Billion Dollar Baby
| Billion Dollar Baby | |
|---|---|
| Music | Morton Gould |
| Lyrics | Betty Comden Adolph Green |
| Book | Betty Comden Adolph Green |
| Productions | 1945Broadway |
Billion Dollar Babyis amusicalwith the book and lyrics byBetty ComdenandAdolph Greenand the score byMorton Gould.Comden and Green were fresh from their success withOn the Town,and the production team was something of anOn the Townreunion: once again,George Abbottdirected andJerome Robbinschoreographed.
The musical is set onStaten Islandand inAtlantic Cityduring the late 1920s. It follows the adventures of an ambitious young woman, Maribelle Jones, in her quest for wealth during theProhibition era.
Production[edit]
The musical opened onBroadwayat theAlvin Theatreon December 21, 1945, and ran for 220 performances.Billion Dollar Babywas not well-received, although Robbins' choreography — which included twodream ballets,aCharleston,and a gangster'sfuneral procession- was widely praised. (Decades later, Robbins incorporated the Charleston number intoJerome Robbins' Broadway.) The cast starredJoan McCracken(as Maribelle),Mitzi Green,William Tabbert,andDavid Burns.Early in the run, McCracken was replaced byVirginia Gorski(laterVirginia Gibson). Other dancers in the cast includedDanny Daniels,Helen Gallagher,andJames Mitchell;Mitchell was Tabbert's dance double. The musical director wasMax Goberman.[1]
There is no original cast recording, although there is a recording of the 1998York Theatre CompanyMufti Series staged concert version withKristin Chenoweth,Debbie Gravitte,Marc Kudisch,andRichard B. Shull.[2]
The show gained notoriety for an event that happened in rehearsals: Robbins, walking backwards as he ranted at the dancers, failed to realize how close he was to the orchestra pit—and fell into it.[3]
Songs[edit]
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References[edit]
- ^IBDb profile: Max Goberman;accessed November 21, 2017.
- ^Suskin, Steven."On The Record: 'Billion Dollar Baby', 'Mayor', and William Finn"Playbill, January 28, 2001.
- ^Although the story has been attached to a number of other Robbins musicals, both Greg Lawrence and Deborah Jowitt have traced it toBillion Dollar Baby.Lawrence,Dance with Demons: The Life of Jerome Robbins(New York: Berkley, 2001), pp. 101-102; Jowitt,Jerome Robbins: His Life, His Theater, His Dance(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004), pg. 116.