On the Town is a musical with music by Leonard Bernstein and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, based on Jerome Robbins' idea for his 1944 ballet Fancy Free, which he had set to Bernstein's music. The musical introduced several popular and classic songs, among them "New York, New York", "Lonely Town", "I Can Cook, Too" (for which Bernstein also wrote the lyric), and "Some Other Time". The story concerns three American sailors on a 24-hour shore leave in New York City in 1944, during World War II. Each of the three sailors meets and quickly connects with a woman.
On the Town was first produced on Broadway in 1944 and was made into a film in 1949, although the film replaced all but four of the original Broadway numbers with Hollywood-written substitutes. The show has enjoyed several major revivals. The musical integrates dance into its storytelling: Robbins made several ballets and extended dance sequences for the show, including the "Imaginary Coney Island" ballet.
Background The Jerome Robbins ballet Fancy-Free (1944), with music by Leonard Bernstein, was a hit for the American Ballet Theatre. Oliver Smith, who designed the sets, and his business partner, Paul Feigay, thought that the ballet could be turned into a Broadway musical. They convinced Robbins and Bernstein, who in turn wanted their friends Comden and Green to write the book and lyrics. When the director George Abbott was added to the project, funding was secured, including funding from the movie studio MGM in return for the film rights.Laird, Paul R., and Everett, William A. The Cambridge Companion to the Musical (2002), Cambridge University Press, , p. 174
Productions
Broadway On the Town premiered on Broadway at the Adelphi Theater on December 28, 1944, directed by George Abbott and with choreography by Jerome Robbins. It closed on February 2, 1946, after 462 performances. The production starred John Battles (Gabey, who replaced Kirk Douglas before tryouts), Cris Alexander (Chip), Nancy Walker (Hildy), Sono Osato (Ivy), Betty Comden (Claire), and Adolph Green (Ozzie). The musical director was Max Goberman.BroadwayWorld.com The original production of On the Town was notable for its racially diverse cast and intentional avoidance of racial stereotypes. The Japanese-American dancer Sono Osato starred as Ivy; there were six African-Americans in the cast, who were treated as part of the citizenry; and nine months into the run, the black conductor Everett Lee took over the podium.Oja, Carol J. "Bernstein Meets Broadway: Collaborative Art in a Time of War" (2014), Oxford University Press, , Chapters 4, 5, and 6
The first Broadway revival opened at the Imperial Theatre on October 31, 1971, and closed on Jan 1, 1972, after 73 performances. Donna McKechnie, Phyllis Newman, and Bernadette Peters co-starred as Ivy, Claire, and Hildy. The director and choreographer was Ron Field. Peters received a nomination for the 1972 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In his review for the New York Times, Clive Barnes wrote:Barnes, Clive. "Theater: 'On the Town,' Bernstein's 1944 Musical" The New York Times (abstract), November 1, 1971, p. 54
The second Broadway revival opened at the Gershwin Theatre on November 19, 1998, and ran for 69 performances. This production began as a summer event at the Public Theater's Delacorte Theater in Central Park and made use of the venue in unique ways. Upon its Broadway Transfer, critics disparaged the subsequent production and changes as lifeless and bland by comparison.Brantley, Ben."Theatre Review: Love in a Hurry on a Busy Shore Leave", The New York Times, November 23, 1998, Lea Delaria's performance as Hildy the taxi driver (and especially her all-stops-out rendition of "I Can Cook, Too") won wide praise, with Ben Brantley writing "Working through the saucy double-entendres and scat embellishments of I Can Cook Too, Hildy's mating call of a solo, Ms. DeLaria makes an obliging captive of anyone watching her." Mary Testa was nominated for the 1999 Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical; Lea Delaria was nominated for the Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical and won the Theatre World Award.
A Broadway revival opened at the Lyric Theatre on September 20, 2014, in previews, and officially on October 16, directed by John Rando with choreography by Joshua Bergasse.Gans, Andrew. " 'It's a Helluva Town': Broadway Revival of 'On the Town' Dances Into the Lyric Tonight" playbill.com, September 20, 2014, The cast featured Jay Armstrong Johnson (Chip), Tony Yazbeck (Gabey) and Clyde Alves (Ozzie),Gioia, Michael, and Gans, Andrew. "Tony Yazbeck, Jay Armstrong Johnson and Clyde Alves Will Lead Broadway's 'On the Town'" playbill.com, May 21, 2014, and Megan Fairchild (Ivy), Alysha Umphress (Hildy), and Elizabeth Stanley (Claire) as the three women in the sailors' lives, as well as Jackie Hoffman (Madame Dilly), Michael Rupert (Judge Pitkin), and Allison Guinn (Lucy Schmeeler). A cast album was recorded at Audio Paint Studios in New York City in 2014. The production closed, after 28 previews and 368 regular performances, on September 6, 2015.
