| Around the World | |
|---|---|
 The Playbill for theAdelphi Theatre (May 31, 1946) | |
| Music | Cole Porter |
| Lyrics | Cole Porter |
| Book | Orson Welles |
| Basis | Around the World in Eighty Days byJules Verne |
| Productions | 1946Broadway |
Around the World is amusical based on the 1873Jules Verne novelAround the World in Eighty Days, with a book byOrson Welles and music and lyrics byCole Porter. It involves an around-the-world adventure byPhileas Fogg. The expensive musicalextravaganza opened onBroadway in May 1946 but closed after 75 performances.
As he did with his unsuccessful 1938 stage production ofToo Much Johnson, Welles shot film sequences that were integrated intoAround the World. This footage is lost.
After he finished shooting his 1946 filmThe Stranger, Welles decided to make a musical out of one of his favorite childhood books,Around the World in Eighty Days. He visualized an entire circus on stage, a train running through the West, and other extravagant production ideas. He raised money fromMike Todd, producer William Goetz, andAlexander Korda, who held the title's European rights. However, he had no money left for a star cast and used performers who were not well known. Also, according to critical Welles biographer Charles Higham, "Porter wrote the songs far too quickly and badly".[1]: 228–29, 232
The show had a cast of 70 and included four mechanical elephants and 54 stage hands. When Mike Todd pulled out, Welles put up his own money. He also borrowed fromColumbia Pictures presidentHarry Cohn, on a promise to write, produce, direct and star in a film for Cohn for no fee. The result was the 1947 filmThe Lady from Shanghai.[2]
PlaywrightJohn van Druten described the musical as "enormous fun" andJoshua Logan said it was "fresh, witty, magical, exciting". However, with no story and unclear relationships between the characters, the show closed quickly, with Welles losing his savings, and the investors losing "large sums".[1]
Phileas Fogg bets that he can circumnavigate the world in 80 days, and sets out on the journey with his assistant, "Pat" Passepartout. They are pursued by the persistent but incompetent police officer Inspector Fix, who believes Fogg possesses stolen money.
Around the World was a play production by Orson Welles'sMercury Productions. It began pre-Broadway tryouts at the Boston Opera House,Boston on April 28, 1946; moved to theShubert Theatre,New Haven on May 7; then transferred to the Shubert Theatre,Philadelphia on May 14.
It premiered onBroadway at theAdelphi Theatre on May 31, 1946, and closed on August 3, 1946 after 75 performances.[3]
It was produced and directed by Welles with circus sequences created byBarbette, choreography by Nelson Barclift, costumes byAlvin Colt, set design by Robert Davison, and lighting by Peggy Clark. There were 38 sets, which Welles asked to be designed in the style of the films ofGeorges Méliès.[4]: 111
"Some of the more spectacular scenes included a giant eagle snatching an actor from the stage, an authentic Japanese circus troupe, a live elephant, a train crossing the rocky mountains, and a troop of Marines", wrote Welles scholarBret Wood. "Motion picture footage was shot and integrated into the play to heighten its mad, vaudevillian qualities."[5]: 61
Technical problems were largely resolved before the New York opening. Welles performed various roles through the play's run, and once was required to play the lead:[5]: 62 On the last night of the Boston run, when Arthur Margetson lost his voice, Welles read the part of Fogg and an understudy sang the songs. "The audience felt blessed," wrote biographerDavid Thomson. "It was a spellbinding night, with Welles talking everyone—audience included—through their parts."[6]: 270–271
Although audiences reportedly lovedAround the World, its precarious finances—and the theatre's inadequate air conditioning—could not sustain it through the summer, and Welles was forced to close it. He personally lost an estimated $320,000 (equivalent to $5,160,000 in 2024)[7] on the production. Due to bad legal advice, he was unable to claim the loss on his taxes, and it took him many years to pay the debt.[4]: 395–396
After the show's failure, Welles was keen to stage it in London, whereAlexander Korda predicted it would be a great success, but Britishtrade union rules forbade the elaborate props and sets built for the American production, and they had to be destroyed. They proved too expensive to reconstruct, and the show never again received a full-scale staging.[4]: 109
This is the order of the program as it appears inThe Playbill for theAdelphi Theatre production beginning Friday, May 31, 1946 (pp. 17–19):
ACT I.
| ACT II.
|
Due to the size and scope of the production, the play ran approximately three hours with one intermission.[5]: 61
Around the World was a stage-and-screen hybrid. Five scenes in the production were motion pictures shot and edited by Orson Welles, in silent-movie style with title cards, and alternated with live action. The film is lost.[4]: 395
"These sequences are virtually forgotten in discussions of Welles' cinema," wrote Welles scholar Bret Wood. "The motion picture segments ofAround the World, probably long since destroyed, would provide cineastes with an important piece of Wellesian history."
As was theToo Much Johnson footage, theAround the World film was black and white without sound in homage to the breathless chases and adventures of the silent era. Viewing the latter footage would be of great interest because by this time Welles had considerable experience in filmmaking and had acquired a definite cinematic style, drawn largely from other films.[5]: 205–206
The "Movies" scenes provided a silent introduction (with orchestral accompaniment) to each act of the play. Other sequences included a scene inside the bank and the rescue on the S.S. Tankadere, filmed in one day at theEdison Studios; and a chase through San Francisco. The chase was filmed in Boston and, like that inToo Much Johnson, featured actual locations.[5]: 206
The edited film sequences comprised about 30 minutes of projection time in the play.[8]: 387
These actors were featured in the "Who's who in the cast" section ofThe Playbill for theAdelphi Theatre production beginning Friday, May 31, 1946 (pp. 26–32):
This is the musical program as it appears inThe Playbill for the Adelphi Theatre production beginning Friday, May 31, 1946 (pp. 21–23):
ACT I.
| ACT II.
|
Critic Lewis Nichols ofThe New York Times calling the musical "only fitfully amusing", noted that the production "has spared no expense in gadgets and effects. There are movies of the flicker era, a miniature train crossing a bridge ... and desperate men and bold clinging to the rails of pounding ships at sea. In other words,Around the World has the making for an hilarious evening. It does not come off because it lacks unity. There are too many styles fighting among themselves ... the dances generally are miles removed from Mr. Welles' burlesque. Finally, Cole Porter has written an inferior score, the songs being on the usual musical comedy subjects and delivered without the zest brought to the show by its mainstay. … Perhaps the best part of the show is a circus, with acrobats, a rope walker and with Mr. Welles, himself, as the magician."[9]
Life magazine called the show "the most overstuffed conglomeration of circus, magic, movies, old-fashioned spectacle and penny peep shows that Broadway has seen since the days of Barnum's Museum. … For part of the timeAround the World is wonderful, noisy fun. But, handicapped by Cole Porter's disappointing music and a slapdash production, it ends up like a Victorian whatnot more cluttered with junk than gems."[10]
After New York drama critic Robert Garland wrote disdainfully that the show had "everything but the kitchen sink", Welles had a kitchen sink brought to him onstage during his curtain speech.[4]: 395 [6]: 271
During the show's run,Bertolt Brecht went to see it, and went to congratulate Welles backstage after the show, declaring it to be "the greatest American theatre he had ever seen".[4]: 112
After Welles's death in 1985, criticStanley Kaufmann recalled seeingAround the World, "his exuberant 1945 Broadway production … The show flopped, but sometimes I meet someone who saw it. Immediately we start to bore everyone else in the room by reminiscing about it."[11]
