Musicals Tonight! is proud to announce the revival of Vernon Duke’s Cabin in the Sky in his centenary year.
Vernon Duke was born Vladimir Dukelsky in Parfianovka, Russia on October 10, 1903. A child prodigy who started writing for Broadway in1930 with lyricists Ira Gershwin and Yip Harburg, he introduced his first standard - "April in Paris" two years later. "Autumn in New York" and "I Can’t Get Started" were written for Broadway revues in 1934 and 1936, respectively.
Cabin in the Sky was perhaps Vernon Duke’s single greatest Broadway achievement. It opened on October 25, 1940 and starred Ethel Waters. The librettist was Lynn Root, and the lyrics were by John La Touche with the collaboration of Ted Fetter. A musical fable about the tug of war between good and evil in the rural South, its song classics include "Taking a Chance on Love," "Honey in the Honeycomb," "Love Turned the Light Out," and "Cabin in the Sky."
The 1964 Off-Broadway revival included the new song, "Living It Up" with words and lyrics by Duke; "We’ll Live All Over Again" and "My Old Virginia Home on the River" - both cut from the original 1940 production- - and "Not a Care in the World" - from Duke’s show Banjo Eyes. All four of these songs will be in the Musicals Tonight revival.
Book by Lynn Root
Music by Vernon Duke
Lyrics by John LaTouche
Directed and Choreographed by Thomas Mills
Music Director, Vocal Arranger Barbara Anselmi
With Romelda T. Benjamin*, Derrick Cobey*, Brian Dickerson*, Thursday Farrar*, Tyrone Grant*, Joy Harrell, Richie McCall*, DeMond Nason, Tanya Tatum*, Glenn Townsend*, Toni Trucks*, Leslee Warren*, Brian-Thomas Williams*, Joe Wilson, Jr.*, and Zakiya Young*
*Denotes member of Actors Equity Association
Producer Mel Miller
Scenes and Musical Numbers
ACT I
Scene 1: The Jackson Home. Somewhere in the South
Wade in the Water** - Company
We’ll Live All Over Again*** - Petunia
Little Poppa Satan - Head Man, Little Joe
General’s Entrance - General, Angels
The Man Upstairs - General
Taking A Chance on Love - Petunia
Scene 2: One Month Later. The Jackson Back Yard
Not A Care in the World* - Petunia, Little Joe
Cabin in the Sky - Petunia, Little Joe
Dat Suits Me** - Company
Scene 3: Three Months Later. Head Man’s Office
Do What You Want To Do - Head Man, Ensemble
Scene 4: A Week Later. The Jackson Front Porch
Taking a Chance on Love - Petunia; Little Joe
ACT II
Scene 1: One Month Later. The Jackson Back Yard
Jazz Fugue - Company
In My Old Virginia Home*** - Petunia, Little Joe
Little Joe’s Vision - Georgia Brown, Ensemble
It’s Not So Bad To Be Good - General
Love Me Tomorrow - Georgia Brown, Little Joe
Love Turned The Light Out - Petunia
Scene 2: John Henry’s Café
Livin’ It Up**** - Little Joe, Georgia Brown
Honey In The Honeycomb - Georgia Brown
Savannah - Petunia, Ensemble
The Storm/General’s Recitative - General
Finale - Company
* From Banjo Eyes, 1941
** Traditional Spiritual
***Cut From 1940 Production
****Written for 1963 Revival
Cabin In The Sky – An Historical Perspective
The 1940-41 Theatre Season
The 1940-41 theatre season was the worst Broadway season in theatre history for that time. Only 69 shows opened versus the peak for the century of 264 in the 1927-28 season. And only 12 shows ended in the black.
Cabin in the Sky opened on October 25th and starred Ethel Waters, Dooley Wilson, and Katherine Dunham, in her Broadway debut. Choreographed by George Balanchine, the show would run for a half a year at the Martin Beck.
Competition included the straight plays Johnny Belinda, Charley’s Aunt, The Corn is Green, My Sister Eileen, Arsenic and Old Lace (starring Boris Karloff), Watch on the Rhine, and Tobacco Road. The musicals included Hold On To Your Hats (starring Al Jolson), Cole Porter’s Panama Hattie (starring Ethel Merman), Pal Joey (starring Gene Kelly), and Lady in the Dark (starring Gertrude Lawrence).
The newly negotiated Actors Equity contract provided for a minimum Broadway salary of $50 weekly
Broadway Babies: Birthdays (we’ve done the math for you - they’re all 63): Patrick Stewart – July 13; Donna McKechnie – November 15
The 1940-41 Movie Season
The number of releases for this season was 673, down only slightly from the previous peak of 820 in 1928.
Average weekly attendance was 80,000 - down only slightly from the previous peak of 95,000 in 1929. However, box office receipts did set a record!
The Academy Awards went to the movie Rebecca; and the actors James Stewart, Ginger Rogers, Walter Brennan, Jane Darwell; and director John Ford.
Notable movies that season included: Front Page; The Grapes of Wrath; Pinocchio; The Road to Singapore; Pride and Prejudice; Foreign Correspondent; The Great Dictator; Fantasia; The Letter; and The Philadelphia Story.
Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker and Carmen Miranda made their film debuts, as did pancake makeup - replacing greasepaint.
Hollywood Babies: Al Pacino (April 25); Martin Sheen (August 3); Jill St. John (August 19); Raquel Welch (September 5); Richard Pryor (December 1).
Deaths: Ben Turpin; Tom Mix.
1940-41 (Outside The Arts & Leisure Section)
History/Politics: World War II continues; FDR is re-elected.
Literature: Hemingway writes For Whom the Bell Tolls; Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely; Wright, Native Son. Deaths: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Virginia Wolf, James Joyce, and Nathaniel West. Pulitzer Prize winners: Mark Van Doren, Robert E. Sherwood and Carl Sandburg.
Daily Life: Joe DiMaggio hits safely in 56 consecutive games; Whirlaway wins the Triple Crown; Lou Gehrig dies.
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