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Bar Mitzvah Boy is a musical with a book by Jack Rosenthal, lyrics by Don Black, and music by Jule Styne. Based on Rosenthal's award-winning 1976 BBC1 teleplay of the same name, it focuses on young Eliot Green who, filled with apprehension, escapes from the synagogue where he is about to make his…
Setting: New York City, late 1950s ACT ONE Ella Peterson works for "Susanswerphone", a telephone answering service owned by a woman named Sue. She listens in on others' lives and adds some interest to her own humdrum existence by adopting different identities – and voices – for her clients. They include Blake Barton, an out-of-work Method actor, Dr. Kitchell, a dentist with musical yearnings but lacking talent, and playwright Jeff Moss, who is suffering from writer's block and with whom Ella has fallen in love, although she has never met him. Ella considers the relationships with these clients "perfect" because she can't see them and they can't see her ("It's a Perfect Relationship"). Jeff is writing a play called "The Midas Touch," the first play he's written since his writing partner left him ("Independent (On My Own)"). One day the producer of the play insists that he finish the play by the next morning and meet him at 9:00 am. While asking her to wake him up on time, he turns to Ella (who he only knows as the Susanswerphone lady) for help in writing the play. Meanwhile, Sandor, Sue's rich boyfriend, reveals plans to a group of gangsters to use Susanswerphone as a front for a gambling operation, by pretending to be a record seller and taking orders for "symphonies" as code. ("It's a Simple Little System"). Ella wants to visit Jeff's apartment to help him write the play, but she is intercepted by a policeman who is convinced that Susanswerphone is a front for an "escort service". Ella asks him "Is it a Crime?" to help someone in need? He agrees that it isn't, and lets her go. She arrives at Jeff's apartment and offers him help with his play, and a romance ensues ("I Met a Girl," "Long Before I Knew You"). ACT TWO Ella is preparing to go to a party at Jeff's apartment, feeling nervous about meeting his friends. Carl, a friend of hers, helps her regain her confidence with a cha-cha dance ("Mu-Cha-Cha"). The guests at the party are all very pretentious and rich and snobby ("Drop That Name") and they make Ella feel very out of place. She leaves Jeff ("The Party's Over"). Carl, a music nerd, thwarts Sandor's operation when he receives an order for "Beethoven's 10th symphony," because he knows that Beethoven only wrote 9 symphonies. The policeman arrests Sandor. Meanwhile, Jeff comes to Susanswerphone to confess his love for Ella. She quits Susanswerphone in order to make a life with herself and Jeff ("I'm Going Back").
Darling of the Day is a musical with a book by Nunnally Johnson, lyrics by E. Y. Harburg, and music by Jule Styne. Based on the Arnold Bennett novel Buried Alive and his play The Great Adventure, the original 1968 Broadway production starred Vincent Price and Patricia Routledge, who won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
Do Re Mi is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and a book by Garson Kanin, who also directed the original 1960 Broadway production. The plot centers on a minor-league con man who decides to go (somewhat) straight by moving into the legitimate business of juke boxes and music promotion. The musical was headlined by the comedy couple of Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker, both of whom were Tony nominated. Popular songs introduced included "Cry Like the Wind" and "Make Someone Happy".
Fade Out – Fade In is a musical with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. The story involves the movie industry in the 1930s. It starred Carol Burnett, returning to the Broadway stage for the first time in four years. Comden and Green, who tackled the problems Hollywood players faced when the film industry transitioned from silent movies to sound films in Singin' in the Rain, now turn to Hollywood in the 1930s. The show spoofs some of the great film stars of the era, such as Shirley Temple and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and the character L.Z. Governor is based on MGM honcho Louis B. Mayer, known for his roving eye for pretty starlets and deep-seated nepotism.
