''Baby Case'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Michael Ogborn. The show is based on the famous

Lindbergh baby kidnapping On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (born June 22, 1930), the 20-month-old son of Col. Charles Lindbergh and his wife, aviator and author Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was murdered after being abducted from his crib in the upper floor of th ...

, commonly known as the "Crime of the Century". The musical, which had its world premiere at the

Arden Theatre Company The Arden Theatre Company is a professional regional theatre company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company includes three theatres: the 175-seat Arcadia Stage and the 360-seat F. Otto Haas Stage, located in the main property at 40 ...

in Philadelphia, has gone on to win multiple awards, including the "Best of Fest" award in the 2012

New York Musical Theatre Festival The New York Musical Festival (NYMF) was an annual event held each summer from 2004 to 2019 in New York City's midtown theater district. It mounted more than 30 new musicals each year, more than half selected through an open-submission, double- ...

Productions

The musical originally ran at the

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as a part of its 2001/2002 season. The musical had its New York debut in 2012 in the

. Direction was by Jeremy Dobrish, with choreography by Warren Adams. The cast consisted of Will Reynolds,

Anika Larsen Anika Larsen (born December 19, 1973) is an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 2014 for portraying Cynthia Weil in '' Beautiful: The Carole King Musical''. Larsen has made ...

, Melissa van der Schyff, Eugene Barry-Hill, Jason Collins, Hannah Elless, Tom Riis Farrell, Michael Thomas Holmes, Matthew G. Myers, Patricia Noonan, and Kurt Zischke.

Musical numbers

;Act 1 *American Hero - Ensemble *Nurse's Song - Betty Gow *Someone's Taken the Lindbergh Baby - Ensemble *To Search for You - Anne Lindbergh and

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

*Lullaby - Anne Lindbergh *Baby Case -

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

, Reporters, and Ensemble *A Picture of You - Photographer and Girls *Pull Over Here - William Allen and Girls *Dirty Dishes - Violet Sharpe *Over the Sea - Charles Lindbergh *Wake Up New York -

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and c ...

, Barry, Lyle, and Ensemble ;Act 2 *Baby Case (reprise) - Orchestra and Ensemble *Scapegoat - Bruno Hauptmann *Lawsuit Daddy - Mrs. Wilentz, Secretary, and Women *Flemington Jingle - Studio Sisters *Hauptmann Murdered the Lindbergh Baby! - Ensemble *Lucky Locks - Studio Sisters *Hour of Gold - St. Johns and Anne Lindbergh *If That's What Greets a Hero - Millard Whited and Company *Ladder Song - Ladder Lady *No, I Never Did - Bruno Hauptmann *Trial Drinking Song - Reporters and Ensemble *Unmerciful Hearts - Anna Hauptmann *Invitation to an Execution - Men *Execution March - Ensemble *One Little Boy - Anne Lindbergh *Over, Said, and Done - Ensemble

Reception

In her review of the New York Musical Theatre Festival production, Anita Gates of the ''New York Times'' wrote: "This production has rousing songs, big voices, stylish staging and choreography, first-rate lighting and handsome period costumes. And framing it with the radio bulletins of Walter Winchell (Michael Thomas Holmes), the celebrity-gossip king of his day, was a smart idea." The ''Huffington Post'' review wrote: "We were both overwhelmed by Ogborn's wit, juxtaposition of historical elements, his range of you-can't-keep-your-toes-from-tapping syncopation, his you-actually-walk-out-humming-them melodies and his handling of a complex and complicated subject...a cut above the original. Director Jeremy Dobrish deserves an E for Exceptionallly Excellent for his revisions."

Awards and nominations

The musical received four

Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater The Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre is an annual, nationally-recognized award program that is sponsored by Theatre Philadelphia for professional theater productions in the Greater Philadelphia area. Each season culminates with an awards ...

in 2002, including Best Musical. In 2012, it received four NYMF awards, including Best of Fest.

References

{{Lindbergh kidnapping 2002 musicals Cultural depictions of Charles Lindbergh Lindbergh kidnapping Musicals inspired by real-life events