Anyone Can Whistle - The Guide to Musical Theatre

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ANYONE CAN WHISTLE

a musical fable in two acts, 12 scenes. Book by Arthur Laurents. Music and lyrics by Stephen
Sondheim.
Produced at the Majestic Theatre, New York, 4 April 1964 with Lee Remick (Fay Apple), Angela
Lansbury (Cora Hoover Hooper) and Harry Guardino (J. Bowden Hapgood). (9 perfs)
Produced at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, England, 21 August 1986 with Marilyn Cutts, Pip
Hinton and Michael Jayes.

Original Cast (in order of appearance)

Sandwich Man: Jeff Killion.
Baby Joan: Jeanne Tanzy.
Mrs. Schroeder: Peg Murray.
Treasurer Cooley: Arnold Soboloff.
Chief Magruder: James Frawley.
Comptroller Schub: GABRIEL DELL.
Cora Hoover Hooper: ANGELA LANSBURY.
The Boys: Sterling Clark, Harvey Evans, Larry Roquemore, Tucker Smith.
Fay Apple: LEE REMICK.
J. Bowden Hapgood: HARRY GUARDINO.
Dr. Detmold: Don Doherty.
George: Larry Roquemore.
June: Janet Hayes.
John: Harvey Evans.
Martin: Lester Wilson.
Old Lady: Eleonore Treiber.
Telegraph Boy: Alan Johnson.
Osgood: Georgia Creighton.
Cookies, Townspeople, Tourists:

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Susan Borree, Georgia Creighton, Janet Hayes, Bettye Jenkins, Patricia Kelly, Barbara
Lang, Paula Lloyd, Barbara Monte, Odette Phillips, Hanne-Marie Reiner, Eleonore
Treiber, Sterling Clark, Eugene Edwards, Harvey Evans, Dick Ensslen, Loren Hightower,
Alan Johnson, Jeff Killion, Jack Murray, William Reilly, Larry Roquemore, Tucker
Smith, Don Stewart, Lester Wilson.

Synopsis
Act I
"Everyone hates me," concedes Cora, the Mayoress, and it's not surprising: the reservoir's dry, the
town's bust, the citizenry are starving, there's grass on the sidewalks but not in the park. And it's all so
unfair: "ME AND MY TOWN, we just wanna be loved," she tells her Boys, aware that she's
unpopular with the populace. But salvation from bankruptcy is at hand in the form of a fake miracle water flowing from a rock. It's a sign, it's a goldmine and it's holier than thine. "Our troubles are over praise the Lord!" cheer the Townsfolk (THE MIRACLE SONG), as the Pilgrims and Tourists swarm
in to take the waters for a modest fee".
But a small hitch occurs. Patients from a local mental hospital, The Cookie Jar, escape and mingle
with the tourists. In order to sort out the sane from the insane, Cora and the Town Council turn to a
visiting doctor, J. Bowen Hapgood, who applies the most rigorous principles of logic and divides the
crowd in Group A or Group 1. But which is which? Is Group A sane? Or is it Group 1? "SIMPLE",
says Hapgood, but he ties Cora's council in knots before announcing, "You are all mad - and turning
to the audience. Blackout. The lights come up to show the cast seated on the stage in the orchestra
seats, looking at programmes, laughing and applauding the audience.
Act II
In the process of rounding up the escaped cookies, Hapgood has met Fay Apple, a nurse from the
mental institution who joins him in a flirtatiously French duet (COME PLAY WIZ ME). But
Fay's truer feelings are expressed in a confessional soliloquy: ANYONE CAN WHISTLE but she
can't. What's hard is simple to her, but really simple things she finds impossible. Through the street,
meanwhile, the cry of "Hooray for Hapgood!" has gone up. At last, there's a man they can trust. Cora
can't help but notice there's A PARADE IN TOWN, but she consoles herself with the thought that any
parade without her is, by definition, second-class. Hapgood's message is a simple one: EVERYBODY
SAYS DON'T - don't walk on the grass, don't disturb the peace, don't rock the boat. He says: go right
ahead and do it.
Act III
Cora may be losing her grip, but, as she tells her council, "I'VE GOT YOU TO LEAN ON". It's some
comfort to know that, if she goes, she won't go alone, she tells them menacingly. Luckily for her,
Hapgood is a fraud: he's just another cookie. SEE WHAT IT GETS YOU, Fay reprimands herself.
You step out, you give a little - and you're let down. Your hero has feet of clay and you're left alone.
But, if nothing else, she's at last begun whistling. Cora, on the other hand, is supervising Dr.
Detmold's round-up of the other cookies - she wants them all in gaol, immediately (THE COOKIE

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CHASE). But, aided only by a fake French accent, Fay creates a diversion and foils Cora. Besides, the
tourists are all heading over to a neighbouring town where a new "miracle" has taken place. Hapgood,
convinced he's a failure, has decided to leave. Fay says he's needed right here. But, whatever else
happens, in this world WITH SO LITTLE TO BE SURE OF, they had one marvellous moment.
They're bidding farewell - or are they? "Hold me," says Fay, as the music swells.

Characters
CORA HOOVER
HOOPER
TREASURER
COOLEY,
CHIEF
MAGRUDER,
COMPTROLLER
SCHUB
FAY APPLE
J. BOWEN
HAPGOOD
DR. DETMOLD
BABY JOAN,
MRS SCHROEDER,
GEORGE,
JUNE,
JOHN,
MARTIN,
OSGOOD
CORA'S BOYS
SANDWICH MAN,
OLD LADY,
TELEGRAPH
BOYS,
COOKIES,
NURSES,
DEPUTIES,
TOWNSPEOPLE,
PILGRIMS AND
TOURISTS.

