Hot Spot (musical) 1507326 215529601 2008-05-28T16:37:22Z 69.127.18.18 tweaked "insider" sounding language {{Infobox Musical |name= Hot Spot |subtitle= |image= |caption= |music= [[Mary Rodgers]] <br> [[Stephen Sondheim]] |lyrics= [[Martin Charnin]]<br> [[Stephen Sondheim]] |book= [[Jack Weinstock]] <br> [[Willie Gilbert]] |basis= |productions= [[1963]] [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] <!-- Please do not include production-specific (acting, directing, etc.) awards --> |awards= }} '''''Hot Spot''''' is a musical comedy with book by [[Jack Weinstock]] and [[Willie Gilbert]], lyrics by [[Martin Charnin]], music by [[Mary Rodgers]], and additional lyrics and music by [[Stephen Sondheim]]. It ran at the [[Majestic Theater]] in April and May, [[1963]]. The cast starred [[Judy Holliday]] and included [[Conrad Bain]], [[Joe Bova]], [[Joseph Campanella]], [[Mary Louise Wilson]], [[Carmen De Lavallade]], and [[George Furth]]. One of Broadway's most well-known flops, it had 58 "preview" performances, setting a record by cancelling its official opening 4 times, and then ran for only 43 "official" performances, or 5 weeks. The play marked Judy Holliday's final stage performance. (She was quoted as saying "You can only live through one or two Hot Spots in your life.") At least five directors worked on the show ([[Morton Da Costa]], [[Martin Charnin]], [[Robert Fryer]], [[Richard Quine]], [[Arthur Laurents]], [[Herbert Ross]]); Stephen Sondheim, a friend of Rodgers', was brought onto the creative team, resulting in the show's opening and closing number, "Don't Laugh". The show, a political satire, was inspired by the furor which erupted over comments made by a [[Peace Corps]] volunteer, Marjorie Michelmore, on a postcard she had written in [[Nigeria]] on [[13 October]] [[1961]], describing the primitive living conditions there. Nigerians were indignant, and some accused the volunteers of being [[United States|American]] spies. This led to the first public relations crisis for the Peace Corps. Marjorie Michelmore was fictionalized as Peace Corps hygeiene teacher "Sally Hopwinder" stationed in a fictional nation, "D'hum" with decent living conditions. She concocts a plan to obtain U.S. aid for D'hum by convincing the Pentagon that Russia is about to invade it. ==External links== *[http://www.peacecorpswriters.org/pages/2000/0001/001pchist.html Peace Corps page describing the actual postcard incident] *{{ibdb show|id=4506|title=Hot Spot}} ==References== *Mandelbaum, Ken, ''Not Since Carrie: 40 Years of Broadway Musical Flops'',St. Martin's Press, New York, 1991 ISBN 0-312-08273-8, pp. 63ff. {{Stephen Sondheim}} [[Category:1963 musicals]] [[Category:Broadway musicals]]