Wise Guy (musical)

Last updated

Wise Guy, which had at different points the working titles (in approximate order) The Last Resorts, Palm Beach, The Mizner Story, and Sentimental Guy, is a musical whose music and lyrics were written by Irving Berlin between 1952 and 1956. It has never been produced.

Contents

The subject of the musical is Berlin's deceased friend, the famous Florida architect Addison Mizner, to a lesser extent Addison's younger brother and sometimes partner Wilson, and their friends and clients. Berlin had been an investor in Mizner's visionary but ultimately ruinous Boca Raton project, [1] :139–140,144 [2] and there had been talk (but no serious plans) of Berlin setting up a nightclub in Boca Raton. [1] :145

The Last Resorts (1952)

Berlin's first, 1952 attempt to write a musical about the Mizners was called The Last Resorts, with an alternate title Palm Beach. It was "apparently based on Cleveland Amory's 1952 book, Last Resorts", [3] :53 and was written "with Amory". [4] :10 The Irving Berlin archives at the Library of Congress contains a synopsis of Act I, and lyrics for the following songs:

This project was set aside.

Wise Guy (1956)

The project was reactivated after the 1953 publication of Alva Johnston's The Legendary Mizners (in England, The Incredible Mizners). [5] Berlin worked with playwright S. N. Behrman on the project, also called Sentimental Guy and The Mizner Story; it was to have starred José Ferrer. [4] :10

Recorded songs from the musical

These songs are all featured on the album Unsung Irving Berlin and were unearthed from Berlin's files by the producer of the album, Bruce Kimmel. "Sentimental Guy" was sung by Laurie Beechman and "You're a Sucker for a Dame" was sung by Guy Haines.

"You're a Sentimental Guy" was written in December 1956. [4] :4 "Since Wise Guy's original title had been Sentimental Guy, this may be an example of the title song that gets cut when the name of a musical is changed." [4] :4 It was published in sheet music form in 1996. [6] The lyrics compare life on Broadway with Westchester County ("Yonkers").

"Go Home and Tell It to your Wife" is a 1957 comedy duet which was originally meant to be sung by Perry Como and Mary Martin "in a television spectacular modeled after the Irving Berlin Music Box Reviews." That project fell through. It was also intended at one point for Wise Guy. [4] :8

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boca Raton, Florida</span> City in Palm Beach County, Florida

Boca Raton is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. However, many people with a Boca Raton postal address live outside of municipal boundaries, such as in West Boca Raton. As a business center, the city also experiences significant daytime population increases. Boca Raton is 45 miles (72 km) north of Miami and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area, which had a population of 6,138,333 at the 2020 United States Census.

<i>Road Show</i> (musical) Musical by Stephen Sondheim

Road Show is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by John Weidman. It tells the story of Addison Mizner and his brother Wilson Mizner's adventures across America from the beginning of the twentieth century during the Klondike gold rush to the Florida real estate boom of the 1920s. The musical takes considerable liberties with the facts of the brothers' lives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Burke (lyricist)</span> Musical artist

John Francis Burke was an American lyricist, successful and prolific between the 1920s and 1950s. His work is considered part of the Great American Songbook.

TheBoca Raton is a luxury resort and club in Boca Raton, Florida, founded in 1926, today comprising 1,047 hotel rooms across 337 acres. Its facilities include a 18-hole golf course, a 50,000 sq. ft. Forbes Five-Star spa, eight swimming pools, 30 tennis courts, a full-service 32-slip marina, more than 15 restaurants and bars, and 200,000 sq. ft. of meeting space. The property fronts both Lake Boca and the Atlantic Ocean. The resort was operated as part of Hilton's Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts, and it is now privately owned by an affiliate of MSD Partners with the new name, The Boca Raton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Addison Mizner</span> American architect (1872–1933)

Addison Cairns Mizner was an American architect whose Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival style interpretations left an indelible stamp on South Florida, where it continues to inspire architects and land developers. In the 1920s Mizner was the best-known and most-discussed living American architect. Palm Beach, Florida, which he "transformed", was his home, and most of his houses are there. He believed that architecture should also include interior and garden design, and set up Mizner Industries to have a reliable source of components. He was "an architect with a philosophy and a dream." Boca Raton, Florida, an unincorporated small farming town that was established in 1896, became the focus of Mizner's most famous development project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mediterranean Revival architecture</span> Design style during the 20th century

Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonial, Beaux-Arts, Moorish architecture, and Venetian Gothic architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilson Mizner</span> American writer (1876–1933)

Wilson Mizner was an American playwright, raconteur, and entrepreneur. His best-known plays are The Deep Purple, produced in 1910, and The Greyhound, produced in 1912. He was manager and co-owner of The Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles, California, and was part of the failed project of his older brother Addison to create a new resort in Boca Raton, Florida. He and Addison are the protagonists of Stephen Sondheim's musical Road Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred C. Aiken House</span> Historic house in Florida, United States

The Fred C. Aiken House is an example of Addison Mizner's Mediterranean-inspired architecture from 1925. This historically designated residence is Located at the corner of Paloma Avenue and Hibiscus Street, in the Old Floresta Historic District in Boca Raton, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boca Raton Old City Hall</span> United States historic place

The Boca Raton Old City Hall is a historic site in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. It is located at 71 North Federal Highway. The former city hall now houses the Boca Raton Welcome Center and the Boca Raton History Museum. On October 16, 1980, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The original design was by Addison Mizner. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed it on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places as Boca Raton Town Hall.

