A Message from Arnold Mittelman After a career in not-for-profit and commercial theater spanning more than 40 years I was honored in 2007 to found the National Jewish Theater / Foundation and in 2010 to assume leadership of its Holocaust Theater International...
The Grand Tour
The Grand Tour is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman.
Based on S. N. Behrman's play Jacobowsky and the Colonel, the story concerns an unlikely pair. S.L. Jacobowsky, a Polish-Jewish intellectual, has purchased a car he cannot drive. Stjerbinsky, an aristocratic, anti-Semitic colonel, knows how to drive but has no car. When the two men meet at a Paris hotel, they agree to join forces in order to escape the approaching Nazis. Together with the Colonel’s girlfriend, Marianne, they experience many adventures while on the road, but trouble ensues when Jacobowsky falls in love with the young girl.
Format: Musical
Cast Size:5M, 4W
Running Time: 120 minutes
Character breakdown:
- S. L. Jacobowski
- Colonel Tadeusz Boleslav Stjerbinsky
- Marianne
- Mme. Vauclain/Mme. Manzoni/Bride’s Aunt
- Captain Meuller
- Claudine
- Szabuniewicz
Notes:
The Grand Tour premiered in San Francisco for a tryout engagement in November-December, 1978.
The musical premiered on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on January 11, 1979 and closed on March 4, 1979 after 61 performances and seventeen previews. Directed by Gerald Freedman and choreographed by Donald Saddler, the cast included Joel Grey, Ron Holgate, and Florence Lacey.
Jewish Repertory Theatre production at 316 E. 91st Street, New York City. June 14th, 1988
http://iobdb.com/Production/1552
A concert revival at JRT on January 23-26th, 2003 at the Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th Street on January 23-26th, 2003.
There was a 2015 production in the Netherlands.
Snapshot
Original or Prominent Production:
The musical premiered on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on January 11, 1979. Jewish Repertory Theatre, New York City, 1988, A concert revival at JRT at the Center for Jewish History, 2003.
The musical premiered on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on January 11, 1979. Jewish Repertory Theatre, New York City, 1988, A concert revival at JRT at the Center for Jewish History, 2003.
Original Source Material: S. N. Behrman's play Jacobowsky and the Colonel
Nationality of Author: U.S.
Original Language: English
Publisher:
Samuel French
Production Rights Holder:
Samuel French
HTC Insights
Views, reference and research of interest.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The National Jewish Theater Foundation presented its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award to Alfred Uhry. The presentation took place as part of the Lincoln Center Library event on January 27th 2025 in commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz
Lifetime Achievement Award
On September 30, 2024, French playwright, Mr. Jean Claude Grumberg received the Lifetime Achievement Award. It was presented by NJTF HTII President, Arnold Mittelman with Dominique Trimbur, PhD-Manager for the History of Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, Teaching of the Holocaust of Fondation Pour La Memoir de la Shoah Project.