Mata Hari (musical)

Mata Hari
Music Edward Thomas
Lyrics Martin Charnin
Book Jerome Coopersmith
Basis Last years of Mata Hari
Productions 1967

Mata Hari is a musical with a book by Jerome Coopersmith, lyrics by Martin Charnin and music by Edward Thomas. The exotic dancer Mata Hari was accused of spying for the Germans during World War I and was executed by a French firing squad, but her guilt is still being debated.[1] The musical is centered around her affair with a French intelligence officer who plays a major role in her arrest and execution and later regrets it. A parallel sequence of events follows a young French soldier who fights in the trenches, illustrating what war is really about. The musical was perceived as an anti-war piece at a time when the US war in Vietnam was sinking in popularity.

The show's premiere production was directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced in 1967 by David Merrick at National Theatre in Washington, DC.[2] The production lost at least $500,000, and Merrick decided not to bring the show to Broadway.[3] In 1968, after Merrick withdrew his support of the musical, the authors brought a more modest version of it to New York's off-Broadway Theatre DeLys (now the Lucille Lortel Theater) under the title "Ballad For a Firing Squad".[3] In 1996, York Theatre in New York revived the 1968 version under the original title Mata Hari.[4] A cast recording of that production was released in 2001.[5]

Musical numbers

Act I
  • "This is Not a Very Nice War" - The Young Soldier
  • "Is This Fact?" - LaFarge, Devires, Boulet & Office
  • "Mata Hari's Dance at the Salon" - Mata Hari and Dancing Girls
  • "Everyone Has Something to Hide" - Mata Hari and Ensemble
  • "Waltz at the Salon" - Ensemble
  • "How Young You Were Tonight" - LaFarge and Paulette
  • "Curiosity" - Mata Hari, LaFarge, Boulet, Officers and Dancing Girls
  • "I'm Saving Myself for a Soldier - Vaudevillians and Ensemble
  • "I'm Saving Myself for a Soldier (Reprise) - Vaudevillians and Ensemble
  • "Maman" - The Young Soldier
  • "The Choice is Yours" - Mata Hari and LaFarge
  • "Sextet" - Paulette, LaFarge, Claudine, Mr. Dupre, Mrs. Dupre, Philipe, Michele, Maurice, and Pierre
  • "I Don't See Him Very Much Anymore" - Paulette
  • "No More Than a Moment" - Mata Hari and LaFarge
  • "In Madrid" - Ensemble
  • "Dance at the Cafe del Torro" - Mata Hari and Dancers
Act II
  • "Hello, Yank!" - The Young Soldier, French and American Soldiers
  • "You Have No Idea" - Mata Hari, LaFarge, Boulet, and Officers
  • "Sextet (Reprise)" - Paulette, Relatives and People on the Street
  • "There Is No You" - LaFarge
  • "There Will Be Love Again" - Mata Hari
  • "There Is No You (Reprise) - LaFarge

References

  1. ↑ Shipman, Pat (2007). Femme Fatale: Love, Lies, and the Unknown Life of Mata Hari. New York: HarperCollins
  2. ↑ Mata Hari, Marisa Mell blog, accessed 15 June 2013
  3. 1 2 Zolotow, Sam (1968-10-04). "MATA HARI' GIVEN ANOTHER CHANCE; Merrick Show That Failed Is Due Off Broadway". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  4. ↑ "York Theatre Version of Mata Hari (Thomas/Charnin, 1967) | Ovrtur". www.ovrtur.com. Retrieved 2016-01-29.
  5. ↑ Martin Charnin; Edward Thomas (2000-01-01), Mata Hari, Original Cast Record, retrieved 2016-01-29

External links

Theater Review: 1996 Production

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