The musical is set in and around New York City just before and following World War I. Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice, awaiting the return of her husband Nicky Arnstein from prison, reflects on their life together, and their story is told as a flashback. Act 1 Fanny is a stage-struck teen who gets her first job in vaudeville. Her mother and her mother’s friend Mrs. Strakosh try to dissuade her from show business because Fanny is not the typical beauty ("If a Girl Isn't Pretty"). But Fanny perseveres ("I'm the Greatest Star") and is helped and encouraged by Eddie Ryan, a dancer she meets in the vaudeville shows. Once Fanny's career takes off, Eddie and Mrs. Brice lament that once she's on Broadway she'll forget about them ("Who Taught Her Everything?"). Fanny performs a supposedly romantic number in the Follies, but she turns it into a classic comic routine, ending the number as a pregnant bride ("His Love Makes Me Beautiful"), causing an uproar. She meets the sophisticated and handsome Nick Arnstein, who accompanies Fanny to her mother's opening night party on "Henry Street". Fanny is clearly falling in love with Nick, while acknowledging their complex vulnerabilities ("People"). Later they meet in Baltimore and have a private dinner at a swanky restaurant and declare their feelings ("You Are Woman, I Am Man"). Fanny is determined to marry Nick, regardless of his gambling past ("Don't Rain on My Parade"). Act 2 The two marry, move to a mansion on Long Island, and have a daughter, Frances ("Sadie, Sadie"). In the meantime, Mrs. Strakosh and Eddie suggest to Mrs. Brice that she should find a man to marry, now that her daughter is supporting her ("Find Yourself a Man"). Fanny has become a major star with the Ziegfeld Follies ("Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat"). Nick asks Ziegfeld to invest in a gambling casino, but although Ziegfeld passes, Fanny insists on investing. When the venture fails and they lose their money, Fanny tries to make light of it, which propels Nick to get involved in a shady bond deal, resulting in his arrest for embezzlement. Fanny feels helpless but stronger than ever in her love for him ("The Music That Makes Me Dance"). In the present, Fanny is waiting for Nick to arrive and has time to reflect on her situation. Nick arrives, newly released from prison, and he and Fanny decide to separate. She is heartbroken, but resolves to pick up her life again ("Don't Rain on My Parade (Reprise)"). Act 1 In the present, Fanny Brice sits in her dressing room whilst preparing to star in the Ziegfeld Follies, awaiting news to hear if her husband, Nicky Arnstein, has been freed from prison and reminiscing on her earlier life ("Who Are You Now?") In the past, Fanny is a stage-struck teen, though her mother and her mother’s friends Mrs. Strakosh and Mrs. Meeker try to dissuade her from show business because Fanny is not the typical beauty ("If a Girl Isn't Pretty"). This is proved true when at her first vaudeville job as a chorus dancer, she is fired by the theater's owner, Tom Keeney. She confides to her friend Eddie Ryan, who got her the job, that she knows she will succeed ("I'm the Greatest Star"). Later, rehearsing with Eddie to re-audition for Keeney, Mrs. Brice echos Fanny's point ("I'm the Greatest Star (Reprise)") and Fanny revolves to audition again for Keeney. After "Eddie's Tap," Fanny nervously performs her first number "Cornet Man," though eventually, she wins over the audience and the attention of handsome gambler, Nicky Arnstein, who is able to wager Keeney a higher pay for Fanny and gives her his card. A year later, Fanny receives a telegram from Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. asking her to meet him at his theater, which Fanny proposes is connected to her interaction with Nick. At the theater, Fanny argues with Ziegfeld over his song choice for her but is forced to perform the song. However, she turns the supposedly romantic number, "His Love Makes Me Beautiful," into a comedy in which she portrays a pregnant bride. Backstage, Fanny's family and friends are thrilled but Ziegfeld reprimands her to which she apologizes, though he admits he found the act funny. Nick appears backstage, congratulating Fanny on her performance, and escorts her home ("I Wanna Be Seen With You Tonight") where her mother and close friends have thrown her a party, celebrating her success ("Henry Street"). Later in the evening, Fanny opens up to Nick about her desire to find love ("People"), and Nick admits that he would initiate a relationship between them, but acknowledges that he is leaving New York the next day. Sometime later, Fanny is touring with the follies and she and Nick both find themselves in Baltimore. Nick brings her to dinner at a fancy establishment, where she panics in response to his somewhat rapid advances, though she eventually gives in ("You Are Woman, I Am Man"). Later, the follies company is preparing to leave Cleveland and Fanny and Nick appear arm in arm. However, he tells her he will not be following the company, as he has to win back his money in Monte Carlo. He tells her he loves her but when she asks him to marry her, he insists that they cannot wed until he is rich again. In a last minute decision, she decides that she needs to follow him in pursuit of marriage, no matter what it means for her career ("Don't Rain on my Parade"). Act 2 Fanny surprises Nick in Monte Carlo ("Entr'acte"/"Don't Rain on my Parade (Reprise)"). He tells her that he has won back his wealth and the two are married and move to a mansion on Long Island, with Fanny soon revealing that she is pregnant ("Sadie, Sadie"). Back on Henry Street ("Sadie, Sadie (Playoff)"), Mrs. Brice and Eddie lament that Fanny no longer needs them ("Who Taught Her Everything She Knows?"). A few months later, as Fanny prepares to go back to rehearsals for a new show, Nick abruptly tells her that he is heading to Philadelphia to find investors for a casino he's building in Miami. Fanny reacts badly, nervous about leaving their daughter, Frances, for a whole day, though Nick promises that he will only be gone for a day, but in the end, she convinces him to stay and she is welcomed back to the theater ("You Are Woman (Reprise)"/"Henry Street (Reprise)"). Nick follows her to the theater and attempts to convince Ziegfeld to invest in his project, but Ziegfeld dismisses him. In response, Fanny decides to invest $68,000 of her money into Nick's project. Over the next few days, Nick travels to Florida and enters in a series of business deals with Fanny's money ("Temporary Arrangement"). On Fanny's opening night for her new show, she anxiously waits Nick's arrival, who is still traveling, telling Eddie that this would be the first opening night of hers he has missed. After her performance ("Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat"), Fanny's mother comforts her before Nick appears in her dressing room, revealing that a hurricane in Florida has destroyed the casino and lost them their money. She assures him that they will rebuild their success and that the most important thing to her is him ("Who Are You Now? (Reprise)"/"People (Reprise)"). The following year, Nick is involved in a business proposal to become a partner at a talent agency without putting up any money, though he sees through the act and realizes that Fanny has put up the money on their behalf. Nick reacts badly, insisting that he does not need her help to succeed and calls about a mob deal he was informed about, agreeing to join the deal in exchange for $68,000 ("You're a Funny Girl/Beekman Call"). Back at the follies, Fanny prepares a new routine ("What Do Happy People Do?"), but her mother arrives to inform her that Nick has been arrested for embezzlement. When Fanny insists that Nick couldn't have known the deal was faulty, her mother calls her out for making him feel unimportant in her life. Alone, Fanny reflects on how important he is to her ("The Music That Makes Me Dance"). Flashing back to the present, ("Dream Ballet"), three years after the arrest, Fanny and Eddie share one last tender moment as Nick appears in the doorway. She insists that she's willing to change to make their relationship better but he abruptly asks her for a divorce. She is taken aback but thanks him for making her feel "almost, sorta...beautiful." He assures her that she is beautiful, then leaves. Fanny somberly reflects on their marriage ("Funny Girl") but as she is called to the stage, she resolves to start again, stating "That's life in the theatre!" ("Don't Rain on my Parade (Reprise II)").
