Piano Sheet Music
".. it is so important that you use simplicity in your playing and in your music ..." James Burton / Lead Guitar Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, EmmyLou Harris, John Denver
Footloose (Film)
Footloose is a 1984 film that tells the story of Ren McCormack (played by Kevin Bacon), a teenager who was raised in Chicago. McCormack moves to a small town where the town government has banned dancing and rock music. Ren and his classmates want to have a senior prom with music and dancing. They must figure out a way to get around the law and Reverend Shaw Moore (played by John Lithgow) makes it his mission in life to keep the town free from dancing and rock music.The movie was loosely based on events that took place in the tiny, rural farming community of Elmore City, Oklahoma. Much of the film was filmed in Utah County.
Bugsy Malone
Bugsy Malone is a 1976 musical film, very loosely based on events in Chicago, Illinois in the Prohibition era, specifically, the exploits of gangsters like Al Capone as dramatized in cinema. The tongue-in-cheek movie stars children as the gangsters and their molls, toning down the subject matter sufficiently to receive a "G" rating. The plot concerns the manufacture of a brand of custard, which is used first in cream-topped pies (being hit with one in the face "kills" the character) then later in "splurge guns" that enable the dessert to be deployed on an unprecedented level. The musical centers on Fat Sam's Grand Slam speakeasy.Written and directed by Alan Parker produced by Alan Marshall with executive producer David Puttnam, the film stars Scott Baio as the title character, with Jodie Foster in the role of Fat Sam's moll Tallulah. The music and lyrics are by singer-songwriter Paul Williams. All the songs on the soundtrack were actually performed by adults, including Williams himself, in his unmistakable high-pitched voice, and lip-synched by the cast. To commemorate its 30th anniversary, the film was re-released in limited cinemas in the UK on December 8, 2006.
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie is a Tony Award-winning musical with music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics by Dick Scanlan, and a book by Richard Morris and Scanlan. Based on the 1967 film of the same name, Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of a small-town girl, Millie Dillmount, who comes to New York City to marry for money instead of love – a thoroughly modern aim in 1922, when women were just entering the workforce. Millie soon begins to take to delight in the flapper lifestyle, but problems arise when she checks into a hotel owned by the leader of a white slavery ring in China.The original production of the comic pastiche, directed by Michael Mayer, underwent several workshops in New York and performances at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California, before ultimately opening on Broadway on April 15, 2002. The production subsequently won six 2002 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Due to the success of the original Broadway production, both a United States tour and a West End production launched in 2003, followed by a United Kingdom tour in 2005. The musical has become a very popular choice for high school productions.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom which was created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a satirical parody of the middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its titular family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield, and it lampoons many aspects of the human condition, as well as American culture, society as a whole, and television itself.The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with the producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name. The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and was an early hit for Fox, becoming the first Fox series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1992-1993).
Since its debut on December 17, 1989, the show has broadcast 420 episodes and the twentieth season will commence airing in on September 28, 2008. The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 26 and July 27, 2007, and has grossed approximately US$526.2 million worldwide to date.
The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 24 Emmy Awards, 26 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award. Time magazine's December 31, 1999 issue named it the 20th century's best television series, and on January 14, 2000 it was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcom and the longest-running American animated program. Homer's annoyed grunt "D'oh!" has been adopted into the English lexicon, while The Simpsons has influenced many adult-oriented animated sitcoms.
The series' distinctive theme song was composed by musician Danny Elfman in 1989, after Groening approached him requesting a retro style piece. This piece, which took two days to create, has been noted by Elfman as the most popular of his career.
Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon is a West End musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London on September 20, 1989, closing after 4,264 performances on October 30, 1999. On April 11, 1991, it opened at the Broadway Theatre in New York City, and closed on January 28, 2001 after 4,092 performances. The musical represented Schönberg and Boublil's second major success, following Les Misérables in 1980. As of August 2007, Miss Saigon is still the 10th longest-running Broadway musical in musical theatre history.Miss Saigon is a modern adaptation of Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover. The setting of the plot is relocated to the 1970s Saigon during the Vietnam War, and Madame Butterfly's American Lieutenant and Japanese geisha coupling is replaced by a romance between an American GI and a Vietnamese bar girl.
