Loverly:The Life and Times of My Fair Lady (Broadway Legacies), McHugh, Dominic [fantasy books to read TXT] 📗

Less than three months later, Lawrence died of cancer, which was undoubtedly the cause of her problems in performance. Sheridan Morley, Gertrude Lawrence (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981), 197–98.

26. Telegram of June 25, 1952 (10:15 a.m.), Langner to Helburn, TGC, 137.

27. Telegram of June 25, 1952 (11 a.m.), Langner to Helburn, ibid.

28. Letter of June 27, 1952, Langner to Helburn. TGC, 62. Quoted in D’Andre, “Theatre Guild,” 248; Valerie Pascal, Disciple, 220.

29. Crawford describes her difficulties in her autobiography, One Naked Individual: My Fifty Years in the Theatre (New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1977). Letter of July 1, Helburn to Langner, TGC, 62.

30. D’Andre, “Theatre Guild,” 248. D’Andre does not cite a source for this piece of information.

31. Letter of July 18, Langner to Helburn. TGC, 137.

32. Telegram of August 7, 1952, Harrison to Langner. TGC, 59.

33. Interestingly, Noël Coward’s published diary for July 28, 1952, indicates that he had been approached by the Theatre Guild to write a Pygmalion musical for Mary Martin at this time. Graham Payn and Sheridan Morley, eds., The Noel Coward Diaries (London: Macmillan, 1983), 196.

34. Both D’Andre and Valerie Pascal agree on this date, though neither cites a source. D’Andre, “Theatre Guild,” 249; Pascal, Disciple, 221. Pascal’s copy of the contract is held in the Pascal Collection, Howard Gottlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University.

35. Lerner, Street, 38.

36. Letter of October 20, 1954, Helburn and Langner to Lerner, TGC, Box 137.

37. Bach says, “There were rumors that the collaborators had quarreled, for neither the first nor the last time.” Bach, Dazzler, 338.

38. Interoffice memorandum of February 17, 1953, Jo Mielziner to Marshall, TGC, 137.

39. D’Andre, “Theatre Guild,” 250. D’Andre does not state the sources for this information.

40. Lewis Funke, “News and Gossip Gathered on the Rialto,” New York Times, February 8, 1953, X1.

41. Brooks Atkinson, review of Maggie, New York Times, February 19, 1953.

42. Letter of February 20, 1953, Helburn to Langner. TGC, 137.

43. Although D’Andre states this date with certainty, he does not cite a source for the information.

44. Sam Zolotow, “Saints and Sinners Stage News Again,” New York Times, May 27, 1953, 28.

45. Letter of July 8, 1953, Benjamin Aslan to Charles Abramson of the Famous Artists Corp., HRP, folder 79/57.

46. Sam Zolotow, “Decision Awaited on Hit’s Transfer,” New York Times, August 28, 1953, 13.

47. Sam Zolotow, “Saints and Sinners Is Postponed,” New York Times, September 18, 1953, 16. The Girl with Pink Tights had a score by Sigmund Romberg; it opened on March 5, 1954, at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, which would eventually be the home of My Fair Lady.

48. Letter of October 27, 1953, Benjamin Aslan to Jane Rubin of the Richard J Madden Play Company, Inc., HRP, 79/57.

49. Sam Zolotow, “Richard III Back on Stage Tonight,” New York Times, December 9, 1953, 9.

50. Letter of January 26, 1954, Benjamin Aslan to Michael Halperin of Wilzin and Halperin, HRP, 79/57. A copy of the contract also lies in the same box of HRP at Yale.

51. Sam Zolotow, “Guinness Stymied in Bid to Act Here,” New York Times, June 11, 1954, 20; Zolotow, “Katzka Discusses Spewack Musical,” New York Times, July 21, 1954, 19. Hal Prince went on to become one of Broadway’s leading producers and directors, with shows such as West Side Story and The Phantom of the Opera to his credit.

52. Letter of September 8, 1954, Aslan to Herbert P. Jacoby of Schwartz and Frohlich, HRP, 79/57.

53. Letter of September 10 from Aslan to Rome, Fields, Loewe, and Chodorov; letter of September 12, 1956, Rome to Aslan; letter of October 31, Aslan to Herbert Jacoby; letter of March 14, 1957, Aslan to Loewe, Rome and Fields, HRP, 79/57.

54. Typescript for Saints and Sinners, HRP, folder 65/85. Sale of Frederick Loewe’s manuscripts at Christie’s, Los Angeles, November 18, 1999, Lot 99, Sale 9292. Demo recording of Saints and Sinners, Library of Congress, call number RGB 0465.

55. Louis Calta, “Li’l Abner Bagged by Two Showmen,” New York Times, March 17, 1953, 26. Lewis Funke’s column briefly mentions the same project in his column five days later. Funke, “News and Gossip of the Rialto,” New York Times, March 22, 1953, X1.

56. Arthur Schwartz’s successes include The Band Wagon, written for Fred Astaire on Broadway in 1931 and later fitted out with a new book and additional songs as an MGM film, again with Astaire (1953), and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1951).

57. Thomas M Pryor, “Cinerama Slates Full-Length Film: Paint Your Wagon, with New Music and Lyrics, on Tap as First Feature in Process,” New York Times, February 11, 1953, 35.

58. Edwin Schallert, “Cinerama Start Looms,” Los Angeles Times, February 11, 1953, B9.

59. A song with the title “There’s Always One You Can’t Forget” was written for Lerner and Charles Strouse’s Dance a Little Closer in 1983 but with an otherwise completely new lyric.

60. My thanks to Mr. Schwartz and Erik Haagensen for bringing this script to my attention and for generously providing me with a copy.

61. Louis Calta, “News of the Stage,” New York Times, November 12, 1953, 37.

62. Stephen Holden, “A Composer’s Son Remembers Life with Father, Through Music,” New York Times, October 4, 1988, 17.

63. Sam Zolotow, “Lewis Wondering about Three Musicals,” New York Times, June 21, 1954, 20.

64. Howard Thompson, “The Local Screen Scene,” New York Times, August 15, 1954, X5.

65. I thank Richard C. Norton for this piece of information about Olsen, which comes from his forthcoming biography of Loewe. Olsen also mentions her part in this reunion in the Camera Three Productions documentary Lerner and Loewe: Broadway’s Last Romantics (1988).

66. Lerner, Street, 45.

CHAPTER 2

1. Sam Zolotow, “Bow Set Tonight for On Your Toes,” New York Times, October 11, 1954, 31.

2. Letter of October 19, 1954, Lerner to Helburn and Langner, TGC, 137.

3. Letter of October 20, 1954, Helburn and Langner to Lerner, ibid.

4. HLP, 25/7. On December 4, 1956, Moss Hart would approach Coward with a view to him appearing in the London production of the show (HLP, 23/5). Nothing came of this offer, but Coward later wrote a musical