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a musical with a book by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos, lyrics by Leo Robin, and music by Jule Styne, based on the best-selling 1925 novel of the same name by Loos. The story involves an American woman's voyage to Paris to perform in a nightclub. The musical opened on Broadway in 1949 (running for 740 performances and introducing Carol Channing), a London production was mounted in 1962, and there was a Broadway revival in 1995. It was made into a 1953 film of the same name, starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. The popular songs "Bye Bye Baby" and "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" were introduced in this musical. An adaptation called Lorelei (also starring Carol Channing) was performed on Broadway in 1974.
Baby June and Louise, the two daughters of Rose Hovick, play the vaudeville circuit around the United States in the early 1920s. Rose, the archetype of a stage mother, is aggressive and domineering, pushing her children to perform. While June is an extroverted, talented child star, the older girl, Louise, is shy. Their act has one song, "May We Entertain You", with June always as the centerpiece and Louise in the background. Rose has big dreams for the girls but encounters setbacks when her father refuses to lend her money for those dreams ("Some People"). When Rose meets a former agent, Herbie, she persuades him to become their manager using her seductive and feminine wiles ("Small World"). Through Herbie's efforts, "Baby June and Her Newsboys" becomes a top vaudeville act. As the girls grow into adolescents, June and her act have a chance to perform for Mr. Goldstone of the Orpheum Circuit ("Mr. Goldstone, I Love You"). Meanwhile, Louise celebrates her birthday alone and wonders how old she is ("Little Lamb"). Rose rejects Herbie's marriage proposal and he considers leaving, but she asserts that he could never get away from her ("You'll Never Get Away From Me"). After an audition for T.T. Grantziger ("Dainty June and Her Farmboys/Broadway"), June is offered a place at a Performing Arts school. However, Rose turns this down, refusing to break up the act. Louise and June fantasize what life would be like if Rose were married and finished with show business ("If Momma Was Married"). A few months later, still on the road from show to show, Tulsa, one of the boys from the act, confides to Louise that he has been working on his own act and Louise fantasizes that she and he could do the act together ("All I Need Is the Girl"). Shortly after this, June is missing, and she explains in a note that she has grown sick of her mother and the endless tour and has eloped with Tulsa, with whom she will do a new act. Rose is hurt, but she optimistically vows that she will make Louise a star, proclaiming that "Everything's Coming Up Roses". Louise is an adult and Rose has created an act based on the Dainty June act for her. Using an all-female cast, Rose and Herbie attempt to book "Madame Rose's Toreadorables" in vaudeville. They remain together ("Together, Wherever We Go"). With no vaudeville venues left, Louise and her second-rate act wind up accidentally booked at a burlesque house in Wichita, Kansas, as a means to deter police raids. Rose is anguished, as she sees what a booking in burlesque means to her dreams of success, but Louise persuades her that two weeks' pay for the new act is better than unemployment. Backstage, Rose proposes marriage to Herbie. He asks her to break up the act and let Louise have a normal life, and she reluctantly accepts, agreeing to marry the day after their show closes. As they are introduced to Louise, three of the strippers on the bill advise her on what it takes to be a successful stripper, a "gimmick," something that "makes your strip special" ("You Gotta Get a Gimmick"). On the last day of the booking, the star stripper in the burlesque show is arrested for solicitation. Desperate, Rose cannot resist the urge to give Louise another nudge toward stardom, and she volunteers Louise to do the striptease as a last-minute replacement. Herbie is disgusted at how low Rose has stooped and he finally walks out on her ("Small World" (Reprise)). Although reluctant, Louise goes on, assured by Rose that she needn't actually strip but simply walk elegantly and tease by dropping a single shoulder strap. Shy and hesitant, she sings a titillating version of the old vaudeville song "May We Entertain You". She removes only her glove, but she speaks directly to her audience, which becomes her "gimmick". Louise becomes secure, always following her mother's advice to "Make 'em beg for more, and then don't give it to them!" With each performance, the song becomes brasher and brassier, and Louise removes more articles of clothing. Ultimately, she becomes a major burlesque star ("Let Me Entertain You"). At Louise's dressing room, Rose argues with her daughter, now known as the sophisticated "Gypsy Rose Lee". Embittered, Rose reveals that the true motivation for all her actions has been to live vicariously through her daughters so she can chase the stardom she wanted for herself, not for her children. She realizes that she has driven away June, Herbie, and now possibly Louise. She displays the talent that could have been under different circumstances, as the name "Rose" flashes in neon lights ("Rose's Turn"). After her admission to Louise, mother and daughter tentatively move toward reconciliation in the end. In the 1974 and 2008 Broadway revivals, although the final dialogue scene remains, there is not a happy ending, but rather a bleak, sad one as all hopes of reconciliation for Rose and Louise fall flat when Louise walks away, laughing sarcastically at Rose's new "dream." The audience is then left with a somber Rose, whose dream of her own lit up marquee slowly fades away to her unrealistic dreams. In the 2003 revival starring Bernadette Peters, the final dialogue scene remains, but leaves the ending open to more interpretation from the audience. Louise walks through the stage door, with Rose following behind. Rose then turns to face the audience, a look of sadness and longing on her face as she takes one last look at the empty stage. She pauses and slowly closes the door. In the 2015 West End revival starring Imelda Staunton, Louise begins to walk out, and Rose catches up after waking up to reality. Louise puts her arm around Rose as they exit together. In the 2024 revival starring Audra McDonald, Rose and Louise embrace and exit the stage arm in arm.
