| Baby It's You! | |
|---|---|
| The Musical | |
 | |
| Music | Various Artists |
| Lyrics | Various Artists |
| Book | Floyd Mutrux Colin Escott |
| Basis | The life and career ofFlorence Greenberg |
| Productions | 2009 Los Angeles 2009Pasadena 2011 Broadway |
Baby It's You! is ajukebox musical written byFloyd Mutrux andColin Escott, featuring pop and rock hits of the 1960s, with a special emphasis on songs bythe Shirelles and other acts signed toScepter Records. The show "tells the story ofFlorence Greenberg and Scepter Records, the label Greenberg started when she signed the Shirelles."[1] After several tryouts and premieres, the show debuted onBroadway in April 2011, directed bySheldon Epps.
The Shirelles were an Americangirl group in the early 1960s, and the first to have a number one single on theBillboard Hot 100. The members of the quartet wereShirley Owens (the main lead singer),Doris Coley,Beverly Lee, andAddie "Micki" Harris.[2]
Florence Greenberg (September 16, 1913 – November 2, 1995) originally createdTiara Records. The first song recorded and released on the label was "I Met Him On a Sunday", by the Shirelles. Just as the record started to break locally, Greenberg sold the company with the Shirelles' contract toDecca Records for US$4000. With that money, she started a new label in 1959, calledScepter Records, which became one of the leading record labels in the 60s.[3]
Mutrux and Escott had collaborated on the book for theBroadway musicalMillion Dollar Quartet,[4][5] which was nominated for aTony Award for Best Musical andBest Book of a Musical.[6] Mutrux, who knew about Florence Greenberg, conceivedBaby It's You! The Musical,[7] which is part of Mutrux's planned "American Pop Anthology" series, focusing on American music from the 1950s to the 1980s.Million Dollar Quartet was also part of this series.[8]
Epps is director of thePasadena Playhouse. In late 2009, one of the shows scheduled to play there suddenly closed:
This is not the first jukebox musical Epps had worked on: he directedPlay On!, withDuke Ellington songs, andBlues in the Night.[7]
Florence Greenberg is an averageNew Jerseyhousewife. A talent show is held at her daughter's school, and a group of African-American girls are preparing to perform. Florence's daughter is surprised at their talent, quickly notifying her mother, and Florence decides to make the grouprecording artists. To accommodate them, she foundsScepter Records. After the success ofthe Shirelles, the new name of the group, Florence and Scepter Records go on to "discover recording artists likethe Kingsmen,the Isley Brothers andDionne Warwick."[9]
|
|
| Character | Original Cast |
|---|---|
| Florence Greenberg | Beth Leavel |
| Luther Dixon | Allan Louis |
| Shirley Owens± | Christina Sajous |
| Doris Coley± | Crystal Starr Knighton |
| Addie "Micki" Harris± | Erica Ash |
| Beverly Lee± | Kyra Da Costa |
| Bernie Greenberg | Barry Pearl |
| Mary Jane Greenberg | Kelli Barrett |
| Stanley Greenberg | Brandon Uranowitz |
| Chuck Jackson | Geno Henderson |
| Ensemble | Erica Dorfler |
| Ensemble | Jahi A. Kearse |
±Denotes that character is a member of the Shirelles.
The show premiered at the Coast Playhouse in Los Angeles on July 18, 2009, playing until August 30, 2009,[10] choreographed by Birgitte Mutrux, directed by Floyd Mutrux, and starring Meeghan Holaway. Other cast members includedErica Ash andBarry Pearl.[11] Another production with the same cast played at thePasadena Playhouse from November 13, 2009, to December 13, 2009.[12]
The show opened on Broadway at theBroadhurst Theatre, starringBeth Leavel as Florence,[13][14] directed bySheldon Epps, and with musical supervision and arrangements byRahn Coleman.Baby It's You! began previews on March 26, 2011, and officially opened on April 27,[13] with choreography by Brigitte Mutrux, orchestrations byDon Sebesky, scenic design byAnna Louizos, costume design by Lizz Wolf, lighting design byHowell Binkley, and projection design by Jason H. Thompson.[15] Joining Leavel as the Shirelles were Christina Sajous,Erica Ash, Kyra DaCosta, and Crystal Starr Knighton.[15][16][17] The production closed on September 4, 2011.[18]
Entertainment Weekly's Clark Collis gave the musical a "B−" rating, calling it "a night out that is easy on the ear ... 'Baby It's You' gives Leavel, aTony Award-winner forThe Drowsy Chaperone, a platform for both her vocal and her dramatic talents ... [T]he quartet playing the Shirelles are given little to do but capably sing and dance their way through the group's repertoire while breaking a succession of costume change land speed records. But there is never any doubt that the main attractions here ARE the hits — this is a jukebox musical so unashamed about its nature that it starts with the projected image of an actual jukebox."[19]
Charles Isherwood inThe New York Times called the production "dismal" and criticized the "[i]nvitations to sing along" and the "inducements to wallow in visions of happy yesterdays".[20]
Steven Suskin inVariety unfavorably compared the show toJersey Boys: "Imagine [the latter] without the carefully integrated character development ofFrankie Valli andBob Gaudio, and with a tunestack only one quarter as imperishable. You needn't imagine it; just wander to the Broadhurst forBaby It's You!" He further stated that Leavel did a capable job filling a poorly scripted role.[21]
In theChicago Tribune, Chris Jones wrote, "The Shirelles, one of the greatest girl groups of all time, get a show of such total ineptitude and cynical profiteering that your mouth pretty much dangles open in disbelief for the duration of the entire tawdry proceedings."[22] Linda Winer (Newsday) said of the show: "[I]t's just another jukebox musical."[23]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Beth Leavel | Nominated |
| Tony Award | Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical | Beth Leavel | Nominated |
An original Broadwaycast recording was released byUniversal Music Group on June 14, 2011. The album, recorded from April 17 to 25, 2011, is produced byRichard Perry and associate-produced by Rahn Coleman.[24]
On April 27, 2011, the date the production opened on Broadway, it was announced that apersonality rights lawsuit against the play's producers had been filed with theSupreme Court of the State of New York. The suit alleged unauthorized and uncompensated use of the names, likenesses, and biographical information of Beverly Lee (a surviving member of The Shirelles who owns the trademark to the group's name); late Shirelles members Doris Coley Jackson and Addie Harris Jackson; Dionne Warwick; and Chuck Jackson. The suit sought damages on the plaintiffs' behalf. (The other surviving member of the original Shirelles,Shirley Alston Reeves, was not named as a plaintiff.)[25] On December 15, 2011, a federal judge asserted that the suit be discontinued after both sides agreed to settle.[26]
