''Louisiana Purchase'' is a
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...
with music and lyrics by
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russ ...
and book by
Morrie Ryskind based on a story by
B. G. DeSylva. Set in
, the musical lightly
satirises Louisiana
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...
and his control over
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...
politics.
[Bordman, 573] An honest
U.S. senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and power ...
travels to Louisiana to investigate corruption in the Louisiana Purchase Company; the company's lawyer attempts to divert him via the attentions of two beautiful women, but the senator maintains his integrity and ends up marrying one of them. In
1941
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
* January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar E ...
it was adapted for the film ''
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or ap ...
'' directed by
Irving Cummings
Irving Caminsky (October 9, 1888 – April 18, 1959) was an American movie actor and director.
Career
Born in New York City, Cummings started his acting career at age 16 in ''Diplomacy''. His Broadway, performances included ''In the Long ...
.
The show opened at the
Shubert Brothers
The Shubert family was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theater industry in the United States. They dominated the legitimate theater and vaudeville in the first half of the 20th c ...
'
Imperial Theatre
The Imperial Theatre is a Broadway theater at 249 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1923, the Imperial Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed ...
, New York City on May 28, 1940 and ran for 444 performances. It was produced by
Buddy De Sylva, who also wrote the story, and staged by
Edgar MacGregor
Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear").
Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...
. The musical orchestrations were by
Robert Emmett Dolan
Robert Emmett Dolan (August 3, 1908 - September 26, 1972) was a Broadway conductor, composer, and arranger beginning in the 1920s. He moved on to radio in the 1930s and then went to Hollywood in the early 1940s as a musical director for Paramo ...
and
N. Lang Van Cleve, with the
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...
s by
George Balanchine
George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
*
*
*
* born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...
and the musical staging and dances by Carl Randall. On June 19, 1996, a
concert version
A concert performance or concert version is a performance of a musical theater or opera in concert form, without set design or costumes, and mostly without theatrical interaction between singers.
Concert performances are commonly presented in co ...
with the complete score was recorded at Carnegie Hall (during four performances), including three additional songs cut from the original album.
Songs
;Act I
* The Letter - Sam Liebowitz
* Apologia - Secretary, Sam Liebowitz and Ensemble
* Sex Marches On - Jim Taylor, Col. Davis D. Davis Sr., Davis D. Davis Jr., Dean Manning and Police Captain Whitfield
* Louisiana Purchase - Beatrice, The Martins, the Buccaneers and Ensemble
*
It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow "It's a Lovely Day Tomorrow" is a song written in 1938 by composer Irving Berlin. The song came out of a conversation with British / Hungarian film producer Alexander Korda in a New York taxi cab in 1938. The Munich agreement had just depressed bot ...
- Madame Bordelaise
* Louisiana Purchase (Reprise) - Beatrice, Emmy-Lou, Lee Davis, The Martins and Ensemble
* Outside of That I Love You - Jim Taylor and Marina van Linden
* You're Lonely and I'm Lonely - Marina van Linden and Senator Oliver P. Loganberry
* (Dance with Me) Tonight at the Mardi Gras - The Martins
;Act II
* Latins Know How - Madame Bordelaise and Ensemble
* What Chance Have I (with Love) - Senator Oliver P. Loganberry
* The Lord Done Fixed Up My Soul - Beatrice, Abner, the Buccaneers and Ensemble
* Fools Fall in Love - Jim Taylor and Marina van Linden
* Old Man's Darling - Young Man's Slave? - Marina van Linden, Spirit of Jim Taylor and Spirit of Senator Loganberry
* You Can't Brush Me Off - Emmy-Lou, Lee Davis and The Martins
Casts
References
*Bordman, Gerald (2001). ''American Musical Theater: A Chronicle.'' 3rd ed. New York:
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
.
**Suskin, Steven (2000) "Showtunes" 3rd ed.
xford University Press
External links
''Louisiana Purchase'' at the Internet Broadway Database
{{Irving Berlin
Musicals by Irving Berlin
1940 musicals
Broadway musicals