- Person
- Maurice Sendak
- Lived
- 1928–2012
- Field
- Children's Literature
- From
- American
The story
Maurice Sendak's childhood in Brooklyn fed much of his work. In 1960 he published The Sign on Rosie's Door, whose heroine, Rosie, would become one of his most beloved characters. Two years later came the Nutshell Library, a boxed set of four tiny books: Alligators All Around, an alphabet book; One Was Johnny, a counting book; Pierre; and Chicken Soup with Rice, a book of the months.
In the 1970s Sendak brought these characters together in a musical. He wrote the book and lyrics, and the singer-songwriter Carole King composed the music. Really Rosie aired on CBS on 19 February 1975 as an animated television special, with Sendak as writer, director and story artist. When casting directors struggled to find a child whose voice matched the pre-recorded songs, King herself voiced Rosie.
The story is set on a hot July day in Brooklyn. Rosie and the Nutshell Kids are bored, so Rosie invents a movie musical about her own life, casting her friends, Johnny, Alligator, Pierre, Kathy and Chicken Soup, in the parts. Arguments and a thunderstorm drive them into a cellar, where Rosie leads them in imagining the finale.
The soundtrack album, released by Ode Records in February 1975, reached number 20 on the Billboard 200, and it has long been praised as one that adults enjoy too. The special was named to the American Library Association's list of notable children's videos in 1976.
Sendak later expanded Really Rosie for the stage. An off-Broadway production directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch opened at the Westside Theatre on 14 October 1980 and ran for 274 performances, with the young Tisha Campbell as Rosie, and the show has been revived since. The animated special has remained available on video, often in collections of his work.
Turning his stories into songs gave children another way into them, through melody and rhyme as well as pictures, and it remains one of the best-loved adaptations of his work.
Why it matters
Really Rosie brought Sendak's stories to children through song, helping them learn while celebrating imagination and city childhood.
About Maurice Sendak
Author and illustrator of "Where the Wild Things Are"; redefined the picture book.
More about Maurice Sendak
- Sendak illustrated Little Bear and produced its TV seriesMaurice Sendak illustrated the first five Little Bear books by Else Holmelund Minarik and later co-created and produced the Little Bear television series (1995–2001).
- Sendak designed sets and costumes for major operasA lifelong music lover, Maurice Sendak designed sets and costumes for operas including Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges at Glyndebourne (1982) and Hansel and Gretel (1997).
- Sendak helped shape Sesame StreetMaurice Sendak was an early member of the national board of advisors of the Children's Television Workshop as Sesame Street was being developed, and created animations for it.
- Sendak made a picture book about the AIDS crisisIn 1993 Maurice Sendak published We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy, a picture book about the AIDS crisis.
- Sendak revived Brundibár, sung by children in TheresienstadtMaurice Sendak and Tony Kushner brought new life to Brundibár, a children's opera performed by Jewish children in the Theresienstadt camp, as a 2003 book and stage production.
Sources
- Maurice Sendak Wikipedia
- Really Rosie Wikipedia
Another act of tikkun olam. This is part of tikkun olam, the Jewish idea of repairing the world, and every one of us can add to it.