Pipe Dream (musical)
Pipe Dream is a musical adaptation of
John Steinbeck's book
Cannery Row. It has the distinction of being
Rodgers and Hammerstein's only financial failure.
Pipe Dream, with its cast of longshoremen and "ladies of the evening," is a poignant story about friendship and romance among the loners and runaways who gravitate to the wharf in
Monterey, California.
Pipe Dream premiered on Broadway in
1955. It opened at the
Shubert Theater on November 30. The original cast included operatic soprano
Helen Traubel. The show also marked the Broadway debut of film actor
George D. Wallace, who played
Commando Cody in the 1952 serial
Radar Men from the Moon.
The main characters in
Pipe Dream include Fauna, madam of the Bear Flag Cafe; Doc, a marine biologist and a loner; and Suzy, a young and vulnerable runaway. Suzy and Doc are brought together by Fauna.
Pipe Dream features the following songs:
All At Once You Love Her,
Sweet Thursday and
Everybody's Got A Home But Me.
In the original 1955 production, Fauna was played by Traubel, Doc was played by
Bill Johnson, and Suzy was played by
Judy Tyler.
The original production ran for eight months and 245 performances, giving it the distinction of having the shortest run of any Rodgers and Hammerstein show. Within a year of the final performance, two cast members â€" Johnson and Tyler â€" died. Traubel began to wear charms and garlic to ward off an alleged "Pipe Dream Curse."
In his autobiography,
Richard Rodgers intimated that if anything had doomed
Pipe Dream, it was Traubel. Rodgers himself took blame for miscasting the operatic soprano in the role of Fauna.
Julie Andrews auditioned for
Pipe Dream, but was told by Richard Rogers that she should pursue the other show she was being courted for -
My Fair Lady. Andrews did, and the role subsequently made her a star.
*
Background on Pipe Dream on the 42nd Street Moon site*
November 30, 1955 in History on the Brainy History site* McLellan, Dennis. (2005, July 27).
George D. Wallace, 88; Actor With Baritone Voice Had Film, TV and Broadway Roles. The Los Angeles Times
