Theatre Register
Pickwick

Pickwick

Shows · Pickwick

Based on Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers, the genial and naive Samuel Pickwick leads his fellow members of the Pickwick Club on a series of comic adventures through the English countryside. Along the way, Pickwick faces a breach-of-promise lawsuit from his scheming landlady Mrs. Bardell, endures a stint in debtor's prison, and encounters a colorful parade of Dickensian characters.

Opened
1965
Performances
56
Type
Musical
Era
Revolution
Music: Cyril OrnadelLyrics: Leslie BricusseBook: Wolf Mankowitz

Productions2 on Broadway

1927 Empire Theatre Original. September 5, 1927 · Campbell Gullan · predates this show 72 performances
1965 46th Street Theatre Revival. October 4, 1965 · Peter Coe 56 performances

Every Broadway staging held in broadway-data, sourced to IBDB. 1 of these predate the show itself and are almost certainly a different work of the same name. Shown, marked, not merged. West End runs are not yet held.

Licensing 2 entries

US Concord Theatricals Concord Theatricals available
UK Concord Theatricals Concord Theatricals available

Read from the licensor's own pages and catalogues. Rights move, and an empty row means we have not confirmed a publisher, not that the show cannot be licensed.

In the literature8 passages

David Merrick’s twin 1965 imports Roar of the Greasepaint (232 perfs) and Pickwick (with an astoundingly low 56). The producer recouped costs on both during extensive pre-Broadway tours, a trick he learned with his 1963 Oliver! book:more-opening-nights-on-broadway-a-critical-quotebook-of-compiled-by-steven-suski#p38

The musical was intended to follow the success of Oliver!, which it did not. book:the-golden-age-of-american-musical-theatre-1943-1965-naden-corinne-j-rowman-litt#p131

Golden Age musicals: As the 46th Street: Finian’s Rainbow, 1/10/47; Love Life, 10/7/48; Guys and Dolls, 11/10/50; Damn Yankees, 5/5/55; New Girl in Town, 5/14/57; Redhead, 2/5/59; Tenderloin, 10/17/60; Donnybrook!, 5/18/61; How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, 10/14/61; Do I Hear a Waltz?, 3/18/65; Pickwic… book:the-golden-age-of-american-musical-theatre-1943-1965-naden-corinne-j-rowman-litt#p209

Noteworthy musicals included “Baker Street,” “Half A Sixpence,” “Pickwick,” “Do I Hear A Waltz?,” “The Roar of The Greasepaint—The Smell of The Crowd,” “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever,” “Flora, The Red Menace,” and ‘‘Skyscraper.” book:a-pictorial-history-of-the-american-theatre-1860-1985-blum#p387

British dramatist, Stanley Young, had four unsuccessful plays produced on Broadway: Robin Landing (1937), Bright Rebel (1938), Ask My Friend Sandy (1943), and a dreary Dickens adaptation, Mr. Pickwick, in 1952. book:broadway-bound-a-guide-to-shows-that-died-aborning#p278

Dickens’ Pickwick Papers and fronted by Harry Secombe as the egg-shaped hero. Both would go on to Broadway. Halfa Sixpence lingered; Pickwick was sent home. book:west-end-broadway-the-golden-age-of-the-american-musical-adrian-wright-boydell-b#p223

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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