The Idea (musical)

The Idea is a musical with words and music by Joseph Hart.

The original production, featuring Frederick Hallen and Joseph Hart, was produced by Hallen in Boston in the fall 1892. It then opened in New York City at the Fourteenth Street Theatre on April 9, 1893 and was still playing there in October.

In 1894, a revival played in Chicago.

Roles and New York cast

The opening night cast in New York was as follows:

Songs

Based on the sheet music, the songs included:

The Idea

The Idea may refer to:

The Idea (wordless novel)

The Idea (French: Idée, sa naisance, sa vie, sa mort, "Idea, her birth, her life, her death") is a 1920 wordless novel by Flemish artist Frans Masereel (1889–1972). In eighty-three woodcut prints, the book tells an allegory of a man's idea, which takes the form of a naked woman who goes out into the world; the authorities try to suppress her nakedness, and execute a man who stands up for her. Her image is spread through the mass media, inciting a disruption of the social order. Filmmaker Berthold Bartosch made an animated adaptation in 1932.

Overview

An artist is struck with an idea, which manifests itself as a naked woman with long, black hair. He displays her to the public, but the authorities, offended by her nudity, chase her around the city in order to cover up her body. A man who is not offended by her nudity takes to the woman's side, and the two fight injustice together; the man is caught and executed. The authorities destroy all books published with the woman's image, but she finds new outlets in the mass media, and succeeds in disrupting the social order. The woman returns to the artist, who has a new idea—a white-haired woman. He frames and hangs the black-haired woman on the wall, and releases the white-haired woman to the public.

The Idea (1932 film)

The Idea (French: L'Idée) is a 1932 French animated film by Austro-Hungarian filmmaker Berthold Bartosch (1893–1968), based on the 1920 wordless novel of the same name by Flemish artist Frans Masereel (1889–1972). The protagonist is a naked woman who represents a thinker's idea; as she goes out into the world, the frightened authorities unsuccessfully try to cover up her nudity. A man who stands up for her is executed, and violent suppression by big business greets a workers' revolution she inspires.

Bartosch spent two years animating the film, initially in collaboration with Masereel. Bartosch used complicated techniques with multiple layers of superimposed animation to create the intricately detailed film. The film features an electronic music score by Swiss composer Arthur Honegger (1892–1955), possibly the earliest in film history.

Synopsis

A thinker sits by a window, and an idea comes to him in the form of a doll-sized naked woman. The thinker puts the woman in an envelope and sends her out into the world. She finds herself in an office building, where the frightened authorities attempt to clothe her, but she soon sheds the clothing. She becomes involved with a young working class man, and he appeals to the people on her behalf; he is captured and executed, and his coffin is carried through the streets by the people. Another man presses her into a book, and delivers handbills of her to the frightened people. She is captured by a businessman, and armed soldiers are sent to put down a revolution of the people; the people are suppressed, and the woman, now white-haired, becomes a star and drifts into the cosmos.