Chee-Chee (musical) | |
---|---|
Music | Richard Rodgers |
Lyrics | Lorenz Hart |
Book | The Son of the Grand Eunuch, by Charles Pettit |
Setting | China |
Premiere | September 25, 1928: Mansfield Theatre |
Productions | 1928 Broadway 2003 14th Street Y, Manhattan[1] |
Chee-Chee is a musical by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart based on the 1927 book, The Son of the Grand Eunuch, by Charles Pettit. Chee-Chee opened on Broadway September 25, 1928, and the show closed after 31 performances.[2][3]
In 1963 vocalist Betty Comden released an album that included some of the songs from the musical.[4][5]
In 1928 Herbert Fields wrote a libretto based on Pettit's book in which the son of the Grand Eunuch, Li-Pi, and his wife, Chee-Chee, are forced into exile when the Grand Eunuch announces his plan for Li-Pi to become a eunuch and take his father's place as the Grand Eunuch. Chee-Chee is captured and rescued, and Li-Pi is captured and rescued, and finally the musical ends happily.[6]
Two acts, seven scenes.[7]
Scene I: A Corridor in the Palace of the Holy Emperor, Son of Heaven, in the Violet Town of Peking
Scene II: The Road to the Future
Scene III: A Wayside Tavern
Scene I: A Forest
Scene II: Visiting Day at the Monastery of Celestial Clouds
Scene III: The Gallery of Torments
Scene IV: The Palace