(Born Howard Silverblatt, 1909–1986.) Stage and screen actor with a strong dramatic presence who created the roles of Larry Foreman in The Cradle Will Rock (1937), Jud Fry in Oklahoma! (1943), Ben Marino in Fiorello! (1959), and Benjamin Franklin in 1776 (1969). He won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Fiorello!
Won the 1980 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for Barnum. Dale also appeared in the 1997 revival of Candide and played Mr. Peachum in the 2006 revival of The Threepenny Opera.
(20 December 1968, Theatre de Lys, 575 performances.) Music by Jim Wise, lyrics and book by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller. An off-Broadway success that cast an affectionate eye back on the 1930s, spoofing the movie with Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell and show business clichés from the period. Bernadette Peters was the star of the cast of six, playing Ruby, a chorus girl who, in true 42nd Street fashion, saves the show and becomes a star. Tamara Lang played Mona Kent, the Broadway star, and David Christmas was Dick, a sailor in this following-the-fleet parody, whom Ruby captures in the end. The delight came through the show’s knowing look backward, with music and lyrics that parodied Cole Porter and others, references to the 1930s, and the right dancing vocabulary and props. Clive Barnes, writing for the New York Times, expected to hate the show but ended up writing nearly a rave. He compared Dames at Sea to The Boy Friend, noting that it does for the 1930s what the latter did for the 1920s, but he found Dames “much better . . . because it is informed by a genuine love and knowledge for the period.”
(5 May 1955, 46th Street, 1,019 performances.) Music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross; book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop; directed by Abbott; dances and musical numbers staged by Bob Fosse; presented by Frederick Brisson, Robert E. Griffith, and Harold Prince in association with Albert D. Taylor. A hugely successful show that combined the Faust legend with baseball and benefited from a winning score and the memorable presence of dancer Gwen Verdon. Damn Yankees was a musicalization of Douglass Wallop’s popular fantasy The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, the first show to take on wholeheartedly what at the time was indisputably America’s national sport. It appeared at a time when the New York Yankees annually dominated the American League; fans in other cities might almost believe that it would take a bargain with the devil to win the pennant. In the plot, a middle-aged fan of the Washington Senators, Joe Boyd (Robert Schafer), mutters after yet another loss to the Yankees that he would sell his soul if the Senators could win a pennant. Mephistopheles appears in the person of Mr. Applegate (Ray Walston), who turns Boyd into Joe Hardy (Stephen Douglass), a player of supernatural talent. Boyd, however, feels guilty about leaving his wife (Shannon Bolin) and insists on an escape clause. Applegate brings in the lovely witch Lola (Verdon) to convince Boyd to stay with the deal, but in the end, she fails and is turned back into an ugly old crone. Boyd reunites with his wife, and the devil loses a soul.
Verdon was an extraordinary dancer, one of Fosse’s principal associates and, for a number of years, his wife. Fosse crafted sexy numbers for her, such as “Whatever Lola Wants,” and Verdon brought to them an irresistible spirit. Sex appeal has long been a selling point in the Broadway musical, and the poster campaign for Damn Yankees was substantial proof of this. Ticket sales did not really take off until the photo of Verdon in a baseball uniform was replaced with her as the “Black Widow,” now the show’s recognizable trademark. Walston made his role as the devil outrageously sinister; his song “Those Were the Good Old Days” was a comic highlight. Fosse’s dances, such as the mambo “Who’s Got the Pain,” the hoedown “Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, Mo.,” and stylized baseball moves in other numbers, were also successful.
Person who works with the choreographer to create music for the dance segments in a show. The musical material usually comes from other parts of the show. Often, the dance arranger is someone other than the main composer.
A type of musical theater that is based on dance and choreography rather than live singing, sometimes called “dansical.” In many of these shows, such as Contact (2000), plots unfold through dance. Others, such as Dancin’ (1978) and Fosse (1999), do not have a consistent linear story line.