Other US An Encores! staged concert was presented at New York City Center from November 19, 2008, through November 23, 2008, as part of a citywide celebration of Leonard Bernstein's 90th birthday. John Rando was the director, Warren Carlyle the choreographer, with a cast that featured Justin Bohon (Chip), Christian Borle (Ozzie), Tony Yazbeck (Gabey), Jessica Lee Goldyn (Ivy), Leslie Kritzer (Hildy Esterhazy), Jennifer Laura Thompson (Claire De Loone), and Andrea Martin (Madame P. Dilly).Gans, Andrew."A Helluva Town: Encores! Launches New Season with On the Town" , playbill.com, November 19, 2008
In reviewing this production, Charles Isherwood wrote: "The production is rich in dance ... and winning performances (particularly from Tony Yazbeck as the lovelorn sailor Gabey, and a scenery-devouring Andrea Martin as a nutso-dipso voice teacher), but it's richest of all in music. There are several ballet sequences, instant reprises, jazzy pop songs, classical spoofs, and soaring ballads."Isherwood, Charles."Theatre Review:Drop Me Off at Broadway, 1944",The New York Times, November 21, 2008
A production of On the Town opened in June 2013 at Barrington Stage Company in Massachusetts. John Rando directed the production and Joshua Bergasse choreographed. The production starred Tony Yazbeck (Gabey), Clyde Alves (Ozzie), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Chip), Alysha Umphress (Hildy), Deanna Doyle (Ivy), Elizabeth Stanley (Claire), Michael Rupert (Judge Pitkin), Allison Guinn (Lucy Schmeeler), and Nancy Opel (Madame P. Dilly). In his review Ben Brantley wrote: "John Rando's production of On the Town, the 1944 musical about three sailors on shore leave in New York City, is one of those rare revivals that remind us of what a hit show from long was originally all about. The joy of Mr. Rando's production is in its air of erotic effortlessness."
London The first London production of On the Town opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on May 30, 1963, and ran for 63 performances."On the Town" listing for 1963 at the Guide to Musical Theatre It was directed and choreographed by Joe Layton and starred Elliott Gould and Don McKay. The main female roles were taken by two Americans, Carol Arthur and Andrea Jaffe, and an English actress, Gillian Lewis. It was not a propitious time for new musicals in London, given dramatic developments that year in British popular music. A month earlier, Bock and Harnick's She Loves Me had opened on Broadway and ran for some 300 performances, but flopped when it came to London in 1964, not least because people thought the title had something to do with the Beatles.Sheridan Morley, notes for First Night CD of 1994 London cast recording of She Loves Me. The Beatles' record, She Loves You, was a massive hit in 1963. The so-called "British invasion" of the United States began early the following year with the Beatles' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
In 1992, Michael Tilson Thomas led the London Symphony Orchestra and an all-star, crossover cast of opera and theater performers in a semi-staged concert version produced by Deutsche Grammophon and recorded for both CD and video release. The video was also aired on the PBS series Great Performances, and in the UK on both BBC Two and BBC Radio 3 in January 1994. Participants included Frederica von Stade, Thomas Hampson, Tyne Daly, Cleo Laine, David Garrison, Samuel Ramey, and, as both narrators and performers, Comden and Green themselves. The resulting recordings included material cut at various stages of the musical's development."Bernstein: On The Town", album details arkivmusic.com Thomas revived this concert edition of the work in 1996 with the San Francisco Symphony, with many of the same performers.
On The Town was part of English National Opera's repertoire, running April 20 – May 25, 2007, at the London Coliseum, with Caroline O'Connor as Hildy, with choreography by Stephen Mear.Gans, Andrew. "English National Opera's On the Town — with Palmer and O'Connor — Begins April 20", playbill.com, April 20, 2007
As part of their 2017 Season, the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre staged On The Town, directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie; it is billed as the biggest dance musical ever staged at the theatre.Johnson, Robin. "Regent's Park Open Air Theatre Announces 2017 Season", officiallondontheatre.com, November 18, 2016
A semi-staged concert version was performed at the Royal Albert Hall, London, as part of the 2018 Proms, on 25 August, the exact centenary of Bernstein's birth. The London Symphony Orchestra was conducted by John Wilson."Prom 57: John Wilson conducts Bernstein's 'On the Town'" bbc.co.uk, 25 August 2018
1949 film version
The MGM film opened on December 8, 1949. It starred Gene Kelly as Gabey (who also co-directed with Stanley Donen), Frank Sinatra as Chip, and Jules Munshin as Ozzie, as well as Ann Miller (Claire), Vera-Ellen (Ivy) and Betty Garrett (Hildy). The film dispensed with many of the Bernstein songs, keeping four, including "New York, New York," and replaced the others with new songs with music by Roger Edens and lyrics by Comden and Green.
Plot summary
Act I A trio of dockyard workers mourns the start of a new workday ("I Feel Like I'm Not Out of Bed Yet"). The whistle blows at 6 AM, and three sailors emerge: Ozzie, Chip, and Gabey, excited for 24 hours of shore leave ("New York, New York"). Chip is excited to see all the sights that his father told him about after his trip to New York in 1934, with his decade-old guidebook by his side. Ozzie is interested in finding a date (or several) because Manhattan women are the prettiest in the world. Gabey is looking for one special girl, hopefully one who reminds him of his 7th-grade girlfriend, Minnie Finchley. On the subway, the three spot a poster of Ivy Smith, "Miss Turnstiles" for June. Gabey, overcome with love for the picture, takes it with him. An old lady angrily tells him that she will have him arrested for vandalism and the three run off.
Gabey wants to meet Ivy Smith, despite Chip's protests that the city is too big for things like that to happen. Ozzie, recounting an incident where Gabey saved their lives, convinces Chip to help Gabey find her. Chip grudgingly agrees and Ozzie coaches Gabey on what to do once he meets Ivy ("Gabey's Comin'," performed in the 2014 Broadway revival). The three break up, Gabey to Carnegie Hall, Ozzie to the Museum of Modern Art, and Chip to the "subway people." The three imagine what Miss Turnstiles must be like, and a ballet is performed in which Ivy demonstrates all the many different, contradictory, skills she has.
The little old lady finds a policeman and the two chase after the sailors.