| The Lieutenant | |
|---|---|
| Music | Gene Curty Nitra Scharfman Chuck Strand |
| Lyrics | Gene Curty Nitra Scharfman Chuck Strand |
| Book | Gene Curty Nitra Scharfman Chuck Strand |
| Productions | 1975 Broadway |
The Lieutenant is a rock opera with book, music and lyrics by Gene Curty, Nitra Scharfman and Chuck Strand. The musical concerns the court martial of Lieutenant William Calley during the Vietnam War and ran on Broadway in 1975.
The original production of The Lieutenant, directed by William Martin and choreographed by Dennis Dennehy opened on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre on March 9, 1975, and closed on March 16, 1975, after nine performances and seven previews.[1] The cast featured Eddie Mekka and was produced by Joseph S. Kutrzeba and Spofford J. Beadle.
The Lieutenant was nominated for four Tony Awards including Best Musical, Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, Tony Award for Best Original Score and Best Actor in a Musical.
The Lieutenant was originally produced by Queens Playhouse, (Flushing Meadows, New York) in 1974 by Joseph S. Kutrzeba, who started the Playhouse.[2][3] Alan Eichler was the press representative.[4]
Producer and Holocaust survivor Joseph Kutrzeba said of the reason he decided to produce The Lieutenant was "The show meant a lot to me on human values. I think the theme is one of cardinal importance to our times: The concept of obedience versus exercising one's own conscience." The Philadelphia Inquirer September 3, 1974 [5]
In 1994 an adaptation of The Lieutenant was performed under the title "...One of the Good Guys" by Israeli actor Meir Vardi and David Bolander at the Sanford Meisner Theatre in New York City.[6]
The show poses the question: Where does the guilt lie for the My Lai massacre of civilians in 1968 Vietnam? Does it reside solely in the person of The Lieutenant, who gave the order to "waste them"? Or perhaps in the larger military itself, where wars are planned, body counts are calculated, and inconvenient casualties are sometimes scrubbed from the record? Or just maybe the seeds for deeds like My Lai are latent in the very fabric of the human race, and once in a while the perfect storm of events allows for something terrible like this to happen?
The use of music follows the approach of Brecht, whereby the songs comment on themes and issues of the play.
In August 2016, Miles Kreuger, president of The Institute for the American Musical in Los Angeles, California, accepted the script, score, libretto, reviews and playbill of The Lieutenant into their archives.
The cast album was recorded in 1975 but never officially released.[10]
The musical was described by Clive Barnes in his New York Times review as "extremely well staged" a "rock opera", and "it works very well indeed".[11]
He also mentioned in The Morning News that the Lieutenant is "attractive and supportive" and there is "never a dull moment" [12]
Ernest Leogrande of the New York News Service felt that "they have two of the essentials for any musical show: telling lyrics and strong melodies".[13]
The Long Island Press said "If you never see another show, you must see this one" [14]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Tony Award | Best Musical | Nominated | |
| Best Book of a Musical | Gene Curty, Nitra Scharfman and Chuck Strand | Nominated | ||
| Best Original Score | Nominated | |||
| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical | Eddie Mekka | Nominated | ||
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Musical | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Music and Lyrics | Gene Curty, Nitra Scharfman and Chuck Strand | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Eddie Mekka | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Director of a Musical | William Martin | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Choreography | Dennis Dennehy | Nominated | ||