Norman Gimbel - Two Broadway Musicals

Two Broadway Musicals

Top songwriter Frank Loesser became Gimbel's mentor and, through Loesser, he met composer Moose Charlap with whom he wrote the first of his numerous songs to appear in films, "Past the Age of Innocence", from the 1951 Monogram musical, Rhythm Inn.

At the end of the decade, he collaborated with Charlap on the only Broadway musicals for which he has written lyrics, Whoop-Up and The Conquering Hero. Whoop-Up is set within a modern-day Native American community located on a reservation. The novel which provided the basis for the show, Dan Cushman's Stay Away, Joe, was filmed ten years later, under its original title, as a vehicle for Elvis Presley, using an unrelated screenplay and score. The show's Joe was portrayed by Ralph Young, who achieved stardom in the 1960s and 70s as one-half of the singing duo, Sandler and Young. The production was directed by Cy Feuer and choreographed by Onna White who received a Tony nomination for her contribution to the show, with another nomination going to Julienne Marie for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Cushman, along with Feuer and Ernest H. Martin, also wrote the book of the show. Eleven of the eighteen songs by Gimbel and Charlap were heard in the first act, and the remaining seven in act two. Whoop Up opened at the Shubert Theatre on December 22, 1958 and, despite some encouraging reviews, ended after a disappointing 56 performances on February 7, 1959.

The opening night of Conquering Hero was almost two years later, on January 16, 1961. The production, at the ANTA Playhouse, had a book by Larry Gelbart, based on Preston Sturges' 1944 screenplay and film, Hail the Conquering Hero. It was directed by Albert Marre, choreographed by Todd Bolender and starred Tom Poston as Woodrow Truesmith, the character originated in the movie by Eddie Bracken. Ella Raines' Libby was portrayed by Kay Brown, and Lionel Stander, as Sgt. Murdock, took over William Demarest's Sgt. Heppelfinger. Act one had ten of Gimbel's and Charlap's fourteen songs, while four songs (and four reprises from the first act) were sung in act two. Ultimately, Hero fared even worse than Whoop-Up, closing on January 21, after only 7 performances.