''Song and Dance'' 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 ...

comprising two acts, one told entirely in "

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

" and one entirely in "

Dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

", tied together by a unifying love story. The "Song" act is '' Tell Me on a Sunday'', with lyrics by Don Black and music by

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

, about a young

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

woman's romantic misadventures in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. The "Dance" act is a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

choreographed to ''

Variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...

'', composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber for his

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

brother Julian, which is based on the A Minor Caprice No. 24 by Paganini.

Background

The ''Song'' portion was written specifically for

Marti Webb Marti Webb (born 1943) is an English actress and singer. She appeared on stage in '' Evita'' before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman show '' Tell Me on a Sunday'' in 1980. This included her biggest hit single, " Take That Look Off Yo ...

, and presented at the Sydmonton Festival in the summer of 1979. It was subsequently recorded and aired as a one-hour television special by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

the following January. The ''Dance'' portion was recorded in 1978, and nearly became incorporated into ''

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 ...

''. The opening sequence was utilized as the theme music for London Weekend Television's '' South Bank Show''. Producer

Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "t ...

proposed that the two pieces be combined under the umbrella title ''Song and Dance'' to acknowledge the primary aspect of each act, billing the piece as "a concert for the theatre". Black altered some of the songs from the original album and worked with Lloyd Webber on new material: "The Last Man in My Life", "I Love New York" and "Married Man", the latter set to the same tune as "Sheldon Bloom". A new orchestration of the ''Variations'' for a sixteen-piece theatre orchestra was produced from the original symphonic version played by the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

but Harry Rabinowitz retained the baton for the stage production. "When You Want to Fall in Love", with a tune previously released by Marti Webb and

Justin Hayward David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946) is an English musician. He was the guitarist and frontman of the rock band the Moody Blues from 1966 until its dissolution in 2018. He became the group's principal vocalist and its most prolific son ...

as "Unexpected Song" which itself was later added to the score, was used at the climax of the dance section to meld the two halves.

Productions

1982 London

The musical had its world premiere on March 26, 1982 at the Palace Theatre, where it ran for 781 performances, directed by John Caird.

performed the ''Song'' half; she subsequently was succeeded in February 1983 by Gemma Craven, who had performed the show for a month during Webb's holiday in August the previous year. Craven was followed by

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

and Liz Robertson. Carol Nielsson, Webb's original understudy took over the role with two hour notice when Lulu damaged her voice after a foldback monitor failed during a performance. The ''Dance'' portion was choreographed by Anthony Van Laast and featured Wayne Sleep and Jane Darling. Stewart Avon-Arnold also appeared as a contemporary dancer in the second act. The set and lighting was designed by David Hersey, costumes by Robin Don, and sound by Andrew Bruce and Julian Beech. The original recording of the London production was made live on the opening night using a recording studio then built into the Palace Theatre. The album was produced by Martin Levan, who also co-designed the sound system for the show. Soon after the production closed, the show was filmed for a television broadcast, with

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer and actress. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made ...

and Wayne Sleep in the lead roles.

1983 Australia

The Australian production of the musical opened at the Theatre Royal in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 4 August 1983. It featured Gaye MacFarlane and John Meehan in the leading roles.

1985 Broadway

In anticipation of a Broadway run, director and lyricist

Richard Maltby Jr. Richard Eldridge Maltby Jr. (born October 6, 1937) is an American theatre director and theatrical producer, producer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He conceived and directed the only two musical Revue, revues to win the Tony Award for Best Musical ...

was approached to adapt the first act for an American audience. The Broadway production, choreographed by

Peter Martins Peter Martins (born 27 October 1946) is a Danish former ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with the New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and J ...

, opened on September 18, 1985 at the Royale Theatre conducted by John Mauceri, and closed on November 8, 1986, after 474 performances and seventeen previews. Bernadette Peters starred in ''Song'' for nearly thirteen months; she was succeeded by

Betty Buckley Betty Buckley (born July 3, 1947)LuKanic, Steven A (1995). Film Actors Guide'. Los Angeles, CA: Lone Eagle Publishing. p. 55. . is an American actress and singer. Buckley is the winner of a Tony Award, and was nominated for an additional Ton ...

for the final four weeks. ''Dance'' featured Christopher d'Amboise and Gregg Burge. Amongst the many changes to the show, the characters were all given names, with 'the girl' now known as Emma. Singer-songwriter

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been played by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early li ...

starred in a subsequent six-month US national tour of the show in 1987, starting in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas and ending in

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, Florida. The Broadway production received eight

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nominations, with Peters winning the award for Best Actress in a Musical. The recording of the Broadway production, featuring Peters in the entire first act but none of the music from second act, was recorded in 1985 by RCA Victor.

