Anyone Can Whistle is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Described as "a satire on conformity and the insanity of the so-called sane," the show tells a story of an economically depressed town whose corrupt mayor decides to create a fake miracle in order to attract tourists. The phony miracle draws the attention of an emotionally inhibited nurse, a crowd of inmates from a local asylum, and a doctor with secrets of his own.
Following a tryout period in Philadelphia, Anyone Can Whistle opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 4, 1964, with Angela Lansbury making her stage musical debut. The show received widely varied reviews (including negative notices from the New York Times and the New York Herald Tribune), and closed after a run of twelve previews and nine performances.
While the score has become an acclaimed part of Sondheim's canon, Anyone Can Whistle has seen relatively few productions compared to other Sondheim musicals. The title song, "Everybody Says Don't", and "There Won't Be Trumpets" have been performed widely.
Background
The show was first announced in The New York Times on October 5, 1961: "For the winter of 1962, [Arthur Laurents] is nurturing another musical project, The Natives Are Restless. The narrative and staging will be Mr. Laurent's handiwork; music and lyrics that of Stephen Sondheim. A meager description was furnished by Mr. Laurents, who refused to elaborate. Although the title might indicate otherwise, it is indigenous in content and contemporary in scope. No producer yet." No news of the show appeared until July 14, 1963, in an article in The New York Times about Kermit Bloomgarden, where it discussed the four shows he was producing for the coming season; two were maybes, two were definite. One of the latter was a Sondheim-Laurents musical (now named Side Show). In a letter to Bloomgarden, Laurents wrote, "I beg you not to mention the money problems or any difficulties to Steve anymore. It depresses him terribly and makes it terribly difficult for him to work...It is damn hard to concentrate...when all the atmosphere is filled with gloom and forebodings about will the show get the money to go on?...Spare him the gory details." This behavior was considered unusual for Laurents, who did not have a reputation for kindness. Sondheim discovered that Laurents hated doing backers' auditions and he took over that responsibility, playing and singing more than 30. They found 115 investors to back the $350,000 production, including Richard Rodgers and Sondheim's father.
Eager to work with both Laurents and Sondheim, Angela Lansbury accepted the lead role as Mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper, despite her strong misgivings about the script and her ability to handle the score. Also signed were Lee Remick as Nurse Fay Apple and Harry Guardino as Hapgood. Laurents had wanted Barbra Streisand for the role of Fay, but she turned it down to star in Funny Girl.Laurents, Arthur. Original Story By -: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood. Hal Leonard Corporation, 2001, , p. 244 Following rehearsals in New York City, the company started pre-Broadway tryouts in Philadelphia from March 2 to 21, 1964. Laurents, ignoring criticism about the show's message being trite and its absurdist style difficult to comprehend, poured his energies into restaging rather than dealing with the crux of the problem.
The show suffered further setbacks when supporting actor Henry Lascoe, who played Comptroller Schub, suffered a heart attack during the show's out-of-town tryout, and was replaced by Gabriel Dell. According to Sondheim, "Lansbury was so insecure onstage, and unhappy with her performance, that we considered replacing her. Ironically, it soon became apparent that it had been Lascoe, an old pro...who had made her feel like an amateur. The minute his much less confident understudy took over, she felt free to blossom, which she spectacularly did." Sondheim called the reviews "humiliating" and the audiences "hostile."Sondheim, Stephen. Anyone Can Whistle. Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) With Attendant Comments..., Random House Digital, Inc., 2010, , p.111
Productions After multiple revisions, the show opened April 4, 1964, at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway, where it closed after 9 performances and 12 previews, unable to overcome negative notices from major papers such as the New York Times and the New York Herald Tribune. Scenic design was by William and Jean Eckart, costume design by Theoni V. Aldredge, and lighting design by Jules Fisher. Choreographer Herbert Ross received the show's sole Tony Award nomination.
The show became a cult favorite, and a truncated recording by the original cast released by Columbia Records sold well among Sondheim fans and musical theater buffs. "There Won't Be Trumpets," a song cut during previews, has become a favorite of cabaret performers.Citron, Stephen. Sondheim and Lloyd-Webber: The New Musical (2001). Oxford University Press US. , pp. 128, 131
A staged concert was presented at Carnegie Hall in New York City on April 8, 1995, as a benefit for the Gay Men's Health Crisis. Columbia recorded the concert, preserving for the first time musical passages and numbers not included on the original Broadway cast recording. The cut song "There's Always a Woman" was included for this concert. Lansbury served as narrator, with Madeline Kahn as Cora, Bernadette Peters as Fay, and Scott Bakula as Hapgood. Additional cast included Chip Zien, Ken Page, and Harvey Evans, the only cast member from the original show to reprise his role." Anyone Can Whistle – Live at Carnegie Hall 1995" masterworksbroadway.com, accessed October 12, 2019
The complete score was recorded in 1997 at Abbey Road Studios with Julia McKenzie, Maria Friedman, and John Barrowman joined by a 42-piece orchestra; the recording went unreleased until December 2020.
