Synopses of Musicals
and Plays - E to L

The fragile fantasy is concerned with the theme of seasonal rebirth, or the paradox of "why Spring is born out of Winter's laboring pain." In the story the fathers of two youthful lovers, Luisa and Matt, feel they must show parental disapproval to make sure that their children remain together. When this deception is revealed, the lovers quarrel and Matt goes off to seek adventure. They each yearn to experience the excitement and dangers of the outside world. At the end, after each suffers some degrading experiences, they return to each other's arms.

In this whimsical, magical, still contemporary fable-with-a social-conscience, Finian McLonergan, his daughter Sharon, followed by a leprechaun named Og, travel from Glocca Morra, Ireland to Rainbow Valley in the mythical state of Missitucky, USA. Finian has "borrowed" Og's crock of gold to plant in the soil near Fort Knox so it will grow and make him rich. But Og wants it back, for without it all the Glocca Morra leprechauns will lose their magic powers and the crock of gold, which grants wishes, will turn to dross. The McLonergans arrive as Buzz, a stooge for racist Senator Billboard Rawkins, is trying to take the sharecroppers' land away for inability to pay back taxes. Woody Mahoney, co-owner of the land with his mute sister Susan, who "talks" with her feet by dancing, gets home from the Merchant Marines, with money to pay the taxes. But he is seventy dollars short! Sharon and Finian, who are hiding in a tree, are touched by their plight and throw down a shower of bills to save the day.

A highly original story unfolds, at once magical and all too real. Woody and Sharon fall in love ("Old Devil Moon"). Finian secretly buries the crock. The sheriff is about to throw all the citizens of Rainbow Valley off their land for violating his "law of the south, namely:" Whites and Blacks cannot work or live side by side. Sharon is outraged, and wishes that the Senator could be Black and feel the terrible pain of racism. And because, without knowing it, she is standing over the buried crock, it happens! The Senator turns Black—the crowd is stunned—he is horrified, and runs off into the forest to hide.

The sharecroppers learn there is gold in Rainbow Valley—though no one except Finian knows where it is. They are thrilled ("When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich") and go offstage to celebrate. Susan enters, alone. As she dances in the forest, magic seems to draw her to the place where Finian buried the gold. She digs it up. Amazed and enchanted, she dances holding the crock, then buries it in a different spot. As she dances off, Og enters, and soon after, a hungry, lonely, frightened "Black" Senator stumbles on stage. Og casts a spell to cure the Senator of his bigotry!

The Senator leaves, Susan returns, Og falls madly in love with her and sings his tour-de-force, "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love (I Love the Girl I'm Near)." Meanwhile, Sharon, accused of witchcraft for turning Rawkins Black, is about to be burned at the stake. But at the last minute, there are happy endings for all: Sharon and Woody marry; the Senator is warm and tolerant (and is running for office); Susan can speak; she and Og are a happy couple. And Finian goes on his way, taking his rainbow of hope to others who need it.

At a pier at the foot of 23rd Street the Van Dare yacht is preparing to sail for Bermuda. Geraldine Van Dare, the owner's niece, arrives with her fiancé, Jack Travers. They are quarreling. Geraldine, snobbish and bitchy, insists she has witnessed a flirtation between Jack and a little Italian street singer. After the two have boarded, the waif, Nina Corelli appears. She spots an old friend in Suzette, Geraldine's maid. Prodded by Suzette she admits she did indeed wink at Jack, but, after all, what does it matter if "Love Is Like A Firefly". Her lightheartedness is a cover. At home her drunken guardian beats her. She would like to escape, and when she hears the yacht is heading for Bermuda, she inquires if Bermuda is farther away than Coney Island. Assured it is, she begs to come aboard. Suzette points out that the jealous Geraldine would never allow it, so Nina rushes home and changes into her brother's clothes. She returns, and with disarming naiveté she tells Suzette she is now Antonio Columbo, a neighborhood pickpocket.

Tony sings a love song, "Giannina Mia." Another passenger, the musician Franz believes this is the voice he has been seeking for his choir. He begs the Van Dares to allow the "boy" to accompany them. There is some reluctance. But Nina, seeing Corelli approach, runs aboard as the gangplank is raised.

At the Van Dares' Bermuda estate everyone has fallen in love with the boy, except Geraldine, as the boy reminds her of the street singer. The disguised Nina has fallen in love with Jack. She is overjoyed when she is offered a job as a valet by Jack.