Synopsis

''Song'' focuses on an English girl who has recently arrived in New York City. Following an argument with her boyfriend, they decide to break up. She writes to her mother in England about what happened, and that she has met a new man, Hollywood producer Sheldon Bloom, with whom she travels to California. She eventually realizes that Sheldon has only been using her as a trophy, and she ends things once and for all. The woman returns to New York disappointed and meets a younger man who she finds more fulfilling. When he has to leave on a business trip, the woman can't bear to let him go. Her friend later comes over to tell her about the man's infidelity, and she asks him for the truth. Depressed, the woman walks through the city streets. She meets a married man and reflects on whether their affair is wrong. The married man comes by to confess his love; however, she realizes that she has been using him. In the end she decides that it was not the end of the world to have no one. ''Dance'' explores the story of the younger man, his various relationships and his commitment issues. At the end, the man sees the woman, and they make up, joining both at last in Song and Dance.

Musical numbers

London # "Overture" # "Let Me Finish" # "It's Not the End of the World" # "Letter Home to England" # "Sheldon Bloom" # "Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad" # "You Made Me Think You Were in Love" # "Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad" (Reprise) # "It's Not the End of the World (If He's Younger)" # "Second Letter Home" # "The Last Man in My Life" # "Come Back with the Same Look in Your Eyes" # " Take That Look Off Your Face" # "Tell Me on a Sunday" # "I Love New York" # "Married Man" # "I'm Very You, You're Very Me" # "Let's Talk About You" # "Let Me Finish" (Reprise) # "Nothing Like You've Ever Known" # "Let Me Finish" (Finale) Broadway # "Overture/Take That Look Off Your Face" # "Let Me Finish" # "So Much to Do in New York" # "First Letter Home" # "English Girls" # "Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad" # "You Made Me Think You Were in Love" # "Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad" (Reprise) # "So Much to Do in New York (II)" # "Second Letter Home" # " Unexpected Song" # "Come Back with the Same Look in Your Eyes" # "Take That Look Off Your Face" (Reprise) # "Tell Me on a Sunday" # "I Love New York/So Much to Do in New York" # "Married Man" (included on Original Broadway Cast recording, not performed on stage) # "Third Letter Home" # "Nothing Like You've Ever Known" # "Finale – Let Me Finish (Reprise)/What Have I Done?/Take That Look Off Your Face (Reprise)"

Cast albums

The London Cast released an album on Polydor Records. (2683087). 1985 Broadway cast (Bernadette Peters) RCA Victor 68264 (Only The Songs segment. The Dance segment was not recorded)

Charts

Critical reception

Reviewing the London production, the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' theatre critic Michael Coveney claimed, "It is a long time since I have sat through a more ostentatious, less theatrically coherent evening." In

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 ...

's review of the Broadway production for ''

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 ...

'', he wrote: "Miss Peters is more than talented: As an actress, singer, comedienne and all-around warming presence, she has no peer in the musical theater right now. In her half of ''Song & Dance,'' she works so hard you'd think she were pleading for mercy before a firing squad. Yet for all the vocal virtuosity, tempestuous fits and husky-toned charm she brings to her one-woman musical marathon, we never care if her character lives or dies." John Simon, in ''The New York Magazine'', noted that the unseen men seemed "nebulous and unreal, so too, does the seen woman", and in the ''Dance'' half, "things go from bad to worse." However, he wrote that "Miss Peters is an unimpeachable peach of a performer who does so much for the top half of this double bill as to warrant its immediate rechristening 'Song of Bernadette'. She not only sings, acts, and (in the bottom half) dances to perfection, she also, superlatively, 'is' ".

Awards and nominations

Original London production Original Broadway production

References

External links

* *
Information and midi files for the showSong and Dance Profile of the show, andrewlloydwebber.com
{{Authority control 1982 musicals West End musicals Broadway musicals Musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber British musicals Sung-through musicals Tony Award–winning musicals Musicals set in New York City Musicals set in California