Information

Show Credits: Book by Gary Pearle and Mary Kyte and Mel Marvin
Music by Various
Lyrics by Various

Description: The growing pains of a nation are chronicled in this grand pageant of pre-World War I America--told in the exuberant words and music of the day.

Like RAGTIME, this nostalgic (but thrillingly subversive revue) takes us back to turn of the century America. Remember when the innocent, slower-paced days of ice cream socials and hoop skirts were giving way to a bustling world of automobiles, electricity and the telephone? Remember the American optimism and ingenuity than ran high in leaders like J.P. Morgan, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford? However, this was also a time of growing social turmoil, as increased immigration began to change the cultural and ethnic makeup of the nation.

The story of these changing times blazes to life in a tuneful, high-spirited brew of popular songs from 1890 to 1917, performed by five archetypes of the period: Anna Held, the beautiful music hall star; Emma Goldman, the notorious socialist; a black domestic worker; a Chaplin-esque Russian immigrant; and the outrageous Teddy Roosevelt, the youngest man ever to be elected President.

Despite its small cast, orchestra and unit set, TINTYPES is an epic work about the end of an era.

Accolades/
Awards: The show won several Obies, the coveted off-Broadway award, and was nominated for a Best Musical Tony upon its transfer in late 1980.