Music Carole King Book Maurice Sendak Composer Carole King | Lyrics Maurice Sendak Playwright Maurice Sendak | |
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Productions 1975 Animated TV Special
1980 Off-Broadway Characters Chicken Soup, Pierre, Kathy, Johnny, Rosie, Alligator Similar Beautiful, Once on This Island, The Me Nobody Knows, You're a Good Man - Charlie B, Damn Yankees | ||
Really Rosie is a musical with a book and lyrics by Maurice Sendak and music by Carole King. The musical is based on Sendak's books Chicken Soup with Rice, Pierre, One was Johnny, Alligators All Around (which compose 1962's The Nutshell Library), and The Sign on Rosie's Door (1960). Sendak based the story on a demonstrative little girl who used to sing and dance on the stoop of her building, whom he observed while he was a little boy growing up in Brooklyn.
Contents
The musical has become a mainstay of children's theater groups. It follows a typical summer day in the life of the Nutshell Kids, a group of several neighborhood friends, including Pierre, Alligator, Johnny, and Chef Jeff (also known as "Chicken Soup") from the Nutshell Library books, and Rosie and Kathy from The Sign on Rosie's Door. Rosie, the self-proclaimed sassiest kid on her block of Brooklyn's Avenue P, entertains everyone by directing and starring in a movie based on the exciting, dramatic, funny (and slightly exaggerated) story of her life. During its off-Broadway run, the lead role of Rosie was first played by a-then 12-year-old Tisha Campbell-Martin. Midway through the run, Tisha left the cast and was replaced by cast member and "Rosie" understudy, 10-year-old Angela Coin. Angela also sang the role of "Rosie" on the cast recording.
A half-hour animated television special aired on CBS TV in February 1975. It was directed by Maurice Sendak, with Carole King voicing the title character. An album based on the songs by King and lyrics by Sendak is available on Ode/Epic/SME Records. In the animated special, only the first seven songs and Really Rosie (Reprise) were showcased. Sendak expanded the piece for London and Washington, DC, stage productions in 1978, and an off-Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch with designs by Sendak, which opened on October 14, 1980, at the Westside Theatre, where it ran for 274 performances.
pierre from really rosie
Plot
Rosie and her friends the nutshell kids live on the same block on Avenue P in Brooklyn, New York. On a hot July Saturday, the children are bored and need something to do. Rosie imagines herself as a famous talented star, and decides to produce an imaginary movie musical about her life and in particular the demise of her brother Chicken Soup, to be called Did You Hear What Happened to Chicken Soup?
She gets the nutshell kids to audition for a role in the film, but they begin to fight over casting. A thunderstorm forces them to move into the cellar for shelter. To keep the kids' attention, Rosie decides that they need to show the producer the movie's big finale number. She gets them all to close their eyes and imagine the producer inviting them to make her movie. Afterward, when the children go home, Rosie remains to dream of stardom in her big number.
Track listing
Lyrics by Maurice Sendak, music by Carole King.
- "Really Rosie" – 1:51
- "One Was Johnny" – 2:08
- "Alligators All Around" – 1:54
- "Pierre" – 5:38
- "Screaming and Yelling" – 1:16
- "The Ballad of Chicken Soup" – 2:15
- "Chicken Soup with Rice" – 4:20
- "Avenue P" – 3:03
- "My Simple Humble Neighborhood" – 3:07
- "The Awful Truth" – 3:11
- "Such Sufferin'" – 2:55
- "Really Rosie" (Reprise) – 1:40
- "Really Rosie" (Original piano demo)