Customer Reviews

Henry, Sweet Henry (1967 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think that this show has never been fully appreciated. Even the positive reviews on Amazon just say "it's a fun show," or something to that effect.

The genius of this show lies in how well Bob Merrill musicalized two teenage girls. How did this middle-aged man get inside the heads of these teenagers? Listen to "Here I Am," and tell me it's not a masterful example of a teenager's feelings set to music. Another great example of what Merrill was doing comes in "I Wonder How It Is (To Dance With a Boy)" - "I haven't, up till now, been asked by a boy, but just being asked is a thing I'd enjoy. Sometimes I just visualize me, being kissed by his eyes! Holy smoke, how cow, I wonder how it is." It's wistful and naive and silly and romantic - exactly the sort of thing a teenage girl would sing. Personally, I think this musical would be extremely popular among high school groups - the students would love relating to these characters. One last song I'd like to single out was singled out in another review - "Do You Ever Go To Boston Anymore?" It is a true rarity in musical theatre; a freeform song that travels along the character's psychological impulses. It condenses the complexity of a young girl's relationship with her father into two and a half minutes. Really, as the only kind of this song before this time period is "My Time Of Day" from Guys and Dolls (which is, of course, also one of the most important moments in that show.) And just the arc of the show in general is extremely touching - the growth of these two girls from immaturity to womanhood. The ending is extremely poignant as a dramatization of "putting away childish things."

Yes, as other reviewers have said, Alice Playten is simply incredible as the nasty Kafritz. She really must be heard to be believed. Personally, I think all the roles are well-cast, down to Don Ameche in the title role (although sadly his songs are not nearly on the level of the girls' songs.)

I'm afraid that I've de-emphasized the fun of this show somewhat to stress the emotional content. It is just as fun as those other reviewers mentioned. It's frequently hilarious, actually, and plays very well in front of audiences who aren't familiar with the material. (Some of Ameche's funniest material is left off the cast album, sadly.) But it's so much more than just fun and silly - this musical is rich and beautiful.

I SAW HENRY SWEET HENRY AND FOR WHAT IS WAS IT WAS A VERY ENTERTAINING SHOW. UNFORTUNATLY THE SHOW WAS CURSED WITH A WEAK BOOK, ONE MAJOR MISCAST ROLE AND A DYNAMO NAMED ALICE PLAYTEN WHO BLEW EVERYONE ELSE OFF THE STAGE. WHEN A SUPPORTING ACTRESS CAN STEAL A SHOW FROM THE STARS-YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN TROUBLE. DON AMECHE WAS RIDICULOUS AS A WOMANIZING BON VIVANT AND HAD THE CHARISMA OF A FIRE HYDRANT. THE MAIN FOCUS OF THE MUSICAL WERE TWO YOUNG GIRLS WHO HAVE A CRUSH ON HENRY BUT EVEN THEY WERE OVERSHADOWED BY THE AWESOME PLAYTEN WHO AS KAFRITZ BROUGHT ACT ONE TO A STANDSTILL WITH HER FEROCIOUS SONG, 'NOBODY STEPS ON KAFRITZ' SHE EVEN GOOSE-STEPS OFF THE STAGE AS HER NUMBER CONCLUDES. BUT THE OVERALL SHOW WAS LIKABLE AND ROBIN WILSON AND NEVA SMALL HAVE THEIR OWN MINOR SHOWSTOPPER IN ACT TWO WITH 'I'M BLUE TOO'
IN 1967 HIPPIES WERE IN VOGUE AND MICHAEL BENNET CHOREOGRAPHED A NUMBER IN CENTRAL PARK CALLED 'WEARY NEAR TO DYIN' WHICH FEATURED A HIPPIE MOONWALKING ACROSS THE STAGE. SO THIS ANSWERS THE QUESTION--MICHAEL JACKSON DID NOT INVENT THE MOONWALK-THE OTHER MICHAEL, BENNETT THAT IS, DID. THIS RECORDING IS NOW OUT OF PRINT BUT IF IT EVER BECOMES AVAILABLE IT MAKES FOR A PLEASANT IF NOT CLASSIC SHOW SCORE.