(27 March 1978, Broadhurst, 1,774 performances.) Directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse. Fosse had long brought dance and spectacle to book shows, and here he struck out on his own, removing most of the other elements found in a musical. Several of the dances provided dramatic vignettes, but no theme besides dancing united the evening. For the music, Fosse drew on a wide palate, including Johann Sebastian Bach, John Philip Sousa, George M. Cohan, Johnny Mercer, Cat Stevens, and Benny Goodman, but his own style reigned throughout the show. The star dancer was Ann Reinking, about whom Richard Eder wrote in the New York Times, “everything she has dances—her hair, her teeth, her expression. Her face dances.” Critical reaction was mixed, but audiences knew that Fosse could deliver Broadway pizzazz and flocked to Dancin’ for about four years. Devotees of Fosse and American show dancing remember Dancin’ fondly, and elements of it were revived in Fosse (1999).
Director-choreographer whose gifts at creating high-energy ethnic-inspired dances are evident in Once on This Island (1990) and Ragtime (1998). Other credits include the 1999 Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun and Chita Rivera: A Dancer’s Life (2005).
Charismatic African American nightclub entertainer who created the roles of Charlie Welch in Mr. Wonderful (1956) and Joe Wellington in Golden Boy (1964). He also played Littlechap in the 1978 revival of Stop the World—I Want to Get Off.
Stage performer who created the title role in Irene (1919), singing “Alice Blue Gown” and ensuring the show a long run. She also appeared in Going Up (1917), and Wildflower (1923) was conceived as a vehicle for her. She moved to London, where she was known as “The Queen of the Drury Lane Theatre” and played the lead roles in many American imports to the West End in the 1920s.
(22 November 1945, National, 165 performances.) Music by Frederick Loewe, lyrics and book by Alan Jay Lerner, ballets and musical ensembles arranged by Anthony Tudor. Lerner and Loewe’s second Broadway collaboration that, despite showing a number of merits, ultimately failed. Lerner conceived the story that took place at a 10-year college reunion where a married woman (Irene Manning) nearly elopes with the same man (Bill Johnson) with whom she almost eloped a decade earlier. Anthony Tudor’s ballets were a substantial part of the show, and it was after the lesson told in one of them that the woman decides not to elope with her former lover.
(1 May 1980, John Golden and Royale, 588 performances.) Music by Frank Lazarus, lyrics and book by Dick Vosburgh, directed and choreographed by Tommy Tune. A British revue that took a madcap look at Hollywood of the 1930s, A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine became another vehicle in which Tommy Tune demonstrated his ability to please audiences. The first act is a satirical treatment of 1930s Hollywood musicals that is set in the lobby of Grauman’s Chinese Theater. In addition to new music by Lazarus, the score included hits from the day and three new songs by Jerry Herman. One of Tune’s great numbers is “Famous Feet,” where male and female dancing feet impersonate Hollywood stars. The second act is based on Anton Chekhov’s The Bear as it might have been played by the Marx Brothers. According to Mel Gussow’s review in the New York Times, book author Dick Vosburgh created “a crackling compendium of Marx Brothers comedies.” The famous Marx Brothers were there, including Groucho (David Garrison), Harpo (Priscilla Lopez), and Chico (Frank Lazarus) as well as Margaret Dumont (Peggy Hewett). Gussow found that Garrison’s Groucho lacked the original’s “devil-may-care quality,” but Lopez “is a doll of a Harpo,” offering all of the old gags. He finds Lazarus and Hewett most effective in their parts as well and praises designer Tony Walton for his sets. He concludes, however, with recognition of Tune’s accomplishment: “The show is a marvelous directorial feat.”
Lyrical singing actress of Puerto Rican descent who made her Broadway debut in 1978 as Lidia in Runaways, a show for which she also provided additional text and English–Spanish translations. She played Maria in the 1980 revival of West Side Story and starred as Sarah Brown in the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls.
Operetta composer whose important works include Robin Hood (1890), Rob Roy (1894), and The Highwayman (1897). His most famous song is Robin Hood’s “O Promise Me,” which survived as a wedding standard for most of the 20th century. De Koven was also active as a conductor and music critic.
