Bruno insists, to Karl's chagrin, that Sieglinde can take over the leading role in the operetta. Resulting from machinations of her father, and a somewhat chaotic dress rehearsal it becomes evident that Sieglinde is far too inexperienced to take on a leading role. As a result, Bruno's affections vanish. Walther and Sieglinde are told in no uncertain terms that the theatre is no place for amateurs and they should return to their home, and they do. Frieda meanwhile has returned to take up the leading role and is an overwhelming success. Karl returns to Edendorff and to Sieglinde, both having learned a valuable lesson.

Musical numbers

;Act I *Melodies of May – Choral Society * I've Told Ev'ry Little Star – Karl Reder *Prayer – Karl Reder, Sieglinde Lessing and Ensemble *There's a Hill Beyond a Hill – Hans and Walking Club *I'm Coming Home – Bruno Mahler *And Love Was Born – Cornelius *I'm Alone – Frieda Hatzfeld *I Am So Eager – Bruno Mahler, Frieda Hatzfeld and Ensemble *Finaletto – Marthe, Ernst Weber and Dr. Walter Lessing ;Act II *One More Dance – Bruno Mahler *Night Flies By – Frieda Hatzfeld *I've Told Every Little Star (Reprise) – Sieglinde Lessing *I'm Alone (Reprise) – Frieda Hatzfeld *When the Spring Is in the Air – Sieglinde Lessing and Ensemble *In Egern on the Tegern See – Frau Direktor Kirschner *

– Bruno Mahler *I'm Alone (Reprise) – Frieda Hatzfeld *The Song Is You (Reprise) – Frieda Hatzfeld and Bruno Mahler *We Belong Together – Karl Reder, Sieglinde Lessing, Cornelius and Company

References

External links

Internet Broadway Database listing for 1932 and 1951
* ttp://www.playbill.com/article/music-in-the-air-a-farewell-to-operetta-com-157435# "Background and analysis", Playbill, January 28, 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Music In The Air 1932 musicals Broadway musicals Original musicals Musicals by Oscar Hammerstein II Musicals by Jerome Kern