The show's inspiration was reportedly a photograph, inadvertently found by Schönberg in a magazine. The photo showed a Vietnamese mother leaving her child at a departure gate at Tan Son Nhut Air Base to board a plane headed for the United States where her father, an ex-GI, would be in a position to provide a much better life for the child. Schönberg considered this mother's actions for her child to be "The Ultimate Sacrifice," an idea central to the plot of Miss Saigon.
Highlights of the show include the evacuation of the last Americans in Saigon from the Embassy roof by helicopter while a crowd of abandoned Vietnamese scream their despair, the victory parade of the new communist regime and the frenzied night club scene on the edge of defeat.
Miss Saigon was part of the major British influence on Broadway in the 1980s, along with the musicals Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Les Misérables.
The King and I
The King and I is a musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Its script is based on the book Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon. The plot comes from the story written by Anna Leonowens, who became school teacher to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. Leonowens' story, The English Governess at the Siamese Court, was autobiographical, although its objective accuracy is questionable; in Thailand, the possession of anything related to Anna and the King of Siam or The King and I is illegal, because of the historical inaccuracies about the King of Siam.The musical opened on Broadway in 1951 and was the sixth collaboration for the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It ran for 1,246 performances, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical, among other awards. It spawned numerous revivals and a popular 1956 film version.
The best-known songs from the musical are probably "I Whistle a Happy Tune," "Getting to Know You," "Hello, Young Lovers," and "Shall We Dance?" The most colorful number in the musical, visually (to Western audiences), is the ballet "Small House of Uncle Thomas," choreographed by Jerome Robbins.
Rodgers and Hammerstein knew they were writing for stars — Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner, the original Broadway leads — who were primarily actors rather than singers. Therefore, they reserved the sweeping, more challenging melodies for the characters of Tuptim and Lun Tha and kept the songs sung by the other leads simple.
Mary Martin, who had starred in South Pacific by Rodgers and Hammerstein a few years previously, was an investor in The King and I. When Gertrude Lawrence wanted to have a song with the children, Martin suggested that Rodgers and Hammerstein write new lyrics for "Suddenly Lovely," which had been cut out from South Pacific. The song then became "Getting to Know You."
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. It first appeared in the West End in 1960, enjoying a long run, and was made into a film directed by Carol Reed in 1968.The musical is loosely based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. That it was the first musical adaptation of a Charles Dickens work to become a stage hit was one of the reasons why it attracted such attention. There had been two previous Dickens musicals in the 1950s, both of them television adaptations of A Christmas Carol, but the dramatic story of Oliver Twist was the first Dickens work to be presented as a successful stage musical. Another reason for the success of the musical was the revolving stage set, an innovation designed by Sean Kenny.
The show launched the careers of several child actors, including Davy Jones, later of The Monkees; Phil Collins, later of Genesis; and Tony Robinson, who later played the role of Baldrick in the television series Black Adder. The singer Steve Marriott (Small Faces, Humble Pie) also featured in early line-ups, eventually graduating to the role of Artful Dodger in the West End production.
The plot of Dickens's original novel is considerably simplified for the purposes of the musical, with Fagin being represented more as a comic character than as a villain, and large portions of the latter part of the story being completely left out. Although Dickens' novel has been called antisemitic in its portrayal of the Jew Fagin as evil, the production by Bart (himself a Jew) featured many Jewish actors in leading roles: Ron Moody (Ronald Moodnik), Georgia Brown (Lilian Klot), and Martin Horsey.
The Light in the Piazza
The Light in the Piazza is a musical with a book by Craig Lucas and music and lyrics by Adam Guettel.Based on a novella by Elizabeth Spencer, it is set in Florence and Rome in the summer of 1953. A young American tourist, Clara Johnson, meets and falls for young Italian Fabrizio Naccarelli. When Clara's mother Margaret learns of the affair, she opposes it for reasons that only gradually become known to the audience.
The score breaks from the traditional Broadway sound of hummable tunes by veering into the territory of Neoromantic classical music and opera, with unexpected harmonic shifts and extended melodic structures, and is lushly scored for piano, harp, guitar, and strings, alongside a handful of wind and percussionists. The lyrics are unique in that many of them are in Italian and broken English, as many of the characters are fluent only in Italian.
