James Joyce's The Dead

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Cast Size

8w, 5m
Duration

120 minutes (2 hours)
Subgenre

Adaptations (Literature), Period
Target Audience

Adult, Senior, Teen (Age 14 - 18)

Accolades

Winner! 2000 Tony® Award for Best Musical Book.

Details

Summary

Adapted from Joyce's literary masterpiece set in 1904, the last and best known of the short stories collected in The Dubliners, this intimate musical portrays a homespun Yuletide party with Irish music, dancing, food, drink and good fellowship. Sparkling songs, many of them traditional sounding Irish melodies that are performed as entertainment by the partygoers, are all original. Christopher Walken starred in a production that moved from Playwrights Horizon to Broadway.

History

Jame's Joyce's THE DEAD first premiered Off Broadway at Playwright's Horizons in 1999. It then transferred to Broadway at the Belasco Theatre in 2000.

Cast Attributes

Keywords

Performing Groups

THE HOSTESSES
AUNT JULIA MORKAN - a music teacher
AUNT KATE MORKAN - her sister, also a music teacher
MARY JANE MORKAN - their neice, also a music teacher

THE FAMILY
GABRIEL CONROY - Julia and Kate's nephew
GRETTA CONROY - Gabriel's wife

THE GUESTS
MR. BROWNE - a friend of the Aunts
FREDDY MALINS
MRS. MALINS - Freddy's mother
MISS MOLLY IVORS
BARTELL D'ARCY - an opera singer

THE HELP
LILLY - the maid
MICHAEL - am music student of Mary Jane's
RITA - another student of Mary Jane's
CELLIST - a music student of Julia's
VIOLINIST - a music student of Kate's

GHOST
YOUNG JULIA MORKAN

Time Period 1900-1910
Setting The Misses Morkans' annual Christmas-time party. Dublin. Near the turn of the century.
Features Period Costumes
Additional Features Not Applicable
Duration 120 minutes (2 hours)
Cautions
- No Special Cautions

Media

"Triumphant.... A theatrical treat that enchants, surprises and finally thrills with unexpected depth.... It is Joyce made manifest ... providing sequence after sequence of heart stopping drama." - The New York Post

"The season's hottest ticket.... An elegant ... marvelous job of musicalizing The Dead." - The New York Daily News

"Achieves a soft spoken air of intimacy that has you leaning forward like a fascinated eavesdropper.... The Dead is quite revolutionary: a musical that dares to be different [and] successfully claims new ground.... It is a reason to celebrate." - The New York Times

Videos

James Joyce's The Dead

Music

Song Samples

Overture

Killarney's Lakes

Kate Kearney

Parnell's Plight

When Lovely Lady

The Three Jolly Pigeons

Goldenhair

Flute (doubling Alto Flute)
Oboe (doubling English Horn)
Percussion
Guitar
Keyboard (Synthesizer and Harmonium)
Piano
Violin
Cello

Musical Style Classic Broadway
Vocal DemandsModerate
Orchestra Size Medium
Chorus Size No Chorus

Licensing & Materials

Licensing fees and rental materials quoted upon application.

Music Rentals

Concord offers a full suite of resources to help you put on the show of a lifetime!

14 Piano-Vocal

1 Flute
1 Oboe
1 Percussion
1 Guitar
1 Keyboard (Synthesizer and Harmonium)
1 Piano
1 Violin
1 Cello

Full Conductor Score available upon request (additional fees apply)

14 Piano-Vocal

Scripts

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Add-Ons

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Authors

Shaun Davey

James Joyce

Richard Nelson

Richard Nelson's plays include The Gabriel Plays (Women Of A Certain Age, What Did You Expect?, Hungry), Oblivion, Nikolai And The Others, The Apple Family Plays (That Hopey Changey Thing, Sweet And Sad, Regular Singing), Farewell To The Theatre, Conversations In Tusculum, Fr ...

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James Joyce's The Dead