Roberta (musical)

Last updated
Roberta
"Roberta" 1933 Broadway poster.jpg
Music Jerome Kern
Lyrics Otto Harbach
Book Otto Harbach
BasisGowns by Roberta, a novel by Alice Duer Miller
Productions1933 Broadway
1935 Film version
1969 Television version

Roberta is a musical from 1933 with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics and book by Otto Harbach. The playful romantic comedy is based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller. [1] It features the songs "Yesterdays", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Let's Begin", "You're Devastating", "Something Had To Happen", "The Touch of Your Hand" and "I'll Be Hard to Handle".

Contents

Productions

The original Broadway production opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 18, 1933, and ran for 295 performances closing on 21 July 1934. It starred Tamara Drasin (billed as Tamara), Bob Hope, George Murphy, Lyda Roberti, Fred MacMurray, Fay Templeton, Ray Middleton (billed as Raymond E. Middleton), Allan Jones, and Sydney Greenstreet. Hope, Murphy, MacMurray and Greenstreet were not yet the Hollywood stars they would soon be, and Middleton was not the Broadway leading man he would become after Annie Get Your Gun .

An Australian production opened at His Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne on December 22, 1934. The cast featured Madge Elliot and Cyril Ritchard. [2]

Original Broadway cast

Jerome Kern in 1933 Jerome-Kern-1934-Stage.jpg
Jerome Kern in 1933

Other versions

The play was made into a 1935 film by RKO starring Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Randolph Scott. The film omitted "The Touch of Your Hand" (sung by a minor character), "Something Had To Happen", and "You're Devastating" (originally Middleton's big song in the show), but added the Kern songs "I Won't Dance" (lifted from the flop Kern show Three Sisters ) [3] and "Lovely to Look At" (written for the 1935 film and nominated for an Academy Award). [4] These two additions became so popular that they are now frequently included in revivals and recordings of Roberta.

A radio adaptation of Roberta was presented on Philip Morris Playhouse on CBS May 14, 1943. Mary Martin and William Gargan starred in the program. [5]

In 1952, MGM remade Roberta under the title Lovely to Look At . This remake also included the two songs added to the 1935 film. It starred Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Red Skelton, Ann Miller, Gower Champion, Marge Champion, and Zsa Zsa Gabor, was made in Technicolor and reuniting four members of the previous year's Show Boat (Grayson, Keel and the two Champions).

In 1958, it was made into a made-for-TV-movie starring Bob Hope, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Howard Keel and Janis Paige. [6]

The show was also presented on television in a highly adapted, modernized 1969 NBC color telecast. This production was presented by Bob Hope, who reprised his original stage role, inserting many new, then-topical jokes about current events. Others in the cast included Michele Lee, John Davidson, Eve McVeagh, and Janis Paige (who sang "I Won't Dance" with a male chorus).

In 2014, New World Records released a complete recording of the score, reconstructed by Larry Moore, with Rob Berman conducting the Orchestra of Ireland and a cast of American, British, and Irish performers, including Jason Graae, Annalene Beechey, Kim Criswell, Patrick Cummings, Tally Sessions, Diana Montague, Laura Daniel, Jeanne Lehman, John Molloy, and Eamonn Mulhall.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerome Kern</span> American composer

Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "The Song Is You", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Long Ago ". He collaborated with many of the leading librettists and lyricists of his era, including George Grossmith Jr., Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin and Yip Harburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred MacMurray</span> American actor (1908–1991)

Frederick Martin MacMurray was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film leading man began in 1935, but his most renowned role was in Billy Wilder's film noir Double Indemnity. From 1959 to 1973, MacMurray appeared in numerous Disney films, including The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, Follow Me, Boys!, and The Happiest Millionaire. He starred as Steve Douglas in the television series My Three Sons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1938 in music</span> Overview of the events of 1938 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1933 in music</span> Overview of the events of 1933 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Fields</span> American librettist and lyricist (1904–1974)

Dorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote more than 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (1930), "Don't Blame Me" (1948), "Pick Yourself Up" (1936), "I'm in the Mood for Love" (1935), "You Couldn't Be Cuter" (1938) and "Big Spender" (1966). Throughout her career, she collaborated with various influential figures in the American musical theater, including Jerome Kern, Cy Coleman, Irving Berlin, and Jimmy McHugh. Along with Ann Ronell, Dana Suesse, Bernice Petkere, and Kay Swift, she was one of the first successful Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood female songwriters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Schwartz</span> American composer and film producer (1900–1984)

Arthur Schwartz was an American composer and film producer, widely noted for his songwriting collaborations with Howard Dietz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyda Roberti</span> American actress

Lyda Roberti was an American singer and stage and film actress.

