Song of Norway
Music of Edvard Grieg
Adaptation and lyrics by Robert Wright & George Forrest
Original Cast Recordings 1944–45

One of the fascinating things about the history of musical theatre is how the show that people initially set out to produce often bore little relation to the one that finally opened. That frequently happened to Edwin Lester and one of the most striking examples was Song of Norway.
Who was Mr. Lester? He was a lover of operetta who had stars in his eyes, schmaltz in his heart and—most importantly—money in his pocket. In 1938, he founded the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera and two years later, added an affiliate in San Francisco. The two theatres combined had a powerful subscription base and were capable of generating giant audiences. But Lester also had dreams of conquering Broadway and he