Legendary dancer and choreographer whose Broadway career began with Hooray for What! (1937), on which she worked with Robert Alton. Most of de Mille’s work was cut by the time the show opened. She made Broadway history with her choreography for Oklahoma! (1943). Her dances, such as the “Dream Ballet” (“Laurey Makes Up Her Mind”), were directly related to the plot and integral to its presentation. Subsequent credits on Broadway included One Touch of Venus (1943), Bloomer Girl (1944, with its “Civil War Ballet”), Carousel (1945), Brigadoon (1947, including the “Sword Dance” and the “Funeral Dance”), Allegro (1947), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949), Paint Your Wagon (1951), and 110 in the Shade (1963). De Mille also directed Allegro, inspiring the creation of the artistically visionary role of choreographer-director.
(also known as Buddy DeSylva, 1895–1950.) Lyricist, librettist, and producer whose early lyrics included “Look for the Silver Lining” (music by Jerome Kern and made famous in Sally, 1920) and several songs popularized by Al Jolson, including “April Showers” and “California, Here I Come.” With composer Ray Henderson and fellow lyricist Lew Brown, he created the scores for the 1925 and 1926 editions of George White’s Scandals and 11 musical comedies, including the sports-themed trilogy Good News! (1927), Hold Everything! (1928), and Flying High (1930). He was also active as a producer, bringing Cole Porter’s Du Barry Was a Lady (1939) and Panama Hattie (1940) to the stage.
(18 September 1925, Knickerbocker, 286 performances.) Music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, book by Herbert Fields, staged by John Murray Anderson. Opening the same week as No, No, Nanette, The Vagabond King, and Sunny, Dearest Enemy held its own and ran for almost nine months. For this show, their first successful book musical, Rodgers and Hart took the idea from a plaque on 37th Street that told the story of a patriotic New York lady during the Revolution who detained British officers with charm, cake, and wine and subsequently allowed 4,000 American soldiers to escape to Harlem. In the show, Mrs. Robert Murray (Flavia Arcaro) detains three British generals. Fields’s book included a fictional love story between American Betsy Burke (Helen Ford) and British Captain Sir John Copeland (Charles Purcell). Historical figures Aaron Burr and George Washington also appeared in the show. Between Hart’s edgy lyrics and some titillating aspects of the book (such as Helen Ford’s first appearance wearing nothing but a barrel), Dearest Enemy was filled with surprises. The anonymous New York Times reviewer found the story “richer” than that of many musical comedies of the time and notes that the show “blooms with a fresh charm.” Rodgers and Hart’s songs include the march “Cheerio,” the love duet “Here in My Arms,” and the comic “Old Enough to Love.”
(30 November 1926, Casino, 471 performances.) Lyrics and book by Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Frank Mandel; music by Sigmund Romberg; libretto directed by Arthur Hurley; musical numbers staged by Robert Connolly; settings by Woodman Thompson; produced by Laurence Schwab and Mandel. The creators of the Orientalist operetta looked to several aspects of popular culture in creating their evocation of disguised heroes and European damsels in Morocco. Among these were Rudolf Valentino, who died weeks before the show opened; Lawrence of Arabia; and the actual Riff Wars in North Africa. In the plot, the bespectacled and clumsy Pierre Birabeau (Robert Halliday) is in love with Margot Bonvalet (Vivienne Segal), but she is enthralled with the mysterious Red Shadow, who helps the oppressed Riffs rise against the French Imperialists. The plot follows that of Valentino’s film The Sheik (1921) very closely, including the revelation at the end that the Arab hero is a disguised European; in the case of The Desert Song, Pierre is the Red Shadow. The music includes enthralling waltzes (“The Desert Song” and “Romance”) and rousing marches for the male chorus (“The Riff Song”). It also includes soaring ballads (“One Alone”) and even a musical comedy–style number for the secondary leads that is loaded with contemporary sexual references (“It”). Romberg used tonal means to depict the differences between the French and the Arabs, for the French sing and dance in major while the Arabs do so in minor. Of Romberg’s major shows, this was the first one to have a happy ending.