Bat Boy
Bat Boy is a fictional creature who made several appearances in the defunct supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. The Weekly World News published patently fabricated stories which were purported to be factual. Within the pages of the paper, Bat Boy is described as a creature who is 'half human and half bat'. His pursuers, according to Weekly World News are scientists and United States government officials; he is frequently captured, then later makes a daring escape.Bat Boy was created by former Weekly World News Editor Dick Kulpa. He debuted as a cover story on June 23, 1992. The original front-page photo of Bat Boy, showing his grotesque screaming face, was the second-best selling issue in the tabloid's history, and he has since evolved into a pop-culture icon. The story of Bat Boy was turned into an acclaimed off-Broadway musical, Bat Boy: The Musical.
Cinema Paradiso
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988) is an Italian film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It was internationally released as Cinema Paradiso in France, Spain, the UK and the U.S.It was originally released in Italy at 155 minutes but poor box office performance in its native country led to it being shortened to 123 minutes for international release. It was an instant success. This international version won the Special Jury Prize at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival and the 1989 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. In 2002, the director's cut 173-minute version was released (known in the U.S. as Cinema Paradiso: The New Version).
It stars Jacques Perrin, Philippe Noiret, Leopoldo Trieste, Marco Leonardi, Agnese Nano and Salvatore Cascio. It was produced by Franco Cristaldi and Giovanna Romagnoli, and the music was by Ennio Morricone along with his son Andrea Morricone.
Told in flashback, it tells the story of the return to his native Sicilian village of a successful film director Salvatore for the funeral of his old friend Alfredo, who was the projectionist at the local "Cinema Paradiso". Ultimately, Alfredo serves as a wise father figure to his young friend who only wishes the best to see him succeed, even if it means breaking his heart in the process.
The film intertwines sentimentality with comedy, and nostalgia with pragmaticism. It explores issues of youth, coming of age, and reflections (in adulthood) about the past. The imagery in each scene can be said to reflect Salvatore's idealised memories about his childhood. Cinema Paradiso is also a celebration of films; as a projectionist, young Salvatore (a.k.a Totò) develops the passion for films that shape his life path in adulthood.
West Side Story
West Side Story is a 1961 film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. It is an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, adapted from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, and was photographed by Daniel L. Fapp, A.S.C. in Super Panavision 70.The action was filmed largely in Los Angeles on sets designed by Boris Leven, although the film's opening sequence was shot on the streets of New York City, mainly in the area where the Lincoln Center campus of Fordham University now stands. The construction of the new campus was halted to allow completion of the sequence. Jerome Robbins, who had directed the stage version, was responsible for planning and directing all music and dance sequences in the film, as well as all the fight scenes. When approximately 60% of principal photography was complete, the producers became concerned that the production was over-budget and Robbins was fired. His final contribution before leaving the film was to write out the staging for the rumble.
The film was released on October 18, 1961 through United Artists. It received praise from critics and the public and became the second highest grossing film of the year, domestically. The film won ten Academy Awards in its eleven nominated categories as well as a special award for Robbins, including Best Picture. The soundtrack album made more money than any other album before it.
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. Songs from the musical that have become standards include "The Sound of Music", "Edelweiss", "My Favorite Things", "Climb Ev'ry Mountain", and "Do-Re-Mi".The original Broadway production opened in November 1959, and the show has enjoyed numerous productions and revivals since then. It has also been made into an Academy Award-winning 1965 movie musical. The Sound of Music was the final musical written by Rodgers and Hammerstein; Hammerstein died of cancer nine months after the Broadway premiere.
Company
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.Originally entitled Threes, its plot revolves around Bobby (a single man unable to commit fully to a steady relationship, let alone marriage), the five married couples who are his best friends, and his three girlfriends. Unlike most book musicals, which follow a clearly delineated plot, Company is a concept musical composed of short vignettes, presented in no particular chronological order, linked by a celebration for Bobby's 35th birthday.
Company was among the first musicals to deal with adult problems through its music. As Sondheim put it, "they are middle-class people with middle class-problems." It is also one of the first musicals where the songs commented on the characters in the play instead of furthering the plot, a device which became a Sondheim standard.
