Why it Matters

 

A Musical Ahead of its Time

 

Love Life is widely regarded as the first “concept musical”—a form that would later shape works such as Cabaret, Follies, and Chicago. By blending a continuous dramatic story with vaudeville-style commentary, Kurt Weill (1900-1950; composer of The Threepenny Opera) and Alan Jay Lerner  (1918-1986; bookwriter and lyricist for My Fair Lady) created a structure that broke decisively from the conventions of musical comedy. Rather than advancing plot through linear romance, Love Life examines marriage, society, and progress across generations, using theatrical form itself as an expressive tool.

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A Story Told in a New Way

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“Love Life is a vaudeville. It is presented in two parts, each consisting of a series of acts. The sketches, which start in 1791 and come up to the present day, are presented in the physical style of the various periods. The four main characters do not change in appearance as time moves on.”   [From the original Broadway program]

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A Lost Work

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The show premiered at the 46th Street Theater in October 1948, closing in May 1949 after 252 performances. Starring Ray Middleton and Nanette Fabray (who won the Tony for best actress in a musical), Love Life was directed by Elia Kazan, choreographed by Michael Kidd, and designed by Boris Aronson.

    

Despite its success, a musicians’ union action prevented a cast recording, and an ASCAP boycott severely limited radio play. As a result, Love Life became one of the most influential American musicals that audiences could not easily see or hear—its reputation preserved largely through critical writing rather than performance.

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A Work That Still Speaks Today

 

“What Lerner and Weill have done is to compose a sort of sociology of marriage, emphasizing the effect of the industrial age and economic pressures, including women’s entry into the business world. ‘Economics,’ says the musical, is ‘tough on love,’ and this is a far cry from the sentimental celebrations of love and romance indigenous to musical comedy even at its best, as in Show Boat, Oklahoma!, and Carousel.”    —Theater historian John Gassner, January 1949