Tomfoolery

1980-1981 Musical revue
Tomfoolery
Original London Cast Recording
MusicTom Lehrer
LyricsTom Lehrer
BookCameron Mackintosh
Productions1980 West End
1981 Off Broadway

Tomfoolery (or Tom Foolery) is a musical revue based on the songs of American satirist Tom Lehrer.

Devised and produced by Cameron Mackintosh, it premiered in London at the Criterion Theatre, directed by Gillian Lynne, on 5 June 1980, where it had a successful run. It subsequently opened on December 14, 1981 Off-Broadway at the Top of the Gate in Greenwich Village, New York, where it ran for 120 performances.[1][2] The cast included Jonathan Hadary.[3] Lehrer himself was brought in as a consultant.

The revue features 28 of Lehrer's satirical songs that were written in the 1950s and 1960s, known for their "witty naughtiness".[3] Stage directions suggest each actor use their own name and wait onstage in a bar area while the others perform.[2]

Two cast recordings have been released, one by the original London cast (Robin Ray, Jonathan Adams, Martin Connor and Tricia George),[4] the other much rarer one by the Canadian cast.

Song list

Act 1
  • Be Prepared
  • Poisoning Pigeons In The Park
  • I Wanna Go Back To Dixie
  • My Home Town
  • Pollution
  • Bright College Days
  • Fight Fiercely, Harvard
  • The Elements
  • The Folk Song Army
  • In Old Mexico
  • She's My Girl
  • When You Are Old And Gray
  • Wernher Von Braun
  • Who's Next?
  • I Got It From Agnes
  • National Brotherhood Week
Act 2
  • So Long, Mom (A Song For World War III)
  • The Hunting Song
  • The Irish Ballad
  • Smut
  • New Math
  • Silent E
  • George Murphy
  • Oedipus Rex
  • I Hold Your Hand In Mine
  • The Masochism Tango
  • The Old Dope Peddler
  • The Vatican Rag
  • We Will All Go Together When We Go

The following two songs are optional:

  • Send The Marines
  • The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz

[5]

References

  1. ^ Tomfoolery production and plot information www.nodanw.com, accessed December 7, 2008
  2. ^ a b Tomfoolery production and show information mtishows.com, accessed December 7, 2008
  3. ^ a b Rich, Frank."Tomfoolery, A Revue of Lehrer Lyrics", The New York Times, December 15, 1981
  4. ^ Tomfoolery 1980 Original cast recording listing on amazon.com www.amazon.com, accessed December 7, 2008
  5. ^ Piano Conductor Score, Act 1 and Act 2, Tomfoolery (as published by Music Theatre International

External links

  • ​Tomfoolery​ at the Internet Off-Broadway Database Edit this at Wikidata
  • "TOMFOOLERY" recording
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