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