View source for Kwamina

{{Short description|1961 musical by Richard Adler}}
{{for|the album featuring jazz interpretations of compositions from the musical|Kwamina (album)}}
{{Infobox Musical
|name= Kwamina
|image=Kwamina musical.jpg
|caption= Original Broadway Cast Album
|director= [[Robert Lewis (director)|Robert Lewis]]
|music= [[Richard Adler]]
|lyrics= [[Richard Adler]]
|book=[[Robert Alan Aurthur]]
|basis=
|premiere_date= {{start date and age|1961|10|23}}
|premiere_location=[[54th Street Theatre]]
|productions= 1961 [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]
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|awards= 
}}

'''''Kwamina''''' is a musical with the libretto by [[Robert Alan Aurthur]] and music and lyrics by [[Richard Adler]].

==Production==
The musical opened in out of town tryouts in [[Toronto]], where, as noted by [[Ken Mandelbaum]], "The reviews were promising",<ref name=carrie>Mandelbaum, Ken. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7oyEL8MBAcgC&dq=Adler+%22Kwamina%22&pg=PA126 ''Kwamina''] ''Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops'', Macmillan, 1992, {{ISBN|1466843276}}, p. 126</ref> and then ran in [[Boston]]. ''Kwamina'' premiered on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] at the [[54th Street Theatre]] on October 23, 1961, and closed on November 18, 1961, after 32 performances. The production starred [[Sally Ann Howes]], [[Terry Carter]], [[Robert Guillaume]], and [[Brock Peters]], and was directed by [[Robert Lewis (director)|Robert Lewis]] and choreographed by [[Agnes de Mille]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/show/detail/3731/kwamina# |title= 'Kwamina' Broadway|website=Playbill|access-date= June 6, 2016}}</ref> Mandelbaum noted that the Broadway reviews were "mixed but mostly negative", but did praise de Mille, her dancers, and the set.<ref name=carrie/>

==Synopsis==
The son of an African tribal chief returns home after attending medical school in London and finds his modern methods conflict with his village's traditions. He also butts heads with the village's white female doctor, but he ultimately falls in love with her.

==Original cast album==
The original cast album was recorded for Capitol Records on Monday, November 20, 1961 following the Saturday close two days earlier. A cast album had already been planned based on hopes that the show would be a hit, but Capitol Records, despite the extremely short run of the show, went ahead and made and released the album, and it has since reached a cult status. It has recently been made available for online download on [[iTunes]] and [[Amazon (company)|Amazon (UK)]].

Jazz pianist [[Billy Taylor]] released ''[[Kwamina (album)|The Original Jazz Score of Kwamina]]'' in 1961.

==Songs==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
;Act I
*"The Cocoa Bean Song" - Ako, Singers and Company
*"Welcome Home" - Singers, Spear Dancers and Company
*"The Sun is Beginning to Crow" - Company
*"Did You Hear That?" - Eve and Kwamina
*"You're As English As" - Eve
*"Seven Sheep, Four Red Shirts, and a Bottle of Gin" - Akufo, Singers, Dancers and Company
*"Nothing More To Look Forward To" - Ako and Naii
*"What's Wrong With Me?" - Eve
*"Something Big" - Kwamina and Company
*"Ordinary People" - Eve and Kwamina
*"A Man Can Have No Choice" - Obitsebi
*"What Happened to Me Tonight?" - Eve
{{Col-break}}
;Act II
*"One Wife" - Mammy Trader, Alla, Singers and Dancers
*"Nothing More to Look Forward To (Reprise)" - Naii
*"Something Big (Reprise)" - Company
*"Another Time, Another Place" - Eve
*"Fetish" - Obitsebi and Dancers

{{Col-end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Notes==
* ''You Gotta Have Heart'' by [[Richard Adler]].  1990
* ''Sing Out Louise!'' by Dennis McGovern & Deborah Grace Winer.  Schirmer Books, 1993.
* ''Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops'' by Ken Mandelbaum. St. Martin's Press, 1991
* ''Slings and Arrows: Theatre in My Life'' by Robert Lewis, Stein & Day, 1984. {{ISBN|0-8128-2965-4}}

==External links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|Kwamina_(musical).ogg|date=2019-10-3}}
* {{ibdb title|id=2889|title=Kwamina}}

[[Category:Broadway musicals]]
[[Category:1961 musicals]]
[[Category:Musicals by Richard Adler]]
[[Category:Musicals set in Africa]]


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