Harvey
- New York: Oxford University Press, 1953
New York: Oxford University Press, 1953. HARVEY Will Make a Musical..."
A Remarkable Mary Chase Letter to Leslie Bricusse
Discussing a Proposed Musical Adaptation of Harvey
CHASE, Mary Chase. Harvey. A Play by Mary Chase. Illustrated by Blechman. New York: Oxford University Press, 1953.
First edition. Octavo (9 1/4 x 6 inches; 235 x 152 mm.). [vi], [1-2], 3-89, [1] pp. Illustrated title-page and text decorations by Blechman.
Publisher's original black cloth over boards, front cover and spine decoratively lettered in pink. Top of spine with a short closed tear, paper-stain to blank front endpapers from an old clipping. A very good copy in the original pictorial dust jacket, jacket worn at folds with front panel nearly detached but still present and visually striking.
Laid into the volume is an exceptional typed letter signed by Mary Chase to Leslie Bricusse, dated: "June 10, 1980
805 Tenderfoot Hill Rd Denver, Colo".
The lengthy and highly personal letter discusses the possibility of adapting Harvey into a musical and reveals Chase's admiration for Bricusse's songwriting and theatrical sensibility. In part: "HARVEY will make a musical but a truly fine one. My congratulations and my gratitude. It is the possible dream..."
Chase goes on to praise Bricusse's lyrics for Man of La Mancha: "There must have been deep inside my consciousness and the line 'I'm only thinking of him' and the line 'Hollywood is a modern Don Quixote'..."
Most significantly, she reflects thoughtfully on the dangers of over-expanding the central conceit of Harvey for the musical stage: "The contribution I might make now to the script would be for me to advise you against overdoing Harvey to the final curtain... the first half then the shadowy cross of a rabbit at the curtain..."
She concludes warmly: "Believe me, Leslie, I am grateful."
A superb literary and theatrical association piece documenting a serious attempt to transform one of the most beloved American plays of the twentieth century into a musical vehicle for Leslie Bricusse.
First produced on Broadway in 1944, Harvey became an enduring theatrical classic and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The story of Elwood P. Dowd and his invisible six-foot rabbit entered American cultural mythology through both the original stage success and the celebrated 1950 film adaptation starring James Stewart.
The present letter offers rare insight into Mary Chase's own thinking about adapting Harvey for musical theater and preserves an intimate creative exchange between two major figures of stage entertainment.
An extraordinary association copy, elevated by one of the most revealing and substantive letters to Leslie Bricusse yet encountered.
A Remarkable Mary Chase Letter to Leslie Bricusse
Discussing a Proposed Musical Adaptation of Harvey
CHASE, Mary Chase. Harvey. A Play by Mary Chase. Illustrated by Blechman. New York: Oxford University Press, 1953.
First edition. Octavo (9 1/4 x 6 inches; 235 x 152 mm.). [vi], [1-2], 3-89, [1] pp. Illustrated title-page and text decorations by Blechman.
Publisher's original black cloth over boards, front cover and spine decoratively lettered in pink. Top of spine with a short closed tear, paper-stain to blank front endpapers from an old clipping. A very good copy in the original pictorial dust jacket, jacket worn at folds with front panel nearly detached but still present and visually striking.
Laid into the volume is an exceptional typed letter signed by Mary Chase to Leslie Bricusse, dated: "June 10, 1980
805 Tenderfoot Hill Rd Denver, Colo".
The lengthy and highly personal letter discusses the possibility of adapting Harvey into a musical and reveals Chase's admiration for Bricusse's songwriting and theatrical sensibility. In part: "HARVEY will make a musical but a truly fine one. My congratulations and my gratitude. It is the possible dream..."
Chase goes on to praise Bricusse's lyrics for Man of La Mancha: "There must have been deep inside my consciousness and the line 'I'm only thinking of him' and the line 'Hollywood is a modern Don Quixote'..."
Most significantly, she reflects thoughtfully on the dangers of over-expanding the central conceit of Harvey for the musical stage: "The contribution I might make now to the script would be for me to advise you against overdoing Harvey to the final curtain... the first half then the shadowy cross of a rabbit at the curtain..."
She concludes warmly: "Believe me, Leslie, I am grateful."
A superb literary and theatrical association piece documenting a serious attempt to transform one of the most beloved American plays of the twentieth century into a musical vehicle for Leslie Bricusse.
First produced on Broadway in 1944, Harvey became an enduring theatrical classic and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The story of Elwood P. Dowd and his invisible six-foot rabbit entered American cultural mythology through both the original stage success and the celebrated 1950 film adaptation starring James Stewart.
The present letter offers rare insight into Mary Chase's own thinking about adapting Harvey for musical theater and preserves an intimate creative exchange between two major figures of stage entertainment.
An extraordinary association copy, elevated by one of the most revealing and substantive letters to Leslie Bricusse yet encountered.
Details
Title
Harvey
Author
CHASE, Mary; BLECHMAN, illustrator
Condition
Unknown
Publisher
New York: Oxford University Press, 1953