Baby
Three couples work their way towards parenthood under three VERY different sets of circumstances.
Show Essentials
6
Roles
+ Ensemble
PG
Rated
2
Acts

Full Synopsis

Act One

A young couple, unmarried college students, Danny and Lizzie, are moving into their basement apartment off-campus ("We Start Today").

The oldest of the three couples, Alan and Arlene, both in their forties, are recovering from too much champagne the night before, when they were celebrating their wedding anniversary. Reflecting on their middle age and their grown children, they, too, can now look forward to the future.

The third couple, both 30-year-old gym coaches, Nick and Pam, are in bed, discussing their urge and need to procreate, eventually crawling back under the covers.

The lights dim, and we hear the sound of an embryo's heartbeat. All three women are astonished. Each moves to her mate. The young college couple is stunned. The oldest pair is dubious. The jocks are joyous.

Danny and Lizzie discuss taking the step of getting married. He reasons that they should. Her reasoning: if they never marry, they'll never divorce ("What Could Be Better?"). In self-congratulatory fashion, they contemplate what musical talents, what looks, what brains the little one might inherit from two perfect specimens like themselves.

Alan and Arlene, dressed in jogging outfits, are exercising. They attempt to recall the night that they celebrated their anniversary with champagne (a whole bottle?) Well, she remembers, bottles number "one and two / I do recall / Three and four I don't recall at all." Alan is joyful and finds the prospect of a new family exciting. Arlene is concerned, perhaps a bit horrified, because of her age ("The Plaza Song").

Nick and Pam are pleased and giddy about their conception success ("Baby, Baby, Baby"). They are bolstered by the news because she thought that her athletic prowess made her unfeminine, unmotherly. Lights come up on Alan and Arlene dancing the cha-cha. As they are dancing, lights shift back to Nick and Pam as she remembers being teased as a tomboy when she was a child, but now she can prove that she's a woman and a mother.

A student ensemble injects commentary on Lizzie's condition, considering that maybe she's just lonely or flunking or crazy or Catholic... while she is speaking with her anxious mother on a pay phone. The scene shifts to the doctor's office, where all three expectant mothers meet. Pam is eagerly enjoying her pregnancy. They exchange details on themselves and their mates. Lizzie has every practical step of the way mapped out: an extension for her classwork, a postponement on assignments when she's to give birth, the advantages of nursing the baby ("free food") and, after three weeks, back to class with the kid – if need be – in a back pack ("I Want It All").

As dads-to-be, Nick consoles Danny, who wants to marry Lizzie, and advises him to give her air and give her space ("At Night She Comes Home to Me").

Danny itemizes his "history" of playing punk rock, dying his hair and wearing a nose ring, but now, when he expresses his desire to marry Lizzie for the child's sake, he's considered peculiar and out of step. The scene ends with a quick cut to an angry Pam slamming her basketball down after being told that her condition is not what she had hoped. She's not pregnant after all. Files got mixed. Crushed, she melts into her husband's arms.

Danny pleads with Lizzie for them to marry. When she refuses, he realizes that he must take the job that he was offered with a punk rock group (which he hates) in order to support them and their child out of wedlock.

Once again, the student chorus chimes in and comments on the passage of time. Now it's May.

Pam, now determined to find out what's wrong with her, why she cannot conceive, has decided to see a specialist. Cut to the doctor's office. The physician is adjusting to his new contact lenses and acts more like a patient than his patient. But the real patient, it seems, is not Pam, but Nick, who (after the doctor analyzes the sperm count) is "shooting duds." The physician suggests a strict regimen for their sex life as the scene fades.

Danny bursts onto a baseball field during a warmup among faculty members, wearing a punk costume and announcing that he has joined a band for a summer-long gig that will allow him to make "big bucks" for his kid ("Fatherhood Blues").

Despite his happiness at the prospect of being a father again, Alan understands Arlene's hesitancy of going through with the birth at their age. After raising three daughters, she wants a chance now just to be a couple again, to sell their house, to have a small apartment for two. He decides to seek a doctor for an abortion.

Danny is at the bus station, saying goodbye to Lizzie for his summer tour with the band.... Mr. Hart, a real estate broker, evaluates Alan and Arlene's home.... Nick and Pam are following the rules: no foreplay, no lubrication, one quick ejaculation and out ("Romance"). With his goodbye, Danny slips a ring onto Lizzie's finger ("I Chose Right"). Arlene announces to the realtor that the place is not for sale after all and that they'll need the extra space for the baby.

We see Lizzie at the mirror in her room, observing herself – obviously "in the family way." She stops, amazed, as she feels... "It moved!" Alone now, she sees that she has to face this on her own ("The Story Goes On").

 

Act Two

Mid-August. Lizzie, six-months pregnant and showing every moment of it, is confronted by women whom she meets on the street and who feel obligated to tell her about their own pregnancies, deliveries, and children — all in graphic detail that is rather off-putting for Lizzie ("The Ladies Singing Their Song").

