High Button Shoes

High Button Shoes
High Button Shoes
Music Jule Styne
Lyrics Sammy Cahn
Book Stephen Longstreet
George Abbott
Basis Novel by Stephen Longstreet
The Sisters Liked Them Handsome
Productions 1947 Broadway
1948 West End
1956 Television
1982 Goodspeed Opera House
2007 Goodspeed Opera House

High Button Shoes is a 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 Longstreet. The story concerns the comic entanglements of the Longstreet family with two con men in Atlantic City.

The musical opened on Broadway in 1947 (running for 727 performances), on the West End in 1948, and has had several regional revivals as well as being televised in 1956.

Contents

History

Many involved with High Button Shoes were Broadway first-timers or relatively unknown, except for the director, George Abbott. The creative team, composer Jule Styne, lyricist Sammy Cahn and writer Stephen Longstreet had worked in Hollywood, as had the producers Monte Proser and Joseph Kipness (who had also produced several short-lived Broadway shows) and actors Phil Silvers, who was known for his on-screen con-man persona, and Nanette Fabray. The designers Oliver Smith and Miles White and choreographer Jerome Robbins were all Broadway veterans. Rumors circulated that the book by Longstreet was "hopeless" and that Abbott and Silvers were "heavily rewriting" it. The Shuberts, involved because the show was to play in one of their theaters, approved an increase in Abbott's percentage to include author's royalties.[1] Historian Ken Mandelbaum agrees that the show's book was originally by Longstreet but that it was extensively rewritten by Abbott.[2]

Synopsis

In New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1913, the Longstreet family, consisting of Mama, Papa, Mama's younger sister Fran, and her college boyfriend Oggle, is affected when a con man, Harrison Floy, and his shill, Mr. Pontdue, come to town. The duos' dubious intentions are made clear as Floy pitches "snake-oil" schemes ("He Tried to Make a Dollar") including selling fake watches and diamond mines, and the shill Mr. Pontdue asks for two. They are chased by the police, and the phoney scheme is repeated. After they cheat the Longstreets in a phoney land deal, Floy and Pontdue try to escape to Atlantic City, New Jersey with their ill-gotten profits and also take Fran (who has become romantically involved with Floy) with them.

As the con men Floy and Pontdue are pursued to the Atlantic City beach while carrying a satchel full of stolen money, the people on the beach dance around them ("The Bathing Beauty Ballet"). They tangle with a large number of people—including bathing beauties, lifeguards, other criminals, identical twins—and one gorilla. The climax occurs when the Keystone Cops arrive, and Floy loses everything when he bets on the wrong football team. But after his being captured we learn that Pontdue has bet on not a football team, but a philly named "Princeton." Floy gives the conned citizens their money back, but before he leaves tries to get the audience to buy one more item of "great worth..."

Dance elements

The highlight of the original production was a long (7-10 minute) ensemble dance number ("The Bathing Beauty Ballet", to the song "On a Sunday by the Sea") at the beginning of the second act. Choreographer Robbins staged this number in the manner of a Mack Sennett silent slapstick film. It uses the music of "On A Sunday By the Sea", Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody, and Offenbach's can-can from "Orpheus in the Underworld". "This number was so basic to the show that deleting it would render the evening incoherent. It was a major evocation of a period, a tribute to silent-film comedy."[3] Amanda Vaill, in her biography of Robbins describes this dance number: "The actors careen across the stage, in and out of a row of boardwalk bathhouses, slamming doors, falling, rolling, leaping to their feet, colliding with one another, in a masterpiece of intricately plotted chaos that bears all the marks of the developing Robbins style: wit, character, drama, and precision."[4]

Songs

Act I
  • He Tried to Make a Dollar – Singers
  • Can't You Just See Yourself in Love with Me? – Hubert Ogglethorpe and Fran
  • There's Nothing Like a Model T – Harrison Floy and Company
  • Next to Texas, I Love You – Hubert Ogglethorpe and Fran
  • Security – Sara Longstreet, Fran and Singing Girls
  • Bird Watcher's Song – Sara Longstreet and Singing Girls
  • Get Away for a Day in the Country – Henry Longstreet, Stevie Longstreet and Singers
  • Papa, Wont You Dance with Me? – Sara Longstreet, Henry Longstreet, Girls and Boys
Act II
  • On a Sunday by the Sea – Singers
  • You're My Girl – Hubert Ogglethorpe and Fran
  • I Still Get Jealous – Sara Longstreet and Henry Longstreet
  • You're My Boy – Harrison Floy and Mr. Pontdue
  • Nobody Ever Died for Dear Old Rutgers – Harrison Floy, Hubert Ogglethorpe and Singing Boys
  • He Tried to Make a Dollar (Reprise) – Entire Company

Productions

High Button Shoes opened on Broadway at the New Century Theatre on October 9, 1947 and closed on July 2, 1949 after 727 performances. It transferred to the Shubert Theatre on December 22, 1947 and finally to The Broadway Theatre on October 18, 1948 during the run. The cast starred Silvers as Harrison Floy and Fabray as Sara Longstreet (who was replaced by Joan Roberts in June 1948), and featured Joey Faye as Mr. Pontdue and Jack McCauley as Henry (Papa) Longstreet. The direction was by Abbott, choreography by Jerome Robbins, scenic design by Oliver Smith, costume design by Miles White, and lighting design by Peggy Clark. Robbins won the Tony Award for choreography.

