I Do! I Do! is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt.
Based on the Jan de Hartog play The Fourposter, the two-character story spans fifty years, from 1895 to 1945, as it focuses on the trials and tribulations, laughters and sorrows, and hopes and disappointments experienced by Agnes and Michael Snow throughout their marriage. The set consists solely of their bedroom, dominated by the large fourposter bed in the center of the room.
For producer David Merrick, it was the ideal investment in that it had neither expensive sets and costumes nor ensemble salaries to be paid.
After four previews, the Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Gower Champion, opened on December 5, 1966 at the 46th Street Theatre, where it ran for 560 performances. Mary Martin and Robert Preston comprised the original cast; Carol Lawrence and Gordon MacRae replaced them later in the run.
Carol Burnett and Rock Hudson starred in a national tour.
A film adaptation, written by Champion and starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, was announced by United Artists in 1969 but, following the commercial failure of several movie musicals, the project was aborted in the spring of 1970. A television version with Lee Remick and Hal Linden was broadcast in 1982.
A 1996 off-Broadway revival at the Lamb's Theater was directed by Will Mackenzie and starred Karen Ziemba and David Garrison.[1]
The show is frequently presented by regional theatres. A production at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre in Chanhassen, Minnesota ran for more than 20 years with leads David Anders and Susan Goeppinger, who eventually married during their record-breaking run.
In April 2009 it is premiering in Vienna in an English language production produced by Vienna's English Theatre and directed by British director Julian Woolford.
Song list
- Act I
- All the Dearly Beloved
- Together Forever
- I Do! I Do!
- Good Night
- I Love My Wife
- Something Has Happened
- My Cup Runneth Over
- Love Isn't Everything
- Nobody's Perfect
- A Well Known Fact
- Flaming Agnes
- The Honeymoon Is Over
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- Act II
- Where Are the Snows
- When the Kids Get Married
- The Father of the Bride
- What Is a Woman
- Someone Needs Me
- Roll up the Ribbons
- This House
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The original cast album was released by RCA Records. Ed Ames had a major hit with his recording of the song "My Cup Runneth Over."
Awards and nominations
- Tony Award for Best Musical (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (winner)
- Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Scenic Design (nominee)
- Tony Award for Best Costume Design (nominee)
- Tony Award Best Direction of a Musical (nominee)
References
Open a New Window: The Broadway Musical in the 1960s by Ethan Mordden, published by Palgrave (2001), pages 230-31 (ISBN 0-312-23952-1)
External links
