A CONCORD THEATRICALS TITLE

A Doll's Life

Full-Length Musical, Drama  /  6w, 7m

Book and Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
Music by Larry Grossman

This hauntingly beautiful musical explores the life of Nora, Ibsen’s heroine from A Doll's House, as she attempts to make her way in a male-dominated society after slamming the door on her former life.

A Doll's Life

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    6w, 7m
  • Duration
    Duration
    More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Adaptation (Stage & Screen)
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary

1994 Revised Version.

Revived by The York Theatre Company to acclaim, this reworking of the original Broadway script and score puts this hauntingly beautiful show within the reach of smaller producing groups. Thirteen actors double in several roles and two pianos create the sights and sounds of 19th-century Norway as Nora, Ibsen’s heroine from A Doll's House, tries to make her way in a male-dominated society after she slams the door on her former life.

History
A Doll’s Life premiered on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on 23 September 1982. Directed by Harold Prince, the production featured Betsy Joslyn, George Hearn, Peter Gallagher, Edmund Lyndeck and Barbara Lang. The musical was revived off-Broadway by The York Theatre Company on 13 December 1994.
Cast Attributes
Keywords
Performing Groups
NORA (Nansen)
TORVALD HELMER
TRAIN CONDUCTOR
OTTO BERNICK – musician
HAMSUN – owner of a restaurant
JOHAN BLECKER – lawyer
ERIC DIDRICKSON – business giant
DR. BERG – well to do doctor
GUSTAFSON – successful businessman
PETERSON – opera conductor
ASTRID KLEMNACHT – an opera diva
MULLER – the cannery foreman
SELMA – cannery worker, later Nora's personal maid
JAILER
JACQUELINE LE BEAU – a young Frenchwoman
HUGO ZETTERLING – coal industrialist
KLOSTER – lumber baron
THE AMBASSADOR, LARS GRUNBORG – Norway's Ambassador to England
CAMILLA FORRESTER – a beautiful actress

Ladies of the Evening, Pimp, Female opera singers, Male opera singers, Call Boy, Karl the Stage Manager, Female guests at Audition, Male guest at Audtition, Cannery Workers, Jailed Woman, Maids at Eric's Reception, Cafe Patrons, Cafe Waiter

Everyone except Nora, Otto, Johan, Eric, Torvald and Astrid will double or triple and play many roles.
  • Time Period 19th Century
  • Setting Norway, 1879 to 1885
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Duration More than 120 minutes (2 hours)
  • Cautions
    • No Special Cautions

Media

“Grossman’s sophisticated score has grown with age.” – New York Newsday

“We can now appreciate the beauties in the score and in the sharp, sometimes uncharacteristically hard-edged lyrics.” – The New York Times

“Changes pay off handsomely… Grossman’s sophisticated score has grown with age.” – New York Newsday

Music

Song Samples

Overture
Prologue / A Woman Alone
New Year's Eve
Stay With Me
She Thinks That's The Answer
Learn to Be Lonely
Rats and Mice and Fish
Rare Wines
No More Mornings
There She Is
Power
Letter to the Children
Can You Hear Me Now? / Finale
Act I
1. Overture – Instrumental
1a. “A Woman Alone – Part I” – Nora & Company
1b. “Letter to the Children – Part I” – Nora
1c. “Letter to the Children – Part II” – Nora
1d. “A Woman Alone – Part II” – Otto & Nora
1e. “A Woman Alone – Part III” – Nora
1f. “A Woman Alone – Part IV” – Conductor, Otto & Nora
2. “Arrival in Christiania” – Nora & Crowd
3. “New Year's Eve” – Johan, Eric, Dr. Berg & Mr. Gustafson
3a. New Year's Eve Underscore – Instrumental
3b. “Hamsun's Entrance” – Nora
4. “Street Sequence” – Otto & Nora
4a. Otto Tidies Up – Instrumental
5. “New Year's Eve Reprise” – Otto & Nora
5a. Torval Enters – Instrumental
5b. “Stay With Me Nora - Part I” – Otto
5c. “Stay With Me Nora - Part II” – Otto & Nora
6. Carmen Music – Instrumental
7. “The Audition Arrival” – Astrid & Guests
7a. “Loki and Baldur – Part I” – Otto, Male & Female Singers
7b. “You Interest Me” – Johan
7c. “Loki and Baldur – Part II” – Ensemble
8. “The Departure” – Astrid & Ensemble
9. “A Letter from Klemnacht” – Astrid
10. “Learn to Be Lonely” – Nora
10a. Lonely to Cannery – Instrumental
11. “Rats and Mice (and Fish)” – Nora, Selma & Cannery Girls
11a. Cannery to Jail – Instrumental
12. “Jailer, Jailer” – Female Prisoners
12a. “Jail to Opera Box Transition” – Astrid
13. “Rare Wines” – Eric & Astrid

Act II
14. Entr'acte – Instrumental
15. “You Interest Me (Reprise)” – Johan
15a. Blecker To Bedroom – Instrumental
15b. Room and Board Free? – Instrumental
16. “No More Mornings – Introduction” – Nora & Eric
16a. “No More Mornings – Part I” – Nora
16b. “No More Mornings – Part II” – Nora
17. “Transition to Billiards Room” – Eric & Male Guests
17a. Comments – Billiards Scene – Instrumental
17b. “There She Is” – Johan, Eric & Otto
17c. “Power” – Nora
17d. After Power / Hallway Scene – Instrumental
18. Touch My Neck – Instrumental
19. “Transition to Grand Cafe” – Nora
19a. “At Last” – Johan
20. “Power Comments – Part I” – Cafe Patrons
20a. Cafe – Summer – Instrumental
20b. “Power Comments – Part II” – Cafe Patrons
20c. Cafe – Autumn – Instrumental
20d. “There He Is” – Nora & Jaqueline
20e. “Power Comments – Part III” – Cafe Patrons
20f. “I'm Making Love to You – Part I” – Johan & Nora
20g. “I'm Making Love to You – Part II” – Nora & Johan
20h. “I'm Making Love to You – Part III” – Nora & Johan
20i. Transition to Helmer House – Instrumental
21. “Finale” – Nora
22. Bows / Exit Music – Instrumental
This two piano arrangement was adapted from the original Broadway score, and where appropriate, suggestions as to the original instrumentation have been added to the second keyboard part. These indications may be useful should one decide to use a synthesizer (or an expanded orchestra). Of course both parts also work well on two pianos.
  • Musical Style Classic Broadway
  • Orchestra Size Piano Only

Licensing & Materials

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16   Two Piano-Vocal (Piano 1 and Piano 2)
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Authors

Adolph Green

Adolph Green

Adolph Green (1914-2002) was an award-winning screenwriter, librettist and lyricist, co-writing with his longtime creative partner, Betty Comden. Comden and Green had a groundbreaking partnership of over 60 years, winning Tony Awards for their lyrics and/or librettos for Appl ...

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Betty Comden

Betty Comden

Betty Comden (1917-2006) was an award-winning screenwriter, librettist and lyricist, co-writing with her longtime creative partner, Adolph Green. Comden and Green had a groundbreaking partnership of over 60 years, winning Tony Awards for their lyrics and/or librettos for Appl ...

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Larry Grossman

Larry Grossman
Larry Grossman is an award-winning composer, having written for Broadway, television, film, concerts and cabaret. His Broadway credits include: Minnie's Boys (The Marx Brothers Musical), Goodtime Charley, A Doll's Life (Tony and Drama Desk nominations) and Grind (Tony and Dra ...
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