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''Blitz!'' is a musical by Lionel Bart. The musical, described by Steven Suskin as "massive", was set in the East End of London during the Blitz (the aerial bombings during World War II). The story drew on Bart's childhood memories of London's Jewish East End during the Blitz and, like most musicals, centred on a romance between a young couple, in this case a Jewish woman and a Cockney man, although the largest role and main point-of-view character is that of Mrs. Blitztein, the young woman's mother.〔Suskin 2005, Mandelbaum 2005.〕 Steven Suskin describes it as "''Abie's Irish Rose'' set against the burning of Atlanta."〔Suskin 2005.〕 Bart himself described the play as "…three human stories inside an epic canvas; the major human conflict—the major plot—personifies the spirit of London and how that spirit developed during the period of the piece."〔Mandelbaum 2005〕 ==Production history== ''Blitz!'' opened in London 8 May 1962 at the Adelphi Theatre, while Bart's enormous West End success ''Oliver!'' was still running at the New Theatre; at that time ''Oliver!'' had not yet been produced on Broadway. ''Blitz'' ran for 568 performances.〔 It never ran on Broadway: between its scale and the fact that New Yorkers could hardly be expected to share Londoners' nostalgia for the period, it proved "unexportable". Bart wrote the music and lyrics, and had directed the original London production himself; Joan Maitland contributed to the libretto. Sean Kenny designed the elaborate sets, which included representations of Victoria Station, Petticoat Lane, and the Bank underground station, not to mention London on fire during an air raid. Four revolving house units and an enormous, mobile overhead bridge carried on two shifting towers made it, at the time, the most expensive West End musical ever produced. Noël Coward called it "twice as loud and twice as long as the real thing."〔 The song "The Day After Tomorrow" was specially written by Bart for Vera Lynn. Lynn had been a star at the time of the German bombing attacks; in the play, the characters listen to Lynn sing it on the radio while they shelter underground. Lynn did not actually appear onstage during the production, but she recorded the song for it, and the production used her recording on the "radio".〔 The play also makes use of a recording of a Winston Churchill radio speech.〔''Guinness Stage Musicals''〕 The role of Mrs. Blitztein was played by Amelia Bayntun in the original cast; it was her only role in a stage musical.〔 The cast included a large number of children. There is a scene in which the children are to be evacuated from London; they cheerfully sing "We’re Going To The Country", while their mothers try to put on a cheerful face.〔 The children's chorus "Mums and Dads" was a "showstopper"〔The Independent, Obituary. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-lionel-bart-1085282.html〕 that drew much radio play. The musical was never seen for many years, largely because the original scores went missing during Bart's turbulent years. It was reassembled in Australia by 19-year-old Andrew Jarrett, a Bart devotee, with orchestrations by Kevin Hocking, Jack Westmore and Stephen Smith. So impressed was Bart, that he came out of obscurity and travelled to Australia for Jarrett's triumphant production in 1985. The Royal Shakespeare Company's intended 1990 revival (for the fiftieth anniversary of the Blitz) never happened, although the National Youth Theatre did revive it in London's West End at the Playhouse Theatre in September 1990 with Jarrett imported as Music Director. This production was directed by Edward Wilson and choreographed by David Toguri, with the role of Mrs. Blitzstein played by Jessica Stephenson (now Hynes), (now an established UK screen actor). According to the review in ''The Guardian'' "Edward Wilson's production for the NYT is necessarily more modest and contains some beautiful, slate-grey designs from Brian Lee: his backdrop of a soaring-arched Victorian railway terminus is stunning. David Toguri's musical staging shows his customary flair, camouflaging the cast's vocal weaknesses by bringing out their physical athleticism. And Jessica Stevenson as the mob-capped Mrs Blitzstein admirably conveys truculent working-class defiance."〔Billington, Michael. "Gimme shelter from this blitz - The Playhouse", ''The Guardian'' (London), September 12, 1990, no page number〕 Benedict Nightingale wrote in his review: "But the strongest performance comes from Jessica Stevenson as a Jewish matriarch able to sing a silly song about baking cakes being the answer to all ills, yet remain quietly dignified throughout. Here is an apprentice actress to encourage."〔Nightingale, Benedict. "Oh what an average war!", Blitz!, Playhouse, ''The Times'', September 11, 1990, no page number〕 This production became the basis for a touring Northern Stage Company revival starring Diane Langton as Mrs. Blitztein.〔Mandelbaum 2005.〕 A revival production of ''Blitz'' was put on at the Queens Theatre in Hornchurch in 2000 including members of the Queens Theatre's own youth groups playing many characters alongside the resident cast. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Blitz!」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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