''My One and Only'' is a musical with a book by
Peter Stone Peter Stone may refer to:
*Pete Stone, Australian footballer in the 1956 Summer Olympics
* Peter G. Stone (born 1957), British archaeologist
*Peter Stone (cricketer) (born 1938), New Zealand cricketer
*Peter Stone (professor) (born 1971), professo ...
and
Timothy S. Mayer and music and lyrics by
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
and
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...
. The musical ran 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 ...
and
West End.
Plot overview
Written to incorporate classic Gershwin tunes from ''
Funny Face
''Funny Face'' is a 1957 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Stanley Donen and written by Leonard Gershe, containing assorted songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Although having the same title as the 1927 Broadway musical ''Funny F ...
'' and other popular shows into one evening of entertainment, the plot, set in 1927
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, revolves around Capt. Billy Buck Chandler, a
barnstorming
Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in t ...
aviator, and Edith Herbert, an ex-
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
swimmer and the star of Prince Nicolai Erraclyovitch Tchatchavadze's International Aquacade. Billy's plan to be the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean is sidetracked by his determination to win Edith's hand, and he takes a crash course in sophistication at Mr. Magix' Tonsorial and Sartorial Emporial to help him achieve his goal. What follows is a series of escapades and misadventures that seems destined to keep the potential lovers apart forever.
Background
Just prior to out of town tryouts in Boston, the original director,
Peter Sellars
Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where ...
, was fired, with the musical director and arranger, the book writer, Tim Mayer, and set designer, Adrianne Lobel, dismissed soon after. Tommy Tune "nominally took over the direction with his co-director and co-choreographer Thommie Walsh, and
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...
,
Tony Walton
Anthony John Walton (24 October 1934 – 2 March 2022) was a British set and costume designer. He won three Tony Awards for his work on ''Pippin'' (1973), ''House of Blue Leaves'' (1986), and ''Guys and Dolls'' (1992). For his work in movies he ...
and...
Michael Bennett were brought in to help with the direction, choreography and set design."
Productions
''My One and Only'' opened on Broadway at the
St. James Theatre on May 1, 1983 and closed on March 3, 1985 after 767 performances and 37 previews. The musical was
directed
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''Di ...
and choreographed by
Thommie Walsh
Thomas Joseph "Thommie" Walsh III (March 15, 1950 – June 16, 2007) was an American dancer, choreographer, director, and author.
Biography
Thommie Walsh was born in Auburn, New York, and began to study dance at age five at the Irma Baker Schoo ...
and
Tommy Tune
Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Wal ...
. Musical and Vocal Direction was by Jack Lee. The cast included Tune,
Twiggy
Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London.
...
,
Bunny Briggs Bunny Briggs (February 26, 1922 – November 15, 2014) was an American tap dancer who was inducted into the American Tap Dancing Hall of Fame in 2006.
Briggs was born under the name Bernard Briggs in Harlem, New York on February 26, 1922. When aske ...
,
Roscoe Lee Browne
Roscoe Lee Browne (May 2, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American actor and director. He resisted playing stereotypically black roles, instead performing in several productions with New York City's Shakespeare Festival Theater, Leland Hayward's ...
,
Denny Dillon
Denise Dillon (born May 18, 1951) is an American actress and comedian best known for starring as Toby Pedalbee on the HBO comedy '' Dream On'' from 1990 to 1996. Dillon was first known for her stage work and was nominated for a Tony Award on Br ...
,
Charles "Honi" Coles, and
Nana Visitor
Nana Tucker ( ; born July 26, 1957), known professionally as Nana Visitor, is an American actress, best known for playing Kira Nerys in the television series ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' and Jean Ritter in the television series ''Wildfire''.
...
. Notable replacements during the run included
Sandy Duncan
Sandra Kay Duncan (born February 20, 1946) is an American actress, comedian, dancer and singer. She is known for her performances in the Broadway revival of ''Peter Pan'' and in the sitcom ''The Hogan Family''. Duncan has been nominated for thr ...
,
Don Correia
Donald Correia (born August 28, 1951) is an American dancer, actor and choreographer of American stage, film and television. He has been married to actress Sandy Duncan since July 21, 1980. He was nominated in 1986 for the Tony Award for Best ...
,
Jeff Calhoun, and
Georgia Engel
Georgia Bright Engel (July 28, 1948 – April 12, 2019) was an American actress. She is best known for having played Georgette Franklin Baxter in the sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' from 1972 to 1977, Pat MacDougall on ''Everybody Loves Ra ...
.
The musical opened in the UK at the Chichester Festival Theatre and then opened in the West End at the
Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England.
Early years
Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...
in February 2002, starring
Janie Dee
Janie Dee (born 20 June 1962) is an English actress and singer. She won the Olivier Award for Best Actress, Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Play, and in New York the Obie and Theatre World Award ...
as Edythe Herbert and
Tim Flavin
Tim Flavin (born January 13, 1959) is an American actor. Flavin was the first American to be presented with a Laurence Olivier Award, for his 1984 performance in Rodgers and Hart's ''On Your Toes'' at the Palace Theatre in London's West End.
...
as Captain Billy Buck Chandler, with direction by Loveday Ingram and choreography by
Craig Revel Horwood
Craig Revel Horwood (born 4 January 1965) is an Australian-British author, dancer, choreographer, conductor, theatre director, and former drag queen in the United Kingdom. He is also a patron of the Royal Osteoporosis Society.
Horwood is best k ...
.