A corrupt small-town Mayoress, who strikes attitudes rather

than venturing real emotions - which is why whatever she
says is expressed as a musical comedy pastiche.

Cora's Council

A nurse from the Cookie Jar mental institution.

A doctor - or is he?
Definitely a doctor.
)
)
)
)
)
(
)
)
)
Townsfolk and/or cookies.
)
)
)
)
)
)

Musical Numbers
ACT 1

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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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9.
10.

http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_a/anyone_whistle.htm

I'm Like the Bluebird - Company

Me and My Town - Cora, Boys
Miracle Song - Cora, Treasurer Cooley, Company
Simple - J. Bowden Hapgood, Company
A-1 March - Company
Come Play Wiz Me - Fay Apple, J. Bowden Hapgood, Boys
Anyone Can Whistle - Fay Apple
A Parade in Town - Cora
Everybody Says Don't - J. Bowden Hapgood
Ballet - (with 6 variations played by members of the company) - Fay Apple, J. Bowden
Hapgood, Cookies

ACT 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

I've Got You to Lean On - Cora, Comptroller Schub, Treasurer Cooley, Chief Magruder, Boys
See What It Gets You - Fay Apple
The Cookie Chase (Waltzes) - Cora, Fay Apple, Comptroller Schub, Company
With So Little to Be Sure Of - Fay Apple, J. Bowden Hapgood
Finale - Company

Scenes and Settings

3 acts (could be done in 2), 1 back drop against which 4 major units are moved: City Hall
(front flies to reveal interior), Hotel Superbe, Miracle Mountain, which revolves to reveal
hoax, 1 cave ceiling fly-in to mask mountain interior, and Pay's bedroom insert set.
The action takes place in a not too distant town. The time is now.
ACT I
Scene 1: The Town.
Scene 2: The Miracle.
Scene 3: The Interrogation.
Scene 4: The Celebration.
Scene 5: The Romance.
Scene 6: The Parade.
Scene 7: The Release.
ACT II
Scene 1: The Conspiracy.
Scene 2: The Confrontation.
Scene 3: The Cookie Chase.
Scene 4: The Farewell.
Scene 5: The End.

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ORCHESTRATION DETAILS
REED I - Piccolo, Flute, Alto Flute
REED II - Oboe, Cor Anglais, Clarinet
REED III - Piccolo, Flute, Baritone Sax, Eh Clarinet
REED IV - Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
REED V - Bass Sax, Clarinet, Bassoon
2 HORNS
3 TRUMPETS
2 TROMBONES (2nd opt. TUBA)
2 PERCUSSION
PIANO db. CELESTA
ACCORDION
3 CELLI
BASS

PERIOD AND COSTUMES:

Present, in "a not too distant town's: modern suits, dresses, lingerie, hats executed in colorful fahrics.
A feeling of a circus atmosphere is what is desired. Preacher-cut black suit for Treasurer Cooley,
Western-flavored sheriff's outfit for Magruder, pinstriped business suit for Comptroller Schub. Doctor
and nurse uniforms. Usher uniforms for song/dance boys. Mayoress costuming slightly out-of-date.

CHOREOGRAPHY:
Unorthodox modern ballet ranging to modern jazz in rare instances. Two major ballets"The Cookie
Release' and "The Cookie Chase," in which men wear toe shoes, people are thrown through the air,
etc., wild sequences in which all the rules are discarded. Both are interworked with dialogue and have
a story fine. Also, there are waltzes, a parade, pure ballet, and song-and-dance bits.

LIGHTING AND SPECIAL EFFECTS:

Dramatic and some tightly controlled lighting throughout.
NOTES: Anyone Can Whistle (originally titled Side Show) was probably ahead of its time. At least
some material offended every critic. Many people walked out. But nevertheless it was a masterpiece;
an attempt to shake up the musical theatre formula, which, of course, Hair eventually did. Sondheim
later perfected some of the concepts used for Whistle and the result was the successful Company. The
following production notes are Stephen Sondheim's own instructions:
"A Note on the Scenery: The play is written to be performed on a revolving stage against suggestive
pieces rather than full, literal sets. The style should be bright, warm, and gay; the colors should be

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almost primary ...

"A Note on the Cast: If the demands of the script were to be taken literally, the play would have to be
performed by a cast of hundreds in an enormous arenawhere it would die. Like the scenery, the
staging should suggest, rather than duplicate literally.
"'The many small parts should be performed by a small 'stock company' of five or six versatile
musical actors. Although every possible zany costume device should be used, from wigs and
eyeglasses to beards and false noses, there should not be any serious attempt to fool the audience. The
'stock company' plus the seven principals should be able to take care of all speaking parts (except
mere bits) and musical soloists.
"The many extras rather loosely described as 'townspeople, cookies, tourists, pilgrims' should
be suggested by a small group of good singers and dancers; and, perhaps, by the imaginative use of
dummies.
"A Note on the Play: Because the style is obviously unconventional, do not look for symbols and/or
hidden meanings: there are none. What is meant, is said. The main attempt is simply to tell a good
story in farcical terms with wild (if sometimes vicious) humour and music."

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The Guide to Musical Theatre 2016

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