Geraldine, feeling more and more isolated, sulks. Jack's uncle, John Thurston, alone offers her sympathy. But a thief is loose, and when the police connect the robbery with a pickpocket, Antonio Columbo, known to be on the island, Nina is forced to drop her masquerade. Amid the general consternation Franz agrees to adopt the waif, and the two go off together.

Three years have passed. While Jack has been away his romance with Geraldine has cooled. But he comes to her house on a courtesy call just as Franz returns with his charge. Only now she is no longer Nina Corelli. Under Franz's careful tutelage she has become Giannina, a great prima donna. Jack realises it is she he loves, and Giannina confesses she has never stopped loving him.

Source: ibdb.com/
Source: guidetomusicaltheatre.com/

"Fiorello!" tells the story of the rise to power of New York's "Little Flower," Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (1882-1947). In a time when the crooked political machine known as "Tammany Hall" was up to its ears in graft, vice and corruption, it took this small, honest man to break their stranglehold on New York City politics. With guts and perseverance "The Little Flower" put a bright, new shine on "The Big Apple."

Unlike most political musicals, which are usually satires, "Fiorello!" is really a love story set to the music and beat of a New York City in the midst of change. The little man with the big hearts continues to attract and charm audiences with his warmth and humor.

With a book by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott, and a score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, "Fiorello!" is a melodic masterpiece whose take on corruption in government is as timely today as when it was written. Featuring a large cast, offering many opportunities for ensemble work, "Fiorello!" is a witty sweet valentine to all that is right about the way our government works.

Source: halleonard.com.au/

On New Year's Eve, Eisenstein is being forced to go to jail for punching a police officer, however decides to evade jail for one night so that he can go to Prince Orlofsky's lavish party. Eisenstein wants to go with his friend Falke, so he tells his wife, Rosalinde, that he is heading off to jail. Meanwhile, Rosalinde knows that Eisenstein is lying, and follows him, in disguise as a Hungarian countess to the ball. Adele, their maid, also feigns an excuse to be released from work that night so that she can also go to the ball, disguised as a Russian actress named, Olga. After many mistaken identities, Eisenstein attempts to seduce his own wife without knowing. Much frivolity, and many festivities behind them, the great farce ends up with a happy ending for all.

Source: stageagent.com/
Source: wikipedia.org/

Originally it was presented as burlesque and revue numbers in the format of a book show (in this case, burlesque types visiting Paris). But it closed quickly anyway, after playing just two weeks. The producers announced the revue would reopen soon at the Bert Wheeler Theatre, but the production was canceled.

However, in Fall 1968 the musical resurfaced on tour as "Follies Burlesque '68" starring Denise Darcel and Mickey Hargitay. For the touring version, the book was jettisoned and the revival was billed as "A Musical Extravaganza Glorifying Burlesque." At least five numbers were retained from the origial for the revival.

Source: "Off Broadway Musicals, 1910-2007" by Dan Dietz. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers - 2010.

Backstage in her dressing room at the New Amsterdam Theatre, where she is a reigning Ziegfield star, Fanny Brice sits thoughtfully at her dressing table. Tonight Fanny's mind is on something more important than the show. Her husband, Nick Arnstein, will be coming home after serving a prison sentence. Now she must make a decision about their future.

As she ponders her problem, the sights and sounds of her past come back to her. First, she remembers herself as a stagestruck teenager; awkward, unattractive but fiercely determined to get ahead in the theatre. Using her best efforts Fanny's sharp-tongued but sympathetic mother tries to make her come to her senses, but Fanny continues to audition and get turned down. Finally Fanny overwhelms a vaudeville hoofer with her iron will to succeed and her unshakable self-confidence. He agrees to coach her in singing and dancing, and they spend time practicing routines. At last she is given a chance; of course she wows the audience.

Fanny is quickly smitten by Nick Arnstein, an elegant man, who has come to the theatre to pay off a gambling debt. She has little time for mooning over him because producer Florenz Ziegfield has sent her a telegram offering her a spot in his current Follies. Fanny is a hit in her first Ziegfield appearance, and Nick is coincidently on hand to offer congratulations. He goes with Fanny to her mother's opening night block party on Henry Street. Some months later they meet again. This time they're in Baltimore and they enjoy a private dinner at an exclusive restaurant. That does it. Fanny cannot leave Nick ever again. At the railroad station where the Follies company is to board a train for Chicago and Nick one for New York, Fanny decides to leave the company and follow her love. She feels this is her one chance for happiness and is determined not to let anything stand in her way.

