The cast included Christine Andreas as Gretchen Herzallerliebst, Higgins as Jonas Candide, Peter Samuel as Warden Brodsky, and Eddie Korbich as the mortician.

The 1996 production premiered at the Aldwych Theatre in London and was directed by Hurst again, with Mark Warman as musical director and a cast that included Andreas as Gretchen Herzallerliebst, Higgins as Jonas Candide, Michael Fenton Stevens as Doc, Mark Heenehan as Malcolm Piquant, Marc Joseph as Jimmy Crawford, and Roger Leach as Warden Brodsky.

[3] The musical is based on the 1970 film The Traveling Executioner, The New York Times said The Fields of Ambrosia is a black comedy and contains violence, sex, romance, and sentiment.

Jonas Candide, an ex-carnival barker and con-man who is now employed as the state's official "travelling executioner" arrives at the prison with his electric chair (Hubbub).

Upon arrival, Jonas learns from the warden that the woman has been granted a short stay while her lawyer tries to convince the Governor to commute her sentence.

Happy to put the day's events behind him, Jonas treats Jimmy, the gawky, young town mortician who idolizes him, to a night of debauchery at the local whorehouse (Nuthin').

With the bank alarm ringing in his ears, he beats a hasty retreat back to the prison (the getaway) to spring Gretchen, but the escape attempt goes terribly wrong (The Breakout).

Several months later, the prison yard is packed with guards and witnesses as Jonas Candide is placed in the refurbished electric chair by Jimmy, the new executioner.

1996 Original Cast Recording Mike Gibb of Show Music said, "The score, courtesy of Martin Silvestri and Joel Higgins, is a joy, from the melodic and powerful titletrack through quality production numbers like 'Nuthin'' and 'Step Right Up' and that is without mentioning two of the most glorious duets you are likely to encounter in the form of 'Too Bad' and 'Continental Sunday'"[1] Paul Taylor of The Independent described "a reprehensibly enjoyable new musical", saying "Often very funny in its own right, the show has a number of moments where it seems to be tone deaf to its own ridiculousness.