| The Me Nobody Knows | |
|---|---|
| Music | Gary William Friedman |
| Lyrics | Will Holt |
| Book | Robert H. Livingston Herb Schapiro Stephen M. Joseph |
| Basis | Anthologized writings of inner-city youths |
| Productions | 1970Off-Broadway 1970Broadway |
The Me Nobody Knows is amusical withmusic byGary William Friedman andlyrics byWill Holt. It debutedoff-Broadway in 1970 and then transferred toBroadway, making it one of the earliestrock musicals to play on Broadway, and the first Broadway hit to give voice to the sentiments of inner-city American youth.[citation needed] It received theObie Award and theDrama Desk Award for best New Musical, and FiveTony Award nominations, including BestMusical.[1]
There is no plot, but the theme is children in low-income neighborhoods ofNew York City, who are "complex, introspective characters. Each 'I' is an authentic voice saying attention must be paid." The children are self-assertive in the face of difficult lives.[2] Various stories are told through song by the cast of 8 black and 4 white children. One story is about a 13-year-old boy takingheroin for the first time. Another involves a child shocked to hear a white boy order "milk and a nigger". Another boy watches as a drunk black man is taken away in an ambulance after an accident.[3] In the musical number "If I Had a Million Dollars", theghetto children ponder what they would do with the money and express "tightwad selfishness to outrageous spending sprees."[2]
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‡ These songs byThe Staple Singers ("This World") andThe 5th Dimension ("Light Sings") became hits.
The Me Nobody Knows premiered off-Broadway at theOrpheum Theatre on May 18, 1970, and closed on November 15, 1970, after 208 performances. It then opened on Broadway at theHelen Hayes Theatre on December 18, 1970, transferred to theLongacre Theatre, and closed on November 14, 1971, after 378 performances. Directed byRobert H. Livingston with musical staging byPatricia Birch, the cast included a youngIrene Cara as Lillie Mae,Hattie Winston as Nell,Beverly Bremers (at the time credited as Beverly Ann Bremers) as Catherine, andNorthern J. Calloway.
Theadaptation bydirector Robert H. Livingston and additional lyricistHerb Schapiro was inspired by the anthologized writings of nearly 200 New York City students, aged 7 through 18. Stephen M. Joseph, a teacher, edited the collection, which was subtitled "Children's Voices From the Ghetto" and first published in 1969. The children wrote about "How I See Myself", "How I See My Neighborhood", "The World Outside", and "Things I Can't See or Touch". According to Mr. Joseph, they wrote "for keeps" and "like it is."[4] At odds with a squalid setting and a cynical, materialistic view of the world, themes of hope and renewal emerged. To guarantee uplift, samples from the students' work were interwoven with a ground-breaking score that combinedrock music,classicalfugues, earlyrap andjazz.[5]
The musical was performed throughout the world, in cities such as Tel Aviv, London, Paris, Hamburg, and Johannesburg.
The German-language version, "Ich Bin Ich" was premiered at the Bremen Stadt-Theater, Berman, Germany and was performed there and in Munich on a rotating basis. The stage director was Norman Foster, musical director, Noel Jones. The cast included a singer who eventually became known asDonna Summer.
In 1980, the musical was produced for the U.S. pay television network, Showtime as part of the Broadway on Showtime series. Recorded at the CBS television studio now known as The Ed Sullivan Theater, the project was recast but included one original cast member, Jose Fernandez. Tisha Campbell (now, Tisha Campbell-Martin) performed as Lillie Mae, a role originated by Irene Cara.
The musical was "universally praised for its candidness and honesty."[2]Harold Clurman in reviewing forThe Nation, wrote "What I cherished about the show is the talent and vitality of the cast, the bubble of its playfulness, the raciness of its expression which, with or without the advantages of privileged training among the actors, is still the product of the streets in the dim and sequestered parts of our town.[6]
Clive Barnes, the theatre critic forThe New York Times wrote (of the off-Broadway opening): "I loved it. I loved its understanding and compassion, and I loved its pain and yet also its unsentimental determination for hope." Steven Suskin noted that he agreed with Barnes and added "The Me was energetic, tuneful, talent-filled and thought-provoking."[7] Barnes, in reviewing the musical upon the Broadway opening, noted that the musical was "one of the best musicals on Broadway-and unequivocally the most moving, the most poignant." He wrote that it offers "an insight into ghetto youth. It is raw, tough, and yet truly compassionate...The effect could be depressing but it isn't. The sheer tenacity of the human spirit against oppression, against rats, against drugs, against the numbing, almost soothing grind of poverty, is glorious and triumphant."[8]
The Originalcast album was released January 1, 1970 byAtlantic Records. The recording was released inCD form in September 2001 by 150 Music. (ASIN: B00005NSV9).[9][10]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Obie Award | Best Musical | Won | |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Tony Award | Best Musical | Nominated | |
| Best Book of a Musical | Robert H. Livingston and Herb Schapiro | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Score | Gary William Friedman | Nominated | ||
| Best Direction of a Musical | Robert H. Livingston | Nominated | ||
| Best Lyrics | Will Holt | Nominated | ||
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Music | Gary William Friedman | Won | |
| Outstanding Lyrics | Will Holt | Won | ||