"Easter Parade" is a popular song, written by Irving Berlin and published in 1933. Berlin originally wrote the melody in 1917, under the title "Smile and Show Your Dimple", as a "cheer up" song for a girl whose man has gone off to fight in World War I. A recording of "Smile and Show Your Dimple" by Sam Ash enjoyed modest success in 1918.

<i>On the Avenue</i> 1937 film by William A. Seiter, Roy Del Ruth

On the Avenue is a 1937 American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, Alice Faye, George Barbier, and The Ritz Brothers. Many of the songs were composed by Irving Berlin. Many of the plot details were used in Let's Make Love. Initially, the movie was called Out Front.

Hermann Valentin von Holst (1874–1955) was an American architect practicing in Chicago, Illinois, and Boca Raton, Florida, from the 1890s to the 1940s. He is best remembered for agreeing to take on the responsibility of heading up Frank Lloyd Wright's architectural practice when Wright went off to Europe with Mamah Cheney in 1909.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Fatio</span> Swiss-American architect (1897–1943)

Maurice Fatio (1897–1943) was a Swiss-born American architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boca Raton Public Library</span> Public Library in South Florida

The Boca Raton Public Library consists of two library facilities serving the residents of the incorporated area of Boca Raton, Florida. The City of Boca Raton, incorporated in 1925, is one of the largest and southernmost cities in Palm Beach County, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everglades Club</span> Social club in Palm Beach, Florida

The Everglades Club is a social club in Palm Beach, Florida. When its construction began in July 1918, it was to be called the Touchstone Convalescent Club, and it was intended to be a hospital for the wounded of World War I. But the war ended a few months later, and it changed into a private club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Singer</span> American real estate developer and philanthropist

Paris Eugene Singer was an early resident of Palm Beach, Florida. He was 22nd of the 24 children of inventor and industrialist Isaac Singer of Singer Sewing Machine Company fame, from whom he inherited money; he has been described as a "man of luxury". Born in Paris, he married Cecilia Henrietta Augusta ("Lillie") Graham, who bore him five children. He had a tempestuous romance with famous dancer Isadora Duncan, whose career he helped, and with whom he had another son, Patrick. Singer Island, Florida, is named for him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarence H. Geist</span>

Clarence Henry Geist was an American financier who played an important role in the early history of Boca Raton, Florida.

WFLA was an AM radio station in Boca Raton, Florida, owned in 1927 by the Boca Raton Radio Corporation and funded by the Mizner Development Corporation. It was created to promote a land development project headed by Addison Mizner, and was intended be heard in "most of the eastern United States".

The Count and Countess de Hoernle were a philanthropic couple who made many major donations to arts, educational, and social agencies, primarily in the Boca Raton, Florida, area. Their names are seen on more than 50 buildings in the area. Their titles are from the Knights of Malta. The Countess said that the importance of the titles was that they made it easier to raise money.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boca Raton Historical Society and Museum</span>

The Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum is a non-profit organization and public museum dedicated to preserve and collect history and artifacts of Boca Raton, Florida, United States, for educational and advocacy purposes. The society is known for their goal of historic designation and restoring historical structures important to the history of Boca Raton. The society offers exhibits, lectures, lessons, history tours, and educational programs to achieve their goal. Many interactive educational programs and services of the society are provided to schools, teachers, and children to help educate Florida's history. Additionally, the community provides a library of collected and preserved artifacts, photographs, newspapers, diaries, reference books, and research papers documented for educational and research purposes. The historical society has been a contributor of researching local history of Florida and Boca Raton and offers scholars, educators, university graduates and interns access to their research collection and publications, such as the Spanish Papers. The Boca Raton Historical Museum is publicly open from Monday through Friday from 10am to 4pm.

References

  1. 1 2 Curl, Donald W. (1992). Mizner's Florida. Florida Resort Architecture. The Architectural History Foundation and the MIT Press. ISBN   0262530686. First published 1984
  2. Boca Raton Historical Society. "Mizner's Dream: The Built and the Unbuilt". Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Music Division, Library of Congress (2004). "Irving Berlin Collection" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on March 19, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Sheffer, Isaiah (1995). Unsung Irving Berlin. Varèse Sarabande Records.
  5. Johnston, Alva (2012). The Legendary Mizners. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. ISBN   9781466807983.
  6. Berlin, Irving (1996). Unsung Irving Berlin. Irving Berlin Music, distributed by Hal Leonard. ISBN   9780793565597.