The Five O'Clock Girl

Last updated
The Five O'Clock Girl
FiveOClockGirl.jpg
Poster by Paul Chesney for the 1929 London Hippodrome production
Music Harry Ruby
Lyrics Bert Kalmar
Book Guy Bolton
Fred Thompson
Productions1927 Broadway
1929 West End
1981 Broadway revival

The Five O'Clock Girl is a musical with a book by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson, music by Harry Ruby, and lyrics by Bert Kalmar. Set in New York City and South Hampton, Long Island, it focuses on wealthy Beekman Place playboy Gerald Brooks and impoverished shopgirl Patricia Brown, who become acquainted with each other via a series of anonymous five o'clock phone conversations.

Contents

The original Broadway production opened at the 44th Street Theatre on October 10, 1927. On April 16, 1928, it transferred to the Shubert Theatre, where it completed its total run of 280 performances on June 2. Directed by John Harwood and choreographed by Jack Haskell, it starred Oscar Shaw as Gerald Brooks, Mary Eaton as Patricia Brown, Pert Kelton as Susan Snow, and Danny Dare as Ronnie Webb. Costume design was by Charles LeMaire, and Norman Bel Geddes was the scenic designer.

A West End production opened at the London Hippodrome on March 21, 1929. [1]

The musical was staged at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Connecticut and the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia before returning to Broadway, where it ran for six previews and 14 performances at the Helen Hayes Theatre between January 22 and February 8, 1981. [2] Directed by Sue Lawless and choreographed by Dan Siretta, the cast included Lisby Larson, Richard Ruth, Roger Rathburn, Dee Hoty, and Pat Stanley. In his review in The New York Times , Frank Rich called it "amiably silly" and said it "is not without passing interest as an arcane footnote to theatrical history, but as entertainment in 1981 it's a pretty slim affair." He added, "The show's book is tiresomely long, and its gags are unshucked corn. Pretty soon we're living just for the songs, and very few of them prove to be worth living for." [3]

1927 song list

Act I
Act II

1981 song list

Act One
Act II

Film adaptation

In 1928, Marion Davies and Joel McCrea starred in a screen adaptation directed by Robert Z. Leonard for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but it never was released, possibly because William Randolph Hearst objected to his mistress Davies portraying a common shopgirl in her first sound film. [4] [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Brigadoon</i> Musical by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner

Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and music by Frederick Loewe. The song "Almost Like Being in Love", from the musical, has become a standard. It features two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a mysterious Scottish village that appears for only one day every 100 years. Tommy, one of the tourists, falls in love with Fiona, a young woman from Brigadoon.

<i>The Music Man</i> 1957 stage musical by Meredith Willson

The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naïve Midwestern townsfolk, promising to train the members of the new band. Harold is no musician, however, and plans to skip town without giving any music lessons. Prim librarian and piano teacher Marian sees through him, but when Harold helps her younger brother overcome his lisp and social awkwardness, Marian begins to fall in love with him. He risks being caught to win her heart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.</span> American theatrical impresario (1867–1932)

Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies (1907–1931), inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He also produced the musical Show Boat. He was known as the "glorifier of the American girl". Ziegfeld is a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.

<i>Me and My Girl</i> Musical premiered in 1937

Me and My Girl is a musical with music by Noel Gay and its original book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose. The story, set in the late 1930s, tells of an unapologetically unrefined cockney gentleman named Bill Snibson, who learns that he is the 14th heir to the Earl of Hareford. The action is set in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth.

<i>Promises, Promises</i> (musical) Broadway musical (1968-1972)

Promises, Promises is a musical with music by Burt Bacharach, lyrics by Hal David and a book by Neil Simon. It is based on the 1960 film The Apartment written by Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond. The story concerns a junior executive at an insurance company who seeks to climb the corporate ladder by allowing his apartment to be used by his married superiors for trysts.

<i>Purlie</i> Broadway musical

Purlie is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose, and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell and music by Gary Geld. It is based on Davis's 1961 play Purlie Victorious, which was later made into the 1963 film Gone Are the Days! and which included many of the original Broadway cast, including Davis, Ruby Dee, Alan Alda, Beah Richards, Godfrey Cambridge, and Sorrell Booke.