Arlene, also six-months heavy with child, seriously looking inside herself, contemplates her life; expressing her fears, having her doubts, losing her nerve, but telling herself that she is fine ("Patterns").

Pam and Nick, in their bedroom, follow the doctor's instructions to the letter of the law, in between Nick reading passages from Moby Dick and Pam quoting rules and regulations from the fertility manual ("Romance –  Reprise"). The scene fades and comes up again on the pair. Now he's reading The Wizard of Oz. The regimentation is more than the pair can stand. They decide to abandon the procedures and both are relieved.

At the dinner table on their porch, Alan sits alone and contemplates how much simpler it is to love children than to love one's spouse. The demands between husbands and wives are so much more complicated because they see each other so clearly, whereas the children look upon their parents with admiration and a sense of awe ("Easier to Love").

The ensemble reflects on the season at hand, autumn.

The scene shifts to Lizzie and Danny's apartment, where he has just returned from his tour with the band. He empties his pockets, tossing bills and coins on the bed. She places his hand on her belly to allow him to feel the baby kick ("Two People in Love").

Alan and Arlene reassess their marriage, admitting their shortcomings — that they never indulged in extravagant expressions of love and emotion. Their love was always tempered with restraint. They are both astonished by their honesty and passion ("And What If We Had Loved Like That").

Lights come up on Danny and Lizzie. He is reading from a baby manual. Suddenly, she feels that she is going into labor. The birth. The nurses and doctor who are urging Lizzie to "push." The sound of a baby crying. Danny has witnessed the miracle and is in tears, overcome with emotion. Blackout, as a new generation begins.

 

 

Casting
← Back to Baby
Cast Size: Small (Up to 10 performers)
Cast Type: Ensemble Cast
Dance Requirements: Standard

Character Breakdown

Danny Hooper
A composer and baseball player in his Junior year of college. Lizzie's loving and supportive boyfriend.
Gender: male
Age: 18 to 25
Vocal range top: A4
Vocal range bottom: A2
Lizzie Fields
A composer in her Junior year of college. Danny's bright-eyed, loving, sincere girlfriend.
Gender: female
Age: 18 to 25
Vocal range top: F5
Vocal range bottom: G3
Alan Mcnalley
A college administrator fighting for the youth and for a second chance. Married to Arlene.
Gender: male
Age: 45 to 55
Vocal range top: F4
Vocal range bottom: B2
Arlene Mcnalley
Alan's wife, a dedicated community volunteer, who is weighing the aspects of a patterned life with children or an empty nest.
Gender: female
Age: 40 to 50
Vocal range top: Ab5
Vocal range bottom: B2
Pam Sakarian
A neurotic, eager, go-getting women's collegiate basketball coach desperately wanting a child. Married to Nick.
Gender: female
Age: 30 to 35
Vocal range top: F5
Vocal range bottom: G2
Nick Sakarian
Danny's collegiate baseball coach and Husband to Pam. Quirky and playful.
Gender: male
Age: 30 to 40
Vocal range top: F#4
Vocal range bottom: B2
Ensemble
Friends, Townspeople
Full Song List
Baby: We Start Today
Baby: What Could Be Better?
Baby: The Plaza Song
Baby: Baby, Baby, Baby
Baby: I Want It All
Baby: At Night She Comes Home To Me
Baby: Fatherhood Blues
Baby: Romance
Baby: I Know I Chose It Right
Baby: The Story Goes On
Baby: The Ladies Singing Their Song
Baby: Patterns
Baby: Easier To Love
Baby: Two People In Love
Baby: With You
Baby: And What If We Had Loved Like That

Show History

Inspiration

After cowriters, Maltby and David Shire, graduated from Yale, they wrote many songs together and created the musical revue, Starting Here, Starting Now. After the revue, they decided to create another musical so that they could be involved in the "creative authorship" of a new original work.

Productions

Baby opened on Broadway on December 4, 1983, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Directed by Richard Maltby, Jr., and choreographed by Wayne Cilento, it played for 276 performances. The original cast included Liz Callaway, Beth Fowler, Catherine Cox, James Congdon, Martin Vidnovic and Todd Graff. Baby used nothing more than a continuous curtain on figure-eight tracking to suggest the various locales. The orchestra was onstage and visible throughout.

An updated version of the musical was presented by the Paper Mill Playhouse in 2004. The cast included Carolee Carmello, Chad Kimball, LaChanze, Norm Lewis, Moeisha McGill and Michael Rupert. This version has also been presented internationally, in such countries as the Philippines and Brazil.

Trivia

  • For the national tour, several significant changes were made, including the elimination of a film that originally played in between scenes to show the development of a fetus.

