From the authors —
There’s something close to a fairytale residing in Quality Street . Set in a small English town during the Napoleonic Wars, the story is dressed with more than a hint of fantasy. And, like Peter Pan and much of Barrie’s work, the notion of transformation, the longing for youth—a chance to repair lost opportunity, and the distancing from the modern world are all very much a part of the play.
Barrie's Quality Street has long been regarded with affection, even inspiring a famous brand of candy.
And, along with a couple of movie adaptations, the play has had songs added before, notably
Dear Miss Phoebe in the early 1950s which showcased a few gentle operetta numbers.
But after so much history, we wanted to embolden the work with more musical weight and
music theatre invention. So we set out to embrace the whimsy and
romanticism of Barrie’s charming play with a worthy libretto and melodic score
developed in the Rodgers and Hammerstein tradition. The show offers challenging
singing for the cast, but retains classic musical theatre roots and a sense of fun.
Our Quality Street was first developed in New York City in the 1990s by
Musical Theatre Works and later presented as part of The National Alliance of Musical Theatre Festival . That was followed by a presentation at
The Stamford Arts Center and subsequently by The York Theatre Company . This newly completed version of the musical returns to the full original script, with the complete score restored and realized in
detail in preparation for orchestration.
Download the perusal script
here .
Download the perusal piano/vocal
score
here .