History Theatre / Kismet

''Kismet'' is a three-act play written in 1911, about a beggar who pretends to be a sorcerer for one day... long enough for him to get lots of money, be promoted to the nobility, and win the hand of the villain's clever wife, Lalume. It also happens to be the same day that his daughter, Marsinah, meets and falls in love with the handsome Caliph. In 1953 it was made into a musical, using the (VERY altered!) music of Borodin (most notably, the Polovtsian Dances), [[WithLyrics with original lyrics]].

* WithLyrics: Songwriters Robert Wright and George Forrest adapted most of the score from instrumental and operatic works by Alexander Borodin, though most of the songs also contain original music; usually the main motif comes from Borodin with Wright and Forrest providing the bridges and verses.[[note]]The only songs that use Borodin's music exclusively are the opening and closing, "Sands of Time," from Borodin's "In the Steppes of Central Asia," and the Caliph's solo "Night of My Nights," which puts lyrics to the Borodin piano piece "Serenade." Conversely, two songs are completely original Wright and Forrest compositions with no Borodin material: "Rahadlakum," with music from an earlier song by the team, and the Poet's IAmSong "Rhymes Have I," written during pre-Broadway tryouts when Alfred Drake needed a stronger opening song and the songwriters had used up all the Borodin melodies they knew.[[/note]]

* WithLyrics: Songwriters Robert Wright and George Forrest adapted most of the score from instrumental and operatic works by Alexander Borodin, though most of the songs also contain original music; usually the main motif comes from Borodin with Wright and Forrest providing the bridges and verses.[[note]]The only songs that use Borodin melodies with no changes are the opening and closing, "Sands of Time," from Borodin's "In the Steppes of Central Asia," and the Caliph's solo "Night of My Nights," which puts lyrics to the Borodin piano piece "Serenade." Conversely, two songs are completely original Wright and Forrest compositions with no Borodin material: "Rahadlakum," with music from an earlier song by the team, and the Poet's IAmSong "Rhymes Have I," written during pre-Broadway tryouts when Alfred Drake needed a stronger opening song and the songwriters had used up all the Borodin melodies they knew.[[/note]]

* SummonBackupDancers: In ''Not Since Ninevah''.

* WithLyrics: Songwriters Robert Wright and George Forrest adapted most of the score from instrumental and operatic works by Alexander Borodin, though most of the songs also contain original music; usually the main motif comes from Borodin with Wright and Forrest providing the bridges and verses.[note]The only songs that use Borodin melodies with no changes are the opening and closing, "Sands of Time," from Borodin's "In the Steppes of Central Asia," and the Caliph's solo "Night of My Nights," which puts lyrics to the Borodin piano piece "Serenade." Conversely, two songs are completely original Wright and Forrest compositions with no Borodin material: "Rahadlakum," with music from an earlier song by the team, and the Poet's IAmSong "Rhymes Have I," written during pre-Broadway tryouts when Alfred Drake needed a stronger opening song and the songwriters had used all the Borodin melodies they knew.[/note]

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: In the musical version, the lead character is simply credited as "Poet", and the only name he's called by is Hajj, which is a stolen identity.

* VocalTagTeam: Lalume and the Poet
* WithLyrics: Songwriters Robert Wright and George Forrest adapted most of the score from instrumental works by Alexander Borodin.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

%% * RagsToRoyalty: [[spoiler: Marsinah]]

''Kismet'' is a three-act play written in 1911, about a beggar who pretends to be a sorcerer for one day... long enough for him to get lots of money, be promoted to the nobility, and win the hand of the villain's clever wife, Lalume. It also happens to be the same day that his daughter, Marsinah, meets and falls in love with the handsome Caliph. In 1953 it was made into a musical, using the (VERY altered!) music of Borodin (most notably, the Polovetsian Dances), [[WithLyrics with original lyrics]].

* WithLyrics: The whole score of the musical version was recycled from instrumental works by Alexander Borodin.