Forgotten Mid-Forties II: THE DAY BEFORE SPRING (1945)

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Welcome to another Musical Theatre Monday! Today’s entry begets a month-long series on forgotten and seldom revived shows of the mid-1940s (’44-’46, to be exact). Coming directly in the wake of the new era brought about, in large part, by Oklahoma! (1943), these shows existed during that liminal time where musical entertainment was now expected by some to be more than just entertainment, while others fought back against the recent shift — championing a return to the feel-good fun that typified the earlier era. As a result, each of these four shows is exceedingly interesting; we started last week with Follow The Girls (1944). Today…

 

II. The Day Before Spring (11/22/45 – 04/13/46)

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While last week’s show sought entertainment over art, The Day Before Spring, the second collaboration between Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, was exactly the opposite. The premise engaged shades of Follies (1971), as a married couple (Irene Manning, John Archer) return to their ten-year college reunion where she rekindles a romance with the old collegiate flame with whom she almost eloped (Bill Johnson), who has since written a romantic novel about their time together. Meanwhile, the husband flirts with an eager widow (Patricia Marshall). The  production was purposefully inventive, including several ballets (telling the same event but from different perspectives) and a sequence where the conflicted wife receives advice from the busts of Plato, Voltaire, and Freud, which come to life in song. Unfortunately, audiences never warmed to the show, and it closed in under six months, never earning a revival until a production by the York Theatre in 2007, which revealed the score to be an utter delight, filled with memorable tunes and shockingly sophisticated characterizations.

Take, for example, one of the best numbers, given to Pat Marshall, in which she laments that her newfound object of desire is going to remain faithful to his wife. Above is Ann Hampton Calloway with “My Love Is A Married Man,” a forgotten classic.

Marshall also got a memorable  number in “A Jug Of Wine,” performed below by the inimitable Dorothy Louden, who sings the heck out of it.

But the score offered a little of everything — rousers for Bill Johnson like “God’s Green World,” taken above from a Bagley album with Jerry Orbach, and wistful duets for Johnson and Manning  like “You Haven’t Changed At All,” heard below from the 1945 edition of the Broadway-by-the-Year series.

And we’ll close today’s post on this marvelous forgotten work with the soaring “I Love You This Morning,” which is part of the husband’s imagined reading of Johnson’s book. The rendition below is from a live audio of the 2007 Mufti production (which is available to subscribers who comment below)!

 

 

Come back next Monday for another forgotten musical from the mid-forties! And tune in tomorrow for more Night Court!

20 thoughts on “Forgotten Mid-Forties II: THE DAY BEFORE SPRING (1945)”

  1. Hi, Jackson! As I understand it, this show was a Lerner original, not an adaptation. As such, it’s interesting that he chose to focus on marriage and (in)fidelity — especially in light of his own challenges in that area! Please send me the recording, as I’d love to hear the score in its entirety.

  2. Interesting mix of music styles in your samples. I guess that didn’t help in keeping audiences — but look what it led to. They were on a pretty good learning curve. Thanks Jackson, another good one.

  3. another good show. Not great but good. I’ve seen a lot of shows that were enjoyable but not memorable. I’ve only walked out on one show, Lovely Ladies and Kind Gentlemen, which was so bad, I didn’t want to waste my time on it. Please send me a audio copy so I can hear the rest of the show. Keep up the good work.

  4. anything by Lerner is at a minimum artistic and challenging. i would love to hear the Mufti version. thanks for sharing.

  5. I understand they revived The Day Before Spring in London in 2010, but no recording was made. I would love a recording of this show. Lerner and Loewe are fascinating, particularly because Loewe’s melodies are a throwback to the Viennese style operettas, while Lerner’s lyrics are often far more character driven and plot centric that even those of Oscar Hammerstein. Wonderful stuff! Thank you for sharing! Please sent me the recording so I can hear the rest of the score.

    • Hi, John! Thanks for reading and commenting.

      Please subscribe to this blog using your preferred email address, and I will send you access to the audio.

  8. I’m so glad that there is a full recording of this show. The Mufti recording sounds very fine and I would love to hear the full show. (Recently there was released The Complete Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner and if you ever get a chance to pick it up, I fully recommend it.)

    • Hi, Fin! Thanks for reading and commenting — and subscribing!

      I have emailed you at your hotmail address.

  9. I have been reading like mad through your 1,000 plus page archive with a heavy focus for now on the musical posts from 2013-2016. I share your high opinion of Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Jerome Kern and Cole Porter etc. For me the three greatest composers of the musical theater are Kern, Gershwin and Arlen. Cole Porter is the greatest composer/lyricist before Sondheim. Sondheim is the greatest genius musical theater has produced. I would go further and put him in the company of O’Neill and Williams at the peak of all american drama.

    I saw that you highlighted Best Foot Forward. The late great Hugh Martin was a friend of mine and the world would be a better place if his work was more widely known- Make a Wish, Look Ma I’m Dancin and High Spirits in particular.

    I know the seven main songs from Day Before Spring by way of the Bagley recordings but always hoped to hear the full score.

    Craig

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