GENTLEMEN, BE SEATED!
PLAYBILL
NEW YORK CITY CENTER
NEW YORK CITY OPERA
PROUDLY PRESENTS
FOR THE FIRST TIME ON ANY STAGE
THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 10, 1963
THE WORLD PREMIERE
GENTLEMEN, BE SEATED!
Book by JEROME MOROSS and EDWARD EAGER
The LYRICS Written by MR. EDWARD EAGER
The MUSIC Composed by MR. JEROME MOROSS
THE CAST
MISTER INTERLOCUTOR: MR. DICK SHAWN (debut)
Mister Tambo: Mr. Avon Long (début)
Mister Bones: Mr. Charles Atkin (début)
The COMEDIENNE: MISS ALICE GHOSTLEY (debut)
The Contralto: Miss Carol Brice
Johnny Reb: Mr. William McDonald
Billy Yank: Mr. Richard Fredricks
Southern Girl: Miss June Card (début)
Northern Girl: Miss Mary Burgess
Mister Banjo: Mr. Bernard Addison (début)
The Character: Actor Mr. Richard Krause
MISTER TAPS: MR. PAUL DRAPER (début)
also
Ermyntrude: Miss Charlotte Povia
Farmer McLean: Mr. David Smith
Miss Florida Cotton: Miss Michele Hardy (début)
Two Soldiers: Mr. Kellis Miller, Mr. Don Henderson
Drill Team: Mr. Bob Bernard (début),
Mr. John Tormey (début),
Mr. Bob Ellis (début)
Horse: Messrs. Bernard and Russel
Two Other Soldiers: Mr. Kellis Miller, Don Yule
Two Girls: Miss Joyce Miko, Miss Beverly Evans
Four Nurses: Misses Miko, Pilla, Evans and Povia
also
MINSTRELS, WALTZERS, SOLDIERS, NURSES, SPECTATORS, SLAVES, ETC.
The ORCHESTRA led by MR. EMERSON BUCKLEY
The ACTION directed by MR. ROBERT TITROFF (début)
The SCENERY, entirely new by MR. WILLIAM PITKIN (debut)
The DRESSES and SUITS by MR. HENRY HEYMANN (début)
The DANCES created by MR. PAUL DRAPER (début)
Assisted by Mr. Bob Bernard (début)
The CHORUS prepared by MR. WILLIAM JONSON
ACT I
(INTERMISSION)
ACT II
ACT 1
Scene 1
“Grand March”
A. Long, C. Atkins, Chorus, W. McDonald, R. Fredricks, J. Card, M. Burgess
Scene 2
“In the Sunny Old South”
D. Shawn, A. Long, C. Atkins, Chorus
Scene 3
“The Freedom Train” C. Brice
Scene 4
“Waltzing in the Shadow” D. Shawn, W. McDonald, R. Fredricks, Chorus
Scene 5
“Fare You Well” J. Card, W. McDonald, M. Burgess, R. Fredricks
Scene 6
“Why Ain’t We Got a Dome?”
A. Long, C. Atkins, D. Shawn
“Tap Dance Drill” P. Draper, Men’s Dance Ensemble
Scene 7
“0, the Picnic in Manassas” A. Ghostley, R. Krause, C. Povia
Scene 8
“Mocking Bird” J. Card
Scene 9
“Shiloh” W. McDonald, Men’s Chorus
Scene 10
“The Ballad of Belle Boyd” (Belle Boyd’s Back in Town) Ladies’ Chorus
“I Spy” A. Ghostley
“It’s the Witching Hour by the Old Water Tower” Men’s Chorus, A. Ghostley
“I’m a Pinkerton Man” R. Krause
“Belle Boyd, Where Have You Been?” Ladies’ Chorus
“Pardon, Ma’am”?
“Look Who I Am, Surprise! Surprise!”?
Scene 11
“Mancipation” A. Long, C. Atkins, C. Brice
Scene 12
“This Isn’t a Gentleman’s War Anymore”
D. Shawn
Scene 13
“The Contraband Ball”
A. Ghostley, J. Card, C. Atkins, A. Long, R. Fredricks, Chorus
“0, Miss Walkaround, Come Walking Out With Me”
D. Shawn, A. Ghostley, R. Fredricks, A. Long, C. Atkins, J. Card, Entire Company
ACT 2
Scene 1
“Gentlemen, Be Seated” D. Shawn
Scene 2
“It’s Quiet on the Potomac Tonight” A. Long, C. Atkins
Scene 3
“The Ballad of Stonewall Jackson” W. McDonald, Men’s Chorus
Scene 4
“I’m Mathew P. Brady, the Camera Man” D. Shawn,. R. Krause
“Miss Dorothea Dix” A. Ghostley, Nurses, D. Shawn
Scene 5
“I Can’t Remember” M. Burgess
Scene 6
“From Atlanta to the Sea” R. Fredricks, C. Brice, Chorus
Scene 7
“What Has Become of Beauty?” D. Shawn
Scene 8
“Have You Seen Him, Did He Pass This Way?” C. Brice
Scene 9
“This Was the War, What Did It Do for Me and You?” Entire Company
GENTLEMEN, BE SEATED!
THE COMPLETE VOCAL SCORE
Gentlemen, Be Seated! is an anti-war, anti-racist musical history of the War Between the States. Music was composed by Jerome Moross with lyrics by Edward Eager. It was completed in 1956 and produced and presented by New York City Opera in 1963. This is the complete vocal score.
WINDFLOWERS: THE SONGS OF JEROME MOROSS
WINDFLOWERS offers delectable proof, with selections from his stage shows Ballet Ballads, The Golden Apple, Underworld, and Gentlemen, Be Seated! Alice Ripley, Richard Muenz, Jessica Molaskey, Philip Chaffin and Jenny Giering – five singers equally at home on Broadway, in cabaret and in the recording studio – celebrate an American original, in nineteen selections alternately playful and atmospheric, and always highly melodic.