Music by Richard RodgersLyrics by Lorenz HartBook by Rodgers & Hart and George Abbott
Junior's folks pull him from the family's vaudeville act and pack him off to school where he becomes a music teacher. He meets Sydney, a composer, and Frankie, a coed who's fallen hard for him, and together they set about trying to sell Sydney's new jazz ballet to a Russian ballet company. The prima ballerina wants to teach Junior more than a few new steps, but with her assistance, "Slaughter On Tenth Avenue" is produced with Junior dancing the lead. In one of the funniest set pieces ever devised, Junior dances the premiere while being shot at from the audience by thugs who've mistaken him for a dancer who owes on a gambling debt. This landmark musical was directed by the legendary George Abbott and choreographed by newcomer George Balanchine, whose use of ballet here marked the first time in musical comedy that dance was a direct proponent of the plot.
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Richard Rodgers' contribution to the musical theatre of his day was extraordinary, and his influence on the musical theatre of today and tomorrow is legendary. His career spanned more than six decades, his hits ranging from the silver screens of Hollywood to the bright light ...
Lorenz Hart was born in New York City on May 2, 1895, the oldest of two sons of Frieda and Max Hart. Hart graduated from Columbia Grammar School and attended the Columbia School of Journalism. In the late teens a mutual friend introduced Hart to composer Richard Rodgers. Rodg ...
A Broadway actor, director, playwright and producer, George Abbott (1887-1995) wrote and starred in his first comedy, Perfectly Harmless, while attending Harvard. In the 20's/30's, his plays were mostly comedies, including Twentieth Century, Three Men on a Horse and Room Serv ...
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