''Take Me Along'' is a 1959 musical based on the 1933

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

play '' Ah, Wilderness!'', with music and lyrics by

Bob Merrill Henry Robert Merrill Levan (May 17, 1921 – February 17, 1998) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. Merrill was one of the most successful songwriters of the 1950s on the US and UK single charts. His ...

and book by Joseph Stein and Robert Russell.Mandelbaum, Ke
"Ken Mandelbaum's Musicals On Disc: Remembering Bob Merrill" (partial cast list)
playbill.com, March 1, 1998

Background

The idea to musicalize ''Ah, Wilderness!'' came to David Merrick when George M. Cohan came through St. Louis with the original production of the O'Neill play. (It was rare of Merrick to mention his hometown, as he hated it, and once he refused to fly TWA to the coast because it flew over St. Louis). While producing '' The Matchmaker'' in 1955, he began working on ''Connecticut Summer''. Things came to a halt when lyricist/librettist John La Touche died suddenly in 1956 at the age of 41. But in 1957, an adaptation of another O'Neill play, ''

Anna Christie ''Anna Christie'' is a Play (theatre), play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway theatre, Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for this work. According ...

'', came to town, called '' New Girl in Town''. Merrick decided to ask the composer,

, to take another stab at it.

Synopsis

In a small Connecticut town on July 4, 1906, Nat and Essie Miller head a middle class New England family with teenage children who are coming of age, falling in love, and desperately trying to stay out of trouble. Bob Merrill's rousing and lovely score includes "Staying Young," "That's How It Starts," "Promise Me A Rose," and the title song.

Original cast and characters

Songs

;Act I * The Parade - Nat Miller and Townspeople * Oh, Please - Nat Miller, Essie Miller, Lily Miller and Family * I Would Die - Muriel Macomber and Richard Miller * Sid, Ol' Kid - Sid Davis and Townspeople * Staying Young - Nat Miller * I Get Embarrassed - Sid Davis and Lily Miller * We're Home - Lily Miller * Take Me Along - Sid Davis and Nat Miller * For Sweet Charity - Sid Davis, Nat Miller, Lady Entertainers and Townspeople * Volunteer Firemen's Picnic - Sid Davis * Pleasant Beach House - Wint * That's How It Starts - Richard Miller ;Act II * The Beardsley Ballet - Richard Miller, Muriel Macomber, The Beardsley Dwarf, Salome and Ensemble (In the 1985 revival, "If Jesus Don't Love Ya (Jack Daniels Will)" replaced the Ballet.) * Oh, Please (Reprise) - Nat Miller and Essie Miller * Promise Me a Rose - Lily Miller and Sid Davis * Staying Young (Reprise) - Nat Miller * Little Green Snake - Sid Davis * Nine O'Clock - Richard Miller * But Yours - Sid Davis and Lily Miller * Take Me Along (Reprise) - Lily Miller, Sid Davis and Townspeople ''Knights on White Horses'' was added for Lily (Beth Fowler) in the 1985 revival. ''Volunteer Firemen's Picnic'' has been borrowed twice by animated TV show

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

: first for the episode PTV as ''The Freakin' FCC''. The song then returned for a special appearance at the

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

as ''If You Want It You Can Find It On TV'', taking potshots at ''Desperate Housewives'', ''Two and a Half Men'' and ''The Sopranos'' among others.

Productions

''Take Me Along'' was directed by

Peter Glenville Peter Glenville (born Peter Patrick Brabazon Browne; 28 October 19133 June 1996) was an English theatre and film director, and actor. He was a prominent director of stage plays on the West End and Broadway in the 1950s. He was nominated fo ...

with choreography by Onna White, production design by Oliver Smith, lighting by

Jean Rosenthal Jean Rosenthal (born Eugenia Rosenthal; March 16, 1912May 1, 1969) is considered a pioneer in the field of Lighting Design, theatrical lighting design. She was born in New York City to Romanian-Jewish people, Jewish immigrants. northern.edu, ret ...

, costumes by Miles White, musical direction and vocal arrangements by

Lehman Engel A. Lehman Engel (September 14, 1910, Jackson, Mississippi – August 29, 1982, New York City) was an American composer for television, film, and operas and a conductor of Broadway musicals and operas. Work in theatre, television and films Enge ...

, dances and musical numbers staging by Onna White, ballet and incidental music by Laurence Rosenthal, orchestrations by Philip J. Lang; and was produced by David Merrick.Atkinson, Brooks. "Theatre:'Take Me Along'", ''The New York Times'', October 23, 1959, p. 22 It opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on October 22, 1959 and closed on December 17, 1960, after 448 performances."'Take Me Along' listing, 1959"
ibdb.com, retrieved June 9, 2010 A revival opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theater in April 1985, closing after 7 previews and 1 regular performance following seven months of successful runs at The Goodspeed Opera House, The Shubert Theatre New Haven, and The Kennedy Center. Kurt Knudson scored a Tony nomination for the role of Sid Davis and Gary Wright received a Theatre World Award nomination for his role as Richard Miller. The musical opened at the Irish Repertory Theater, New York City, in a limited run, from February 28, 2008, through April 13, 2008.

Use in advertising

In 1967,

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

' advertising agency,

Leo Burnett Leo Burnett (October 21, 1891 – June 7, 1971) was an American advertising executive and the founder of Leo Burnett Company, Inc. He was responsible for creating some of advertising's most well-known characters and campaigns of the 20th cen ...

, adapted the title song for a massive ad campaign, anchored by promotional films directed by

Michael Cimino Michael Antonio Cimino ( , ; February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American filmmaker. He achieved fame as the director of ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture and ...

, who would later become a noted motion picture screenwriter and director. An urban legend then goes on to say that the ad campaign backfired when United offered a two-for-one "take me along" fare in ads encouraging (male) business travelers to take their wives with them on business trips. United then sent "thank you" letters to the wives of business travelers who had taken advantage of the promotion. Unfortunately, many of these wives had not been "taken along" on those trips. Instead, many husbands had supposedly traveled with their mistresses. In truth, companions were only offered discounts, never freebies.

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

References

External links

* {{Eugene O'Neill 1959 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals based on plays Tony Award–winning musicals Adaptations of works by Eugene O'Neill