1969 Broadway musical inspired by the life of Coco Chanel
Coco
is a 1969
Broadway
musical
with a
book
and lyrics by
Alan Jay Lerner
and music by
Andre Previn
, inspired by the life of
Coco Chanel
.
Katharine Hepburn
starred in the title role, her first and only in a stage musical.
Background
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Theatre producer
Frederick Brisson originally had optioned
Chanel
's life for his wife
Rosalind Russell
, but Russell had developed acute
arthritis
, making it difficult for her to function. That meant another leading lady with star quality needed to be found.
Irene Selznick
suggested
Katharine Hepburn
, who initially scoffed at the idea of appearing in a musical but agreed to work with former
MGM
vocal coach
Roger Edens
for ten days. Following an audition in Selznick's suite at
The Pierre Hotel
, Hepburn felt comfortable enough to mull seriously the proposition, and was further convinced to accept the offer after meeting Chanel.
Lerner had assured the designer his book would cover only the early years of her life and career, and she was distressed when the plan was jettisoned to accommodate the older star. The highly fictionalized book and score underwent massive revisions and were far from complete when Hepburn concluded filming on
The Madwoman of Chaillot
, at which time she was scheduled to begin work on the show, and
Coco
was postponed a season while its creators worked on it.
The six-week rehearsal period finally began in September 1969.
Cecil Beaton
's set proved to be a complicated piece of machinery that frequently malfunctioned and was difficult for the cast to maneuver, and the final scene required a troublesome coordination of mirrors, platforms, runways, and flashing lights. Hepburn insisted the theater's thermostat be set at 60 degrees and the exterior doors left open, and most of the cast became ill due to the unusually cold fall weather.
Synopsis
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Set between early autumn of 1953 and late spring of 1954, fashion designer
Coco Chanel
, after fifteen years of retirement, decides to return to the world of
haute couture
and reopen her
Paris
salon. With her new collection derided by the critics, she faces
bankruptcy
until buyers from four major
American
department stores
-
Saks Fifth Avenue
,
Bloomingdale's
,
Best & Company
, and
Ohrbach's
- place orders with her. She becomes involved with the love life of one of her models, and flashbacks utilizing filmed sequences recall her own past romantic flings. Adding humor to the proceedings is a highly
stereotypical
rude
gay
designer who tries to impede Chanel's success.
[1]
The finale is a fashion show featuring actual Chanel designs from 1918 to 1959.
Original cast and characters
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Musical numbers
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- Act I
- Overture
- But That's the Way You Are - Alex
- The World Belongs to the Young - Coco
- Let's Go Home - Georges
- Mademoiselle Cliche de Paris - Coco
- On the Corner of the Rue Cambon - Coco
- The Money Rings Out Like Freedom - Coco & Ensemble
- A Brand New Dress - Noelle
- A Woman Is How She Loves - Georges
- Gabrielle - Papa
- Coco - Coco
- The Preparation - Coco & Company
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- Act II
- Entre D'acte
- Fiasco - Sebastian
- When Your Lover Says Goodbye - Greff
- Coco (Reprise) - Coco
- Ohrbach's, Bloomingdale's, Best & Saks -Coco & The Buyers
- Ohrbach's, Bloomingdale's, Best & Saks (Reprise) - Coco and Ensemble
- Always Mademoiselle - Coco and the Mannequins
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A
cast recording
was released by
Paramount Records
in 1970. It was reissued on CD by
MCA Records
in 1997.
Production
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After 40 previews, the Broadway production opened on December 18, 1969, at the
Mark Hellinger Theatre
, where it ran for 329 performances. The show was directed by
Michael Benthall
and
choreographed
by
Michael Bennett
.
Ann Reinking
was in the chorus in one of her first Broadway shows.
Joan Copeland
was Hepburn's standby, and
Danielle Darrieux
replaced Hepburn eight months into the run, but without the drawing power of a major star the poorly reviewed show closed two months later.
Hepburn was scheduled to star in a
West End
production, but when the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
proved to be unavailable she refused to consider other venues and the project was abandoned. She headed the cast of the US national tour, which opened in
Cleveland
on January 11, 1971, the day after Chanel's death, which the star acknowledged at the final curtain call. She continued with the tour through June, when it ended at the
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
in
Los Angeles
. Although reviews in most cities were mediocre, it played to sold-out houses everywhere. Despite its financial success, executives at
Paramount Pictures
, which had financed the original Broadway production - at $900,000, the most expensive show in Broadway history at the time - in exchange for the
cast album
and
film
rights, opted not to transfer
Coco
to the big screen.
During the autumn of 1971,
Ginger Rogers
starred in a stock tour of
Coco
that played the Westbury Music Festival, the South Shore Music Circus and the Valley Forge Music Fair. The tour was directed by Fred Hebert and choreographed by Larry Fuller.
[4]
Coco
was produced as a staged concert by
42nd Street Moon
in San Francisco in April and May 2008, starring
Andrea Marcovicci
in the title role. The production played for a total of 16 performances. It was directed by Mark D. Kaufmann and choreographed by Jayne Zaban.
[5]
Marcovicci revisited the role in September 2010 for the show's first New York revival as part of the York Theatre Company's Musicals in Mufti.
Coco
was presented in London's Sadler's Wells, in 2011, as part of the
Lost Musicals
project. Ian Marshall Fisher directed, Chris Walker, music director. Coco was played by Sara Kestelman and cast included Edward Petherbridge.
[6]
Awards and nominations
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Original Broadway production
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Notes
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References
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External links
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]
This audio file
was created from a revision of this article dated 26 December 2019
(
2019-12-26
)
, and does not reflect subsequent edits.
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