Information

Show Credits: Music and Lyrics by Tom Lehrer
Adapted by Robin Ray and Cameron Mackintosh
Musical Arrangements by Chris Walker and Robert Fisher

Description: Four actors, stools, a piano and a healthy dose of attitude are all you need to enter the witty, wicked, offbeat and thoroughly twisted world of famed satirical songwriter Tom Lehrer.

In concerts, television appearances and a series of now-classic recordings, the Harvard-educated math professor delighted millions of fans during the 1950's and 60's with his dry, cynical but good-humored attacks on the A-bomb, racism, pollution, pornography, the military, the boy scouts and, of course, mathematics.

Nothing is sacred in this hysterical revue featuring such Lehrer favorites as “Poisoning Pigeons In The Park,” “When You Are Old And Grey,” “The Masochism Tango,” “The Old Dope Peddler,” “The Vatican Rag” and an unforgettable Gilbert and Sullivan-esque recitation of the table of elements, linked together with his own inimitable concert patter.

Rediscover the man and songs that have delighted and skewered the world for over forty years in TOMFOOLERY!

Insight from the experts Staging Tip: The selection of songs and their assignment to specific cast members varied somewhat among the many productions of TOMFOOLERY, which has made it difficult to decide on a definitive script. The running order in the Boston production seemed the most satisfactory, however, and so it was decided rather arbitrarily to base the published script on that version. This in turn meant that in assigning character names to the four cast members it was simplest to use the names of the Boston cast. This was merely a matter of convenience and in no way reflects on the relative merits of the various casts. The songs and the spoken links between them may, of course, be distributed differently, according to the strengths of the individual performers, in which case it may be necessary to alter the running order somewhat.

Since the songs are clearly identified as having been written some time ago, the temptation to update lines or lyrics should be resisted, except perhaps in cases where the passage of time has rendered meaningless the original reference.