Aida
Aida is a musical drama in two acts based on Giuseppe Verdi's Italian-language opera by the same name, which is based on a story by Auguste Mariette which is based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The musical was produced by Hyperion Theatricals, a unit within Disney Theatrical, with music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, and book by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang.Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aida had its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia with the production running from September 16 to November 8, 1998. A new, revised production opened on November 12, 1999 at the Cadillac Palace in Chicago. The Broadway production, titled Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, ran at the Palace Theatre from March 23, 2000 to September 4, 2004 for a total of 1,852 performances (and 30 previews). There was also produced a national tour and several international productions. Aida has recently become popular among school and community theaters. Licensing of these amateur productions of Aida is through Music Theatre International.
Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane is a "Wild West"-themed film released in 1953. It is (very) loosely based on the life of Wild West heroine Calamity Jane and explores an alleged romance between Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok in the American Old West. The film starred Doris Day as the title character and Howard Keel as Hickok. It was devised by Warner Brothers in response to the success of Annie Get Your Gun.It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song ("Secret Love", Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster) and was also nominated for Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Sound, Recording.
The songs and screenplay form the basis of a stage musical of the same name that has had a number of productions. The film was also adapted for television in 1963, with Carol Burnett in the title role.
Once on This Island
Once on This Island is a one-act musical with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. Based on the novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy, the musical is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid set in the French Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. The show also includes elements of the Romeo and Juliet story.Originally staged at off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons, the Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Graciela Daniele and starring LaChanze as Ti Moune, opened on October 18, 1990 at the Booth Theatre, where it ran for 469 performances. In 2002, the original cast was reunited with special guest Lillias White to perform the show for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released to theaters on June 21, 1996 by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirty-fourth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film is inspired by Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. While the basic structure remains, the film differs greatly from its source material. The plot centers on the teenaged Gypsy dancer, Esmeralda; Claude Frollo, a powerful and ruthless judge who lusts after her; Quasimodo, the protagonist, Notre Dame's kind-hearted but deformed bellringer, who adores her; and Phoebus, the chivalrous if irreverent military captain, who holds affections for her.The film was directed by Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, directors of Beauty and the Beast, and produced by Don Hahn, producer of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. The songs for the musical film were composed by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, and the film featured the voices of Tom Hulce, Demi Moore, Kevin Kline, Paul Kandel, Jason Alexander, Charles Kimbrough, David Ogden Stiers, Tony Jay, and Mary Wickes (in her final film role). It belongs to the era known as Disney Renaissance. A direct-to-video sequel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II, was released in 2002.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack includes songs written by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz with vocals performed by Paul Kandel, David Ogden Stiers, Tony Jay, Tom Hulce, Heidi Mollenhauer, Jason Alexander, Mary Wickes, and Mary Stout, along with singles by All-4-One/Eternal and Bette Midler, and the film's score composed by Alan Menken. The single Someday originally performed by All 4 One on the United States release, was redone by British R&B girl group Eternal for the U.K. release. Luis Miguel recorded the version in spanish, which has become a major hit in Mexico. The album was released on July 3, 1996 by Walt Disney Records, and went on to peak at #11 on The Billboard 200.
Caroline, or Change
Caroline, or Change is a through-composed Broadway musical with book and lyrics by Tony Kushner and score by Jeanine Tesori that combines negro spirituals, blues, Motown, classical music, and Jewish Klezmer and folk music.The musical was first workshopped in May 1999 at New York's Public Theater. Director George C. Wolfe continued to workshop the musical at the Public Theater through 2003, when the show finally opened. After a successful run Off-Broadway, it transferred to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre and ran from May 2, 2004 to August 29, 2004 for a total of 136 performances, starring Tonya Pinkins in the title role. Despite its relatively short run, it was critically acclaimed and nominated for several Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Opening in October 2006, a London production at the National Theatre on the Lyttelton stage, also directed by Wolfe, ran in rep with Marianne Elliot's production of Therese Raquin to January 2007. The production did not transfer to the West End but did win the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. The production also starred Pinkins in the title role.
The Wild Party
The Wild Party is a musical with book, lyrics, and music by Andrew Lippa. It is based on Joseph Moncure March's 1928 narrative poem of the same name. It coincidentally debuted during the same theatre season (1999-2000) as a Broadway production with the same name and source material.
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