Georgina is a talented, beautiful and ambitious African American woman, determined to have a career. Overcoming many obstacles, she rises to stardom. She makes her way through the Great Depression, World War II, and the beginning of the civil rights movement. Her mother advises her to "keep her place" as a maid on a South Carolina estate, but Georgina negotiates the blocks to stardom from her negative and opportunistic mother. She encounters the racism that pervades society and show business. Two men vie for Georgina's attention. Harvey, who is white, is able to provide opportunities for her. Her fiancé, Clem, who is a black train porter, cannot help her on her journey. By the 1950s, she is a successful singer in an expensive night club. However, Clem, who became an Army captain and then a civil rights activist, challenges Georgina's life goals.
Hazel Flagg is a 1953 musical, book by Ben Hecht, based on a story by James H. Street. The lyrics are by Bob Hilliard, and music by Jule Styne. The musical is based on the 1937 screwball comedy film Nothing Sacred, the primary screenwriter of which was Ben Hecht.
High Button Shoes is a 1947 musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by George Abbott and Stephen Longstreet. It was based on the semi-autobiographical 1946 novel The Sisters Liked Them Handsome by Stephen Longstreet.
Look to the Lilies is a stage musical with a book by Leonard Spigelgass, lyrics by Sammy Cahn, and music by Jule Styne. Based on both the 1962 novel and film versions of Lilies of the Field, it tells the story of a group of German nuns, headed by a determined, dauntless Mother Superior, who manage to get an African American itinerant handyman/jack-of-all-trades named Homer Smith to build a chapel for the New Mexico community in which they live, despite not having money to pay him.
Subtitled Gentlemen Still Prefer Blondes, it opens with the title character, a heavily-bejeweled, very wealthy widow, about to set sail on the SS Ile de France. The moment reminds her of a past voyage she took with her best friend and fellow showgirl Dorothy Shaw, and in a flashback we relive their madcap adventures after Lorelei's plans to marry Gus Esmond are derailed by his father and the two women sail from New York City to Paris and settle in at the Hôtel Ritz.
One Night Stand is a musical with a book and lyrics by Herb Gardner and music by Jule Styne. Its plot centers on a songwriter who feels he's past his prime. Styne had approached Gardner about adapting his play A Thousand Clowns for the musical stage, but Gardner was more interested in working on an original project. According to producer Joe Kipness, the collaboration was ill-conceived, since the two men could not agree about anything. The Broadway production, directed by John Dexter and choreographed by Peter Gennaro, began previews at the Nederlander Theatre on October 20, 1980. After eight performances, it closed without ever officially opening. The cast included Charles Kimbrough, Catherine Cox, Jack Weston, and Brandon Maggart. A cast album was released by Original Cast Records.
Subways Are for Sleeping is a musical produced by David Merrick with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. The original Broadway production played in 1961–62. The musical was inspired by an article about subway homelessness in the March 1956 issue of Harper's magazine and a subsequent 1957 book based on it, both by Edmund G. Love, who slept on subway trains throughout the 1950s and encountered many unique individuals. With the profits from his book, Love then embarked on an extraordinary hobby: over the course of several years, he ate dinner at every restaurant listed in the Manhattan yellow pages directory, visiting them in alphabetical order. A previous adaptation of the Harper's article was aired August 3, 1956 on CBS Radio Workshop.
Sugar is a 1972 musical with a book by Peter Stone, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The musical is based on the 1959 film Some Like It Hot, which was adapted by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond from a story by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan. The musical's name, spotlighting the lead female character, resulted from producer David Merrick being unable to license the film title. A revised Sugar with additional songs would tour nationally between 2002 and 2003 as Some Like It Hot: The Musical, boosted by the casting of film star Tony Curtis as elderly millionaire Osgood.
The Red Shoes is a musical with a book by Marsha Norman, lyrics by Norman and Bob Merrill (credited as Paul Stryker) and music by Jule Styne. Based on Powell and Pressburger's 1948 film, it tells the tale of a young ballerina who performs in an adaptation of the 1845 Hans Christian Andersen story.