<i>42nd Street</i> (musical) American musical

42nd Street is a 1980 stage musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production won the Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Choreography and it became a long-running hit. The show was also produced in London in 1984 and its 2001 Broadway revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival.

<i>Irene</i> (musical)

Irene is a musical with a book by James Montgomery, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, and music by Harry Tierney. Based on Montgomery's play Irene O'Dare, it is set in New York City's Upper West Side and focuses on immigrant shop assistant Irene O'Dare, who is introduced to Long Island's high society when she is hired by one of its leading grande dames to help redecorate her home.

<i>Good News</i> (musical)

Good News is a musical with a book by Laurence Schwab and B.G. DeSylva, lyrics by DeSylva and Lew Brown, and music by Ray Henderson. The story is set in the Roaring Twenties at Tait College, where football star Tom Marlowe falls in love with studious Connie Lane, who is tutoring him so he can pass astronomy and be eligible to play in the big game.

<i>Theyre Playing Our Song</i>

They're Playing Our Song is a musical with a book by Neil Simon, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, and music by Marvin Hamlisch.

Jack O'Brien is an American director, producer, writer and lyricist. He served as the Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California from 1981 through the end of 2007.

<i>Mr. Wonderful</i> (musical) Musical stageplay

Mr. Wonderful is a musical with a book by Joseph Stein and Will Glickman, and music and lyrics by Jerry Bock, Larry Holofcener, and George David Weiss.

<i>Follow the Girls</i>

Follow the Girls is a musical with a book by Guy Bolton, Eddie Davis and Fred Thompson and music and lyrics by Dan Shapiro, Milton Pascal, and Phil Charig.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucille Lortel Theatre</span> Off-Broadway theater in New York City

The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior is largely unchanged to this day.

<i>Seven Brides for Seven Brothers</i> (musical)

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a musical with a book by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay, music by Gene de Paul, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn. It is based on the 1954 Stanley Donen film of the same name which is, itself, an adaption of the short story "The Sobbin' Women," by Stephen Vincent Benét, based on the Ancient Roman legend of The Rape of the Sabine Women.

A... My Name Is Alice is a musical revue conceived by Joan Micklin Silver and Julianne Boyd, first produced in 1983. It won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Revue. It consists of some 21 songs by composers such as David Zippel, Doug Katsaros, Winnie Holzman, and Lucy Simon, along with sketches by writers like Anne Meara.

Show Girl is a musical by William Anthony McGuire that ran from Jul 2, 1929 to Oct 5, 1929. The show tells the story of aspiring Broadway showgirl Dixie Dugan as she is pursued by four suitors. The music was written by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Gus Kahn.

<i>As the Girls Go</i>

As the Girls Go is a musical with music by Jimmy McHugh, lyrics by Harold Adamson and a book by William Roos.

<i>The Girl from 10th Avenue</i> 1935 film by Alfred E. Green

The Girl from 10th Avenue is a 1935 American drama film directed by Alfred E. Green. The screenplay by Charles Kenyon is based on the 1914 play Outcast by Hubert Henry Davies. The film was released in the United Kingdom as Men on Her Mind.

<i>Wildflower</i> (musical)

Wildflower or The Wildflower, is a musical in three acts with book and lyrics by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II and music by Herbert Stothart and Vincent Youmans. The plot concerns a pretty Italian farmgirl, Nina, who has a fiery temper. She stands to inherit a fortune provided that she can keep her temper under control for six months. If she fails, the money goes to her cousin Bianca, who tries to provoke her. She manages to do it, and gets the money, as well as her man, Guido. Several of the songs were published, among which "Bambalina" and the title song were the most popular. The musical proved to be Day's last Broadway show before moving to London.

References

  1. ArthurLloyd.co.uk
  2. Fliotos, Anne L. and Vierow, Wendy, American Women Stage Directors of the Twentieth Century. University of Illinois Press 2008. ISBN   0-252-03226-8, p. 225
  3. The New York Times review
  4. The Five O'Clock Girl at NickLangdon.com
  5. The Five O'Clock Girl at the Internet Movie Database