Theatre Register
Kwamina

Kwamina

Shows · Kwamina

Only two of them made it to Broadway. The first was Kwamina (54th Street; Oct. 23, '61; 32), which contained Adler's first independently written score. It was conceived for his wife, Sally Ann Howes; at a party, Adler had discussed African nationalism with Adlai Stevenson, then ambassador to the United Nations, and then told television writer Robert Allan Aurthur of his conversation: Kwamina would be Aurthur's first…

Opened
1961
Performances
32
Type
Musical
Era
Golden Age
Music: Richard AdlerLyrics: Richard AdlerBook: Robert Allan Aurthur

Productions1 on Broadway

1961 54th Street Theatre Original. October 23, 1961 · Robert Lewis 32 performances

Every Broadway staging held in broadway-data, sourced to IBDB. West End runs are not yet held.

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In the literature27 passages

Added to the production was Adler’s “Watch Your Heart,” a revised version of his lovely ballad “What’s Wrong with Me?” from the 1961 Broadway musical Kwamina ; the song was later recorded as “If You Win, You Lose.” book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p393

Adler, without his late partner Jerry Ross, tried his hand at both music and lyrics for Kwamina (10/23/61; 32 performances), starring Robert Guillaume and Sally Ann Howes. book:broadway-its-history-people-and-places-an-encyclopedia-bloom-ken-1949-2nd-ed-new#p207

He wrote a television musical version of Little Women, followed by the quick flop (with a sometimes fine score) Kwamina, starring then-wife Sally Ann Howes. book:broadway-musicals-the-101-greatest-shows-of-all-time-bloom-ken-1949-vlastnik-fra#p261

KWAMINA [October 23, 1961] showed his potential as a composer of serious theatre work, as well as proving he could write alone; but nothing of worth has been attempted since. book:show-tunes-1905-1985-the-songs-shows-and-careers-of-steven-suskin-1st-ed-new-yor#p444

Watch Your Heart [music and lyric by Adler] —recorded as If You Win, You Lose; written for revival, revised version of What’s Wrong with Me from KWAMINA [October 23, 1961]; book:show-tunes-the-songs-shows-and-careers-of-broadway-s-suskin-steven-suskin-steven#p280

KWAMINA [October 23, 1961] showed his potential as a composer of serious theatre work, but nothing of worth has come along since. book:show-tunes-the-songs-shows-and-careers-of-broadway-s-suskin-steven-suskin-steven#p282

Passages naming this show, found by keyword across 178 books. Where this show turns up in the literature, not curated trivia about it.

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