Bar Mitzvah Boy is a musical with a book by Jack Rosenthal, lyrics by Don Black, and music by Jule Styne. Based on Rosenthal's award-winning 1976 BBC1 teleplay of the same name, it focuses on young Eliot Green who, filled with apprehension, escapes from the synagogue where he is about to make his…
Setting: New York City, late 1950s ACT ONE Ella Peterson works for "Susanswerphone", a telephone answering service owned by a woman named Sue. She listens in on others' lives and adds some interest to her own humdrum existence by adopting different identities – and voices – for her clients. They include Blake Barton, an out-of-work Method actor, Dr. Kitchell, a dentist with musical yearnings but lacking talent, and playwright Jeff Moss, who is suffering from writer's block and with whom Ella has fallen in love, although she has never met him. Ella considers the relationships with these clients "perfect" because she can't see them and they can't see her ("It's a Perfect Relationship"). Jeff is writing a play called "The Midas Touch," the first play he's written since his writing partner left him ("Independent (On My Own)"). One day the producer of the play insists that he finish the play by the next morning and meet him at 9:00 am. While asking her to wake him up on time, he turns to Ella (who he only knows as the Susanswerphone lady) for help in writing the play. Meanwhile, Sandor, Sue's rich boyfriend, reveals plans to a group of gangsters to use Susanswerphone as a front for a gambling operation, by pretending to be a record seller and taking orders for "symphonies" as code. ("It's a Simple Little System"). Ella wants to visit Jeff's apartment to help him write the play, but she is intercepted by a policeman who is convinced that Susanswerphone is a front for an "escort service". Ella asks him "Is it a Crime?" to help someone in need? He agrees that it isn't, and lets her go. She arrives at Jeff's apartment and offers him help with his play, and a romance ensues ("I Met a Girl," "Long Before I Knew You"). ACT TWO Ella is preparing to go to a party at Jeff's apartment, feeling nervous about meeting his friends. Carl, a friend of hers, helps her regain her confidence with a cha-cha dance ("Mu-Cha-Cha"). The guests at the party are all very pretentious and rich and snobby ("Drop That Name") and they make Ella feel very out of place. She leaves Jeff ("The Party's Over"). Carl, a music nerd, thwarts Sandor's operation when he receives an order for "Beethoven's 10th symphony," because he knows that Beethoven only wrote 9 symphonies. The policeman arrests Sandor. Meanwhile, Jeff comes to Susanswerphone to confess his love for Ella. She quits Susanswerphone in order to make a life with herself and Jeff ("I'm Going Back").
Darling of the Day is a musical with a book by Nunnally Johnson, lyrics by E. Y. Harburg, and music by Jule Styne. Based on the Arnold Bennett novel Buried Alive and his play The Great Adventure, the original 1968 Broadway production starred Vincent Price and Patricia Routledge, who won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
Do Re Mi is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and a book by Garson Kanin, who also directed the original 1960 Broadway production. The plot centers on a minor-league con man who decides to go (somewhat) straight by moving into the legitimate business of juke boxes and music promotion. The musical was headlined by the comedy couple of Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker, both of whom were Tony nominated. Popular songs introduced included "Cry Like the Wind" and "Make Someone Happy".
Fade Out – Fade In is a musical with a book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. The story involves the movie industry in the 1930s. It starred Carol Burnett, returning to the Broadway stage for the first time in four years. Comden and Green, who tackled the problems Hollywood players faced when the film industry transitioned from silent movies to sound films in Singin' in the Rain, now turn to Hollywood in the 1930s. The show spoofs some of the great film stars of the era, such as Shirley Temple and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and the character L.Z. Governor is based on MGM honcho Louis B. Mayer, known for his roving eye for pretty starlets and deep-seated nepotism.
