1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was a legendary Broadway flop in 1976, running only seven performances at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. It was Leonard Bernstein's last original score for Broadway (and Alan Jay Lerner's second-to-last, after the one-night flop Dance a Little Closer). Broadway theatre[1] is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... Leonard Bernstein in 1971 Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American composer, pianist and conductor. ... Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American Broadway lyricist and librettist. ... Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American Broadway lyricist and librettist. ... The Mark Hellinger Theatre, at 1655 Broadway and 237 West 51st Street in New York City, was built in 1930 and operated as a theatre (under various names) until 1989. ... Robert Whitehead (January 3, 1823 - November 14, 1905), British engineer. ... George Faison is best known for his work with the funk group Earth, Wind, & Fire. ... George Faison is best known for his work with the funk group Earth, Wind, & Fire. ... Broadway theatre[1] is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... The Mark Hellinger Theatre, at 1655 Broadway and 237 West 51st Street in New York City, was built in 1930 and operated as a theatre (under various names) until 1989. ... Leonard Bernstein in 1971 Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American composer, pianist and conductor. ... Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American Broadway lyricist and librettist. ...

The musical examined the establishment of the White House and its occupants from 1800 to 1900. Primarily focusing on race relations, the story depicted (among other incidents) Thomas Jefferson's then-alleged affair with a black maid, James Monroe's refusal to halt slavery in Washington, the aftermath of the American Civil War and Andrew Johnson's impeachment. Throughout the show, the leading actors performed multiple roles: Ken Howard played all the presidents, Patricia Routledge all the First Ladies, and Gilbert Price and Emily Yancy played the White House servants, Lud and Seena. Future Broadway stars Reid Shelton, Walter Charles, Beth Fowler and Richard Muenz appeared in ensemble roles, as did the young African-American baritone Bruce Hubbard. View of the White House from the South Lawn showing the columned South Portico. ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... Thomas Jefferson(April 13, 1743 N.S. – July 4, 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and an influential founder of the United States. ... James Monroe (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was the fifth (1817–1825) President of the United States and author of the Monroe Doctrine. ... “The Civil War” is the most common term for this conflict; see Naming the American Civil War. ... Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808 – July 31, 1875) was the sixteenth Vice President (1865) and the seventeenth President of the United States (1865–1869), succeeding to the presidency upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. ... Ken Howard (born Kenneth Joseph Howard, Jr. ... Patricia Routledge as Hyacinth Bucket Patricia Routledge, CBE (born February 17, 1929) is a popular British actress, best known for television roles such as Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances. ... Gilbert Price (b. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Baritone (French: baryton; German: Bariton; Italian: baritono) is most commonly the type of male voice that lies between bass and tenor. ...

The show was originally intended to be performed as a play-within-a-play, with the show's actors stepping out of character to comment on the plot and debate race relations from a modern standpoint. But this concept was almost entirely removed during the show's out-of-town tryouts in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. By the time the show opened on Broadway on May 4, 1976, little of the metatheatrical concept remained, aside from certain scenic and costume elements and a few musical references (most notably, the opening number "Rehearse!").

Discouraged by the critical and public response to the work — and angry that during the tryouts much of his music had been condensed and edited without his consent — Bernstein refused to allow a cast recording of the musical. Just as he'd done with previously abandoned projects, Bernstein used portions of the score in subsequent works. In Songfest, for example, the setting of Walt Whitman's poem "To What You Said" as a baritone solo was a reworking of the original prelude of the show, in which the chorus hummed a melody played by the 'cello in the Songfest version. (In the show, this music was moved to the emotional low point of the second act, used as background to a Presidential funeral.) The occasional piece Slava! A Political Overture, written in honor of Bernstein's friend Mstislav Rostropovich, blended two numbers from the show, one of them the up-tempo "Rehearse!" Early in the opera A Quiet Place, the music for the aria "You're late, you shouldn't have come" derives from that of "Me," a song that in the original show established the metatheatrical concept that was eventually abandoned. (Some of the music for "Me" can be heard in the Broadway score, most memorably in the song "American Dreaming.") Annual Southern Gospel music festival held each July at the Civic Center in Jackson, TN. The event draws thousands of Southern Gospel music fans from around the nation to hear over 20 of the top Southern Gospel music performers in the nation. ... Walt Whitman Walter Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) is widely considered to be one of Americas best and most influential poets. ... Annual Southern Gospel music festival held each July at the Civic Center in Jackson, TN. The event draws thousands of Southern Gospel music fans from around the nation to hear over 20 of the top Southern Gospel music performers in the nation. ... Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (Мстисла́в Леопо́льдович Ростропо́вич) (born March 27, 1927), affectionately known as Slava, is Russian and a naturalized American cellist and conductor, considered to be one of the greatest cellists ever. ... A Quiet Place is a 1983 an opera by Leonard Bernstein. ...

