The Life

The Life is an award-winning musical with a book by David Newman, Ira Gasman and Cy Coleman, music by Coleman, and lyrics by Gasman.

Based on an original idea by Gasman, the show explores the underbelly of Times Square's 42nd Street, inhabited by pimps and prostitutes, druggies and dealers, and runaways and street people in the era prior to its Disneyfication.

The show's first production was at the off-Broadway Westbeth Theatre in 1990. After 21 previews, the Broadway production, directed by Michael Blakemore, opened on April 26, 1997 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, where it ran for 466 performances. Among a large cast of mostly unknowns were Pamela Isaacs, Chuck Cooper, Lillias White, and Sam Harris, winner of the first Star Search television competition in 1984. White and Cooper both won Tony awards for their performances in this production.

Songs

Act I

• Check It Out!
• Use What You Got
• A Lovely Day To Be Out Of Jail
• A Piece Of The Action
• The Oldest Profession
• Don't Take Much
• Go Home
• You Can't Get To Heaven
• My Body
• Why Don't They Leave Us Alone?
• Easy Money
• He's No Good
• I'm Leaving You
• The Hooker's Ball

Act II

• Step Right Up
• Mr. Greed
• My Way Or The Highway
• People Magazine
• We Had A Dream
• Use What You Got (Reprise)
• Someday' Is For Suckers
• We Gotta Go
• My Friend
• Check It Out! (Reprise)

Awards and nominations

• Tony Award for Best Musical (nominee)
• Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (nominee)
• Tony Award for Best Original Musical Score (nominee)
• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Isaacs, nominee)
• Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Cooper, winner; Harris, nominee)
• Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (White, winner)
• Tony Award for Best Costume Design (nominee)
• Tony Award for Best Lighting Design (nominee)
• Tony Award for Best Choreography (nominee)
• Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical (nominee)
• Tony Award for Best Orchestrations (nominee)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical (winner)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Isaacs, nominee)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Harris, nominee)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (White, winner)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical (nominee)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations (nominee)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music (winner)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design (nominee)
• Drama Desk Award Outstanding Lighting Design (nominee)

External links

• The Life at the Internet Broadway Database
• The Life at the Internet off-Broadway Database