''Jolson'' 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 Character (arts), charac ...

with a book by

Francis Essex Francis Essex (24 March 1929 – 5 March 2009) was a British television and stage producer, author and composer. Essex's career spanned several decades during which he worked for several TV production companies. His jobs included: Light Entertai ...

and Rob Bettinson and a score composed of tunes by some of the all-time greatest

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

s of

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

Premise

Based on the life of singer

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and ...

, one of

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

's most popular entertainers, it spans thirty years of his career. Out of the

limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a non-electric type of stage lighting that was once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illum ...

, the plot emphasizes his personal faults as much as it does his professional successes. Other major characters include his wife Ruby Keeler and his longtime friend and agent Louis Epstein.

Productions

The West End production, directed by Bettinson, opened on October 26, 1995 at the Victoria Palace Theatre, where it ran for seventeen months. The cast included

Brian Conley Brian Paul Conley (born 7 August 1961) is an English actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Conley has been the host of '' The Brian Conley Show'', as well as presenting the Royal Variety Performance on eight occasions. In his 40+ ...

as Jolson,

Sally Ann Triplett Sally Ann Triplett (born 15 April 1962, London, England) is a British singer and actress. She participated in two editions of the Eurovision Song Contest and West End productions. Career Triplett first represented the United Kingdom in the Eu ...

as Keeler, John Bennett as Epstein, Julie Armstrong, Alison Carter & Helen McNee as The Rooney Sisters. An

original cast album A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

was recorded live during the performances of February 29, March 1, and March 2, 1996 and released by First Night Records. ''Jolson - The Musical'' was staged at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

from June through October 1997. A proposed move to Broadway never materialized. However, a national US tour did occur beginning in October 1998, with the production performing in 34 cities.

Song list

* "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" * "Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" * "Toot-Toot-Tootsie Goodbye" * "There's a Rainbow Round My Shoulder" * "Let Me Sing and I'm Happy" * "For Me and My Gal" * "You Made Me Love You" * " Swanee" * "California Here I Come" * "Blue Skies" * "My Mammy" * "This is the Army, Mr. Jones" * "I'm Just Wild About Harry" * "I Only Have Eyes for You" * "Waiting for the Robert E. Lee" * "Swanee" * "Baby Face" * "Sonny Boy" * " The Spaniard That Blighted My Life" * "I'm Just Wild About Harry" * "Around a Quarter to Nine" * "Carolina in the Morning" * "Give My Regards to Broadway" * "My Mammy (Reprise)"

Reception

''Variety'' received the show negatively, calling it "dull" and criticizing it for overlooking the more controversial parts of Jolson's life and performances.

Awards

Under the auspices of the

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in West End theatre, professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of We ...

s, it won the

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

Award for Best New Musical. Olivier nominations went to Conley for Best Actor in a Musical and Bennett for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical. American Express Award for Best New Musical

References

External links

Toronto review
{{OlivierAward Musical 1976–2000 1995 musicals Biographical musicals about musicians British musicals Laurence Olivier Award–winning musicals Musicals set in the 20th century Musicals set in the United States West End musicals