Barefoot Boy With Cheek | |
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Music | Sidney Lippman |
Lyrics | Sylvia Dee |
Book | Max Shulman |
Setting | University of Minnesota |
Basis | Barefoot Boy With Cheek by Max Shulman |
Premiere | April 3, 1947: Martin Beck Theatre |
Barefoot Boy with Cheek is a 1947 comedic Broadway musical written by Max Shulman, with music by Sidney Lippman and lyrics by Sylvia Dee. [1] The show, which satirizes college life at the "fictitious" University of Minnesota, is based on Shulman's 1943 novel of the same name. [2] It premiered at the Martin Beck Theatre on April 3, 1947, and closed on July 5 of that year after 108 performances. [1]
Prior to its staging on Broadway, the show saw out-of-town tryouts in March in New Haven and Boston. [2] [3] The show's original act one finale, "Don't Spoil the Party", was cut before its Broadway premiere. [2] [4]
For the Broadway production, George Abbott directed and produced, Milton Rosenstock was the music director, Richard Barstow provided choreography, and Jo Mielziner provided set and lighting design. [5]
In 2011 a reading of the show was done at Manhattan Theatre Club's Creative Center as part of UnsungMusicalsCo. Inc's Archival Project. Jenn Colella, Randy Donaldson, Jenny Fellner, Nick Gaswirth, Drew Gehling, Anne Horak, Robert Lenzi, Sarah Litzsinger, Nora Mae Lyng, Rye Mullis, Greg Reuter, and Max von Essen participated in the reading. The libretto remained almost entirely original, and included "Don't Spoil the Party" in its original placement at the end of act one. [4]
1947 Broadway [1] | |
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Roger Hailfellow | Jack Williams |
Shyster Fiscal | Red Buttons |
Van Varsity | Ben Murphy |
Charlie Convertible | Loren Welch |
Freshman | Patrick Kingdon |
Asa Hearthrug | Billy Redfield |
Eino Fflliikkiinnenn | Benjamin Miller |
Noblese Oblige | Billie Lou Watt |
Clothilde Pfefferkorn | Ellen Hanley |
Yetta Samovar | Nancy Walker |
Professor Schultz | Philip Coolidge |
Peggy Hepp | Shirley Van |
Kermit McDermott | Jerry Austen |
Boris Fiveyearplan | Solen Burry |
The show received positive reviews before its transfer to Broadway, but New York theater critics were less enamored with the show. [6] [7] Audiences, however, seemed to enjoy the production. The show's first full week of performances resulted in a $34,232 box office gross, the highest in the theater's history. [2]
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Maximilian Shulman was an American writer and humorist best known for his television and short story character Dobie Gillis, as well as for best-selling novels.
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The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburgh in a Moorish and Byzantine style and was constructed for vaudevillian Martin Beck. It has 1,404 seats across two levels and is operated by Jujamcyn Theaters. Both the facade and the interior are New York City landmarks.
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Thomas Robert Kitt is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and musician. For his score for the musical Next to Normal, he shared the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Brian Yorkey. He has also won two Tony Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Next to Normal, as well as Tony and Outer Critics Circle nominations for If/Then and SpongeBob SquarePants. He has been nominated for eight Drama Desk Awards, winning one, and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for Jagged Little Pill in 2021.
Sidney Lippman was a composer and songwriter. He wrote the music for Nat King Cole's 1951 No. 1 hit "Too Young".
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Milton Rosenstock was an American conductor, composer, and arranger.
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Jenn Colella is an American actress and singer. She began her career as a comedian and then branched out into musical theater. In her New York debut in Urban Cowboy, she earned a 2003 Outer Critics Circle Award nomination. More recently, she landed a Tony Award nomination, and won the Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and three regional theater awards for her portrayal of Annette/Beverley Bass in Come from Away. She received a Grammy Award in January 2018 for her role for the Dear Evan Hansen original cast album. See: Awards and nominations
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