Welcome to the Club (musical)

{{Infobox Musical

|name= Welcome to the Club

|subtitle=

|image =Welcome to the Club.jpg

|image_size = 220px

|caption =Opening Night Broadway Playbill

|music= Cy Coleman

|lyrics= Cy Coleman
A. E. Hotchner

|book= A. E. Hotchner

|basis=

|productions= 1989 Broadway

|awards=

}}

Welcome to the Club is a 1989 Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Cy Coleman. Despite its run of only twelve performances, it was nominated for two Tony Awards, and some other honors.

The musical, set in a New York City jail for alimony violators, opened on April 13, 1989, at the Music Box Theatre. The director of the production was Peter Mark Schifter.

Reviews were poor; the New York Times deemed it "embarrassingly out of touch with the present-day realities of men, women, sex, marriage and divorce", with limited praise given to Coleman's "inconsistent" score.{{cite news |last=Rich |first=Frank |title=Review/Theater; 'Welcome to the Club,' A Musical About Divorce |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/14/theater/review-theater-welcome-to-the-club-a-musical-about-divorce.html |access-date=August 3, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=April 14, 1989}} The musical closed nine days after its opening, on April 22, and was considered a flop.{{cite news |last=Hawtree |first=Christopher |title=Obituary: Cy Coleman |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/nov/22/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries |access-date=August 3, 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=November 22, 2004}} However, the musical was nominated for two Tonys: Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Scott Wentworth) and Best Direction of a Musical (Schifter).{{cite news |last=Richards |first=David |title='Robbins' Tops the Tony Contenders |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/05/09/robbins-tops-the-tony-contenders/d5091688-240e-4765-815b-bc0d328177f8/ |access-date=August 3, 2023 |work=The Washington Post |date=May 9, 1989}} In addition, actress Sally Mayes, in her Broadway debut, won a 1989 Theatre World award.{{cite web |title=Past Recipients |url=https://www.theatreworldawards.org/past-recipients.html |website=Theatre World Awards |access-date=August 3, 2023}}

Songs

;Act I

A Place Called Alimony Jail - Husbands and Wives
Pay the Lawyer - Husbands
Mrs. Meltzer Wants the Money Now! - Arlene Meltzer and Husbands
That's a Woman - Aaron Bates, Carol Bates and Wives
Piece of Cake - Eve Aiken and Bruce Aiken
Rio - Milton Meltzer, Arlene Meltzer, Wives and Gus Bottomly
Holidays - Arlene Meltzer
The Trouble with You - Aaron Bates, Carol Bates, Husbands and Wives
Mother-in-Law - Husbands
At My Side - Bruce Aiken and Kevin Bursteter

;Act II

Southern Comfort - Winona Shook, Aaron Bates, Wives and Husbands
The Two of Us - Bruce Aiken and Milton Meltzer
It's Love! It's Love! - Gus Bottomly and Husbands
The Name of Love - Carol Bates
Miami Beach - Arlene Meltzer and Husbands
Guilty - Winona Shook
Love Behind Bars - Winona Shook, Aaron Bates and Wives
At My Side (Reprise) - Kevin Bursteter and Betty Bursteter
It Wouldn't Be You - Husbands and Wives

Awards and nominations

=Original Broadway production=

class="wikitable" width="95%"
width="5%"\| Year ! width="20%"\| Award ! width="35%"\| Category ! width="30%"\| Nominee ! width="10%"\| Result
rowspan="3" align="center"\| 1989 \| rowspan="2"\| Tony Award \| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical \| Scott Wentworth \| {{nom}}
Best Direction of a Musical \| Peter Mark Schifter \| {{nom}}
colspan=2\|Theatre World Award \| Sally Mayes \| {{won}}

class="wikitable" width="95%"

width="5%"| Year

! width="20%"| Award

! width="35%"| Category

! width="30%"| Nominee

! width="10%"| Result

rowspan="3" align="center"| 1989

| rowspan="2"| Tony Award

| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

| Scott Wentworth

| {{nom}}

Best Direction of a Musical