''Got Tu Go Disco'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Kenny Lehman, John Davis,

Ray Chew Ray Chew is an American musician who specializes in keyboards and contemporary and orchestral arranging. He is the music director of ABC's Dancing with the Stars (2014–present). Chew was music director for Fox's American Idol from 2010 to 20 ...

, Nat Adderley, Jr., Thomas Jones, Wayne Morrison, Steve Boston, Eugene Narmore, Betty Rowland, Jerry Powell and a book by John Zodrow. It opened on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

on June 25, 1979, where it ran for nine previews and eight performances. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' summed up the story of the musical as, “A young woman named Cassette sells clothes by day and turns into the queen of a nightclub by night — think ''Cinderella'' on the dance floor.”

History

''Got Tu Go Disco'' was the brainchild of promoter and producer

Jerry Brandt Jerry Brandt (January 29, 1938 – January 16, 2021) was an American entrepreneur, impresario, agent, manager, promoter, and club owner who was active since the 1960s. He is known for discovering Carly Simon and serving as her first manager, as w ...

, who had opened several popular nightclubs and managed musical acts such as

Jobriath Bruce Wayne Campbell (December 14, 1946 – August 3, 1983), known by his stage name Jobriath, was an American rock musician and actor. He was the first openly gay rock musician to be signed to a major record label, and one of the first in ...

and

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...

. In a ''New York Times'' article in 1979, Brandt said, “You don’t have to be a genius to know this is the coming thing … And do you know what excites me the most about this? There will be so much happening, the audience will never know what’s coming next.” Brandt had a reputation for thinking big and not worrying about the details, and the result – as

Steven Gaines Steven Gaines (born 1946) is an American author, journalist, and radio show host. His 13 books include ''Philistines at the Hedgerow: Passion and Property in the Hamptons''; ''The Sky’s the Limit: Passion and Property in Manhattan''; '' The Love ...

put it in a ''

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'' magazine article about the show – was a production that included “an inexperienced staff, two unknown stars, the real-life doorman and bartender of

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, two directors, three scriptwriters, three choreographers, eleven composers, a cast of 36, and a $500,000 set with a dance floor that fills with 3000 gallons of water and jackknifes toward the audience.” One of those unknown stars was

Irene Cara Irene Cara Escalera (March 18, 1959 – November 25, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and actress of Black, Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. Cara rose to prominence for her role as Coco Hernandez in the 1980 musical film '' Fame'', and f ...

, one year before she made a splash in the movie '' Fame''. The reviews for the show were withering.

Clive Barnes Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, ''The New York Post.'' Barnes had sign ...

in the ''

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'' called it “memorably unmemorable"; Douglas Watt in the '' Daily News'' wrote that it was "pure trash"; and

Richard Eder Richard Gray Eder (August 16, 1932 – November 21, 2014) was an American film reviewer and a drama critic. Life and career For 20 years, he was variously a foreign correspondent, a film reviewer and the drama critic for ''The New York Times''. ...

summed it up in ''The New York Times'' as "not for a theater audience.”

Songs

; Act I * "Puttin’ It On" - Ensemble * "Disco Shuffle" - Billy and Cassette * "All I Need" - Cassette * "It Won’t Work" - Vitus * "Trust Me" – Cubby and Contact * "In and Out" – Marc and Company * "Pleasure Pusher" - Ensemble * "If That Didn’t Do It, It Can’t Be Done" - Company ; Act II * "Inter-Mish-Un" - Billy Newton-Davis * "Hanging Over and Out" - Vitus * "Chic to Cheap" – Snap-Flash * "Bad, Glad, Good and Had" - Cassette * "Cassie" - Billy * "Takin' the Light" - Cassette, Billy and Ensemble * "Gettin' to the Top" - Antwerp * "Dance Forever" - Entire Company * "Got Tu Go Disco" - Entire Company

References

{{Reflist

External links

Internet Broadway Database listing
Broadway musicals 1979 musicals Original musicals Disco