If HENRY, SWEET HENRY (the musical adaptation of Nora Johnson's young adult novel THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT) had just come out a year or two earlier (and had a different male lead) it might have been a real hit. Most of the songs are pretty terrific, and are even better than the lyricist/composer Bob Merrill's previous solo effort, the tender and delicate CARNIVAL! which was a modest hit (and is still revived in high schools). Two of the songs, "Here I Am" and "In Some Little World," might have become standards; Robin Wilson and Neva Small, as the two adolescent female leads, are absolutely topnotch; and the show even had a great breakout turn by the great young performer Alice Playten in the supporting role of the show's villain, Lillian Kafritz, that still (deservedly) warranted Playten a sizable obituary in the NY Times forty-four years later. But the show was cursed with two problems: it starred Don Ameche in the title role, and it came out in late 1967, right after the Summer of Love. Ameche was not a singer; even worse, he seemed too old for the part and too lightweight and square to be at all plausible as the libidinous avant-garde composer and pianist Henry Orient. This just compounded the fact that the musical seemed to 1967 audiences too out of touch with its time: its teenage heroines are interested in Charles Boyer and Sandra Dee rather than the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Even so, the original Broadway cast recording of the musical (which miraculously was made) is something of a treasure, and reveals that the show might have been a hit under different circumstances (and with someone other than Ameche in the title role). Wilson and Small are terrific young singers, and Small is almost as funny in her novelty number "I'm Blue Too" as Playten is herself in her two big match numbers, "Nobody Steps on Kafritz" and "Poor Little Person," which (deserve their still burnished reputation. (The little comic spins Playten can put on the most ordinary words--all in a full-throttled voice the size of Ethel Merman or Andrea McArdle--is unbelievable.) You probably won't be able to single out Baayork Lee or Pia Zadora in the chorus (much less see their inventive choreography designed by Michael Bennett), but they're both there just the same.

Most of the performers struggle in vain againt the inane lyrics in this flop musical. The star turn that makes the CD worth listening to is Alice Playten belting out "Nobody Steps On Kafritz." Alice Playten playing the supporting role of villaness Lillian Kafritz was the highlight of the show and also makes the best of her second act number, "Poor Little Person."

This is one of my favorite scores from a flop sixties musical.
I can't hear it enough. Check out Poor Little Person and Nobody
Steps on Kafritz for Great 11 0 clock numbers.love it.

During the time "Henry Sweet Henry" was on Broadway, I was attending the "High School of Music and Art" in NYC along with Neva Small from the cast. I saw it about 3 times and quite honestly, while Carol Bruce and Don Ameche added nothing to the show, the spectacular group of "kids" put on an unforgettable night of singing and dancing (choreographed by the one and only, Michael Bennett). The music makes you want to dance and sing along, even if you've never heard it before. What I find most remarkable, is that this show has never had a revival or been filmed. It's impossible to get the sheet music or just an instrumental version of the show. By the way, as soon as the show closed (and I can't imagine why), Neva went on Eastern Europe for two years and if you have ever seen the film version of "Fiddler On The Roof", she's the little redhead, "Chava". It's a terrible shame that such a great show didn't last very long.

This is one of my favorite scores from the 60s, and I must say that I enjoy it much more than the show Carnival. Of all the songs on it, the only one I didn't enjoy was Pillar To Post, which I found a little distasteful. But the rest are pure fun.
Note that the one song that doesn't have a sample, Did You Ever Go To Boston, is a beautiful ballad worthy of being sung by Barbra Streisand (and in general I don't even like ballads).

When I read a review by someone, I'm always curious about what other shows they've liked (or didn't like) to see how similar (or disimilar!) our tastes are. Some other musicals I've enjoyed include House of Flowres, Grass Harp, Avenue Q, Wicked, Mata Hari, Dear World, Her First Roman, Saratoga, Brimstone, Paint Your Wagon, Destry Rides Again, 110 in the Shade, Kwamina, Christine, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, The Life, The Full Monty, There's No Place Like Hollywood, Prettybelle, Purlie and Camalot.

Some I didn't like include Bajour, Subways Are For Sleeping, The Seussical, St. Louis Woman, Applause, Greenwillow, The Golden Apple, Big River, Sweet Charity and Urinetown.

Bob Merrill wrote music and/or lyrics for seven musicals. Four were both artistic and commercial successes (NEW GIRL IN TOWN, TAKE ME ALONG, FUNNY GIRL and his masterpiece, CARNIVAL); one was an artistic flop but a commercial success, SUGAR; and one was an artistic success but only played a limited run, HANNAH 1939 (his last). Only one was a down and out commercial and artistic disaster and that was HENRY SWEET HENRY. The time was 1967 and the formula musical comedy was dying a death. This was typical of the fare (HAIR was just around the corner). Why audiences of the 60s loved THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT as both book and film, staggers the mind. They did NOT like it as a musical. The romantic fantasies of two teenage school girls and their disastrous effects on the attempts of a lecher to score were pretty desperate and dreary story lines to attempt to make sing. The score is vastly mediocre, far below Merrill's usual output. Only the title tune, HENRY SWEET HENRY and the rousing POOR LITTLE PERSON have merit in the music and lyrics department. There is one other, the witty, TO BE ARTISTIC, which scores in the Noel Coward-like dryness of the lyrics. Fourteen numbers and only three make it to the front. This does not even have the curio aspect that makes a flop camp. Odd little piece and not really recommended.