Sony reissued the original Broadway cast recording on compact disc in 2003. Two revivals were staged that year: one in London at the Bridewell Theatre and one in Los Angeles at the Matrix Theatre."Sondheim Guide Listing." sondheimguide.com
The Ravinia Festival presented a staged concert on August 26 and 27, 2005, with Audra McDonald (Fay), Michael Cerveris (Hapgood), and Patti LuPone (Cora).Olson, John. " Anyone Can Whistle, Ravinia Festival". talkinbroadway.com, August 29, 2005
Talk Is Free Theatre presented the Canadian professional premiere (in concert) on January 11, 2008, at the Gryphon Theatre in Barrie, Ontario, with a fundraiser performance on January 13 at the Diesel Playhouse in Toronto, Ontario. It starred Adam Brazier as Hapgood, Kate Hennig as Cora, Blythe Wilson as Fay, and Richard Ouzounian as Narrator, who also served as director. Choreography was by Sam Strasfeld. Additional cast included Juan Chioran as Comptroller Schub, Jonathan Monro as Treasurer Cooley, and Mark Harapiak as Chief Magruder. Musical direction was provided by Wayne Gwillim.Talk Is Free Theatre tift.ca
Encores! presented a staged concert from April 8 through April 11, 2010, with Sutton Foster as Nurse Fay Apple, Donna Murphy as Mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper, and Raul Esparza as Hapgood, with direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw. The production was the second most attended in Encores! history, and Stephen Sondheim was present at the post-matinee talkback on April 10.Finkle, David. "Talk back with Sondheim." Huffingtonpost.com, April 12, 2010
A London production of Anyone can Whistle opened at the Jermyn Street Studio Theatre, London, in association with Primavera Productions, running from March 10, 2010, to April 17, 2010. The director is Tom Littler, with Musical Director Tom Attwood, and a cast that includes Issy van Randwyck (Mayoress), Rosalie Craig (Nurse Fay Apple) and David Ricardo-Pearce (Hapgood)."Listing." Jermynstreettheatre.co.uk, Retrieved March 20, 2010.
Porchlight Music Theatre presented Anyone Can Whistle in 2013 as a part of "Porchlight Revisits" series, in which it staged three forgotten musicals per year. It was directed by Christopher Pazdernik and music directed by Aaron Benham.
A new production directed by Phil Willmott opened at the Union Theatre in London, running from February 8 through March 11, 2017.
A concert presentation of the show was presented by MasterVoices, under the direction and baton of Ted Sperling, on March 10, 2022, at Carnegie Hall in New York City. This production featured Vanessa Williams (Cora Hoover Hooper), Santino Fontana (J. Bowden Hapgood), Elizabeth Stanley (Fay Apple), Douglas Sills (Comptroller Schub), Eddie Cooper (Treasurer Cooley), and Michael Mulheren (Police Chief Magruder). Joanna Gleason served as the narrator for the event
A new London production of the show ran at the Southwark Playhouse in 2022 under the direction of Georgie Rankcom, with musical direction by Natalie Pound, and choreography by Lisa Stevens. The show's cast featured Alex Young as Cora Hoover Hooper, Chrystine Symone as Nurse Fay Apple, and Jordan Broatch as J. Bowden Hapgood. This production was the largest staged version of the show since its debut on Broadway in 1964.Lawson, Mark. 'Sondheim flop gets a blazing revival', in The Guardian, 6 April 2022
Plot
Act One The story is set in an imaginary American town that has gone bankrupt. (Its former major industry was an unidentified product that never wore out. Everyone has one now, and no one needs a replacement.) The only place in town doing good business is the local mental asylum, known as "The Cookie Jar", whose inmates look much healthier than the disgruntled townspeople ("I'm Like the Bluebird"). All the money is in the hands of Cora Hoover Hooper, the stylish, ruthless mayoress and her croniesComptroller Schub, Treasurer Cooley, and Police Chief Magruder. Cora appears carried in a litter by her backup singers, and admits that she can accept anything except unpopularity ("Me and My Town"). The scheming Comptroller Schub tells her that he has a plan to save her administration and the town, promising, "It's unethical." He tells her to meet him at the rock on the edge of town. At the rock, a local mother, Mrs. Schroeder, tries to tell her child, Baby Joan, to come down from the rock, when Baby Joan licks itand a spring of water begins flowing from it. The town instantly proclaims a miracle, and Cora and her council eagerly anticipate tourist dollars as they boast of the water's curative powers ("Miracle Song").
It is soon revealed to Cora that the miracle is a fake, controlled by a pump inside the rock. The only person in town who doubts the miracle is Fay Apple, a skeptical but idealistic young nurse from the Cookie Jar. She appears at the rock with all forty-nine of the inmates -- or "Cookies" -- in tow, intending to let them take some of the water. Schub realizes that if they drink the water and remain insane, people will discover the fraud. As he tries to stop Fay, the inmates mingle with the townspeople, until no one can guess who is who. Fay disappears and, hiding from the police, admits that she hopes for a hero to deliver the town from Cora and her lackeys ("There Won't Be Trumpets").