The Nervous Set


The Nervous Set is a 1959 Broadway musical written by Jay Landesman and Theodore J. Flicker which centers on the Beat Generation. A wealthy publisher and his wife from a Connecticut suburb explore the Greenwich Village of New York City.

History

The musical was based on Landesman's unpublished novel, inspired by Landesman's experiences as part of the Beat Generation or Cool Generation. It premiered on March 10, 1959 in the Crystal Palace theatre, located in the Gaslight Square of St. Louis. The cast of the original production included Don Heller, Arlene Corwin, Tom Aldredge, Del Close, Janice Meshkoff, and Barry Primus. A Broadway producer Robert Lantz, after watching the St. Louis production, brought the musical to Broadway of New York City and cast Larry Hagman, Richard Hayes, Tani Seitz, Gerald Hiken, David Sallade, and the original St. Louis cast, including Heller, Corwin, and Primus as the background chorus and understudies. The New York City production lasted 23 performances.

Songs

Songs include "Ballad of the Sad Young Men", "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most", "Man, We're Beat", and "Laugh, I Thought I'd Die". An unused song "Pitch for Pot" features the controversial line, "I've got the finest grade of pot you've ever seen / I guarantee it'll get you high".
The lyrics were written by Fran Landesman, and the music was composed by Tommy Wolf.
The song "Ballad of the Sad Young Men" would be later recorded by many popular vocalists including Petula Clark, Roberta Flack, Shirley Bassey, and Rickie Lee Jones. Jazz vocalist Mark Murphy also included the song on his album, "Bop for Kerouac." "Ballad of the Sad Young Men" would be popular among gay bars.
Likewise "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" has become a modern standard, with countless cover versions over the decades by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Barbra Streisand, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler and Rickie Lee Jones.

Reception

The musical had mixed reception. The New York Daily News praised it as "most brilliant, sophisticated, witty, and completely novel", while the New York World-Telegram & Sun called it "weird". Billboard music critic Bob Rolontz praised three songs out of eighteen — "Ballad of the Sad Young Men", "I've Got to Learn About Life", and "Rejection"—as highlights of the musical.