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Fiorello!

by Jerome Weidman, George Abbott, Jerry Bock, and Sheldon Harnick

Listen to the Original Cast recording on YouTube

ABOUT THE PLAY

Fiorello! is a musical about New York City mayor (1934 to 1945) Fiorello H. LaGuardia, a reform Republican who took on the Tammany Hall political machine. The book is drawn substantially from the 1955 volume Life With Fiorello by Ernest Cuneo, with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and music by Jerry Bock. It is one of only nine musicals to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The play opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on November 23, 1959, moved to The Broadway Theatre on May 9, 1961, and closed on October 28, 1961, after 795 performances. It was directed by George Abbott with choreography by Peter Gennaro. Tom Bosley originated the title role opposite Howard Da Silva as the Republican machine boss Ben Marino. The cast featured Ellen Hanley as Thea, Pat Stanley as Dora, Patricia Wilson as Marie, Nathaniel Frey as Morris, and Broadway’s future Superman, Bob Holiday, as Neil.

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How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

by Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows

Sing Along with the Original Cast recording on You Tube

ABOUT THE PLAY

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead’s 1952 book of the same name. The story concerns young, ambitious J. Pierrepont Finch, who, with the help of the book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, rises from window washer to chairman of the board of the World Wide Wicket Company.

The musical, starring Robert Morse and Rudy Vallee, opened at the 46th Street Theatre on Broadway in October 1961, running for 1,417 performances. The show won seven Tony Awards, the New York Drama Critics Circle award, and the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

In 1967, a film based on the musical was released by United Artists, with Morse and Vallee recreating their stage roles.

A 1995 revival was mounted at the same theatre as the original production (now named the Richard Rodgers Theatre). It ran for 548 performances and starred Matthew Broderick and Megan Mullally. A 50th-anniversary Broadway revival directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford and starring Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette opened on March 27, 2011, at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre and ran for 473 performances.

History

In 1952, Shepherd Mead’s satirical book, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, became a bestseller. Playwright Willie Gilbert and fellow playwright Jack Weinstock created a dramatic interpretation in 1955 that was unproduced for five years.Agent Abe Newborn brought the work to the attention of producers Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin, with the intention of retooling it as a musical. Feuer and Martin had great success with the 1950 adaptation of Guys and Dolls and brought in the creative team from that show to work on How to….Abe Burrows and Frank Loesser set to work on the new adaptation, with rehearsals beginning in August 1961. Burrows collaborated on the book with Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, also serving as director. Their new adaptation became even more satirical and added romance to the story. Loesser wrote both music and lyrics for the show, which was orchestrated by Robert Ginzler.

The original Broadway production credited the choreography to an obscure dance director named Hugh Lambert, while the much better-known Bob Fosse received only a “musical staging by…” credit. Abe Burrows explains this in his autobiography Honest, Abe. While How to Succeed… was in its early development, producer Cy Feuer attended a trade show and was extremely impressed by an elaborate dance number created by Lambert, prompting Feuer to hire Lambert to choreograph the new musical. According to Burrows, it soon became clear in rehearsals that Lambert’s creative abilities were completely used up in that one elaborate dance number. Bob Fosse was brought in to replace him, but Fosse was unwilling to hurt Lambert’s career by having him fired. Lambert’s trade-show dance number was recycled as the “Treasure Hunt” dance in How to Succeed…, while Fosse agreed to take a “musical staging” credit for choreographing all the other dance numbers. Burrows also reveals that another crisis arose in rehearsals when former recording star Rudy Vallee wanted to interpolate some of his hit songs from the 1930s.