RSS Feed
Twitter
In 1971, the revival of the 1925 musical No, No, Nanette with screen legend Ruby Keeler proved to be an enormous hit. Its producer, Harry Rigby, deciding to cash in on the nostalgia craze by reviving another vintage show with another glamorous movie star as its centerpiece, zeroed in on Irene with Debbie Reynolds making her Broadway debut in the title role. Rigby hired librettist Hugh Wheeler to rework the show, which retained only five of the original songs and added tunes written by McCarthy with other composers and original numbers by Charles Gaynor and Otis Clements, with additional material by Wally Harper and Jack Lloyd, written specifically for the revival. The production was troubled from the start. Billy De Wolfe was forced to withdraw due to illness and was replaced by George S. Irving as Madame Lucy. Reviews in Toronto were mixed, and when Reynolds was stricken with a throat ailment, the producers, rather than cancel the sell-out performances, had her mime her dialogue and songs on stage to director John Gielgud's reading of them from the wings, much to the dismay of angry audiences. Philadelphia critics were brutal, and Gielgud, an odd choice for a lightweight musical comedy, was replaced by Gower Champion, who had helmed a Los Angeles revival of Annie Get Your Gun with Reynolds. Peter Gennaro was hired to restage the musical numbers, and Joseph Stein was brought in to doctor the book, which now had Irene posing as a countess in cahoots with couturier Madame ...
From:
dougster2810
Views:
30999
39
ratings
Post originale: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfpPLoa_bc0&feature;=youtube_gdata
