Product Description
THIS IS AN AUTHENTICALLY AUTOGRAPHED PLAYBILL BY KAYE BALLARD..
THIS IS A 5 1/2 INCH BY 9 INCH PLAYBILL FROM THE PHOENIX THEATRE-APRIL 1954-THE GOLDEN APPLE-COVER IS SIGNED BY KAYE BALLARD-INCLUDES ORIGINAL TICKET STUB-CONDITION OF PLAYBILL, TICKET STUB AND AUTOGRAPH IS VERY GOOD.
The Golden Apple is a musical adaptation of both the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, with music by Jerome Moross and lyrics by John Treville Latouche. The show was one of the first musicals produced at the Off-Broadway Phoenix Theatre (in March 1954) and moved up to Broadway on April 20, 1954 at the Alvin Theater where the cerebral and through-sung musical played for only 125 performances despite rave reviews. The original production starred Kaye Ballard as Helen, and Stephen Douglass as Ulysses. The production won the Best Musical award from the New York Drama Critics Circle, and the lyrics are much praised.
The musical is entirely through-composed and exhibits features similar to more operatic musicals like Porgy and Bess, Candide, and The Most Happy Fella. Jerome Moross was a classical composer of concert music, ballets, as well as a highly appreciated film score. The musical has developed a cult following, even though the full score has never been commercially recorded and the show has never been revived on Broadway. The play is remembered in part for introducing the standard "Lazy Afternoon" sung by Ballard, portraying a character based on Helen of Troy, and the fantastical, suggestive settings by William and Jean Eckart.
The piece continues to receive occasional productions. For example, a 1990 production in New York featured Muriel Costa-Greenspon. The work was produced in 1995 by Light Opera Works in Chicago, Illinois and in 2006 by the 42nd Street Moon Company in San Francisco, California. The Shaw Festival has also produced it.
