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''Me and Juliet'' is a musical comedy by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics and book) and their sixth stage collaboration. The work tells a story of romance backstage at a long-running musical: assistant stage manager Larry woos chorus girl Jeanie behind the back of her electrician boyfriend, Bob. ''Me and Juliet'' premiered in 1953 and was not considered a success, although it ran for much of a year on Broadway and returned a small profit to its backers. The show received no Tony Award nominations. Rodgers had long wanted to write a musical comedy about the cast and crew backstage at a theatre. After Rodgers and Hammerstein had another hit with ''The King and I'', Rodgers proposed the backstage project to his partner. Hammerstein was unenthusiastic, thinking the subject matter trivial, but agreed to do the project. The play required complex machinery, designed by Jo Mielziner, so that the audience could view action not only on the stage of the theatre where the show-within-the-show (also named ''Me and Juliet'') takes place, but in the wings and on the light bridge (high above the stage, from which the lighting technicians train spotlights) as well. When ''Me and Juliet'' began tryout performances in Cleveland, the duo realized that the show had problems with the plot and staging. Extensive revisions during the remaining Cleveland and Boston tryouts failed to cure the difficulties with the plot, which the critics considered weak and uninteresting. The show was met with less than favorable reviews, though Mielziner's staging won praise from audience and critics. The show closed once it had exhausted its advance sales. With the exception of a short run in Chicago, there was no national tour, and the show is almost never seen—although a small-scale production was presented by London's Finborough Theatre in 2010. == Inception == The origins of ''Me and Juliet'' can be traced to the early days of the relationship between Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical ''Oklahoma!'' opened in 1943; it was Rodgers and Hammerstein's first work together and a massive hit. Soon after ''Oklahoma!'' opened, Rodgers began considering the idea of a musical set backstage at a theatre staging a musical. The production could explore different areas of the backstage world. Rodgers also saw it as the opportunity to write a pure musical comedy, without the serious themes which had marked their early works—such as the attacks on racism in ''South Pacific'', and the cultural tolerance in ''The King and I''. Hammerstein was initially unenthusiastic, thinking the subject matter trivial, but Rodgers pressed the matter. It was Hammerstein's turn to give in to his partner; Rodgers had agreed to the project that became the 1947 musical, ''Allegro'', their initial failure, under pressure from Hammerstein, who had long dreamed of doing a serious musical about an ordinary man. According to Stephen Sondheim, a protégé of Hammerstein, "Oscar was able to keep the partnership together by taking Dick's suggestion The two discussed the matter at a meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, in early 1952, where Rodgers was vacationing as he worked on melodic sketches for the television program ''Victory at Sea''. Rodgers suggested dispensing with the overture, reserving that for the overture of the show-within-the-show. Following another meeting in mid-1952, they called in long-time Rodgers and Hammerstein stage designer Jo Mielziner and hired him to design the sets. Mielziner confirmed that a scene could be played part onstage and part in the backstage world, but that this would be expensive. In August 1952, Hammerstein began a sketch of the plot; by early October he had a near-complete first draft. As the show was to be musical comedy, the pair hired one of the top musical comedy directors, George Abbott, who accepted the position without reading the script. He regretted the haste of this decision as soon as he read the script, finding it sentimental and melodramatic. He confided his concerns to the pair; in response, Hammerstein told him to make whatever changes in the script he thought best. With Hammerstein's permission, Abbott made major changes to the plot. Hammerstein had only briefly described the show-within-the-show. Fearing the show would be uninteresting, Abbott hoped that some highlights would be furnished when the show-within-the-show, as yet only briefly described by Hammerstein, was fleshed out. According to author and composer Ethan Mordden in his book about the duo's works, Hammerstein thought the show-within-the-show was to be: Hammerstein included an incident he had seen when he was a neophyte assistant stage manager: a chorus boy came up to a chorus girl and asked to use some of her mascara—to disguise a hole in the boy's black socks. Hammerstein stated, "we were religious in keeping away from the trite things—the kindly old stage door man named Pop, the pretty little understudy who replaces the star on opening night. We steered clear, too, of the backstage story of a company putting on a new show, with all the anxieties of the actors and producers ... It seemed right to focus on a show which is already running because we wanted to tell a story about a community, the backstage community, and this community becomes settled and established after a show opens." In addition to Abbott, the duo recruited other professionals experienced in musical comedy. Choreographer Robert Alton had worked in such hits as ''Panama Hattie'' and in movie musicals. Don Walker was hired to do the orchestrations; his would be simpler than those of Robert Russell Bennett, who usually performed that function in the pair's musicals but who was not available.. Irene Sharaff was engaged to design the more than 300 costumes which would be needed. The show was originally named ''Hercules and Juliet'', but they soon changed it to ''Me and Juliet''. The Majestic Theatre, which Rodgers and Hammerstein desired to have for ''Me and Juliet'', was currently occupied by their ''South Pacific'', four years into its run. Arrangements were made to shift ''South Pacific'' to the Broadway Theatre, though due to schedule conflicts, this meant moving that show to Boston for five weeks. 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「Me and Juliet」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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