After his death in 1990, Bernstein's children and associates sifted through the many variations and revisions of the score and authorized a choral version entitled A White House Cantata, which deleted nearly all the remaining play-within-a-play references. (Some can still be heard in the duet "Monroviad.") BBC Radio broadcast the London debut of this work in 1997, and three years later Deutsche Grammophon released a CD recording. Both the London concert and the DG recording were conducted by Kent Nagano. The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest public broadcasting corporation in the world. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom. ... Logo Deutsche Grammophon is a German record label. ... CD may stand for: Compact Disc Canadian Forces Decoration Cash Dispenser (at least used in Japan) CD LPMud Driver Centrum-Demokraterne (Centre Democrats of Denmark) Certificate of Deposit České Dráhy (Czech Railways) Chad (NATO country code) Chalmers Datorförening (computer club of the Chalmers University of Technology) a 1960s... Kent Nagano is the current music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. ...

The initial critical response to the show was resoundingly negative. Critics savaged Lerner's book while (largely) praising Bernstein's score. The later White House Cantata version tended to be reviewed as a classical work rather than a Broadway work, a tendency encouraged by the casting of the leading roles with opera singers who lacked the requisite theatrical style of delivery. Differences in the score and performance style make it impossible to judge the original musical fairly from the later recording. The score is considered by many musical theater historians and aficionados to be a forgotten, or at least neglected, masterpiece. Some of the songs have enjoyed some fame outside the show including "Take Care of This House," "The President Jefferson Sunday Luncheon Party March" and "Duet for One (The First Lady of the Land)", a tour-de-force for a single actress portraying both Julia Grant and Lucy Hayes on the day of Rutherford B. Hayes's inauguration. It details the exhausting vote counts that had many questioning his legitimacy. Rutherford Birchard Hayes (October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American politician, lawyer, military leader and the 19th President of the United States (1877-1881). ...

Individual numbers from the work have been recorded and performed by a variety of notable singers. "Take Care of This House" was sung by Frederica von Stade under Bernstein's direction at the inauguration of Jimmy Carter, and "The President Jefferson March" and "Duet for One" both appear in their original (pre-Broadway) versions on an EMI disc called "Broadway Showstoppers," conducted by John McGlinn and sung by Davis Gaines and the Tony-winning soprano Judy Kaye. The late African-American baritone Bruce Hubbard, a member of the original Broadway ensemble, also recorded Lud's ballad "Seena." It can be heard on his recently reissued CD For You, For Me. "Take Care of This House" has been recorded by Miss Kaye as well as everyone from opera singers Marilyn Horne and Roberta Alexander to theater artists Joanna Gleason and Julie Andrews. Frederica von Stade (b. ... James Earl Jimmy Carter, Jr. ... Appeared with the Santa Fe Opera (1985, 1990), the NYC opera (1989), NY Philharmonic (1990), Boston Pops Orchestra (1990) and the London Symphony Orchestra (1990). ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Marilyn Horne The American opera singer Marilyn Horne (born January 16, 1934) is a mezzo soprano who is particularly associated with the music of Rossini and Handel. ... Joanna Gleason (born Joanne Halprin on June 2, 1950 in Winnipeg, Manitoba), is a Canadian-born actress, who has been a successful character actor in film, television and on stage. ... Julie Andrews as Maria, with the Von Trapp children in The Sound Of Music. ...

The show's only significant revival was a 1992 Indiana University production, which used a pre-Philadelphia draft of the script and included portions of Bernstein's music that had been excised on the road to Broadway. This production also played briefly at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The Leonard Bernstein estate licenses performances of the cantata version but refuses to allow the performance, recording, or publication of the original musical. Indiana University is the principal campus of the Indiana University system. ... The Kennedy Center as seen from the Potomac River. ...

Musical numbers (as performed on Broadway)

1. Overture
2. Rehearse!
3. If I Were a Dove
4. On Ten Square Miles by the Potomac River
5. Welcome Home, Miz Adams
6. Take Care of This House
7. Invitations / Lud's Letter
8. The President Jefferson March
9. Seena
10. Sonatina
11. Lud's Wedding
12. The Monroviad
13. We Must Have a Ball
14. Entr'acte
15. A Mule and Forty Acres
16. Bright and Black
17. Duet for One (First Lady of the Land)
18. Keep Your Head Up, Mr. Lincoln
19. The Robber Baron Minstrel Parade
20. Pity The Poor
21. The Mark of a Man
22. The Red, White and Blues
23. Funeral Procession
24. Finale (Rehearse!)

External links

• Internet Broadway Database page for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
• Flyrope.com page for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue