''Merlin'' 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 ...
based on a concept by popular
illusionist
Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of close-up magic, parlor magic, and stage magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural me ...
Doug Henning
Douglas James Henning (May 3, 1947 – February 7, 2000) was a Canadian magician, illusionist, escape artist and politician.
Early life
Henning was born in the Fort Garry district of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Henning became interested in magi ...
and
Barbara De Angelis, written by
Richard Levinson
Richard Leighton Levinson (August 7, 1934 – March 12, 1987) was an American screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with William Link.
Life and career
Levinson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the Univ ...
and
William Link
William Theodore Link (December 15, 1933 – December 27, 2020) was an American film and television screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with Richard Levinson.
Biography Early life
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...
, with music (and
incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...
) written by
Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 orig ...
and lyrics by
Don Black.
Synopsis
The story focuses on the legendary
wizard Merlin
The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...
, not as an elderly man as he is usually depicted, but as a young apprentice still learning the rules of magic. Merlin must overcome the evil Queen and her attempts to install her son Fergus as the King of England over the rightful future
King Arthur
According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...
.
Magic tricks
During the production number "Put a Little Magic in Your Life", Henning mounted a white horse and rode it into a gigantic box, which was then closed and hoisted into the air above the stage. In midair, the box suddenly broke open, turning out to be empty. A moment later, Henning appeared at the opposite edge of the stage, still mounted on a horse. In another scene, Henning levitated and flew above the stage with no visible support. Anticipating the audience's suspicion that Henning was hanging on invisible wires, the set design for this scene included several large
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...
-like trilithons: Henning levitated beneath the lintels of these structures, which would have caught any wires hanging above him. In a battle sequence, Rivera's villainess character and her minions, in full view of the audience, assembled several large pieces of armor into a giant warrior, which immediately began walking and wielding a sword even though the armor had no discernible human occupant.
Original cast and characters
Song list
;Act I
* "It's About Magic" – Old Merlin, Young Merlin, Merlin, Philomena and Ensemble
* "I Can Make It Happen" – The Queen
* "Beyond My Wildest Dreams" – Ariadne
* "Something More" – Merlin and Ariadne
* "The Elements" – Merlin, Wizard and Ensemble
* "Fergus' Dilemma" – Prince Fergus and Ladies of the Court
* "Nobody Will Remember him" – The Queen and Wizard
;Act II
* "Put A Little Magic In Your Life" – Old Merlin, Merlin, Philomena and Ensemble
* "He Who Knows The Way" – Wizard
* "I Can Make It Happen" (Reprise) – The Queen
* "He Who Knows The Way" (Reprise) – Wizard
* "We Haven't Fought a Battle in Years" – Prince Fergus and Soldiers
* "Satan Rules" – The Queen
* "Nobody Will Remember Him" (Reprise) – The Queen
* "He Who Knows the Way" (Reprise) – Merlin, Wizard and Arthur
Production history
''Merlin'' opened 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
Mark Hellinger Theatre
The Mark Hellinger Theatre (formerly the 51st Street Theatre and the Hollywood Theatre) is a church building at 237 West 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, which formerly operated as a cinema and Broadway th ...
on February 13, 1983 and closed on August 7, 1983 after 199 performances and 69 previews. It was directed by
Ivan Reitman
Ivan Reitman (; October 27, 1946 – February 12, 2022) was a Canadian film director and producer. He was known for his comedy films, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Reitman was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998.
...
and choreographed by
Christopher Chadman and Billy Wilson. The cast included Henning as Merlin,
Chita Rivera
Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero (January 23, 1933 – January 30, 2024), known professionally as Chita Rivera, was an American actress, singer, and dancer. Rivera received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, two Drama Desk Awa ...
as an evil sorceress and, in supporting roles, newcomer
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. Since 1975, he has been Nathan Lane on screen and stage, on stage and screen in both comedic and dramatic roles. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Na ...
, and a young
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor. He made his film debut with a leading role in '' The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakout role as Jason "J.D." Dean, a sociopath ...
.
The show was not a critical or financial success, failing to recoup its estimated production budget of $4–6 million.
It is remembered today chiefly because of the number of "preview" performances it played: while most shows play a month or so prior to inviting critics and having an official opening, Merlin had 69, never inviting the critics and postponing the opening three times, despite charging full ticket prices.
During the musical's troubled previews, the original director (Frank Dunlop) was replaced by co-producer Reitman, while choreographer Billy Wilson was added to augment Chadman's work.
At least four songs were cut during previews, including "These Are Not the Merriest of Days" which was replaced by "Put a Little Magic in Your Life".
Critical reception
Frank Rich
Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born June 2, 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO.
Rich is ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote that the main draw of ''Merlin'' was Henning's "spectacular" illusions. Rich also found
Theoni V. Aldredge's costumes to be "imaginative," albeit trying too hard to be like those in ''
Cats
The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...
'' and ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' at times. He panned the other aspects of the musical, particularly Henning's acting, singing and dancing. Overall, he felt that ''Merlin'' would have worked better as a magic show than as a musical.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
References
External links
Internet Broadway Database*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080205055320/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,923326,00.html ''Time Magazine'' review, Feb. 07, 1983
{{Don Black
1983 musicals
Arthurian musical theatre
Broadway musicals
Works based on Merlin
Original musicals
Musicals by Elmer Bernstein