Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

Musical

Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Promo art for the 2016 Encores! production
Music	Alan Menken
Lyrics	Howard Ashman Dennis Green
Book	Howard Ashman
Basis	God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
Productions	1979 Off-Broadway 1981 Arena Stage 2016 Encores! Off-Center

Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is a 1979 musical that marked the first collaboration of composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman. Based on Kurt Vonnegut's 1965 novel of the same name, the musical tells the story of Eliot Rosewater, a millionaire who develops a social conscience and creates a foundation to improve the lives of the citizens of an impoverished Indiana town.

Productions

The musical had a showcase in May 1979 at the WPA Theater in New York City. Directed by Ashman, Frederick Coffin played Eliot Rosewater and Jonathan Hadary played Mushari. Menken played the keyboards.^[1]

The musical transferred to the Entermedia Theatre Off-Broadway, where it opened on October 14, 1979 and closed on November 24, after 49 performances. Directed by Ashman, the production featured Frederick Coffin (Eliot Rosewater), Janie Sell (Sylvia Rosewater), and Jonathan Hadary (Norman Mushari).^[2]

The musical was produced at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. in May to June 1981, again directed by Ashman and starring Coffin. The cast also featured Robert Westenberg, Steve Liebman, Theresa Rabov, and Leslie Cass.^[3]

In March 2003, Rosewater was performed in concert as part of the CooperArts series at the Cooper Union; the concert featured Jim Walton (Eliot Rosewater), Carolee Carmello (Sylvia Rosewater), and David Pittu (Norman Mushari).^[4]

The New England premiere of the show was performed from April 14–24, 2016 by Cape Cod Community College, in West Barnstable Massachusetts. The cast was made up of primarily students and most had heard of the book (Kurt Vonnegut was a resident of the area) however not many knew that it had been made into a musical.

An Encores! Off-Center staged concert ran at New York City Center from July 27–30, 2016. The production starred Skylar Astin (Norman Mushari), Santino Fontana (Eliot Rosewater), Brynn O'Malley (Sylvia), and James Earl Jones (Kilgore Trout). The production also featured Rebecca Naomi Jones and was directed by Michael Mayer.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] This cast recorded the first studio recording of this musical in 2017.

Cast and characters


Characters	WPA Theater (1979)^[1]^[9]^[10]	Off-Broadway (1979)^[2]	Arena Stage (1981)^[10]	Cooper Union (2003)^[4]	Encores! (2016)^[5]
Eliot Rosewater	Frederick Coffin			Jim Walton	Santino Fontana
Sylvia Rosewater	Mimi Turque	Janie Sell	Barbara Andres	Carolee Carmello	Brynn O'Malley
Norman Mushari	Jonathan Hadary		Robert Westenberg	David Pittu	Skylar Astin

Musical numbers

Source: CurtainUp^[7]

Act I

Overture — Orchestra
The Rosewater Foundation — Rosewater Foundation Office Workers, Eliot, Company
The Rosewater Foundation (Reprise) — Eliot
Dear Ophelia — Eliot
Thank God for the Volunteer Fire Brigade — Firefighters, Eliot, Company
Mushari's Waltz (Magical Moment) — Mushari
Thirty Miles From the Banks of the Ohio/Look Who's Here — Eliot, Rosewater Township Citizens
Cheese Nips — Sylvia, Company
The Rosewater Foundation (Reprise II) — Eliot, Township Citizens
Since You Came to This Town — Rosewater Township Citizens, Company

Act II

A Poem by William Blake — A Voice Not Unlike God's, Company
The Rhode Island Tango — Fred, Caroline, Mushari
Eliot/Sylvia — Eliot, Sylvia
Plain Clean Average Americans — Mushari, Eliot, Caroline, Fred, Company
A Firestorm Consuming Indianapolis — Eliot
Dear Ophelia (Reprise) — Sylvia
I, Eliot Rosewater — Eliot, Company

References

^ ^a ^b Gussow, Mel. "Stage: ‘God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater’" The New York Times, May 21, 1979
^ ^a ^b "God Bless You Mr. Rosewater".
^ Martin, Judith. "'Rosewater': True Kitsch" "The Washington Post", May 15, 1981
^ ^a ^b Jones, Kenneth. "Menken & Ashman's 'God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater' Gets NYC Concert March 7" Playbill, March 6, 2003
^ ^a ^b Clement, Olivia. "James Earl Jones Joins 'God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater'" Playbill, June 27, 2016
^ Donovan, Deirdre. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater theaterscene.com, accessed October 22, 2019
^ ^a ^b Sommer, Elyse. "A CurtainUp Review. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater at Encores! Off-Center" curtainup.com, July 28, 2016
^ Stewart, Zachary. "Review. 'Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater'" theatermania.com, July 28, 2016
^ Weinstock, Matt. "The Making of God Bless You Mr. Rosewater" Playbill, July 26, 2016
^ ^a ^b Dietz, Dan. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater "Casts, Credits, Songs, Critical Reception and Performance Data of More Than 1,800 Shows", McFarland, 2010, ISBN 0-786457317, p.589

External links

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater at the Music Theatre International website
"The Making of God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater", a 2016 Playbill oral history

