''The Five O'Clock Girl'' 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 Character (arts), charac ...

with a

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

Guy Bolton Guy Reginald Bolton (23 November 1884 – 4 September 1979) was an Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical theatre, musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the US, he trained as an architect but turned to writing. B ...

and

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a Unite ...

, music by

Harry Ruby Harry Rubenstein (January 27, 1895 – February 23, 1974), known professionally as Harry Ruby, was an American pianist, composer, songwriter and screenwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.Bert Kalmar Bert Kalmar (February 10, 1884 – September 18, 1947) was an American songwriter. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. He was also a screenwriter. Biography Kalmar, a native of New York City, left school at an early age an ...

. Set in New York City and South Hampton, Long Island, it focuses on wealthy

Beekman Place Beekman Place is a small street located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood on the East Side of Manhattan, New York City. Running from north to south for two blocks, the street is situated between the eastern end of 51st Street and Mitchell Place, ...

playboy Gerald Brooks and impoverished shopgirl Patricia Brown, who become acquainted with each other via a series of anonymous five o'clock phone conversations. The original Broadway production opened at the 44th Street Theatre on October 10, 1927. On April 16, 1928, it transferred to the Shubert Theatre, where it completed its total run of 280 performances on June 2. Directed by John Harwood and choreographed by Jack Haskell, it starred Oscar Shaw as Gerald Brooks, Mary Eaton as Patricia Brown, Pert Kelton as Susan Snow, and Danny Dare as Ronnie Webb.

Costume design Costume design is the process of selecting or creating clothing for a performers. A costume may be designed from scratch or may be designed by combining existing garments. "Costume" may also refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a ...

was by Charles LeMaire, and

Norman Bel Geddes Norman Bel Geddes (born Norman Melancton Geddes; April 27, 1893 – May 8, 1958) was an American theatrical and industrial designer, described in 2012 by the New York Times as "a brilliant craftsman and draftsman, a master of style, the 20t ...

was the

scenic design Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including Play (theatre), plays and Musical theatre, musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, wher ...

er. A West End production opened at the

London Hippodrome The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Cranbourn Street and Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survi ...

on March 21, 1929. The musical was staged at the

Goodspeed Opera House Goodspeed Musicals is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of musical theater and the creation of new works, located in East Haddam, Connecticut. Its landmark Goodspeed Opera House is a distinctive feature of ...

in East Haddam, Connecticut and the

Walnut Street Theatre Walnut Street Theatre, founded in 1808 at 825 Walnut Street, on the corner of S. 9th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, is the oldest operating theatre in the United States. The venue is operated by Walnut Str ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

before returning to Broadway, where it ran for six previews and 14 performances at the Helen Hayes Theatre between January 22 and February 8, 1981. Directed by Sue Lawless and choreographed by Dan Siretta, the cast included Lisby Larson, Richard Ruth, Roger Rathburn, Dee Hoty, and Pat Stanley. In his review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'',

Frank Rich Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born June 2, 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 ...

called it "amiably silly" and said it "is not without passing interest as an arcane footnote to theatrical history, but as entertainment in 1981 it's a pretty slim affair." He added, "The show's book is tiresomely long, and its gags are unshucked corn. Pretty soon we're living just for the songs, and very few of them prove to be worth living for."

1927 song list

;Act I *I'm One Little Party *We Want You *Thinking of You *Happy Go Lucky *Up in the Clouds *Any Little Thing *Following in Father's Footsteps *Lonesome Romeos *Tea Time Tap *Thinking of You (Reprise) ;Act II *Who Did? *Society Ladder *Tell the World I'm Through *Up in the Clouds (Reprise) *Who Did? (Reprise)

1981 song list

;Act One *In the Old Neighborhood *Keep Romance Alive *Thinking of You *I'm One Little Party *Up in the Clouds *My Sunny Tennessee *Any Little Thing *Manhattan Walk ;Act II *Long Island Low Down *Who Did? You Did! *Any Little Thing (Reprise) *Nevertheless *All Alone Monday *Dancing the Devil Away *Up in the Clouds (Reprise)

Film adaptation

In 1928, Marion Davies and

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...

starred in a screen adaptation directed by

Robert Z. Leonard Robert Zigler Leonard (October 7, 1889 – August 27, 1968) was an American film director, actor, producer, and screenwriter. Biography He was born in Chicago, Illinois. At one time, he was married to Silent film, silent star Mae Murray with t ...

for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

, but it never was released, possibly because

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

objected to his mistress Davies portraying a common shopgirl in her first

sound film A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...

.''The Five O'Clock Girl'' at the Internet Movie Database
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References

External links

Original 1927 Broadway production at the Internet Broadway Database1981 Broadway revival at the Internet Broadway Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Five O'Clock Girl, The 1927 musicals Broadway musicals Musicals by Harry Ruby Musicals set in the Roaring Twenties Musicals set in New York City Musicals set on Long Island