Fanny and Nick are married and move into a mansion on Long Island. During rehearsals of a new Follies, Nick approaches Ziegfield backstage about investing money in a gambling casino he plans to build in Florida. Ziegfield declines, but Fanny insists on putting up the necessary capital. Fanny's opening night of the new show is ruined by Nick's failure to appear. After the performance he comes to her dressing room and tells her that his casino venture has failed and she has lost her money.

She tries to treat the bad news lightly and not make Nick feel even worse, but Nick feels Fanny is making light of his ventures and complains that she treats him like a child. For the first time Fanny begins to have doubts about their relationship. Now she anonymously tries to put up money for him in another venture. But when he finds out about this, he becomes incensed; he is not comfortable being so dependent on his wife. Out of desperation he gets involved in a shady bond deal. Nick is soon arrested for embezzlement. Mrs. Brice makes her daughter take responsibility for her part in what has happened.

The final scene in Fanny's dressing room is a continuation of the first scene in the play. Nick, just out of prison, enters. While they still love each other deeply, it is obvious that their marriage can only bring unhappiness to both of them. Reluctantly, but inevitably, they part. Fanny courageously resolves to get on with her life.

The setting is a street in ancient Rome, in front of three adjacent houses. First is the brothel of Lycus, who takes his profession of peddler of fresh very seriously. Next is the house of Senex, his wife Domina, and their son Hero. Last is the house of Erronius who continually bemoans the unsolved kidnapping long ago of his son and daughter.

Pseudolus, a slave in the household Senex and the property of Hero, is anxious to obtain his freedom. To do so, he will resort to all kinds of trickery, abetted reluctantly by fellow-slave Hysterium. Pseudolus, who is a conniving and quick-witted rascal, has figured that the best way of bargaining for his freedom is to cater to the sex-hungers of the men of the household, especially Hero, who yearns for the beautiful Philia, a still virginal girl who is in basic training for a courtesan's career in the bawdy house run by Lycus. Hero agrees to give Pseudolus his freedom if he can help him win Philia.

Hero's aging father, however, lecherously wants to have a last fling and likewise has his eye on Philia. Thus, Pseudolus must also try to give him what he deserves. Finally, as the ultimate complication, Pseudolus is faced with the contracted fact that Philia has already been sold by Lycus to Miles Gloriosus, a soldier momentarily absent from Rome.

Forced to foil all the males who are after the lovely but dumb Philia, Pseudolus has to maneuver with resourcefulness and agility, and the action crosscuts from the chaste to the chase with dizzying speed. Guffaws keep erupting as the schemes of Pseudolus boomerang and get him ever deeper into a mire of deception, entangling everybody who comes near. When the vainglorious and licentious Miles Gloriosus returns to Rome and demands fulfillment of his contract for Philia, Pseudolus is in desperation and quickly declares that she is dead. To help him in this charade, he persuades Hysterium to don a wig and women's clothes and pretend to be the corpse.

The very much alive Philia, hearing her contracted owner has returned, dim wittedly thinks that old Senex is the man who has purchased her, so Senex excitedly tries to escape his battle-ax of a wife, Domina, in order to enjoy his good luck. In preparation for the anticipated encounter, he oils himself with sweet ointments and begins issuing a gurgling mating call.

The ever-funny comic bit of mistaken identities kicks into high gear as there are suddenly three Philias: the real one, Hysterium in his fright-wig and women's clothes, and Domina, who, in a similar wig, is attempting to snatch back her husband in the guise of the young courtesan. Suddenly everybody is chasing everybody else, mistakenly and hilariously, as the wily Pseudolus keeps the three unsuspecting Philias from confronting each other.

In the end it is discovered that the real Philia and Miles Gloriosus are long-lost brother and sister, the kidnapped children of Erronius. Since they are siblings, Miles Gloriosus voids his contract for Philia, and she is found of sufficient high birth to become Hero's bride. And, of course, the scheming Pseudolus wins his freedom.

