- Roberta
Infobox Musical
name= Roberta
subtitle=
caption=
music=Jerome Kern
lyrics=Otto Harbach
book= Otto Harbach
basis= "Gowns by Roberta", a novel byAlice Duer Miller
productions=1933 Broadway
awards="Roberta" is a musical from
1933 with music byJerome Kern , and lyrics and book byOtto Harbach . The musical is based on the novel "Gowns by Roberta" byAlice Duer Miller . The play notably features the famed songs "Yesterdays", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes ", "You're Devastating", and "The Touch of Your Hand".Productions
The original Broadway production opened at the
New Amsterdam Theatre onNovember 18 1933 , and ran for 295 performances. It starredTamara Drasin (billed as Tamara),Bob Hope ,George Murphy ,Lyda Roberti ,Fred MacMurray ,Fay Templeton ,Ray Middleton (billed as Raymond E. Middleton), andSydney Greenstreet . Hope, Murphy, MacMurray and Greenstreet were not yet theHollywood stars they would soon be, and Middleton was not the Broadway leading man he would become after "Annie Get Your Gun ".Other versions
The play was made into a 1935 film by
RKO starringIrene Dunne ,Fred Astaire ,Ginger Rogers , andRandolph Scott . The film omitted "The Touch of Your Hand" (sung by a minor character), and "You're Devastating" (originally Middleton's big song in the show), but added the Kern songs "I Won't Dance " and "Lovely to Look At", which became so popular that they are now always included in revivals and recordings of "Roberta".In 1952,
MGM remade "Roberta" under the title "Lovely to Look At". This remake also included the additional songs written for the 1935 film. It starredKathryn Grayson ,Howard Keel ,Red Skelton ,Ann Miller , andZsa Zsa Gabor and was made inTechnicolor .The show was also presented on television in a highly adapted, modernized 1969
NBC color telecast. This production was presented byBob Hope , who reprised his original stage role, inserting many new, then-topical jokes about current events. Others in the cast includedMichele Lee , John Davidson, andJanis Paige (who sang "I Won't Dance " with a male chorus).External links
* [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=11791 "Roberta" at Broadway Internet Database]
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