Theatre Register

Joe Darion

Shows · Joe Darion

LyricistBook Writer 1917–2001

Joe Darion (30 January 1911 — 16 June 2001) was an American musical theatre lyricist, most famous for Man of La Mancha, which is considered, by some critics, as a precursor to 1980s sung-through musicals such as Les Miserables. Darion was born in New York City and died at age 90 in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Also credited on3 works

Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha (2002 Revival)
Shinbone Alley

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature8 passages

  • In 1971, a cartoon film version of the musical was released by Allied Artists; it was directed by John David Wilson, the screenplay was by Joe Darion, and Archy and Mehitabel’s voices were once again provided by Eddie Bracken and Carol Channing. The theatrical film version marked Bracken’s fourth association with the material following th…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • JOE DARION is a librettist, playwright, and lyricist whose work runs the gamut from popular songs to the concert stage. His Broadway credits include Man of La Mancha , Ilya Darling , and The Megilla. His opera Archy and Mehitabel was turned into the Broadway musical Shinbone Alley.ebooks/Frommer, Myrna Katz & Frommer, Harvey/It Happened on Broadway_ An Oral History of the Great White Way - Myrna Katz Frommer & Harvey Frommer.txt
  • JOE DARION: They called me down to a meeting and asked if I could work on Auden’s lyrics. “Are you out of your mind?” I said. “Me touch Auden’s poetry? I wouldn’t have the guts.”ebooks/Frommer, Myrna Katz & Frommer, Harvey/It Happened on Broadway_ An Oral History of the Great White Way - Myrna Katz Frommer & Harvey Frommer.txt
  • JOE DARION: The lyrics had to be sixteenth century, yet suitable to the modern ear. My job was to get inside that crazy, marvelous man’s head and heart and guts. If I heard my own voice, I knew I was in trouble.ebooks/Frommer, Myrna Katz & Frommer, Harvey/It Happened on Broadway_ An Oral History of the Great White Way - Myrna Katz Frommer & Harvey Frommer.txt
  • JOE DARION: While the play was on, Wasserman and I made a ring around the theater and hit every bar there was. I won’t give a name, but one of the critics who killed us was inside one of those bars. He wrote his review from the program.ebooks/Frommer, Myrna Katz & Frommer, Harvey/It Happened on Broadway_ An Oral History of the Great White Way - Myrna Katz Frommer & Harvey Frommer.txt
  • JOE DARION: At first there was a misunderstanding about what the show was about. Women were dragging in their husbands, who were protesting, “I don’t want to see Shakespeare.”ebooks/Frommer, Myrna Katz & Frommer, Harvey/It Happened on Broadway_ An Oral History of the Great White Way - Myrna Katz Frommer & Harvey Frommer.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Any staging. This name appears in no production cast list we hold — 1,877 of 7,139 people are in that position, most of them writers, composers and designers rather than performers.
  • Any portrait. 1,626 of 7,139 people have one, so this is the usual case rather than the exception.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — lyricist, book writer — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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