The musical is set in and around New York City just before and following World War I. Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice, awaiting the return of her husband Nicky Arnstein from prison, reflects on their life together, and their story is told as a flashback. Act 1 Fanny is a stage-struck teen who gets her first job in vaudeville. Her mother and her mother’s friend Mrs. Strakosh try to dissuade her from show business because Fanny is not the typical beauty ("If a Girl Isn't Pretty"). But Fanny perseveres ("I'm the Greatest Star") and is helped and encouraged by Eddie Ryan, a dancer she meets in the vaudeville shows. Once Fanny's career takes off, Eddie and Mrs. Brice lament that once she's on Broadway she'll forget about them ("Who Taught Her Everything?"). Fanny performs a supposedly romantic number in the Follies, but she turns it into a classic comic routine, ending the number as a pregnant bride ("His Love Makes Me Beautiful"), causing an uproar. She meets the sophisticated and handsome Nick Arnstein, who accompanies Fanny to her mother's opening night party on "Henry Street". Fanny is clearly falling in love with Nick, while acknowledging their complex vulnerabilities ("People"). Later they meet in Baltimore and have a private dinner at a swanky restaurant and declare their feelings ("You Are Woman, I Am Man"). Fanny is determined to marry Nick, regardless of his gambling past ("Don't Rain on My Parade"). Act 2 The two marry, move to a mansion on Long Island, and have a daughter, Frances ("Sadie, Sadie"). In the meantime, Mrs. Strakosh and Eddie suggest to Mrs. Brice that she should find a man to marry, now that her daughter is supporting her ("Find Yourself a Man"). Fanny has become a major star with the Ziegfeld Follies ("Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat"). Nick asks Ziegfeld to invest in a gambling casino, but although Ziegfeld passes, Fanny insists on investing. When the venture fails and they lose their money, Fanny tries to make light of it, which propels Nick to get involved in a shady bond deal, resulting in his arrest for embezzlement. Fanny feels helpless but stronger than ever in her love for him ("The Music That Makes Me Dance"). In the present, Fanny is waiting for Nick to arrive and has time to reflect on her situation. Nick arrives, newly released from prison, and he and Fanny decide to separate. She is heartbroken, but resolves to pick up her life again ("Don't Rain on My Parade (Reprise)"). Act 1 In the present, Fanny Brice sits in her dressing room whilst preparing to star in the Ziegfeld Follies, awaiting news to hear if her husband, Nicky Arnstein, has been freed from prison and reminiscing on her earlier life ("Who Are You Now?") In the past, Fanny is a stage-struck teen, though her mother and her mother’s friends Mrs. Strakosh and Mrs. Meeker try to dissuade her from show business because Fanny is not the typical beauty ("If a Girl Isn't Pretty"). This is proved true when at her first vaudeville job as a chorus dancer, she is fired by the theater's owner, Tom Keeney. She confides to her friend Eddie Ryan, who got her the job, that she knows she will succeed ("I'm the Greatest Star"). Later, rehearsing with Eddie to re-audition for Keeney, Mrs. Brice echos Fanny's point ("I'm the Greatest Star (Reprise)") and Fanny revolves to audition again for Keeney. After "Eddie's Tap," Fanny nervously performs her first number "Cornet Man," though eventually, she wins over the audience and the attention of handsome gambler, Nicky Arnstein, who is able to wager Keeney a higher pay for Fanny and gives her his card. A year later, Fanny receives a telegram from Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. asking her to meet him at his theater, which Fanny proposes is connected to her interaction with Nick. At the theater, Fanny argues with Ziegfeld over his song choice for her but is forced to perform the song. However, she turns the supposedly romantic number, "His Love Makes Me Beautiful," into a comedy in which she portrays a pregnant bride. Backstage, Fanny's family and friends are thrilled but Ziegfeld reprimands her to which she apologizes, though he admits he found the act funny. Nick appears backstage, congratulating Fanny on her performance, and escorts her home ("I Wanna Be Seen With You Tonight") where her mother and close friends have thrown her a party, celebrating her success ("Henry Street"). Later in the evening, Fanny opens up to Nick about her desire to find love ("People"), and Nick admits that he would initiate a relationship between them, but acknowledges that he is leaving New York the next day. Sometime later, Fanny is touring with the follies and she and Nick both find themselves in Baltimore. Nick brings her to dinner at a fancy establishment, where she panics in response to his somewhat rapid advances, though she eventually gives in ("You Are Woman, I Am Man"). Later, the follies company is preparing to leave Cleveland and Fanny and Nick appear arm in arm. However, he tells her he will not be following the company, as he has to win back his money in Monte Carlo. He tells her he loves her but when she asks him to marry her, he insists that they cannot wed until he is rich again. In a last minute decision, she decides that she needs to follow him in pursuit of marriage, no matter what it means for her career ("Don't Rain on my Parade"). Act 2 Fanny surprises Nick in Monte Carlo ("Entr'acte"/"Don't Rain on my Parade (Reprise)"). He tells her that he has won back his wealth and the two are married and move to a mansion on Long Island, with Fanny soon revealing that she is pregnant ("Sadie, Sadie"). Back on Henry Street ("Sadie, Sadie (Playoff)"), Mrs. Brice and Eddie lament that Fanny no longer needs them ("Who Taught Her Everything She Knows?"). A few months later, as Fanny prepares to go back to rehearsals for a new show, Nick abruptly tells her that he is heading to Philadelphia to find investors for a casino he's building in Miami. Fanny reacts badly, nervous about leaving their daughter, Frances, for a whole day, though Nick promises that he will only be gone for a day, but in the end, she convinces him to stay and she is welcomed back to the theater ("You Are Woman (Reprise)"/"Henry Street (Reprise)"). Nick follows her to the theater and attempts to convince Ziegfeld to invest in his project, but Ziegfeld dismisses him. In response, Fanny decides to invest $68,000 of her money into Nick's project. Over the next few days, Nick travels to Florida and enters in a series of business deals with Fanny's money ("Temporary Arrangement"). On Fanny's opening night for her new show, she anxiously waits Nick's arrival, who is still traveling, telling Eddie that this would be the first opening night of hers he has missed. After her performance ("Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat"), Fanny's mother comforts her before Nick appears in her dressing room, revealing that a hurricane in Florida has destroyed the casino and lost them their money. She assures him that they will rebuild their success and that the most important thing to her is him ("Who Are You Now? (Reprise)"/"People (Reprise)"). The following year, Nick is involved in a business proposal to become a partner at a talent agency without putting up any money, though he sees through the act and realizes that Fanny has put up the money on their behalf. Nick reacts badly, insisting that he does not need her help to succeed and calls about a mob deal he was informed about, agreeing to join the deal in exchange for $68,000 ("You're a Funny Girl/Beekman Call"). Back at the follies, Fanny prepares a new routine ("What Do Happy People Do?"), but her mother arrives to inform her that Nick has been arrested for embezzlement. When Fanny insists that Nick couldn't have known the deal was faulty, her mother calls her out for making him feel unimportant in her life. Alone, Fanny reflects on how important he is to her ("The Music That Makes Me Dance"). Flashing back to the present, ("Dream Ballet"), three years after the arrest, Fanny and Eddie share one last tender moment as Nick appears in the doorway. She insists that she's willing to change to make their relationship better but he abruptly asks her for a divorce. She is taken aback but thanks him for making her feel "almost, sorta...beautiful." He assures her that she is beautiful, then leaves. Fanny somberly reflects on their marriage ("Funny Girl") but as she is called to the stage, she resolves to start again, stating "That's life in the theatre!" ("Don't Rain on my Parade (Reprise II)").
