Really Rosie

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Really Rosie
Music Carole King
Lyrics Maurice Sendak
Book Maurice Sendak
Productions 1975 Animated TV Special
1980 Off-Broadway

Really Rosie is a musical with a book and lyrics by Maurice Sendak and music by Carole King. The musical is based on Sendak's books Chicken Soup with Rice, Pierre, One was Johnny, Alligators All Around (which compose 1962's The Nutshell Library), and The Sign on Rosie's Door (1960). Sendak based the story on a demonstrative little girl who used to sing and dance on the stoop of her building, whom he observed while he was a little boy growing up in Brooklyn.

The musical has become a mainstay of children's theater groups.[1] It follows a typical summer day in the life of the Nutshell Kids, a group of several neighborhood friends, including Pierre, Alligator, Johnny, and Chef Jeff from the Nutshell Library books, and Rosie and Kathy from The Sign on Rosie's Door. Rosie, the self-proclaimed sassiest kid on her block of Brooklyn's Avenue P, entertains everyone by directing and starring in an Oscar-winning movie based on the exciting, dramatic, funny (and slightly exaggerated) story of her life. During its off-Broadway run, the lead role of Rosie was first played by a-then 12-year-old Tisha Campbell-Martin. Midway through the run, Tisha left the cast and was replaced by cast member and "Rosie" understudy, 10-year-old Angela Coin. Angela also sang the role of "Rosie" on the cast recording.

A half-hour animated television special aired on CBS TV in February 1975. It was directed by Maurice Sendak, with Carole King voicing the title character. An album based on the songs by King and lyrics by Sendak is available on Ode/Epic/SME Records. In the animated special, only the first seven songs and Really Rosie (Reprise) were showcased. Sendak expanded the piece for London and Washington, DC, stage productions in 1978,[2] and an off-Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch with designs by Sendak, which opened on October 14, 1980, at the Westside Theatre, where it ran for 274 performances.[3]

Plot

Rosie and her friends the nutshell kids live on the same block on Avenue P in Brooklyn, New York. On a hot July Saturday, the children are bored and need something to do. Rosie imagines herself as a famous talented star, and decides to produce an imaginary movie musical about her life and in particular the demise of her brother Chicken Soup, to be called Did You Hear What Happened to Chicken Soup?

She gets the nutshell kids to audition for a role in the film, but they begin to fight over casting. A thunderstorm forces them to move into the cellar for shelter. To keep the kids' attention, Rosie decides that they need to show the producer the movie's big finale number. She gets them all to close their eyes and imagine the producer inviting them to make her movie. Afterward, when the children go home, Rosie remains to dream of stardom in her big number.

Soundtrack

Really Rosie
File:ReallyRosie.jpg
Soundtrack album by Carole King
Released February 1975
May 25, 1999 (CD reissue)
Recorded 1974
Genre Children's music, soft rock
Length 33:24 (Original album)
35:50 (CD reissue)
Label Ode / Epic
Producer Lou Adler, Sheldon Riss
Carole King chronology
Wrap Around Joy
(1974)Wrap Around Joy1974		 Really Rosie
(1975)		 Thoroughbred
(1976)Thoroughbred1976
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4.5/5 stars link
Robert Christgau B+ link

Track listing

Lyrics by Maurice Sendak, music by Carole King.

Side 1
  1. "Really Rosie" – 1:51
  2. "One Was Johnny" – 2:08
  3. "Alligators All Around" – 1:54
  4. "Pierre" – 5:38
  5. "Screaming and Yelling" – 1:16
  6. "The Ballad of Chicken Soup" – 2:15
  7. "Chicken Soup with Rice" – 4:20
Side 2
  1. "Avenue P" – 3:03
  2. "My Simple Humble Neighborhood" – 3:07
  3. "The Awful Truth" – 3:11
  4. "Such Sufferin'" – 2:55
  5. "Really Rosie" (Reprise) – 1:40
Bonus track (1999 remaster)
  1. "Really Rosie" (Original piano demo)

Chart position

Year Country Chart Position
1975 United States The Billboard Top 200[4] 20

Notes

  1. ↑ "KU Theater for Young People to stage Sendak's Really Rosie in February," University of Kansas, February 5, 2004
  2. ↑ "Maurice Sendak (1928– ) Biography." Retrieved from JRank.org on August 27, 2008.
  3. ↑ Lortel.org
  4. ↑ Allmusic - Carole King > Really Rosie > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums

References

Jennings, Coleman A. and Maurice Sendak. Theater for Young Audiences: 20 Great Plays For Children, New York: St. Martin's Press/Macmillan, 2005 ISBN 0-312-33714-0

External links

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