Broadway Show
Grand Hotel
Theatre	Martin Beck Theatre
Opening Night	November 12, 1989
Tony Nominations	12
Tony Awards	5
Author(s)	Music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, additional music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, book by Luther Davis
Director	Tommy Tune
Leading Original Cast Members	Liliane Montevecchi David Carroll Karen Akers Michael Jeter Jane Krakowski

Grand Hotel is a musical with music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, with additional music by Maury Yeston and Wally Harper, additional lyrics by Maury Yeston, and a book by Luther Davis. The original production opened at Broadway's Martin Beck Theatre on November 12, 1989 and closed on April 25, 1992 after playing 1017 performances. The original production was directed by Tommy Tune and starred Karen Akers, David Carroll, Michael Jeter, Jane Krakowski, Liliane Montevecchi, and John Wylie. Early into the run, however, David Carroll passed away and was replaced by Brent Barrett, who can be heard on the Original Cast Recording. Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... Image File history File links GrandHotelalbumcover. ... The Martin Beck Theatre is a notable Broadway theatre in New York. ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Robert Wright (born Daytona Beach, Florida, September 25, 1914; died Miami, Florida, October 10, 1999) was a United States writer of musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin. ... People named George Forrest include: George Forrest (author) (1915-) - American author and musician George Forrest (botanist) (1873-1932) - British botanist and plant collector George Forrest (businessman) - Belgian businessman established in Katanga This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Maury Yeston is a American composer and lyricist educated at Yale and Clare College, Cambridge. ... Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is a famous actor, dancer, singer, and choreographer. ... David Carroll was born Nook Schreier in Chicago, IL October 15, 1913. ... Michael Jeter (August 26, 1952 - March 30, 2003) was a United States actor. ... Jane Krakowski Jane Krakowski (née Krajkowski, October 11, 1968, Parsippany, New Jersey) is an American actress of Polish descent. ... Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ... Robert Wright (born Daytona Beach, Florida, September 25, 1914; died Miami, Florida, October 10, 1999) was a United States writer of musical theatre best known for the show Kismet, adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin. ... People named George Forrest include: George Forrest (author) (1915-) - American author and musician George Forrest (botanist) (1873-1932) - British botanist and plant collector George Forrest (businessman) - Belgian businessman established in Katanga This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Maury Yeston is a American composer and lyricist educated at Yale and Clare College, Cambridge. ... Wally Harper, a graduate of the New England Conservatory and the Juilliard School of Music, has worked as Musical Director, Composer, Conductor, Dance Arranger, and Musical Supervisor for many Broadway productions including: Company, Irene, Peter Pan, The Grand Tour, Brigadoon, Nine, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine... Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... The Martin Beck Theatre is a notable Broadway theatre in New York. ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is a famous actor, dancer, singer, and choreographer. ... David Carroll was born Nook Schreier in Chicago, IL October 15, 1913. ... Michael Jeter (August 26, 1952 - March 30, 2003) was a United States actor. ... Jane Krakowski Jane Krakowski (née Krajkowski, October 11, 1968, Parsippany, New Jersey) is an American actress of Polish descent. ... David Carroll was born Nook Schreier in Chicago, IL October 15, 1913. ...

Source Material: The Novel

Menschen im Hotel (People in a Hotel, 1929) started the career of Austrian popular novelist Vicki Baum as one of the most widely-read authors of her time. The story about a fading prima ballerina, an impecunious nobleman, and the other characters who pass through an elegant 1920s Berlin hotel in the course of a single weekend was told with an acute perception of minor detail. Baum had taken a job as a parlourmaid in a hotel for six weeks to gather material for her novel. She dramatized the text for the Berlin stage in the same year. The play turned into a sensation and its English language adaptation gained a huge success in New York in the early 1930s. Hedwig (Vicki) Baum (January 24, 1888 - August 29, 1960) was an Austrian writer. ... Marlene Dietrich in the 1920s The Golden Twenties, in Berlin, Germany, were an exciting and extremely vibrant time in the history of Berlin, German history, and European history in general. ...

Source Material: The Film

Irving Thalberg, the famous MGM producer, got the synopsis of Baum's play in 1930 and decided that the story was ideally suited to a multi-star blockbuster. The film of Grand Hotel starred John Barrymore as Baron Felix von Gaigern and his brother Lionel as Kringelien, the invalid bookkeeper who has come to spend his dying days in the lap of luxury. The role of Grusinskaya, an aging prima ballerina, seemed perfect for Greta Garbo, and it was in this role that she uttered one of her most quoted lines: Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 - September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. ... Grand Hotel is a 1932 art deco movie, and is considered as a classic of the sort. ... John Sidney Blythe (February 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942), better known as John Barrymore, became famous as a Shakespearean actor, lauded for his Hamlet, and was frequently regarded as the greatest actor of his generation, playing a wide variety of roles on stage and in films. ... Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954), original name: Lionel Blythe, was an American actor of stage, radio and film, elder brother of Ethel and John Barrymore. ... Greta Garbo in 1926 Greta Garbo (September 18, 1905 – April 15, 1990) was a Swedish actress. ...