<i>Thats Dancing!</i> 1985 film directed by Jack Haley Jr.

That's Dancing! is a 1985 American compilation film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that looked back at the history of dancing in film. Unlike the That's Entertainment! series, this film not only focuses specifically on MGM films, but also included films from other studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patsy Kelly</span> American actress (1910–1981)

Patsy Kelly was an American actress. She is known for her role as the brash, wisecracking sidekick to Thelma Todd in a series of short comedy films produced by Hal Roach in the 1930s. Kelly's career continued in similar roles after Todd's death in 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Astaire's solo and partnered dances</span>

This is a comprehensive guide to over one hundred and fifty of Fred Astaire's solo and partnered dances compiled from his thirty-one Hollywood musical comedy films produced between 1933 and 1968, his four television specials and his television appearances on The Hollywood Palace and Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre which cover the period from 1958 to 1968. Further information on the dance routines may be obtained, where available, by clicking on the film links.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smoke Gets in Your Eyes</span> 1933 song by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach

"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for the 1933 musical comedy Roberta. The song was sung in the Broadway show by Tamara Drasin. Its first recorded performance was by Gertrude Niesen, who recorded the song with orchestral direction from Ray Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's second cousin, on October 13, 1933. Niesen's recording of the song was released by Victor, with the B-side, "Jealousy", featuring Isham Jones and his Orchestra. The line — When your heart's on fire, smoke gets in your eyes — apparently comes from a Russian proverb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janis Paige</span> American actress and singer (1922–2024)

Janis Paige was an American actress and singer. With a career spanning nearly 60 years, she was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

John Cummings was an American film producer and director. He was best known for being a leading producer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

"Let's Begin" is a popular song composed in 1933 by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Otto Harbach. It was written for the musical Roberta (1933) where it was introduced by George Murphy. In the 1935 film version, the song was performed by Fred Astaire, Candy Candido and Gene Sheldon, with the band.

"I'll Be Hard to Handle" is a 1932 song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Bernard Dougall.

<i>Roberta</i> (1935 film) 1935 American musical film directed by William A. Seiter

Roberta is a 1935 American musical film released by RKO Radio Pictures and directed by William A. Seiter. It stars Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and features Randolph Scott, Helen Westley, Victor Varconi and Claire Dodd. The film was an adaptation of the 1933 Broadway musical Roberta, which in turn was based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller. It was a solid hit, showing a net profit of more than three-quarters of a million dollars.

<i>Leave It to Me!</i> 1938 musical

Leave It to Me! is a 1938 musical produced by Vinton Freedley with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book was a collaborative effort by Samuel and Bella Spewack, who also directed the Broadway production. The musical was based on the play Clear All Wires by the Spewacks, which was performed on Broadway for 93 performances in 1932, and which was filmed in 1933, starring Lee Tracy, Benita Hume, Una Merkel and James Gleason.

<i>The Pajama Game</i> (film) 1957 film based on the musical of the same name

The Pajama Game is a 1957 American musical film based on the 1954 stage musical of the same name, itself based on the 1953 novel 7½ Cents by Richard Pike Bissell. The film was produced and directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen, with most Broadway cast members repeating their roles in the movie with the notable exception of star Doris Day. The choreography is by Bob Fosse, who also staged the dances for the Broadway production.

<i>Lovely to Look At</i> 1952 MGM musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy

Lovely to Look At is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy, based on the 1933 Broadway musical Roberta.

<i>Its Always Jan</i> American situation comedy

It's Always Jan is an American sitcom that aired on CBS during the 1955–56 television season. The series stars Janis Paige as a widowed nightclub singer struggling to make ends meet.

References

Notes

  1. "ROBERTA". Concord Theatricals.
  2. "MUSIC, STAGE & FILM". The Age . No. 24, 866. Victoria, Australia. 24 December 1934. p. 10. Retrieved 9 June 2018 via National Library of Australia.
  3. Taylor, John Russell; Jackson, Arthur (1971). The Hollywood Musical . New York: McGraw-Hill. pp.  28–29. ISBN   9780070629530.
  4. Awards for Roberta (1935) at Internet Movie Database
  5. "Air Ya Listenin?". Globe-Gazette. The Mason City Globe-Gazette. May 14, 1943. p. 2. Retrieved July 21, 2015 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  6. Roberts 2009, p. 302.

Bibliography