Show History

History

Inspiration

In addition to being inspired by contributors to the Poets in Public Service, Inc., Bring in the Morning followed the 1970s smash musical, The Me Nobody Knows, which took a similarly written look at the urban problems facing America at the time.

Productions

Bring in the Morning is a musical that is based on, and inspired by, the contributors to Poets in Public Services, Inc., and other material, with adaptation and lyrics by Herb Schapiro and music by Gary William Friedman. It chronicles the lives of a multi-racial ensemble of adolescents and near-adolescents, from age thirteen to the early twenties, their joys and desires, as well as the pressures, burdens and all-too-early lessons in heartache.

Initially, Bring in the Morning was given a reading in New York City as a part of the Musical Theatre Network's Broadway Dozen series in early 1994. Then, impressed by what they saw, producers picked it up for an April opening at the Off-Broadway Variety Arts Theatre in Manhattan's East Village. It ran from April 29, 1994, to June 5, 1995.

In November 1994, a somewhat revised Bring in the Morning played the historic Apollo Theatre in Harlem for a limited engagement.

Trivia

Bring in the Morning attracted many school groups during its Off-Broadway run. Students were bussed in to see the show on field trips and special evening events, with educators finding the musical's kind of self-expression and subject matter to be a positive role model.