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a musical with a book by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos, lyrics by Leo Robin, and music by Jule Styne, based on the best-selling 1925 novel of the same name by Loos. The story involves an American woman's voyage to Paris to perform in a nightclub. The musical opened on Broadway in 1949 (running for 740 performances and introducing Carol Channing), a London production was mounted in 1962, and there was a Broadway revival in 1995. It was made into a 1953 film of the same name, starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. The popular songs "Bye Bye Baby" and "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" were introduced in this musical. An adaptation called Lorelei (also starring Carol Channing) was performed on Broadway in 1974.
Baby June and Louise, the two daughters of Rose Hovick, play the vaudeville circuit around the United States in the early 1920s. Rose, the archetype of a stage mother, is aggressive and domineering, pushing her children to perform. While June is an extroverted, talented child star, the older girl, Louise, is shy. Their act has one song, "May We Entertain You", with June always as the centerpiece and Louise in the background. Rose has big dreams for the girls but encounters setbacks when her father refuses to lend her money for those dreams ("Some People"). When Rose meets a former agent, Herbie, she persuades him to become their manager using her seductive and feminine wiles ("Small World"). Through Herbie's efforts, "Baby June and Her Newsboys" becomes a top vaudeville act. As the girls grow into adolescents, June and her act have a chance to perform for Mr. Goldstone of the Orpheum Circuit ("Mr. Goldstone, I Love You"). Meanwhile, Louise celebrates her birthday alone and wonders how old she is ("Little Lamb"). Rose rejects Herbie's marriage proposal and he considers leaving, but she asserts that he could never get away from her ("You'll Never Get Away From Me"). After an audition for T.T. Grantziger ("Dainty June and Her Farmboys/Broadway"), June is offered a place at a Performing Arts school. However, Rose turns this down, refusing to break up the act. Louise and June fantasize what life would be like if Rose were married and finished with show business ("If Momma Was Married"). A few months later, still on the road from show to show, Tulsa, one of the boys from the act, confides to Louise that he has been working on his own act and Louise fantasizes that she and he could do the act together ("All I Need Is the Girl"). Shortly after this, June is missing, and she explains in a note that she has grown sick of her mother and the endless tour and has eloped with Tulsa, with whom she will do a new act. Rose is hurt, but she optimistically vows that she will make Louise a star, proclaiming that "Everything's Coming Up Roses". Louise is an adult and Rose has created an act based on the Dainty June act for her. Using an all-female cast, Rose and Herbie attempt to book "Madame Rose's Toreadorables" in vaudeville. They remain together ("Together, Wherever We Go"). With no vaudeville venues left, Louise and her second-rate act wind up accidentally booked at a burlesque house in Wichita, Kansas, as a means to deter police raids. Rose is anguished, as she sees what a booking in burlesque means to her dreams of success, but Louise persuades her that two weeks' pay for the new act is better than unemployment. Backstage, Rose proposes marriage to Herbie. He asks her to break up the act and let Louise have a normal life, and she reluctantly accepts, agreeing to marry the day after their show closes. As they are introduced to Louise, three of the strippers on the bill advise her on what it takes to be a successful stripper, a "gimmick," something that "makes your strip special" ("You Gotta Get a Gimmick"). On the last day of the booking, the star stripper in the burlesque show is arrested for solicitation. Desperate, Rose cannot resist the urge to give Louise another nudge toward stardom, and she volunteers Louise to do the striptease as a last-minute replacement. Herbie is disgusted at how low Rose has stooped and he finally walks out on her ("Small World" (Reprise)). Although reluctant, Louise goes on, assured by Rose that she needn't actually strip but simply walk elegantly and tease by dropping a single shoulder strap. Shy and hesitant, she sings a titillating version of the old vaudeville song "May We Entertain You". She removes only her glove, but she speaks directly to her audience, which becomes her "gimmick". Louise becomes secure, always following her mother's advice to "Make 'em beg for more, and then don't give it to them!" With each performance, the song becomes brasher and brassier, and Louise removes more articles of clothing. Ultimately, she becomes a major burlesque star ("Let Me Entertain You"). At Louise's dressing room, Rose argues with her daughter, now known as the sophisticated "Gypsy Rose Lee". Embittered, Rose reveals that the true motivation for all her actions has been to live vicariously through her daughters so she can chase the stardom she wanted for herself, not for her children. She realizes that she has driven away June, Herbie, and now possibly Louise. She displays the talent that could have been under different circumstances, as the name "Rose" flashes in neon lights ("Rose's Turn"). After her admission to Louise, mother and daughter tentatively move toward reconciliation in the end. In the 1974 and 2008 Broadway revivals, although the final dialogue scene remains, there is not a happy ending, but rather a bleak, sad one as all hopes of reconciliation for Rose and Louise fall flat when Louise walks away, laughing sarcastically at Rose's new "dream." The audience is then left with a somber Rose, whose dream of her own lit up marquee slowly fades away to her unrealistic dreams. In the 2003 revival starring Bernadette Peters, the final dialogue scene remains, but leaves the ending open to more interpretation from the audience. Louise walks through the stage door, with Rose following behind. Rose then turns to face the audience, a look of sadness and longing on her face as she takes one last look at the empty stage. She pauses and slowly closes the door. In the 2015 West End revival starring Imelda Staunton, Louise begins to walk out, and Rose catches up after waking up to reality. Louise puts her arm around Rose as they exit together. In the 2024 revival starring Audra McDonald, Rose and Louise embrace and exit the stage arm in arm.
