| Friendship | |
|---|---|
| by Cole Porter (music & lyrics) | |
 Original Sheet Music Cover | |
| Genre | Popular song from the 1939 musical Du Barry Was a Lady |
| Publisher | Warner Chappell Music |
"Friendship" is a song written by Cole Porter from his 1939 musical DuBarry Was a Lady where it was introduced by Ethel Merman and Bert Lahr. The song was once again performed in the 1943 film version starring Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly and Tommy Dorsey.
Cole Porter wrote "Friendship" for the finale to his 1939 musical DuBarry Was a Lady which opened on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre on December 6, 1939. [1] It was premiered by Ethel Merman as Mme. La Comtesse du Barry and Bert Lahr as The King of France. In subsequent productions, Frances Day and Arthur Riscoe performed the song in the original 1942 London premiere; and Faith Prince and Robert Morse performed it in the 1996 Encores! revival. [2]
In 1943, Lucille Ball, Red Skelton, Gene Kelly and Tommy Dorsey performed the song in the film version of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical. Lucille Ball's singing voice was dubbed by Martha Mears for most of the picture, but her real voice was used in "Friendship". [3] [4] Ball and Kelly reunited in 1978 and performed the song on Kelly's television special, "An American in Pasadena", which aired on March 13, 1978. [5]
The 1962 Off-Broadway revival of Cole Porter's musical Anything Goes incorporate the song, along with other Porter songs such as "It's De-Lovely", "Red, Hot and Blue", "Let's Misbehave" and "Take Me Back to Manhattan". All subsequent revivals of the musical still incorporated "Friendship" into the score of Anything Goes. Notable performers who have performed the song in the musical are Sutton Foster, Chita Rivera, Patti Lupone, Leslie Uggams, Elaine Paige and Andrea McArdle. [6] [7]
In episode 3, season 3 of I Love Lucy titled "Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress", Lucy and Ethel rehearse and then perform the song.
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film.
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theater, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." She performed on Broadway in Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, and Hello, Dolly!
Vivian Vance was an American actress best known for playing Ethel Mertz on the sitcom I Love Lucy (1951–1957), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, among other accolades. She also starred alongside Lucille Ball in The Lucy Show from 1962 until she left the series at the end of its third season in 1965. In 1991, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is most commonly identified as Lucille Ball’s longtime comedic foil from 1951 until her death in 1979.
Anything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, revised considerably by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London. Billy Crocker is a stowaway in love with heiress Hope Harcourt, who is engaged to Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Nightclub singer Reno Sweeney and Public Enemy Number 13, "Moonface" Martin, aid Billy in his quest to win Hope. The musical introduced such songs as "Anything Goes", "You're the Top", and "I Get a Kick Out of You".
Irving Lahrheim, known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American stage and screen actor and comedian. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Zeke", in the MGM adaptation of The Wizard of Oz (1939). He was well known for his quick-witted humor and his work in burlesque and vaudeville and on Broadway.
Panama Hattie is a 1940 American musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Herbert Fields and B. G. DeSylva. The musical is about a nightclub owner, Hattie Maloney, who lives in the Panama Canal Zone and ends up dealing with both romantic and military intrigue. The title is a play on words, referring to the popular Panama hat.
Du Barry Was a Lady is a Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and the book by Herbert Fields and Buddy DeSylva. The musical starred Bert Lahr, Ethel Merman and Betty Grable, and the song "Friendship" was one of the highlights. The musical was made into a 1943 Technicolor film Du Barry Was a Lady, starring Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly and Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra.
"Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)" is a show tune composed by Irving Berlin for the 1946 Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun. The song is a duet, with one male singer and one female singer attempting to outdo each other in increasingly complex tasks.
Charles Powell Walters was an American Hollywood director and choreographer most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies from the 1940s to the 1960s.
"It's De-Lovely" is one of Cole Porter's hit songs, originally appearing in his 1936 musical, Red Hot and Blue. It was introduced by Ethel Merman and Bob Hope. The song was later used in the musical Anything Goes, first appearing in the 1956 film version ; in the 1962 revival where it was sung by Hal Linden and Barbara Lang, and in the 2004 biographical film De-Lovely, where it was performed by Robbie Williams.
Something for the Boys is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields. Produced by Mike Todd, the show opened on Broadway in 1943 and starred Ethel Merman in her fifth Cole Porter musical.
Anything Goes is a 1936 American musical film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Bing Crosby, Ethel Merman, Charles Ruggles and Ida Lupino. It is based on the 1934 stage musical Anything Goes by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, which included songs by Cole Porter.
"Well, Did You Evah!" is a song written by Cole Porter for his 1939 musical DuBarry Was a Lady, where it was introduced by Betty Grable and Charles Walters. It is written as a duet, with the pair exchanging bad news and each shrugging off the other's tidbits in favor of an aloof good time.
"Do I Love You?" is a 1939 popular song written by Cole Porter, for his musical Du Barry Was a Lady, where it was introduced by Ronald Graham and Ethel Merman.
Robert Alton was an American dancer and choreographer, a major figure in dance choreography of Broadway and Hollywood musicals from the 1930s through to the early 1950s. He is principally remembered today as the discoverer of Gene Kelly, for his collaborations with Fred Astaire, and for choreographic sequences he designed for Hollywood musicals such as The Harvey Girls (1946), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), Show Boat (1951), and White Christmas (1954).
Let's Face It! is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields is based on the 1925 play The Cradle Snatchers by Russell Medcraft and Norma Mitchell.
"Give Him the Ooh-La-La" is a 1939 popular song written by Cole Porter, for his musical DuBarry Was a Lady, where it was introduced by Ethel Merman.
John Wesley Dawn was an American make-up artist whose career spanned 37 years and over 200 films.
Du Barry Was a Lady is a 1943 American musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly, and Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. It is based on the 1939 stage musical of the same name. Shot in Technicolor, the film was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Harold J. Cromer was a vaudevillian, Master of Ceremony, Hoofer, Choreographer, and Comedian. He was known as Stumpy in the dance/comedy/acting duo Stump and Stumpy.