A London production opened at the Hippodrome on December 22, 1948 and ran for 291 performances. An unknown Audrey Hepburn was among the chorus girls.

A television adaptation was broadcast live on November 24, 1956 on NBC with Nanette Fabray and Joey Faye repeating their original roles, Hal March as Harrison Floy and Don Ameche as Papa Longstreet.[5]

The musical was revived at the Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut July 1982 through September 11, 1982.[6] It was revived again by Goodspeed Musicals, opening on July 13, 2007 through September 22, 2007.[7][8]

Response

Brooks Atkinson, theatre critic for The New York Times, wrote that it was a "very happy musical show in a very cheerful tradition." He particularly praised Phil Silvers' performance as "an uproarious comic. He has the speed, the drollery and the shell-game style of a honky-tonk buffoon." He commented that the story was a "sentimentally amusing fable" and that the songs were "simple in style and very pleasant to hear."[9]

References

  1. ^ Mordden, Ethan (1999). Beautiful Mornin': The Broadway Musical in the 1940s. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-512851-6, pp. 205, 221
  2. ^ Mandelbaum, Ken. "CDs: Papa, Won't You Dance with Me?" broadway.com, March 30, 2005, retrieved June 7, 2010
  3. ^ Mordden, p. 210
  4. ^ Vaill, Amanda (2008). Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins. Random House, Inc., ISBN 0-7679-0421-4, p. 143
  5. ^ "Saturday Spectacular:"High Button Shoes'" movies.amctv.com, Retrieved September 2, 2009
  6. ^ Shepard, Richard F. "Stage: Goodspeed Offers 'High Button Shoes'", The New York Times, July 27, 1982
  7. ^ Jones, Kenneth. "High Button Shoes Opens Aug. 8 at Goodspeed; "New" Styne-Cahn Song Added", Playbill, August 8, 2007
  8. ^ Gold, S."Review:'High Button Shoes'"The New York Times, August 26, 2007
  9. ^ Atkinson, Brooks. "The New Play in Review", The New York Times, October 10, 1947, p. 32

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • St. Anthony's High School (New York) — St. Anthony s High School is a Roman Catholic private high school (grades 9 12) located on Long Island, New York in Suffolk County s South Huntington. The school was founded in 1933 by Brothers of the Franciscan order on the principle, “Educate… …   Wikipedia

  • Mammy Two Shoes — Tom and Jerry character From Old Rockin Chair Tom First appearance Puss Gets the Boo …   Wikipedia

  • Bishop Kenny High School — Infobox HighSchool name = Bishop Kenny High School motto = [http://www.bishopkenny.org/Content.aspx?ID=905 Mission Statement Philosophy] established = 1952 type = Parochial city = Jacksonville state = Florida country = USA students = 1,450… …   Wikipedia

  • Saint Francis High School (Athol Springs) — Infobox Private School background = #f0f6fa border = #ccd2d9 name = Saint Francis High School Pax et Bonum (Peace and All Good) Deus Scientarium Dominus (God is the Master of Knowledge) established = 1927 type = Private, Franciscan, College Prep …   Wikipedia

  • Craig D. Button — Craig David Button Born November 24, 1964 Died April 2, 1997 Gold Dust Peak, 15 miles (24 km) SW of Vail, Colorado Allegiance United States of America …   Wikipedia

  • Alexandra High School — Infobox School2 name = Alexandra High School motto = Summa Diligentia Laboro established = 1960 type = Public, Coed locale = Urban grades = 8 12 head name = Headmaster head = Mr C Heymans head name2 = Exam board head2 =… …   Wikipedia

  • Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School — Location 123 Coles Street Jersey City, NJ 07302 Information Type …   Wikipedia

  • Cheverus High School — Crescamus in Illo per omina May we grow in Him through all thin …   Wikipedia

  • Delmar High School — DHS Address 200 N. Eight Street Delmar, Delaware, Sussex, 19940 USA Coordinates …   Wikipedia

  • Perth High School — Infobox high school imagesize = 200px name= Perth High School native name= latin name= motto = established = 1971 type = Educational endowment = Faculty and Staff: Head teacher= James Scott schoolmaster = principal = enrollment = 5 students =… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”