A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1951)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1951)

Music by Arthur Schwartz
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Book by Betty Smith and George Abbot

Directed by Joe Disavino
Musical Director: Jim Lahti
Choreography: Caroline Altman

Playbill Notes

On an Autunm day in 1989, I was deep into conversation with a group of friends in Los Angeles (topic: "What's your favorite flop musical?"), when the subject of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn came up. One woman, a director, said she loved the score but as a devoted fan of the novel she wondered why leading character Frankie Nolan had been given no songs. It was a curious choice for the authors to have made. That was when our friend Nomi Mitty spoke up: "You know, that was my fault."

And how had she been to blame for Francie's songless state? Simple: Nomi had originated the part on Broadway in 1951 (a fact that none of us had known), and she "couldn't sing a note. But for some reason, George Abbot was hell-bent on casting me. He liked me and thought I was worth the loss of the songs. Needless to say, Dorothy Fields and Arthur Schwartz were rather cool to me the whole time - and I can't say I blamed them. I felt so guilty because they had written such lovely songs which had to be cut to accommodate me."

As we approached our concert version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I've often thought of that conversation. Regarding George Abbot - still alive in 1989 - Nomi reported that he was strict, to the point, and "I thought he was old then--and that was forty years ago!" She found Shirley Booth to be friendly, "but she kept her professional distance," and she adored her Tree "parents," Marcia Van Dyke and Johnny Johnston. She remembered that the show was a huge-hit out-of-town, got raves in New York, and they were all taken by surprise when the job ended nine months later.

And therein lies the source of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn's legendary status in the lost musical cannon. Despite rave reviews, an outstanding score, the star presence of Booth (as well as Abbot, Fields, and Schwartz), and the enormous popularity of Betty Smith's book and its film version,  Tree somehow couldn't hold up to the competition of Call me Madam, Guys and Dolls, and The King and I.

Shirley Booth even won the Drama Critics' Cirlce award over Gertude Lawrence and Ethel Merman, but after nine months, Tree's Broadway audience had run out. A national tour was mounted with Joan Blondell-the film's Cissy-taking over for Booth, but by the end of 1952, the show was history. Unfortunately, much of the material needed for mounting a production-including vocal parts and orchestrations-disappeared during the tour, so the few productions that have cropped up since then have faced daunting problems in putting the show together again. A planned revival at the Goodspeed Opera House a few years ago fell through, but New York's esteemed Encores! series has tentative plans to do a complete reconstruction (a la their recent success with St. Louis Woman) sometime in the near future. We think you'll agree that Tree is worth preserving.

Summary

‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ is the sad story of the Nolan Clan, a brooklyn working-class family at the turn of the century. The show focuses on Johnny and Katie Nolan, and their turbulent courtship and marriage. Katie, blinded by love, stands by the charming but undependable Johnny through years of broken promises and tarnished hopes. Meanwhile, Katie's sister Cissy moves through a series of "common-law" husbands, each of which she insists on calling Harry after her first lover. The musical shows the heartbreaks that can be endured for the sake of a lover or child.

Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO (31 August 1998) -- 42nd Street Moon continues its "DELICIOUS DAMES OF BROADWAY!" season with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the stage musical based on the famous book and film of the same name. The New York Times crowed at its 1951 opening, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn turns out to be one of those happy inspirations that the theater dotes on, with the richest score Arthur Schwartz has written in years."

Although this opinion was representative of the critical acclaim the show received, Tree closed within nine months in an unfortunate twist of fate. The musical has since become almost legendary among lost musical cognoscenti for its sheer delightfulness and charm, with such tunes as "Love Is The Reason" and "Make the Man Love Me." It is perhaps the finest example of a musical which deserved better success than it received. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn plays September 30 through October 18 (press opening: October 1) at New Conservatory Theatre Center, San Francisco.

Like the classic book from which it was born, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant look at love, marriage, and family life set in turn-of-the-century New York. While the book focused primarily on Francie, the daughter of a troubled marriage, the musical centers more on her parents, Johnny and Katie Nolan, and their turbulent courtship and marriage. Katie, blinded by love, stands by the charming but undependable Johnny through years of broken promises and tarnished hopes. In a more humorous counterpoint to the main story, Katie's sister Cissy moves through a series of "common-law" husbands, each of which she insists on calling Harry after her first lover. Tender and truthful, the musical expresses in beautiful music the lengths to which people can go for love; the heartbreaks that can be endured for the sake of a lover or child. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is the second of two shows in 42nd Street Moon's season which celebrate lyrics by the great Dorothy Fields, following Redhead, Fields' unusual comic murder-mystery.

The show opened in 1951 at the Alvin Theater, featuring film and television performer Johnny Johnston and concert violinist Marcia Van Dyke as the tumultuous couple. The real star of the show, however, was Shirley Booth as Cissy, in a triumphant musical follow-up to her colossal hit in Come Back Little Sheba the previous year. Critics adored her, and she went on to capture Best Actress in a Musical in the New York Drama Critics' poll, beating out Gertrude Lawrence in The King and I, Ethel Merman in Call Me Madam and Vivian Blaine in Guys and Dolls. Although it started off strongly, the show's attendance soon tapered off -- possibly because the seriousness of the piece did not draw audiences as well as the comedy and spectacle of the competing musicals. A national tour was mounted: as a trivia note, the role of Cissy on the tour was assumed by Joan Blondell -- who played the role in the film -- while Shirley Booth was busy filming her role in Come Back Little Sheba! For nearly 40 years the show languished without a major revival -- in 1971, it was announced that Sammy Davis, Jr. would star in an all-black version, but it never made it to the stage.

42nd Street Moon's production will feature Susan Powers (Face The Music, The Nightboat) as Katie, Joe Giuffre (Do I Hear a Waltz?) as Johnny, newcomer Lianne Dobbs as their daughter Francie, and Carla Befera (Face The Music, Jubilee) as Cissy (the role originally played by Shirley Booth). Rounding out the cast are Elisa Camahort, Jesse Caldwell, Bill Fahrner, Tom Elliott, Noah Haydon, Greg Grabow, Tina Kizla, Anthony Martinez, and Laura Jean Anderson. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn will be directed by Jon Di Savino, with music direction by Michael Horsley and choreography by 42nd Street Moon favorite Caroline Altman.

The creation of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as a stage musical marked a full circle for the touching story; before the autobiographical novel was published in 1943, it had first been conceived by author Betty Smith as a play called Francie Nolan in 1930. Hardly a stranger to the theater, Smith was herself the author and collaborator on some 70 one-act plays, and had already won the coveted Avery Hopwood Award for play writing before launching her writing career; and had even appeared onstage herself on occasion.

Two years after the publication of the book, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was made into an acclaimed film starring Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, Peggy Ann Garner, Lloyd Nolan, and James Dunn who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Johnny Nolan. A few years later, veteran producer George Abbott approached Smith about creating a musical version; although initially she had no intention of collaborating, Abbott's enthusiasm won Smith over, and the two created the musical which opened in 1951. Although Irving Berlin originally expressed interest in writing the score, the task eventually fell to Schwartz and Fields, with renowned results.