Georgina is a talented, beautiful and ambitious African American woman, determined to have a career. Overcoming many obstacles, she rises to stardom. She makes her way through the Great Depression, World War II, and the beginning of the civil rights movement. Her mother advises her to "keep her place" as a maid on a South Carolina estate, but Georgina negotiates the blocks to stardom from her negative and opportunistic mother. She encounters the racism that pervades society and show business. Two men vie for Georgina's attention. Harvey, who is white, is able to provide opportunities for her. Her fiancé, Clem, who is a black train porter, cannot help her on her journey. By the 1950s, she is a successful singer in an expensive night club. However, Clem, who became an Army captain and then a civil rights activist, challenges Georgina's life goals.
Hazel Flagg is a 1953 musical, book by Ben Hecht, based on a story by James H. Street. The lyrics are by Bob Hilliard, and music by Jule Styne. The musical is based on the 1937 screwball comedy film Nothing Sacred, the primary screenwriter of which was Ben Hecht.
High Button Shoes is a 1947 musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by George Abbott and Stephen Longstreet. It was based on the semi-autobiographical 1946 novel The Sisters Liked Them Handsome by Stephen Longstreet.
Look to the Lilies is a stage musical with a book by Leonard Spigelgass, lyrics by Sammy Cahn, and music by Jule Styne. Based on both the 1962 novel and film versions of Lilies of the Field, it tells the story of a group of German nuns, headed by a determined, dauntless Mother Superior, who manage to get an African American itinerant handyman/jack-of-all-trades named Homer Smith to build a chapel for the New Mexico community in which they live, despite not having money to pay him.
Subtitled Gentlemen Still Prefer Blondes, it opens with the title character, a heavily-bejeweled, very wealthy widow, about to set sail on the SS Ile de France. The moment reminds her of a past voyage she took with her best friend and fellow showgirl Dorothy Shaw, and in a flashback we relive their madcap adventures after Lorelei's plans to marry Gus Esmond are derailed by his father and the two women sail from New York City to Paris and settle in at the Hôtel Ritz.
One Night Stand is a musical with a book and lyrics by Herb Gardner and music by Jule Styne. Its plot centers on a songwriter who feels he's past his prime. Styne had approached Gardner about adapting his play A Thousand Clowns for the musical stage, but Gardner was more interested in working on an original project. According to producer Joe Kipness, the collaboration was ill-conceived, since the two men could not agree about anything. The Broadway production, directed by John Dexter and choreographed by Peter Gennaro, began previews at the Nederlander Theatre on October 20, 1980. After eight performances, it closed without ever officially opening. The cast included Charles Kimbrough, Catherine Cox, Jack Weston, and Brandon Maggart. A cast album was released by Original Cast Records.
Subways Are for Sleeping is a musical produced by David Merrick with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne. The original Broadway production played in 1961–62. The musical was inspired by an article about subway homelessness in the March 1956 issue of Harper's magazine and a subsequent 1957 book based on it, both by Edmund G. Love, who slept on subway trains throughout the 1950s and encountered many unique individuals. With the profits from his book, Love then embarked on an extraordinary hobby: over the course of several years, he ate dinner at every restaurant listed in the Manhattan yellow pages directory, visiting them in alphabetical order. A previous adaptation of the Harper's article was aired August 3, 1956 on CBS Radio Workshop.
Sugar is a 1972 musical with a book by Peter Stone, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The musical is based on the 1959 film Some Like It Hot, which was adapted by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond from a story by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan. The musical's name, spotlighting the lead female character, resulted from producer David Merrick being unable to license the film title. A revised Sugar with additional songs would tour nationally between 2002 and 2003 as Some Like It Hot: The Musical, boosted by the casting of film star Tony Curtis as elderly millionaire Osgood.
The Red Shoes is a musical with a book by Marsha Norman, lyrics by Norman and Bob Merrill (credited as Paul Stryker) and music by Jule Styne. Based on Powell and Pressburger's 1948 film, it tells the tale of a young ballerina who performs in an adaptation of the 1845 Hans Christian Andersen story.