But Never Jam Today

But Never Jam Today
Music	Bert Keyes and Bob Larimer
Lyrics	Bob Larimer
Book	Vinnette Carroll & Bob Larimer
Basis	Works of Lewis Carroll
Productions	1979 Broadway

But Never Jam Today was a 1979 musical with music by Bert Keyes and Bob Larimer, lyrics by Larimer, and a book by both Larimer and Vinnette Carroll.^[1] The musical is based on the works of Lewis Carroll, and takes its title from the "jam tomorrow" discussion in Carroll's 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass.

Background

A musical by Micki Grant entitled Alice was the previous musical work of Alice's adventures, which premiered on May 31, 1978 in Philadelphia in a pre-Broadway tryout.

Production

It opened on July 31, 1979, at the Longacre Theatre, produced by Arch Nadler, Anita MacShane, and The Urban Arts Theatre at the Longacre Theatre.^[2] The show closed on August 5, 1979, after only eight performances. The original theatrical poster was designed by David Edward Byrd, the last poster he created before leaving New York for Los Angeles.

The show was directed and devised by Vinnette Carroll, with choreography by Talley Beatty, musical direction and incidental music by Donald O. Johnston, set and costume design by William Schroder, lighting design by Ken Billington, choral arrangement and vocal preparation by Cleavant Derricks, sound design by T. Richard Fitzgerald, orchestrations by Bert Keyes, special orchestration by H. B. Barnum and Larry Black, dance music by Barnum, production manager Robert L. Borod, stage manager Robert Charles, and press by Alpert/Levine and Mark Goldstaub.

The show starred Marilynn Winbush (Alice), Cleavant Derricks, (Caterpillar, Cook, Tweedledee, Seven of Spades), Lynne Thigpen (Persona Non Grata), Lynne Clifton-Allen (Black Queen), Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter (White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat, Mock Turtle), Reginald VelJohnson (Duchess, Humpty-Dumpty, King of Hearts), Jai Oscar St. John (Mad Hatter, Tweedledum, Two of Spades), Sheila Ellis (March Hare, Five of Spades, Cook), Celestine DeSaussure (Dormouse, Cook), and Charlene Harris (White Queen, Queen of Hearts). The Mushrooms were Brenda Braxton, Clayton Strange, Sharon K. Brooks, Garry Q. Lewis, Celestine DeSaussure, and Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter. The Guards were Clayton Strange and Garry Q. Lewis.

Scenes

Act I

• Scene 1 - Down the rabbit hole
• Scene 2 - Interview with a Caterpillar (square 1)
• Scene 3 - The Black Queen (Square 2)
• Scene 4 - The Kitchen of the Duchess (Square 3)
• Scene 5 - The Cheshire Cat
• Scene 6 - A Mad Party (Square 4)
• Scene 7 - The White Queen (Square 5)
• Scene 8 - Humpty Dumpty
• Scene 9 - Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Square 6)

Act II

• Scene 1 - The Queen of Hearts's croquet ground
• Scene 2 - The Queen's Dungeon
• Scene 3 - The Mock Turtle (Square 7)
• Scene 4 - The Queen's dungeon
• Scene 5 - An examination (Square 8)
• Scene 6 - Alice's reward
• Scene 7 - The daydream ends

Musical numbers

Act 1 Curiouser and Curiouser - Alice Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star - Caterpillar, Persona Non Grata, Company Long Live The Queen - Black Queen, Alice A Real Life Lullabye - Duchess, Cooks The More I See People - Cheshire Cat My Little Room - Alice But Never Jam Today - White Queen, Alice Riding For A Fall - Persona Non Grata, Humpty Dumpty, Alice All The Same To Me- Tweedledee, Tweedledum I've Got My Orders - Alice

Act 2 God Could Give Me Anything - Two, Five, Seven of Spades But Never Jam Today (Reprise) - Company, Persona Non Grata I Like To Win - Alice And They All Call The Hatter Mad - Persona Non Grata Jumping From Rock To Rock - Mock Turtle, Alice, Company They - Two, Five, Seven of Spades Long Live The Company (Reprise) - Company I've Got My Orders (Reprise) - Alice, Company

Bibliography

• "The Best Plays of 1979-1980". Dodd, Mead & Company, 1980, pp. 357–359. ISBN 0-396-07907-5.

References

1. Gussow, Mel (August 1, 1979). "Stage: 'Never Jam Today' By Vinnette Carroll". The New York Times. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
2. Peterson, Bernard L. (1993). A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, Or Involving African Americans p. 64. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-3132-6657-7.

External links

• Listen to songs from the show
• ​But Never Jam Today​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• ​But Never Jam Today​ at the Playbill Vault