''Kwamina'' is a musical with the libretto by

Robert Alan Aurthur Robert Alan Aurthur (June 10, 1922 – November 20, 1978) was an American screenwriter, film director, and film producer. Many of his works examined race relations and featured '' In the Heat of the Night'' star Sidney Poitier. His final work ...

and music and lyrics by

Richard Adler Richard Adler (August 3, 1921 – June 21, 2012) was an American lyricist, writer, composer and producer of several Broadway shows. He is best known for his work with Jerry Ross (composer), Jerry Ross on the musicals ''The Pajama Game'' (1954) a ...

Production

The musical opened in out of town tryouts 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 ...

, where, as noted by

Ken Mandelbaum Ken Mandelbaum is an American columnist, critic, and author whose primary field of expertise is musical theatre. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Mandelbaum was introduced to Broadway musical theatre by his parents and grandparents at an e ...

, "The reviews were promising",Mandelbaum, Ken
''Kwamina''
''Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops'', Macmillan, 1992, , p. 126 and then ran in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. ''Kwamina'' 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 Stre ...

at the

54th Street Theatre The Adelphi Theatre (originally the Craig Theatre) was a Broadway theater at 152 West 54th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with 1,434 seats.Internet Broadway Database''Adelphi Theatre''(Retrieved on November 30, 2007) Opened on Dece ...

on October 23, 1961, and closed on November 18, 1961, after 32 performances. The production starred

Sally Ann Howes Sally Ann Howes (20 July 1930 – 19 December 2021) was an English actress and singer. Her career on screen, stage and television spanned six decades. She is best known for the role of Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 musical film ''Chitty Chitt ...

Terry Carter John Everett DeCoste (December 16, 1928 – April 23, 2024), known professionally as Terry Carter, was a pioneering black American actor and filmmaker, known for his roles as Sgt. Joe Broadhurst on the television series '' McCloud''Robert Guillaume Robert Guillaume (born Robert Peter Williams; November 30, 1927 – October 24, 2017) was an American actor and singer. He played Fishbone on television series " Good Times", Benson DuBois in the ABC television series ''Soap'' and its spin-o ...

, and

Brock Peters Brock Peters (born George Fisher; July 2, 1927 – August 23, 2005) was an American actor, best known for playing the villainous "Crown" in the 1959 film version of ''Porgy and Bess'', and Tom Robinson in the 1962 film ''To Kill a Mockingbird ...

, and was directed by Robert Lewis and choreographed by

Agnes de Mille Agnes George de Mille (September 18, 1905 – October 7, 1993) was an American dancer and choreographer. Early years Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMill ...

. Mandelbaum noted that the Broadway reviews were "mixed but mostly negative", but did praise de Mille, her dancers, and the set.

Synopsis

The son of an African tribal chief returns home after attending medical school in London and finds his modern methods conflict with his village's traditions. He also butts heads with the village's white female doctor, but he ultimately falls in love with her.

Original cast album

The original cast album was recorded for Capitol Records on Monday, November 20, 1961 following the Saturday close two days earlier. A cast album had already been planned based on hopes that the show would be a hit, but Capitol Records, despite the extremely short run of the show, went ahead and made and released the album, and it has since reached a cult status. It has recently been made available for online download on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

and Amazon (UK). Jazz pianist

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the a ...

released '' The Original Jazz Score of Kwamina'' in 1961.

Songs

;Act I *"The Cocoa Bean Song" - Ako, Singers and Company *"Welcome Home" - Singers, Spear Dancers and Company *"The Sun is Beginning to Crow" - Company *"Did You Hear That?" - Eve and Kwamina *"You're As English As" - Eve *"Seven Sheep, Four Red Shirts, and a Bottle of Gin" - Akufo, Singers, Dancers and Company *"Nothing More To Look Forward To" - Ako and Naii *"What's Wrong With Me?" - Eve *"Something Big" - Kwamina and Company *"Ordinary People" - Eve and Kwamina *"A Man Can Have No Choice" - Obitsebi *"What Happened to Me Tonight?" - Eve ;Act II *"One Wife" - Mammy Trader, Alla, Singers and Dancers *"Nothing More to Look Forward To (Reprise)" - Naii *"Something Big (Reprise)" - Company *"Another Time, Another Place" - Eve *"Fetish" - Obitsebi and Dancers

References

Notes

* ''You Gotta Have Heart'' by

. 1990 * ''Sing Out Louise!'' by Dennis McGovern & Deborah Grace Winer. Schirmer Books, 1993. * ''Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops'' by Ken Mandelbaum. St. Martin's Press, 1991 * ''Slings and Arrows: Theatre in My Life'' by Robert Lewis, Stein & Day, 1984.

External links

* Broadway musicals 1961 musicals Musicals by Richard Adler Musicals set in Africa {{musical-theat-stub