A Class Act is a musical with a book by Linda Kline and Lonny Price and music and lyrics by Edward Kleban. The musical is based on the life of composer-lyricist Ed Kleban, who died at the age of 48 in 1987. The musical uses flashbacks and the device of time running backwards to retrace the high and low points of Kleban's personal and professional life. The production was stitched together by Kleban's friend Kline and by Price using a trunkful of songs that Kleban wrote for a number of musicals that never were produced. In addition to serving as a tribute to one of the award-winning collaborators of A Chorus Line , A Class Act provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how a musical is created and brought to the stage and offers a warning about how an artist’s personal life—including struggles with mental illness and cancer—can interfere with, obstruct, and doom his professional pursuits.

A CLASS ACT TICKETS Trans-Siberian Orchestra The Eagles Tickets Sebastian Maniscalco Tickets Andrea Bocelli Tickets Rod Wave Tickets Jeff Dunham Tickets

Production

The musical was initially produced Off-Broadway by the Manhattan Theatre Club at Stage II, opening on October 3 2000 and running through December 10, 2000. The Off-Broadway cast, under Price's direction, included Price as Ed Kleban, Randy Graff (Sophie), Jonathan Freema (Lehman Engel), Carolee Carmello (Lucy), Ray Wills (Charlie and Marvin Hamlisch), Julia Murney (Felicia), Nancy Anderson (Mona), and David Hibbard (Bobby and Michael Bennett). A Class Act transferred to the Ambassador Theatre on Broadway, where it opened on March 11 2001 and ran for 30 previews and 105 regular performances. Price, Graff, Hibbard, and Anderson were retained from the Off-Broadway company, with Patrick Quinn replacing Freeman, Donna Bullock replacing Carmello, Jeff Blumenkrantz replacing Wills, and Sara Ramirez replacing Murney.

Plot

In 1988, a memorial service to Ed Kleban is being held at the Shubert Theatre. Ed appears at his own memorial. His friends and colleagues remember him and think back over the past. As the time shifts backwards, the friends reminisce about the songwriting workshop held by Lehman Engel (B.M.I. Workshop). As Ed interacts with the people in his life, he deals with ambitions, success, failures, and loves.

Characters

• Ed – Edward Kleban, lyricist and composer
• Sophie – Ed's oldest friend and first love, an oncologist
• Lehman Engel – head of the songwriting workshop
• Michael Bennett – director/ choregrapher of A Chorus Line
• Marvin Hamlisch – composer of A Chorus Line
• Lucy – Ed's last significant other, member of the BMI Workshop
• Felicia – Ed's boss at Colombia Records, member of the BMI Workshop
• Bobby – Ed's best friend, member of the BMI Workshop
• Charlie – a friend from the workshop, member of the BMI Workshop
• Mona – one of Ed's many love affairs, member of the BMI Workshop

Song list

;Act I Light on My Feet – Ed and Company The Fountain in the Garden – Company One More Beautiful Song – Ed and Sophie Fridays at Four – Company Bobby's Song – Bobby Charm Song – Lehman and Company Paris Through The Window – Ed, Bobby and Charley Mona – Mona Under Separate Cover – Sophie, Lucy and Ed Don't Do It Again – Felicia and Ed Gauguin's Shoes – Ed and Company Don't Do It Again (Reprise) – Lehman Follow Your Star – Sophie and Ed

;Act II Better – Ed and Company Scintillating Sophie – Ed The Next Best Thing To Love – Sophie Broadway Boogie Woogie – Lucy Better (Reprise) – Ed and Company I Choose You – Ed and Lucy The Nightmare – Ed Say Something Funny – Company When the Dawn Breaks – Ed Self Portrait – Ed

Recording

A recording by the Off-Broadway cast was released by RCA Victor Broadway on February 20, 2001.

Nominations

Tony Award for

• Best Musical
• Best Book of a Musical
• Best Original Score
• Best Actress in a Musical (Graff)
• Best Orchestrations

Drama Desk Award for

• Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (Graff)
• Outstanding Lyrics
• Outstanding Music