Vaudeville in two acts.
Book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner.

Synopsis
Song List
Performance Information
Recordings

The Cooper family: Front, Johnny (Johnny Stewart) and Elizabeth (Cheryl Archer).
Back, Susan (Nanette Fabray) and Sam (Ray Middleton).

Synopsis

Love Life tells the story of family values in America from colonial days to the mid-twentieth century. Samuel and Susan Cooper and their two children, who do not age, progress through different eras, and we see how their relationship changes and weakens as stress from outside the home grows. The scenes are interspersed with different kinds of vaudeville numbers (such as magic acts, vocal ensembles, a trapeze act) which comment on the story. At the end, Samuel and Susan are trying to save their marriage, their resolve strengthened by their hard-won knowledge of all the pressures that face them. Love Life is generally regarded as one of the first "concept" musicals.

Song list

Who is Samuel Cooper?
My Name is Samuel Cooper
Here I'll Stay
Progress
I Remember It Well
Green-Up Time
Economics
Mother's Getting Nervous
My Kind of Night
Women's Club Blues
Love Song
I'm Your Man
You Understand Me So
Madrigal - "Ho, Billy O!"
Is It Him or Is It Me?
This is the Life
The Minstrel Show - We're Sellin' Sunshine
Madame Zuzu
Takin' No Chances
Mr. Right

Performance Information

Cast: Singing roles -- Susan Cooper (soprano/belt), Sam Cooper (bass baritone), Elizabeth Cooper, Johnny Cooper, Mary Jo, George Hamilton Beacon, Jonathan Anderson, Charlie, Hank, Will, Tim, three children, Slade, Boylan, Harvey, Leffcourt, Miss Horoscope (coloratura soprano), Miss Mysticism, Miss Ideal Man, Mr. Cynic, ensemble of vaudevillians, townspeople, minstrels.
Speaking roles -- Magician, Walt, Trapeze Artist, William Taylor, dancers.
Orchestra: Reed 1 (fl, cl, alto sax), Reed 2 (cl, bass cl, alto sax, fl), Reed 3 (cl, ten. sax, fl, picc), Reed 4 (cl, ten. sax, ob), Reed 5 (cl, bar. sax, bn); 3 tpt, tbn; guitar (banjo), piano (accordion), timp & perc; strings (without violas).
Duration: full evening, 110 minutes music
Performance Rights and Rentals: All territories: KWF
First Production: October 7, 1948, New York, 46th Street Theater, Elia Kazan, dir., Joseph Littau, cond.

Guide to orchestration, territory abbreviations, and publishers' symbols.

Recordings