Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Based on Kurt Vonnegut's satirical novel, Eliot Rosewater sets out to expose the hypocrisy of modern society.

Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is an outrageous and savagely funny fantasy about people, their pleasures, pains and perversions, a penetrating satire on insanity – a millionaire's private lunacy. Featuring an infectious score by the Oscar- and Tony-winning team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Little Shop of Horrors), God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is a legendary collaboration between one of America's greatest novelists and the songwriting team behind some of the greatest hits of all time.

Eliot Rosewater, drunk, volunteer fireman and president of the fabulously rich Rosewater Foundation, is about to attempt a noble experiment with human nature, with a little help from writer, Kilgore Trout. The result is Vonnegut's funniest satire, an etched-in-acid portrayal of the greed, hypocrisy and follies of the flesh to which we are all heir.

Any fan of the music of Menken and Ashman will delight in producing this gem, which marked the first collaboration for the two. Full of unforgettable characters and a rich and hysterically funny story, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is a perfect choice for theatres that are looking for hidden greats of musical theatre.

Alan Menken speaks about his work:

"Of all the musicals I've composed scores for in my career God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is probably closest and dearest to my heart..."

Read more From Alan Menken

"... It was my very first commercially produced musical and, more importantly, my first collaboration with Howard Ashman. Adapted from Kurt Vonnegut's novella, it tells the story of Elliot Rosewater, the eccentric head of the Rosewater Foundation, son of Senator Rosewater, descendant of generations of wealthy and powerful Rosewater's, who finds in the poor and forgotten Americans in Rosewater Township, Indiana, the very people who most deserve his foundation's generosity. And that story struck a deep chord in both Howard and me. The fact that Kurt Vonnegut himself became creatively involved in our little musical was a total dream-come-true.

If you look (and listen) carefully, the seeds of our later work are all over this musical. It was the cradle from which we emerged to write Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin . We lost Howard Ashman way too soon, or that list of titles would have been much longer. That makes it all the more meaningful to me that, nearly 40 years after its creation, God Bless You Mr Rosewater now joins those other titles out in the world."

 

 

 

Concert Selections for Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

MTI is pleased to provide the pre-approved rental materials of select songs for your symphonic concert performance. Please note, MTI is unable to grant the necessary Performance Rights with this material rental. The Performance Rights needed must be obtained separately through the individual song’s respective small rights agency such as ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC. Please email concerts@mtishows.com with any questions.

  • First Performance Fee:
    $175
    Each Additional Performance:
    $100
    Music by
    Alan Menken
    Lyrics by
    Howard Ashman
    Dennis Green
    Orchestrated by
    Danny Troob
    show more...
    Arrangement Details
    Song Type: Show Extraction
    Starting Key
    C
    Estimated duration
    2 min 33 sec
    Instrumentation
    (3x) PIANO/CONDUCTOR SCORE, (1x) KEYBOARD 2, (1x) GUITAR (Acoustic), (1x) BASS (Electric), (1x) DRUMS

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Questions & Answers

May 03, 2021
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Related shows or resources: Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Encores orchestrations

Is it possible that the 2016 revival orchestrations will be available at any point in the future?

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September 02, 2020
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Related shows or resources: Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
checking on material arrival for wilkes university-mr. rosewater

shipping of materials for Mr. rosewater

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May 12, 2016
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Related shows or resources: Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Why has this show not been released?
The description for this show says that the general release date is unknown, yet I can't find it being shown anywhere. Is there some other reason that the show is not available? Being an Indiana theater close to Vonnegut's home town, we are interested in doing this show.
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