Dance a Little Closer
{{short description|1983 American musical play}}
{{Infobox Musical
|name= Dance a Little Closer
|subtitle=
|image= DanceCloser.jpg
|image_size= 150px
|caption= Original Cast Recording
|music= Charles Strouse
|lyrics=Alan Jay Lerner
|book= Alan Jay Lerner
|basis= Robert E. Sherwood's play Idiot's Delight
|productions= 1983 Broadway
|awards=
}}
Dance a Little Closer is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Charles Strouse. The story is an updated version of Robert E. Sherwood's 1936 antiwar comedy Idiot's Delight.
Plot overview
The musical is set on New Year's Eve "in the avoidable future" in the grand Alpine Barclay Palace Hotel, where the guests find themselves in the midst of a potential nuclear Armageddon. The characters are American singer Harry Aikens and Cynthia Brookfield-Bailey, who may have had a romantic fling years earlier. Among the others present are Cynthia's current paramour, Henry Kissinger-like diplomat Dr. Josef Winkler, a gay couple, a minister, and a freedom fighter.
Production
The musical opened on Broadway at the Minskoff Theatre on May 11, 1983, where it closed after one performance{{Cite news|date=1983-05-13|title='Dance Closer' Ends|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/13/theater/dance-closer-ends.html|access-date=2023-04-12|issn=0362-4331}} and 25 previews. Directed by Lerner and choreographed by Billy Wilson, the cast included Len Cariou, Noel Craig, Liz Robertson, George Rose, Don Chastain, Jeff Keller, Brent Barrett, and Alyson Reed.{{cite web | author=The Broadway League | title=Dance a Little Closer – Broadway Musical – Original | website=IBDB | date=May 11, 1983 | url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/4227 | access-date=April 12, 2023}} Show business insiders dubbed it "Dance a Little Faster...Close a Little Sooner."{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}
In his New York Times review Frank Rich described it as "a huge, extravagant mishmash...that seems to have taken on a rampaging, self-destructive life of its own," a sentiment similar to those expressed by the other critics.{{Cite news|last=Rich|first=Frank|date=1983-05-12|title=Stage: Lerner Musical 'Dance a Little Closer'|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/12/theater/stage-lerner-musical-dance-a-little-closer.html|access-date=2023-04-12|issn=0362-4331}}
An original cast recording is available on CD.
Song list
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
;Act I
- It Never Would've Worked
- Happy, Happy New Year
- No Man Is Worth It
- What Are You Going to Do About It?
- A Woman Who Thinks I'm Wonderful
- Pas de Deux
- There's Never Been Anything Like Us
- Another Life
- Why Can't the World Go and Leave Us Alone?
- He Always Comes Home to Me
- I Got a New Girl
- Dance a Little Closer
- There's Always One You Can't Forget
{{col-break}}
;Act II
- Homesick
- Mad
- I Don't Know
- Auf Wiedersehen
- I Never Want to See You Again
- On Top of the World
- I Got a New Girl (Reprise)
- Dance a Little Closer (Reprise)
{{col-end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IBDB title | 4227 | Dance a Little Closer}}
- [http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_d/dance_closer.htm Production, plot and songs at guidetomusicaltheatre.com]
{{Charles Strouse}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Musicals based on plays
Category:LGBTQ-related musicals
Category:Musicals by Alan Jay Lerner