Big band: the original orchestra for Hazel Flagg comprised 30-40 musicians

A University of Sheffield scholar has staged the European premiere of a long-forgotten American musical as part of a project combining research, teaching, outreach and postgraduate supervision.

Dominic McHugh, lecturer in musicology, is an expert on the Broadway musical. Following a study of My Fair Lady, he is now working on a book about Jule Styne (1905-94), the composer of dozens of songs featuring in musicals, including classics such as Funny Girl, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Gypsy. His songs include Diamonds Are a Girl鈥檚 Best Friend, Let It Snow! and Three Coins in the Fountain.

Since Styne was active from the 1940s to the 1990s, Dr McHugh said there are inevitably 鈥渁 number of forgotten gems鈥�. One was the Tony Award-winning 1953 musical Hazel Flagg, which ran for a 鈥渄isappointing but not embarrassing鈥� 190 performances, despite a team that included Ben Hecht (screenwriter of Gone With the Wind) and Bob Hilliard (lyricist of Disney鈥檚 Alice in Wonderland).

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At the time, the score of a show that 鈥渄idn鈥檛 have the legs鈥� for a national tour and a London run was not published; it was just taken out of the orchestra pit and put in a box. Despite being notable for 鈥渕issing pages, crossings out, scribbles鈥�, it found its way to the US Library of Congress, and was reconstructed as part of a research degree by student Matthew Malone.

This will lead to a full-scale performing edition of the musical (complete with a long essay on its genesis by Dr McHugh and variants in an appendix), which others can revive.

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The process of reconstruction has left Dr McHugh 鈥渁mazed by how lively the show is and how much dramatic pressure there is鈥�. He was also struck by the topicality of its theme of 鈥渓iving with the consequences of celebrity鈥�.

Mr Malone conducted costumed and semi-staged performances of Hazel Flagg in Sheffield鈥檚 Firth Hall on 2 and 3 December. The cast of 20 and 34 musicians were all students, many on Dr McHugh鈥檚 course.

鈥淲e needed to stage it to see what works,鈥� he explained, hoping that they will be able to feed back their findings into their edition of the score. But they are also 鈥渋nterested in recreating the original orchestration, an authentic 1950s sound with 30-40 musicians鈥� (something no longer viable in commercial productions), since 鈥減eople are not used to hearing such music played like that, with so much more orchestral colour鈥�.

Student participation is voluntary, but Dr McHugh still sees these productions as 鈥渆mbedded into my module on the Broadway musical鈥� and an excellent way of 鈥渢aking learning beyond the classroom鈥�.

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matthew.reisz@tesglobal.com