In the archives at NYPL there are photographs of window displays in department stores featuring clothing in the style of Fiorello and promotional pictures showing Bock, director George Abbott, and Hal Prince boarding Pan Am flights to cast their next show. All of these give a sense of the phenomenal success of the show in the early 1960s. In this series, though, I also hope to capture and share not just artifacts, but also the memories of those who were there, either as creators or audience members. Daniel Langan, a retired press agent, producer, and writer remembers the day Fiorello won the Pulitzer in a scene that could have been pulled from the musical itself:
“In May of 1960 I took time off from the Syracuse Post-Standard where I was a reporter, assistant editor and critic and journeyed to Manhattan to take in shows that had opened since my last visit. I saw, and loved, FIORELLO! on that trip night and a day or so later was waiting for a friend at the entrance to Sardi’s Restaurant where we were to have lunch. While I was waiting I noticed a man coming through Shubert Alley who obviously was in a hurry. He stopped on the north side of 44th Street, waited for traffic to clear and began to cross the street. Half-way over he cupped his hands into a megaphone shape and shouted to a some men standing in front of the separate Sardi Building offices entrance. “Hey fellas, we just won the Pulitzer.” It was unmistakably Hal Prince, co-producer of FIORELLO. He joined the men waiting for him and after they exchanged hugs and congratulations, the group entered the building and took the elevator to one of the many theatre-related firms that occupied the floors above the restaurant. A moment in time for me! I can still envision him cupping his hands and shouting the good news.”
Twelve years later, I used that same entrance to meet with Prince in the offices of the Ash-LeDonne theatre advertising agency. I was the press agent for the Phoenix Theatre and Prince had directed the Phoenix production of Eugene O’Neill’s THE GREAT GOD BROWN, which opened the previous night. We were there to read the overnight reviews in order to cull critical quotes that could be used in newspaper advertising for the play. Another moment in time for me."
Later Langan became a tenant of the Sardi’s Building himself when his company, Langan Communications, rented an office there for more than seven years.
Do you have your own memories of Fiorello! productions either in New York or elsewhere? Leave them in the comments below.
A note on the text:
The scans of the libretto of Fiorello! linked below are taken from a prompt book given to the Library for the Performing Arts by Harold Prince (Call Number RM# 390). It is made available here for research use with the kind permission of the copyright holders, but may not be used for any other purpose. If you would like to stage a production of Fiorello! of any kind, please contact Music Theater International.
Read the librettoListen to the original cast recording on Rdio