Critics loved the show. Charles Brackett wrote in the New Yorker, “A great, roaring, splendid musical show. . . . The music is Romberg’s best, and in the book it seemed to me that the sheik plot has found at last its really happy medium.” The Desert Song was filmed in either whole or part four times (1929, 1932, 1943, and 1953, all from Warner Brothers), and Nelson Eddy starred in a television version that was broadcast live on NBC in 1955. Of all of Romberg’s operettas, The Desert Song is the most popular outside of the United States, having appeared successfully in Great Britain, France, Australia, and New Zealand.
Star dancer of the Paris music hall, Deslys appeared in several Broadway shows under the auspices of J. J. Shubert, including The Revue of Revues (1911), Vera Violetta (1911), The Honeymoon Express (1913), and The Belle of Bond Street (1914). Vera Violetta featured Deslys and her partner Harry Pilcer in “The Gaby Glide,” a syncopated dance that was extremely popular in the 1910s.
(23 April 1959, Imperial, 473 performances.) Music and lyrics by Harold Rome, book by Leonard Gershe, staging and choreography by Michael Kidd, presented by David Merrick. Based on a story by Max Brand and the film that starred James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich, Destry Rides Again ran for 14 months but failed to make any money. Andy Griffith played the title character, the son of a famous western lawman and the new sheriff in Bottleneck. He does not want to use violence but must resort to it in order to break up the town’s dangerous gang. In the meantime, he also gets the girl, Frenchy (Dolores Gray). It was a very ordinary story, and some wondered if it was really worth mounting a show based on such a cliché. Michael Kidd’s dances were impressive, including several western-themed ballets, one of which featured three dancers with bullwhips. Rome’s score included no songs that became hits. Brooks Atkinson yawned about the show in his New York Times review, lauding individual contributions but finding the story no more than an “old fable.” He wrote that Gray’s voice “would fill Madison Square Garden” and that Griffith brought “disarming enthusiasm” to his musical numbers.
Actress best remembered for creating the dual role of Aldonza/Dulcinea in The Man of La Mancha (1966). She reprised the role on Broadway for revivals in 1972 and 1992.
Dillingham’s theatrical career began as a drama critic, but he became a producer in 1903. His more than 200 Broadway credits (for both plays and musicals) include Mlle. Modiste (1905), The Red Mill (1906), The Lady of the Slipper (1912), The Century Girl (1916, with Florenz Ziegfeld), Good Morning Dearie (1921), and Sunny (1925).
Person responsible for unifying a musical’s various components, including book, acting, music, dance, costumes, set, and lighting. The director’s level of influence in a production can vary considerably, depending on several factors, but the director usually plays a major role in bringing the production to fruition. The director’s power tended to increase as the integration of plot, music, and dancing became more important, and from the 1940s on, a number of successful directors came from the ranks of choreographers, including Michael Bennett, Gower Champion, Jack Cole, Graciela Daniele, Agnes De Mille, Bob Fosse, Gertrude Hoffman, Gene Kelly, Michael Kidd, Julian Mitchell, Ann Reinking, Jerome Robbins, Susan Stroman, and Tommy Tune. As is the case in the production history of nonmusical plays, many successful directors also wrote part of the show—books, lyrics, or both—but directors have come from a number of different fields in the dramatic arts. Some directors have also served as producers after becoming sufficiently prominent that investors will back their shows.
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(3 March 2005, Imperial, 627 performances.) Music and lyrics by David Yazbek, book by Jeffrey Lane. Based on the 1988 film about con artists on the French Riviera, the musical starred Norbert Leo Butz as Freddy Benson (a role for which he won a Tony Award), John Lithgow as Lawrence Jameson, and Sherie Rene Scott as Christine Colgate. The show captured the chic sophistication and clever disguises and plot twists typical of classic musical comedies from the 1920s and 1930s.
