Anyone Can Whistle

Anyone Can Whistle is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Described as "a satire on conformity and the insanity of the so-called sane," the show tells a story of an economically depressed town whose corrupt mayor decides to create a fake miracle in order to attract tourists. The phony miracle draws the attention of an emotionally inhibited nurse, a crowd of inmates from a local asylum, and a doctor with secrets of his own.

Following a tryout period in Philadelphia, Anyone Can Whistle opened at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway on April 4, 1964. The show received widely varied reviews (including negative notices from the New York Times and the New York Herald Tribune), and closed after a run of twelve previews and nine performances. The show's original run marked the stage musical debut of Angela Lansbury.

In the decades since its closing, Anyone Can Whistle has seen relatively few productions compared to other Sondheim musicals; notable productions include a 1995 concert version at Carnegie Hall, a pair of stagings in London and Los Angeles in 2003 that incorporated revisions, and a 2010 concert staging for the Encores! program at New York City Center. However, its score has become acclaimed as a part of Sondheim's canon, and songs such as the title tune, "Everybody Says Don't", and "There Won't Be Trumpets" have been performed widely.