Kenneth Tynan "OH! CALCUTTA!" Sam Shepard / John Lennon 1981 Broadway Playbill

Description

This is a rare October 1981 playbill from the Broadway revival of the controversial musical revue "OH! CALCUTTA!" at the Edison Theatre in New York City. (The original production opened June 17th, 1969 at the Off-Broadway Eden Theatre, transferred to the Belasco Theatre on February 17th, 1971, and closed on August 12th, 1972 after a total of 1,314 performances. This revival opened September 24th, 1976 and closed August 6th, 1989 after 5,959 performances. The revival briefly became the longest-running show in
Broadway
history and remains Broadway's
longest-running musical
revue.) ..... "OH! CALCUTTA!" is an
avant-garde
theatrical
revue
,
created by British drama critic
Kenneth Tynan
.
The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted
Off-Broadway
in 1969 and then in London in 1970. The show sparked considerable controversy at the time, because it featured extended scenes of full-frontal nudity, both male and female. The title is taken from a painting by
Clovis Trouille
,
itself a
pun
on "
O quel cul t'as!
"
French
for "What an
arse
you have!". Tynan had hoped that
Harold Pinter
would direct the production, in order to give it avant-garde legitimacy, but Pinter declined. Sketches in the Original Off-Broadway production were written by, amongst others,
Nobel prize
winner
Samuel Beckett
,
John Lennon
,
Sam Shepard
,
Leonard Melfi
,
Edna O'Brien
,
Jules Feiffer
, Tennessee Williams (whose sketch was cut before opening night)
and Tynan himself.
Peter Schickele
(aka "PDQ Bach"), Robert Dennis and Stanley Walden were the revue's
composers
,
known as "The Open Window". (Wikipedia) ..... The Original Off-Broadway opening night cast included RAINA BARRETT, MARK DEMPSEY, KATIE DREW-WILKINSON, BONI ENTEN, BILL MACY, ALAN RACHINS, LEON RUSSOM, MARGO SAPPINGTON, NANCY TRIBUSH, GEORGE WELBES and THE OPEN WINDOW (Note: The current cast is shown in the third scanned image.) ..... CREDITS: Devised by KENNETH TYNAN; Contributions by JULES FEIFFER, DAN GREENBURG, LENORE KANDEL, JOHN LENNON, JACQUES LEVY, LEONARD MELFI, DAVID NEWMAN and ROBERT BENTON, SAM SHEPARD, CLOVIS TROUILLE, KENNETH TYNAN and SHERMAN YELLEN; Music and Lyrics by THE OPEN WINDOW (Robert Dennis, Peter Schicklel and Stanley Walden); Sets designed by JAMES TILTON; Costumes designed by KENNETH M. YOUNT; Choreographed by MARGO SAPPINGTON; Conceived and Directed by JACQUES LEVY; Produced by HILLARD ELKINS, NORMAN KEAN and ROBERT S. FISHKO ..... DETAILS: The thick 132 page playbill measures 5 5/8" X 9" inches and includes full production and cast credits, list of musical numbers, bios of each of the leading actors and members of the creative team, individual head shots of the cast and a page of four production photos ..... CONDITION: (Please Note!) The playbill shows minor surface marks to the cover, light edge wear along the seam corner creases to the last few pages. Despite these flaws, this playbill will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective, carded sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.