(Also known as the Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Productions.) Disney’s first Broadway musical was Beauty and the Beast (1994), through which the corporation became a major presence on Broadway and helped revitalize Times Square. Other musical productions include The Lion King (1997), which opened the renovated New Amsterdam Theatre, owned and operated by Disney; Aida (2000), produced by Hyperion Theatricals, a division of Disney; Tarzan (2006); Mary Poppins (2006), a coproduction with Cameron Mackintosh; The Little Mermaid (2008); Sister Act (2011), in association with Whoopi Goldberg, Stage Entertainment, the Shubert Organization, and others; Newsies: The Musical (2012); and Aladdin (2014). The corporation has also been a leader in developing a family audience for Broadway theater.
(18 March 1965, 46th Street, 220 performances.) Music and presented by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents. Based on Laurents’s play The Time of the Cuckoo, Do I Hear a Waltz? had the shortest run of any musical with music by Richard Rodgers since he had started his collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein II more than two decades earlier. The friction between the principal creators has become legendary, but the problems with Do I Hear a Waltz? had more to do with a story that was difficult to turn into a musical and an uninspired production. The plot involved a visit to Venice by the American spinster Leona Samish (Elizabeth Allen). She desires romance and meets Renato Di Rossi (Sergio Franchi), a charming but married shopkeeper. The story lacked joy, and the production failed to give its audience a true feeling of being transported to the romantic city of Venice. Howard Taubman, writing in the New York Times, remarked that the creators strayed little from the story, but “one cannot suppress a regret that they failed to be bolder. For there are times, particularly in the early stages, when songs are merely decoration.” He thought that the play’s musical transformation had been accomplished gracefully, but there was little in his review that would make one go see the musical. The score included some fine songs, including the wonderful title number, a delightful waltz, and the comic song “Perfectly Lovely Couple.”
(26 December 1960, St. James, 400 performances.) Music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, book and staged by Garson Kanin, choreography by Mark Breaux and Deedee Wood, presented by David Merrick. A somewhat disappointing musical comedy partially redeemed by a number of factors, including Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker in the lead roles. Silvers played Hubert Cram, and Walker was his wife Kay. The couple occasionally prospered from Hubie’s various schemes (including stints as a jukebox magnate and a song producer), but their lives are ultimately mired in the middle class. The score’s gems and memorable performances included Silvers’s appealingly covetous “It’s Legitimate” and Walker’s comic “Adventure.” For New York Times critic Howard Taubman, Do Re Mi was a decidedly mixed evening. At its worst, he called it “a desperate, lame effort to be ‘Guys and Dolls.’” At other moments, however, he found it to be “money in the bank.”
(21 April 2015, Broadway, seven performances as of 26 April 2015.) Based on the classic Boris Pasternak novel and the 1965 film, the musical version of Doctor Zhivago, with music by Lucy Simon, lyrics by Michael Korie and Amy Powers, and book by Michael Weller, is cast in the overall form of a megamusical. The production emulates the megamusical’s fashion for presenting a conflicted love story (Yuri Zhivago [played by Tam Mutu] and Lara Guishar [played by Kelli Barrett]) against a sweeping historical backdrop. Charles Isherwood, in his New York Times review, found the show, like its source material, “endless.”
Lyricist and librettist who began her theatrical career as a stage actress. She is most famous for her four operetta collaborations with Sigmund Romberg: Blossom Time (1921), The Student Prince (1924), My Maryland (1927), and My Princess (1927). She created the book and lyrics for the musical comedy Poppy (1923), which she also directed and which starred W. C. Fields.
(19 April 1972, Playhouse, 1,065 performances.) Music, lyrics, and book by Micki Grant; conceived and directed by Vinnette Carroll. A revue that confronted racial attitudes of the time with energetic music and minimal bitterness, Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope ran for about two and a half years. The show first appeared in Washington, D.C., and ran in other theaters in New York City before it made it to Broadway. Micki Grant’s music included different styles of African American music, and her lyrics dealt with the realities of urban life, including muggers and numbers rackets. Usually, however, she celebrated hope and African American achievements. Clive Barnes, reviewing the show for the New York Times, called it “a mixture of a block party and a revival meeting” with a “charming score” that features lyrics of “sweetness and wit.” He noted that the production “moves as fast as a carousel,” and one of the only mistakes was to leave Micki Grant off the stage until the second act because “her serene charms” serve as a counterfoil to the chaos all around her.