Alan Menken

Awards and nominations

Musicals

Dear Worthy Editor (1974)
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1979)
Little Shop of Horrors (1982)
Personals (1985)
A Christmas Carol (1994)
Beauty and the Beast (1994)
King David (1997)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1999)
Sister Act (2006)
The Little Mermaid (2007)
Leap of Faith (2010)
Newsies (2011)
Aladdin (2014)
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (2015)
A Bronx Tale (2016)
Hercules (2019)

Musical films

Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Rocky V (1990)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Newsies (1992)
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
Aladdin (1992)
Life with Mikey (1993)
Pocahontas (1995)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Hercules (1997)
Home on the Range (2004)
Noel (2004)
The Shaggy Dog (2006)
Enchanted (2007)
Tangled (2010)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Jock the Hero Dog (2011)
Mirror Mirror (2012)
Sausage Party (2016)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
Holmes & Watson (2018)
Aladdin (2019)
Disenchanted (2022)
The Little Mermaid (2023)
Spellbound (2024)
Aladdin: The Broadway Musical (TBA)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (TBA)

Television

Sesame Street (1989–1990)
Polly (1989)
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990)
A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004)
The Neighbors (2013)
Galavant (2015–2016)
Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (2017–2020)
The Little Mermaid Live! (2019)
Central Park
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration (2022)

Documentary

A Dancer's Life (1972)
Howard (2018)

Soundtracks

The Little Mermaid (1989)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Aladdin (1992)
Beauty and the Beast (1994)
Pocahontas (1995)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Hercules (1997)
Enchanted (2007)
Tangled (2010)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Aladdin (2019)
Disenchanted (2022)
Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration (2022)
The Little Mermaid (2023)

v t e Howard Ashman
Musicals	God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1979) Little Shop of Horrors (1982) Smile (1986) Beauty and the Beast (1994) The Little Mermaid (2007) Aladdin (2014)
Musical films	Little Shop of Horrors (1986) Oliver & Company (1988) The Little Mermaid (1989) Beauty and the Beast (1991) Aladdin (1992) Beauty and the Beast (2017) Aladdin (2019) The Little Mermaid (2023)
Soundtracks	The Little Mermaid (1989) Beauty and the Beast (1991) Aladdin (1992) Beauty and the Beast (2017) Aladdin (2019) The Little Mermaid (2023)
Songwriter	"Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" (1986) "Fathoms Below" (1989) "Part of Your World" (1989) "Under the Sea" (1989) "Poor Unfortunate Souls" (1989) "Les Poissons" (1989) "Kiss the Girl" (1989) "Belle" (1991) "Gaston" (1991) "Be Our Guest" (1991) "Something There" (1991) "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) "The Mob Song" (1991) "Human Again" (1991) "Proud of Your Boy" (1992) "Friend Like Me" (1992) "Prince Ali" (1992)
Related articles	Alan Menken Howard Sings Ashman Howard (2018)

v t e Kurt Vonnegut
Bibliography
Novels	Player Piano (1952) The Sirens of Titan (1959) Mother Night (1961) Cat's Cradle (1963) God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965) Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) Breakfast of Champions (1973) Slapstick (1976) Jailbird (1979) Deadeye Dick (1982) Galápagos (1985) Bluebeard (1987) Hocus Pocus (1990) Timequake (1997)
Novellas	Sun Moon Star (1980) God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian (1999) We Are What We Pretend to Be: The First and Last Works (2013)
Collected short fiction	Canary in a Cat House (1961) Welcome to the Monkey House (1968) Bagombo Snuff Box (1999) Armageddon in Retrospect (2008) Look at the Birdie (2009) While Mortals Sleep (2011) Sucker's Portfolio (2013) Complete Stories (2017)
Collected non-fiction	Wampeters, Foma and Granfalloons (1974) Palm Sunday (1981) Fates Worse Than Death (1991) A Man Without a Country (2005) Armageddon in Retrospect (2008) If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young (2013) Kurt Vonnegut: Letters (2014) Vonnegut by the Dozen (2015)
Plays/screenplays	Fortitude (1968) Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1970) Between Time and Timbuktu (1972)
Interviews	Like Shaking Hands with God (1999) Conversations with Kurt Vonnegut (1999) Kurt Vonnegut: The Last Interview (1999)
Adaptations	Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1971) Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) Between Time and Timbuktu (1972) Next Door (1975) Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1979) Slapstick of Another Kind (1982) Who Am I This Time? (1982) Displaced Person (1985) Kurt Vonnegut's Monkey House (1991) Harrison Bergeron (1995) Mother Night (1996) Breakfast of Champions (1999) 2081 (2009) 2BR02B: To Be or Naught to Be (2016)
Characters and concepts	Kilgore Trout Eliot Rosewater Rabo Karabekian RAMJAC Ilium Granfalloon Tralfamadore Ice-nine
Related	Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library Vonnegut (Mercury crater)
Family	Jill Krementz (second wife) Mark Vonnegut (son) Edith Vonnegut (daughter) Kurt Vonnegut Sr. (father) Bernard Vonnegut (brother) Bernard Vonnegut Sr. (grandfather) Clemens Vonnegut (great-grandfather)