"I want to be alone... I think I have never been so tired in my life." (Greta Garbo as Grusinskaya in Grand Hotel, 1932) Greta Garbo in 1926 Greta Garbo (September 18, 1905 – April 15, 1990) was a Swedish actress. ...

Joan Crawford was chosen for the role of the slut-stenographer, Flaemmchen. The last line of the picture was reserved for Dr. Otternschlag (Lewis Stone): "Grand Hotel. Always the same. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens." The gala opening of the film was held at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Grand Hotel won a Best Picture Oscar. Joan Crawford, photographed by Yousuf Karsh, 1948 Joan Crawford (March 23, 1905 – May 10, 1977) was an acclaimed Academy Award winning American actress. ...

Source Material: "At The Grand"

Librettist Luther David and songwriters Wright and Forrest created a musical adaptation of Grand Hotel in 1958 entitled At The Grand. In this version, the ballerina Grusinskaya was changed into an opera singer, and the role was played by Joan Diener. The work was produced on the West Coast by Edwin Lester at the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, who had enjoyed an earlier success with Wright and Forrest's Song of Norway and Kismet, but the show was not produced on Broadway.

Tommy Tune and Grand Hotel

Before accepting the job as choreographer and director of "Grand Hotel," Tune read the script by Luther Davis and went with music director Jack Lee to listen to the score by Bob Wright and Chet Forrest. He was “deeply moved” by Chet playing the piano while Bob sang in his “sturdy, yet tortured” voice. Tune had a weakness for the heart composers had for their own scores, and decided to accept the show. In rehearsals, however, the songs weren’t coming out of the performers as Tune had imagined. “Bluntly stated, the show didn’t work. With the exception of the choreography and the physical trappings, the show was deadly,” as Tommy himself put it in his memoir "Footnotes." He brought in Maury Yeston to compose two new songs after Wright and Forrest showed recalcitrance at the task of rewriting, and playwright Peter Stone tweaked the book. Despite the animosity of the original authors, Tune continued on the production and found his hope restored. He comments on his experience with Grand Hotel, “I hate it when it gets ugly on a show. It always does though, and you’ve gotta be hearty to survive. If it’s not the writers, then it’s the producers or the cast. There is always turmoil, but if you’re lucky some good can come of it all. I have always tried to be kind to everyone, but please don’t mistake my kindness for weakness. ‘The play’s the thing’.” Maury Yeston is a American composer and lyricist educated at Yale and Clare College, Cambridge. ... Peter Stone (February 27, 1930 -April 26, 2003) was a writer for theater, television and movies. ...

Songs

• "The Grand Parade" (Yeston)- Ensemble
• "Some Have, Some Have Not" (Wright/Forrest)- Scullery Workers
• "As It Should Be" (Wright/Forrest)- Baron
• "At the Grand Hotel" (Yeston)/"Table With a View" (Wright/Forrest)- Kringelein
• "Maybe My Baby Loves Me" (Wright/Forrest)- The Jimmys
• "Fire and Ice" (Wright/Forrest)- Grushinskaya & Ensemble
• "Twenty Two Years/Villa On a Hill" (Yeston/Wright/Forrest)- Raffaela
• "I Want To Go To Hollywood" (Yeston) - Flaemmchen
• "The Crooked Path" (Wright/Forrest)- Preysing
• "Who Couldn't Dance With You?" (Wright/Forrest)- Flaemmchen, Kringelein
• "No Encore" (Wright/Forrest)- Grushinskaya & Ensemble
• "Love Can't Happen" (Yeston)- Baron
• "What You Need" (Wright/Forrest)- Raffaela
• "Bonjour Amour" (Yeston)- Grushinskaya
• "H-A-P-P-Y" (Wright/Forrest)- The Jimmys & Ensemble
• "We'll Take A Glass Together" (Wright/Forrest)- Baron, Kringelein & Ensemble
• "I Waltz Alone" (Wright/Forrest)- Doctor
• "Roses at the Station" (Yeston)- Baron
• Bolero- The Countess & The Gigolo
• "How Can I Tell Her?" (Wright/Forrest)- Raffaela
• "The Grand Parade"/"Some Have, Some Have Not" (reprise) - Ensemble
• "The Grand Waltz" (Wright/Forrest)- Ensemble

External link

• Internet Broadway Database page for Grand Hotel