(Born Stephen Fitch, 1921–2011.) With a career spanning more than 60 years, Douglass made his Broadway debut as Billy Bigelow in the 1949 revival of Carousel. The lyrical baritone went on to create the roles of Ulysses in The Golden Apple (1954), Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees (1955), and File in 110 in the Shade (1963).
British director and costume and set designer whose reworkings of musicals such as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2005) and Company (2006) emphasize techniques of ensemble drama. In Doyle’s minimalistic productions, the actors also function as the orchestra (Patti LuPone played tuba in Sweeney Todd) and remain onstage for the entire performance. Doyle received the Tony Award for Best Director for Sweeney Todd.
(8 November 2006, Hilton, 107 performances.) Music by Mel Marvin, book and lyrics by Timothy Mason. Inspired by the 1966 television special, the family musical based on Dr. Seuss’s tale starred Patrick Page as the Grinch and John Cullum as Old Max. With additional matinees and a Thursday late morning performance for schools, it was the first Broadway musical to play 12 times per week. The musical also played 96 performances during the 2007–2008 winter holiday season.
(Born Alfredo Capurro, 1914–1992.) A versatile performer who received critical and popular praise for his work in opera, musicals, and dramas, Drake’s Broadway roles included Marshall Blackstone and the High Priest in Babes in Arms (1937), Curly McLain in Oklahoma! (1943), Larry Foreman in The Cradle Will Rock (1947 revival), Fred Graham/Petruccio in Kiss Me, Kate (1948), and Hajj in Kismet (1953). He won the Variety New York Drama Critics Poll Award for Oklahoma!, the Donaldson award for Kiss Me, Kate, and the Variety New York Drama Critics Poll Award, the Donaldson Award, and the Tony Award for Kismet. He was known for the arresting quality of his powerful, resonant baritone voice that he used to enhance his portrayal of strong, forceful characters.
Created in 1955, awards are given for shows that appear on Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and in legitimate not-for-profit theaters in New York City. Tony Awards, by contrast, are given only to Broadway productions. The categories for Drama Desk Awards were minimal at first but grew over the years to equal those of the Tony Awards.
(20 December 1981, Imperial, 1,522 performances.) Music by Henry Krieger, lyrics and book by Tom Eyen, directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett. A show that appeared to be based largely on the story of the Supremes, Dreamgirls followed a group called the Dreams as they moved from African American rhythm and blues to white pop. The transition involved inevitable difficulties, such as when manager Curtis (Ben Harney) decides that lead singer (and his lover) Effie (Jennifer Holliday) is too large and has too raw of a sound for white audiences; he also wants a new mistress. Her reaction at the end of act 1, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” stopped the show. Dreamgirls includes a great deal of music, with nearly 40 distinct numbers and singing taking place during important moments in the plot, such as contract negotiations and lovers’ quarrels. During “It’s All Over,” as Frank Rich noted in his New York Times review, “the clashing of seven characters is realized entirely in musical terms.” Rich spent the first third of his rave review rhapsodizing about Jennifer Holliday’s performance in the act 1 finale. He compared Bennett to Jerome Robbins and said that as far as Robbins’s legacy in creating “organic entities” was concerned, “last night the torch was passed, firmly, unquestionably, once and for all.” Actors of note, in addition to Holliday, included Sheryl Lee Ralph as the Diana Ross–like lead of Dream and Loretta Devine and Deborah Burrell as the backup singers. Dreamgirls showed how sophisticated Broadway creators had become in handling African American topics, for subtle differences between the black and white musical worlds were clearly illustrated. In this, Bennett’s last musical before his untimely death, one could only admire his work as a director and choreographer. The 2006 film version, dedicated to Bennett, starred Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé Knowles, and Jamie Foxx.
