Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Rachael Lily Rosenbloom (And Don't You Ever Forget It!)



Tom Eyen would go on to write the libretto for Dreamgirls. Paul Jabara would go on to write the disco hits “Last Dance,” and “The Main Event,” and co-write “It’s Raining Men.” The actors (including Ellen Greene, Anita Morris, Andre De Shields, Kelly Bishop and Wayne Cliento)  would go on to hit shows and Tony Awards.

But on the night of December 1, 1973, they were playing a packed house at the 7th preview and closing night for the disco musical Rachael Lily Rosenbloom (And Don’t You Ever Forget It!). The early closing secured it a place in flop history. The extra 'A' in "Rachael" is the one dropped from Barbra Streisand's name.
  

“What followed was a musical fantasy of surpassing lavishness that made no sense, at any level, from beginning to end. The majority of the crowd fell into a sullen, open-mouthed stupor like that with which the audience greets the opening scenes of ''Springtime for Hitler,'' the fictitious Broadway flop within Mel Brooks's film ''The Producers.'' But no one walked out: ''Rachael Lily Rosenbloom'' became an existential test which everyone was determined to pass. The cast, many of whom were dressed in silver lame g-strings, attacked their tasks as if they were performing ''Guys and Dolls.''

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