<<< Death Takes a Holiday poster.Photography and idea by Geof Kern;
Creative Direction by Drew Hodges, Vinny Sainato
in 1934, when the Hollywood movie Death Takes a Holiday opened, the New York Times critic, Mordaunt Hall (a playwright himself), called it “a really intelligent fantasy.” It was based on a 1928 Italian play by Alberto Casella (not known for anything else), and was successful despite the word “death” in its title, supposed to be anathema at the box office. That it wasn’t in this case was due, Hall speculated, to the close proximity of “holiday.”
The new musical on the same material still has both words in its title, and the words will have to battle it out once again. Never mind the title, though; what really matters are the music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, and the book by Thomas Meehan and Peter Stone; the latter, alas, victim of death not having taken a holiday.