(1 May 2006, Marquis, 674 performances.) Music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw. A Canadian import billed as “a musical within a comedy” and performed without an intermission, The Drowsy Chaperone begins with the Man in a Chair (Bob Martin, of Second City fame), who is suffering from a “nonspecific sadness” and puts on an LP of his favorite 1920s musical comedy, also called The Drowsy Chaperone. The show-within-the-show is the story of a revue star, Janet (Sutton Foster), whose impending nuptials are threatened with typical 1920s antics. The Drowsy Chaperone (Beth Leavel, who won a Tony Award for her performance) is supposed to keep an eye on Janet until her wedding day. One of the show’s other especially entertaining characters is Mrs. Tottendale (Georgia Engel, who played Georgette on The Mary Tyler Moore Show), who hosts the wedding. The score is filled with enticing numbers, including Janet’s “Show Off” and the duet “Accident Waiting to Happen,” performed by the romantic leads on roller skates. The musical won the 2006 Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score.
(6 December 1939, 46th Street, 408 performances.) Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Herbert Fields and B. G. De Sylva, dances arranged by Robert Alton. A vehicle for Ethel Merman and Bert Lahr that rode its popular stars and humorous book to a respectable run. Porter’s score included the perky duet “Friendship,” the bawdy “But in the Morning, No,” as well as “Katie Went to Haiti” and “Do I Love You?” Merman played May Daley, a cabaret chorus girl, and Lahr was Louis Blore, the washroom attendant who is infatuated with her. After accidentally ingesting knockout drops intended for May’s love interest, Louis has an elaborate dream in which he and May are transported back to 18th-century France. After he awakens, Louis realizes that his relationship with May will not work out, and they part friends. In his New York Times review, Brooks Atkinson saved his greatest praise for Merman and Lahr: “Miss Merman is the perfect musical comedy minstrel. . . . Probably it is a mistake ever to produce a musical show without Bert Lahr.”
(9 October 1972, Broadway, 16 performances.) Music by Galt MacDermot, lyrics and book by Gerome Ragni, directed and staged by Tom O’Horgan. A major disappointment from several of Hair’s creators, Ragni’s rambling story about a young man coming of age with the assistance of many religious and allegorical figures was presented in a completely redesigned Broadway Theater. MacDermot’s music was predictably in the rock mold but included touches of other styles.
(Born Vladimir Dukelsky, 1903–1969.) Russian-born composer who used his real name for his classical compositions and “Vernon Duke” for his works in a popular vein. He wrote mostly for revues, including Walk a Little Faster (1932), which included “April in Paris” with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg. Duke wrote the score for Cabin in the Sky (1940) with lyricist John Latouche. He possessed a strong command of popular and classical styles, and his two compositional “careers” influenced each other.
Seminal African American poet, novelist, and short-story writer known for his evocative use of language, dialect, and rhetoric who was lyricist for In Dahomey (1903).
Energetic singer, dancer, and actress whose Broadway debut included playing several characters in Canterbury Tales (1969). In 1979, she flew to rave reviews in the title role of a revival of Peter Pan. She appeared in My One and Only in 1984 and took over the role of Roxie Hart in the long-running revival of Chicago in 1999.
African American baritone who, in addition to his work as an opera and concert singer and voice teacher at Howard University, created the character of Porgy in the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (1935), singing the part more than 1,800 times. He also originated the dramatically and vocally powerful roles of “The Lawd’s General” in Cabin in the Sky (1940) and Stephen Kumalo in Lost in the Stars (1949).
(Born James Francis Durante, 1893–1980.) Singing comedian with a raspy voice whose large nose earned him the nickname “Schnozzola” or simply “The Schnozz.” Early in life, he was a ragtime pianist, played in a jazz band, and appeared in vaudeville. He performed several of his own songs (music and lyrics) in the Ziegfeld production Show Girl (1929). Other Broadway credits include Jimmie Deegan in Cole Porter’s The New Yorkers (1930), multiple roles in the revue Strike Me Pink (1933), Claudius B. Bowers in Rodgers and Hart’s Jumbo (1935), and “Policy” Pinkle in Porter’s Red, Hot and Blue! (1936). Durante was also a popular radio, television, and film celebrity, and his nose appears in the list of superlatives in Porter’s song “You’re the Top” from Anything Goes (1934).