Critical Reaction

"Shire writes with sophistication over a range that embraces rock, jazz and the best of Broadway schmaltz.... Maltby's lyrics are not just smart and funny, but often ingenious."
– New York Times

"Pearson's book is agreeably smart... it has style and energy, a rare combination."
– New York Post

Drama Desk Award

1984 - Outstanding Orchestration, Nominee (Jonathan Tunick)
1984 - Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Winner (Catherine Cox)
1984 - Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Nominee (Martin Vidnovic)
1984 - Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Winner (Martin P. Vidnovic)
1984 - Outstanding Musical, Nominee (Baby)
1984 - Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Winner (Catherine Cox)
1984 - Outstanding Music, Nominee (David Shire)
1984 - Outstanding Lyrics, Nominee (Richard Maltby)
1984 - Outstanding Lyrics, Nominee (Richard Maltby, Jr.)
1984 - Outstanding Music, Nominee (David Shire)
1984 - Outstanding Orchestrations, Nominee (Jonathan Tunick)
1984 - Outstanding Musical, Nominee ()

Tony® Award

1984 - Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Nominee (Todd Graff)
1984 - Best Score, Nominee (David Shire (music), Richard Maltby, Jr (lyrics))
1984 - Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Nominee (Liz Callaway)
1984 - Book Of A Musical, Nominee (Sybille Pearson)
1984 - Best Choreography, Nominee (Wayne Cilento)
1984 - Choreographer, Nominee (Wayne Cilento)
1984 - Best Direction Of A Musical, Nominee (Richard Maltby, Jr.)
1984 - Director Of A Musical, Nominee (Richard Matlby, Jr.)
1984 - Featured Actor In A Musical, Nominee (Todd Graff)
1984 - Featured Actress In A Musical, Nominee (Liz Callaway)
1984 - Musical, Nominee (James B. Freydberg, Ivan Bloch, Kenneth-John Productions, Suzanne J. Schwartz, Manuscript Productions (producers))
1984 - Best Musical, Nominee (Baby)
1984 - Best Book Of A Musical, Nominee (Sybille Pearson)
1984 - Best Original Score, Nominee (Music by David Shire; Lyrics by Richard Maltby, jr.)
1994 - Best Actress in a Musical, Nominee (Susan Egan)

Theatre World Award

1984 - Best Debut Performance, Winner (Todd Graff)

Connect

Billing

Based upon a story developed with Susan Yankowitz

Requirements

You must give the authors/creators billing credits, as specified in the Licence Agreement, in a conspicuous manner on the first page of credits in all programs and on house-boards, displays and in all other advertising announcements of any kind. You agree to supply to the Licensor full details of all such material for Licensor’s approval prior to printing and distribution and supply two (2) copies of the program after printing.
Percentages listed indicate required type size in relation to title size.
BABY
(100%)
 
Book by 
SYBILLE PEARSON
(50%)
Music by
 DAVID SHIRE
(50%)
Lyrics by
RICHARD MALTBY, JR.
(50%)
Based upon a story developed with Susan Yankowitz
(16.66%)
 
Originally Directed on Broadway by Richard Maltby, Jr. *
Produced on Broadway by James B. Freydberg and Ivan Bloch
Kenneth John Productions Inc., Suzanne J. Schwartz
in association with Manuscript Productions
 
The Author's billing shall be immediately below the title with no one receiving billing larger than or more prominent than the Authors except stars, the director and choreographer. No one shall precede the Authors except the producer and stars and the Authors shall receive credit whenever and wherever the director and producer recieve credit. * Mr. Maltby's credit for original direction shall be 50% of the size of the director's credit for the production.
The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited

Included Materials

ItemQuantity Included
LIBRETTO/VOCAL BOOK20
PIANO CONDUCTOR'S SCORE2

Production Resources

Resource
FULL SCORE VOL. 1 OF 4
FULL SCORE VOL. 2 OF 4
FULL SCORE VOL. 3 OF 4
FULL SCORE VOL. 4 OF 4
HOW DOES THE SHOW GO ON-10/CS
HOW DOES THE SHOW GO ON?
KEYBOARDTEK
PRODUCTIONPRO-DIGITAL SCRIPT/SCORE
REFERENCE RECORDING
STAGE MANAGER SCRIPT
STAGE WRITE APPLICATION

STANDARD ORCHESTRATION

InstrumentationDoubling
BASSELECTRIC BASS
CELLO(2 PLAYERS REQUIRED)
DRUMSBELL TREE , BELLS , CROTALES , DRUM KIT , GLOCKENSPIEL , SHAKER , TAMBOURINE , TIMPANI , TRIANGLE , XYLOPHONE
GUITARACOUSTIC GUITAR , ELECTRIC GUITAR , PEDAL STEEL GUITAR
HORN
KEYBOARD 1ACOUSTIC PIANO , SYNTHESIZER
KEYBOARD 2ELECTRIC PIANO , FENDER RHODES , SYNTHESIZER
KEYBOARD 3
REED 1ALTO FLUTE , ALTO SAXOPHONE , CLARINET , FLUTE , PICCOLO
REED 2CLARINET , ENGLISH HORN , FLUTE , OBOE , TENOR SAXOPHONE
REED 3BARITONE SAXOPHONE , BASS CLARINET , BASSOON , CLARINET , FLUTE
TROMBONE
TRUMPETFLUGELHORN , TRUMPET
TRUMPET 3FLUGELHORN , TRUMPET
VIOLIN(3 PLAYERS REQUIRED)