Don't know about the rights, but a lot of Mad Magazine's humour is very much of its time and I would think the show would not hold up well today, although THE BOY FROM..., THE HATE SONG and THE GIFT OF MAGGIE still raise a giggle.
One star was Jo Anne Worley. As I remember, Linda Lavin might have been in it too. It seemed like harmless fun. I cannot wait for th cd as my lp got rather beat up & I have not had it for years
Years ago Samuel French had the rights to it. And yes, there are still some funny scenes. And I can't wait to hear it again as my tape of a friend's LP has long since broke!
This score is so fun! A bit dated, but I think with the right cast and direction it could still be a lot of fun. I see Sam French owns the rights, but have there been any productions since? Love "Hate Song", "Boy From..." and "You Can Never Tell." Even the book scenes are a hoot!
Oh my gawd....I can't believe someone would revive my old post from 2005!! But like all good Broadway shows, 10 years is the appropriate time for a revival.
I would still like to see a production of this one day.
But more importantly, looking at this thread, I miss Mr. Tuttle.
I made my parents take me to The Mad Show because at 10 years old, I was not only a fan of Mad Magazine, I was a button-wearing member of the Mad Club.
I don't remember what else you got for joining the Mad Club, other than the button, which I insisted on wearing to the show, but I was very proud to have joined it. Prior to that, I had joined the Archie Club, but the Mad Club was infinitely more sophisticated.
The show must have gone way over my 10-year-old head--especially "The Boy From"--but it was everything to me, especially Jo Anne Worley, whose madcap comedy and belt voice thrilled me.
I was obsessed with her for the next year, and when the Laugh-In pilot debuted as a special on Channel 4 in September 1967, I felt as if I were seeing an old friend make good. To me, she was an old friend and she loved me as much as I loved her.
A year later, my parents were making up the guest list for my bar mitzvah, which was to include 200 of my parents' closest relatives and friends and a few of my own. Naturally, I included Jo Anne Worley on my guest list, with her address listed as "Miss Jo Anne Worley, c/o Laugh-In, NBC Studios, Burbank, California."
My father said, "You are not inviting Jo Anne Worley to your bar mitzvah. That's final."
I said, "If Jo Ann is not invited, I'm not showing up."
My mother said, "You have to come. You can't not-show to your own bar mitzvah. Who's gonna read the haftorah? Who's gonna call up all your aunts and uncles to light the candles? Who's gonna help Uncle George cut the challah? And who's gonna collect all those envelopes from all the guests?"
I said, "I want Jo Anne Worley to get an invitation!"
My father said, "Those invitations are engraved! The envelopes are calligraphed by hand! Do you know how much the goddamn calligrapher is charging us for each one of those envelopes?"
In the end, Miss Jo Anne Worley received a hand-addressed, engraved invitation at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. Sadly, she did not RSVP. Nevertheless, I held out hope, up until the night of the affair, that Miss Jo Anne Worley would show up at the country club in New Rochelle, and make a funny entrance with her finger in her cheek, like she always did on Laugh-In.
She never showed up. My heart was broken. The next day, I became a man.
I have to remember to start looking at dates on the first posts!
Nobody mentioned the 2011 Musicals In Mufti production at York Theatre. It was quite good, directed by Carl Andress. It made a good case for this little musical but some of the references are waaaay out of date and you need real comedic performers to make it work. This is where I first saw Tally Sessions and I thought he was just terrific. Stephanie D'Abruzzo was also lovely. Very glad to see this after years of listening to the LP (then cd) and reading through the script.