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
singer and Gershwin historian
Michael Feinstein
Michael Jay Feinstein (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music revivalist. He is an archivist and interpreter for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988 he won a Drama Desk Special Award for cele ...
served as the musical consultant for the project. An extensive review of the show's creation can be found in his book ''Nice Work If You Can Get It'' in a chapter entitled "My One and Only Tommy Tune Fling." He noted in ''The Gershwins and Me: A Personal History in Twelve Songs'' "I kept trying to steer them away from what I perceived to be a mauling of George and Ira's work.... Finally the show's orchestrator told me ...to get out of town. Eventually Ira threw up his hands and said 'Let them do their worst'. In fairness, I have to note that 'My One and Only' was a big hit."
There were several tours, all with Tommy Tune. The first was in 1985 with Sandy Duncan which started at the
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
in March 1985 and included a six-week engagement in Japan.
Lucie Arnaz
Lucie Désirée Arnaz (born July 17, 1951) is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of actors Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
Early life
Arnaz was born at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of acto ...
replaced Duncan in this tour.
Stephanie Zimbalist
Stephanie Zimbalist (born October 8, 1956) is an American actress best known for her role as Laura Holt in the NBC detective series ''Remington Steele''.
Background
Stephanie Zimbalist was born in New York City, the daughter of Loranda Stepha ...
starred in the US national tour in 1987.
Songs
;Act I
* I Can't Be Bothered Now – The New Rhythm Boys, Billy, Edith, Prince Nikki, Mickey, and Ensemble
* Blah, Blah, Blah – Billy
*
Boy Wanted – Edith and Reporter
*
Soon – Billy
* High Hat/Sweet and Low – Magix, Billy, The New Rhythm Boys, and Ensemble
*
Just Another Rhumba – Montgomery and Ensemble
*
He Loves and She Loves "He Loves and She Loves" is a 1927 song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics written by Ira Gershwin.
It replaced the song "How Long Has This Been Going On?" in the Broadway musical ''Funny Face''. It was introduced by Adele Astaire and Allen ...
– Billy and Edith
*
'S Wonderful
"S Wonderful" is a 1927 popular song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics written by Ira Gershwin. It was introduced in the Broadway musical ''Funny Face'' (1927) by Adele Astaire and Allen Kearns.
The song is considered a standard and has b ...
– Billy and Edith
* Strike Up the Band – Billy
;Act II
* In The Swim – Fish and Nikki
*
Nice Work If You Can Get It – Edith
*
My One And Only – Magix and Billy
* Funny Face – Mickey and Nikki
* Kicking The Clouds Away – Montgomery and Ensemble
*
How Long Has This Been Going On?
"How Long Has This Been Going On?" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, for the musical ''Funny Face'' in 1927.
History
According to Ira Gershwin in his book ''Lyrics on Several Occasions'', after the premiere of ...
– Edith and Billy
Original Casts
Recording
The original Broadway cast album was released on the Atlantic label (7 80110-2-1) in 1983, running 55:15.
William Ruhlmann wrote: "As heard here, then, the music is basically a Gershwin sampler, as performed largely by Tune (leaning heavily on his Texas accent) and Twiggy (singing in a rather mannered British croon), with added appearances by Charles "Honi" Coles and Roscoe Lee Browne. On-stage, 'My One and Only' is a dance-oriented show, and that can't be re-created on disc. But the singers give lively performances of some well-known Gershwin songs."
[Ruhlmann, William]
"'My One and Only' Recording"
AllMusic. Retrieved December 25, 2015 Produced by
Ahmet Ertegun
Ahmet Ertegun (, Turkish spelling: Ahmet Ertegün; ; – December 14, 2006) was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist.
Ertegun was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records. He discovered and ch ...
,
Wally Harper Wally Harper (c. 1941 – October 8, 2004) was an American musical director, composer, conductor, dance arranger, and musical supervisor for many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. For three decades from the mid-1970s, he worked with Barbara ...
and Mike Bernaker. Didier C. Deutsch produced the CD reissue in 1989.
[
]
Critical response
Frank Rich
Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO.
Rich is current ...
reviewed for ''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 ...
'', and noted that "During this production's troubled gestation period, seemingly half of show business pitched in to offer anonymous help – no doubt the half that wasn't toiling on the screenplay of ''Tootsie.'' The result of the effort is not the brilliant musical the theater desperately craves, but nonetheless a slick one, brimming with high-hat confidence." He went on to write "The second half of the handsome show at the St. James levitates with some of the most inspired choreography Broadway has seen in several seasons – all set to the celestial music of George Gershwin and danced to kill by a company glittering in Art Deco swank. Until then, ''My One and Only'' is a smart and happy, if less than electrifying, spin down memory lane. Yet even at its most innocuous, this show receives a considerable boost from its Gershwin songs: the entire score, stitched together by a pastiche period book, derives from the Broadway trove created by the composer and his brother, Ira, a half-century ago."[Rich, Frank. "Stage: 'My One And Only,' 'New' Gershwin Show". ''The New York Times'', May 2, 1983, Section C, P. 13] Broadway wags dubbed the show "My Nine and Only," partly because of Tommy Tune's association with both this musical and "Nine," and partly because of the number of people who contributed to the writing, choreography and direction.
Awards and nominations
Original Broadway production
Original London production
References
External links
* {{ibdb show, id=6395
synopsis at Tams-Witmark
1983 musicals
Broadway musicals
Original musicals
Fiction set in 1927
Musicals set in the Roaring Twenties
United States in fiction
Musicals by George Gershwin
Musicals by Peter Stone
Tony Award-winning musicals