The 1054 re-imagining of Homer's epics!
Encores! once again heads back into Broadway's archives for another long-lost musical; this time, the ambitious modern musical re-imagining of the Iliad and The Odyssey that first premiered in 1954. The Golden Apple introduces us to bored housewife Helen Of Troy, and the heroic, now dashing Ulysses, conquistador of the Spanish-American War. Revamped in a popular opera that would have Homer choking on his hummus, this musical is famous for introducing us to the legendary number Lazy Afternoon.
Composed by Jerome Moross and written by John Latouche, this cult musical made waves for its inventive relocation of the story in an American setting. Taking place at the turn of the century in Mt Olympus, Washington State, where a cutt-throat apple-pie baking contest has been thrown into disarray, thanks to the fancy-fee Helen running off with traveling salesman Paris. Determined to get her back home, Menelaus immediately hires reluctant war veteran Ulysses to fetch her - taking him a very long ten years!