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{{Infobox stage production
| name           = The Last Sweet Days of Isaac
| image          = The Last Sweet Days of Isaac original soundtrack album cover.jpg
| image_size     = 200px
| alt            =
| caption        = Original broadway cast soundtrack
| company        =
| genre          = musical
| type           =
| premiere       = January 26, 1970
| finalshow      = May 2, 1971
| location       = Eastside Playhouse, New York
| creatortitle1  = book
| creatorname1   = [[Gretchen Cryer]]
| creatortitle2  = lyrics
| creatorname2   = Gretchen Cryer
| creatortitle3  = music
| creatorname3   = Nancy Ford
| creatortitle4  = director
| creatorname4   = [[Word Baker]]
| creatortitle5  = producers
| creatorname5   = [[Haila Stoddard]], [[Mark Wright (theatre)|Mark Wright]], [[Duane Wilder]]
| otherlabel1    =
| otherdata1     =
| otherlabel2    =
| otherdata2     =
| website        =
}}
'''''The Last Sweet Days of Isaac''''' is an American [[Off-Broadway]] [[Rock music|rock]] musical by [[Gretchen Cryer]] and Nancy Ford, which premiered in 1970. It starred [[Austin Pendleton]] and Fredricka Weber, and later [[Alice Playten]]. It received positive reviews, and won three [[Obie Award|Obies]], a [[Drama Desk Award]], and an [[Outer Critics Circle Award]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=3568 |title=Lortel Archives--The Internet Off-Broadway Database |website=www.lortel.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061001214429/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=3568 |archive-date=2006-10-01}} </ref> It opened at the Eastside Playhouse on January 26, 1970, and closed May 2, 1971.
==Plot summary==
===Part I===
Isaac Bernstein (Pendleton) imagines himself at the brink of an untimely death, and determines to make every subsequent moment a perfect work of art. He carries with him a guitar, trumpet, other instruments, a tape recorder, and a camera. At age 33, he is stuck in an elevator with Ingrid (Weber), a secretary who longs to become a poet. During the hour they are stuck there, Isaac attempts to teach Ingrid his life philosophy.<ref>''The Last Sweet Days of Isaac'', original cast recording. RCA LSO-1169 (1970) record jacket notes.</ref>
===Part II===
Isaac, now 19, and Alice, are locked separately in prison cells. They communicate with each other and the outside through a TV camera and receiver in each cell. They attempt to make love to each other's image, when a newscast interrupts their tryst with a report of Isaac's death at a demonstration. The newscast ends, with the two left with each other's image, unsure if they are alive or dead.
==Production==
*Isaac Bernstein &ndash; [[Austin Pendleton]]
*Ingrid/Alice &ndash; Fredricka Weber (replaced by [[Alice Playten]] shortly after opening)
*Other cast &ndash; [[Charles Collins (theatre)|Charles Collins]], [[C. David Colson]], [[Louise Heath]], [[John Long (theatre)|John Long]]
**featuring THE ZEITGEIST
*Electric piano & harpsichord, musical direction and arrangement &ndash; [[Clay Fullum]]
*Piano &ndash; [[George Broderick]]
*Bass &ndash; [[Aaron Bell (musician)|Aaron Bell]]
*Guitar &ndash; [[Art Betker]]
*Drums &ndash; [[Harry Gist]]
*Sets &ndash; [[Ed Wittstein]]
*Costumes &ndash; [[Caley Summers]]
*Lighting &ndash; [[David F. Segal]]
*Production stage manager &ndash; [[T. L. Boston]]
*Assistant to the producer &ndash; [[John Toland (theatre)|John Toland]]
The director, Word Baker, was the director for the first production of ''[[The Fantasticks]]''.
==Reception==
Noted theatre critic [[Walter Kerr]] called it "My favorite rock musical". It won the 1970 [[Outer Critics Circle Award]] for Best Off-Broadway Musical, and the 1970 [[Obie Award]] for Best Musical. Pendleton won the [[Drama Desk Award]] for Outstanding Performance and an [[Obie Award]] for Distinguished Performance. Weber won an Obie for Distinguished Performance, and the 1970 [[Theatre World Award]]. It received positive reviews at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iWQYB52_3KoC&q=%22the+last+sweet+days+of+isaac%22&pg=PA56|title = New York Magazine|date = 9 February 1970}}</ref> Later critics have noted the dated qualities of the musical.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.playbill.com/features/article/130018-ON-THE-RECORD-The-Threepenny-Opera-The-Last-Sweet-Days-of-Isaac-and-Alphabet-City-Cycle/pg2 |title=ON THE RECORD: The Threepenny Opera, The Last Sweet Days of Isaac and "Alphabet City Cycle" - Playbill.com |website=www.playbill.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022005233/http://www.playbill.com/features/article/130018-ON-THE-RECORD-The-Threepenny-Opera-The-Last-Sweet-Days-of-Isaac-and-Alphabet-City-Cycle/pg2 |archive-date=2012-10-22}} </ref>
==Revival==
The show was revived in 1997, as ''The Last Sweet Days'', a combined hybrid showing of "Isaac" and the similarly themed 1973 Cryer/Ford show ''[[Shelter (musical)|Shelter]]'', with [[Willy Falk]] as Isaac/Michael and [[Ellen Foley]] as Ingrid in both parts I and II. Directed by [[Worth Gardner]], it received positive reviews.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?html_title=&tols_title=LAST%20SWEET%20DAYS,%20THE%20%28PLAY%29&pdate=19970415&byline=By%20ANITA%20GATES&id=1077011432580|title=Theater|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>
==Original cast recording==
An [[original cast recording]], with the same name, was released in 1970, on the [[RCA Records|RCA]] label.
===Track listing===
*Side 1
#"Overture and The Last Sweet Days of Isaac", performed by Austin Pendleton and The [[Zeitgeist]] (3:40)
#"A Transparent Crystal Moment", Pendleton, Fredricka Weber, Zeitgeist (2:01)
#"My Most Important Moments Go By", Weber, Pendleton (3:45)
#"Love, You Came to Me", Pendleton, Weber, Zeitgeist (3:13)
#"Finale", Pendleton, Weber, Zeitgeist, trumpet by Weber (4:32)
*Side 2
#"I Want to Walk to San Francisco", The Company (1:44)
#"I Can't Live in Solitary", John Long, Zeitgeist (1:59)
#"Wherein Lie the Seeds of Revolution", Charles Collins, Zeitgeist (2:27)
#"Touching Your Hand Is Like Touching Your Mind", Pendleton, Zeitgeist (1:52)
#"Somebody Died Today", C. David Colson, Zeitgeist (2:05)
#"Yes, I Know That I'm Alive", Louise Heath, Zeitgeist (2:15)
#"Finale", The Company (1:16)
*Recording engineer - [[John Woram]]
*Jacket photography - [[Jack Mitchell (photographer)|Jack Mitchell]]
The album was produced by [[Stephen Schwartz (composer)|Steve Schwartz]], who would later create such musicals as [[Godspell]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://broadwayworld.com/shows/?showid=8250 ''The Last Sweet Days of Isaac'' at Broadwayworld.com]
*[http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=3568 ''The Last Sweet Days of Isaac'', at Lortel Archives]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Sweet Days of Isaac}}
[[Category:Off-Broadway musicals]]
[[Category:1970 musicals]]
[[Category:RCA Victor soundtracks]]
[[Category:Cast recordings]]
[[Category:Rock musicals]]
[[Category:Musicals set in prison]]