Source: bard.org/

Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw are a pair of entertainers, best friends with opposite tastes in men. Lorelei is a gold digger interested only in marrying a rich fellow. Dorothy, the more sensible of the two, is looking for an ordinary guy. Lorelei and Dorothy are just "Two Little Girls from Little Rock," on a transatlantic cruise, working their way to Paris, and enjoying the company of any eligible men they might meet along the way, even though "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend."

Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known.

Gilbert, who wrote the libretti for these operas, created fanciful "topsy-turvy" worlds where each absurdity is taken to its logical conclusion—fairies rub elbows with British lords, flirting is a capital offense, gondoliers ascend to the monarchy, and pirates emerge as noblemen who have gone astray. Sullivan, six years Gilbert's junior, composed the music, contributing memorable melodies that could convey both humor and pathos.

Their operas have enjoyed broad and enduring international success and are still performed frequently throughout the English-speaking world. Gilbert and Sullivan introduced innovations in content and form that directly influenced the development of musical theatre through the 20th century. The operas have also influenced political discourse, literature, film and television and have been widely parodied and pastiched by humorists. Producer Richard D'Oyly Carte brought Gilbert and Sullivan together and nurtured their collaboration. He built the Savoy Theatre in 1881 to present their joint works (which came to be known as the Savoy Operas) and founded the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, which performed and promoted Gilbert and Sullivan's works for over a century.

Photo Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Photo Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Source: wikipedia.org/

The 1930 stage version follows the story of Danny Churchill, who has been sent to Custerville, Arizona, to manage his family's ranch. His father has sent him there to focus on more serious matters than alcohol and women, but Danny turns his family's place into a dude ranch, importing showgirls from Broadway and hiring Kate Forthergill as an entertainer. Eventually, visitors come from both coasts to the ranch and Danny falls in love with the local postmistress, Molly Gray.

Source: wikipedia.org/

Tait college is having a parade. There is acrobatic dancing while the students sing the school song. They are all determined that Tait will win the forthcoming football match against rivals from Colton College—football being more important to the college than academia. The annual award from the Bingham foundation will depend on the outcome of this game. Tom Marlow, captain of the football team, can only play on the season's big game because Constance Lane coached him in astronomy well enough for him to pass his exams. The all important game is won by Tait and Tom, now a hero, can pursue the more important business of winning Constance, whom he has loved for a long time.

Source: www.nodanw.com/

Set in Vienna in the spring-time, featuring a conflict between a father and his son, laced with overtures of romance; it is a score comprising some of the most loved Strauss waltzes ever written by the father and son on whose lives the plot is based, and who are truly regarded as the greatest waltz composers of all time. Among a host of tunes, this show contains both "The Radetzky March" and, of course, "The Blue Danube."

Source: www.nodanw.com/

Guys and Dolls is a musical romantic comedy involving the unlikeliest of Manhattan pairings: a high-rolling gambler and a puritanical missionary, a showgirl dreaming of the straight-and-narrow and a crap game manager who is anything but. Set in the Manhattan of Damon Runyon's short stories, Guys and Dolls tells of con-man Nathan Detroit's efforts to find new life for his illegal, but notorious, crap game. When their trusty venue is found out by the police, Nathan has to find a new home for his crap game quickly - but he doesn't have the dough to secure the one location he finds.

Enter Sky Masterson, a high-rolling gambler willing to take on any honest bet with a high enough reward attached. Nathan bets Sky that he can't take the "doll" of Nathan's choosing to Havana, Cuba, with him on a date. When Sky agrees to the bet, Nathan chooses uptight Evangelist Sergeant Sarah Brown, head of Broadway's Save-a-Soul Mission. Sky thinks he's been duped, but he's in for even more of a surprise when his efforts to woo Sarah are so successful that he falls in love with her himself! Guys and Dolls takes us from the bustle of Times Square to the dance clubs of Havana to the sewers of New York City as it demonstrates the great lengths to which a guy will go when he truly falls in love with a "doll."

Source: stageagent.com/

Frustrated in her own efforts to be a theatrical star, Rose is determined that her favorite daughter, June, succeed where she failed, and when June walks out on her she transfers her star-making efforts to the neglected Louise. Her hopes for Louise are stillborn due to the demise of the vaudeville circuit, so she forces her daughter into still popular burlesque, which Rose has always detested as the lowest form of entertainment.

Louise becomes the most famous of all strippers, Gypsy Rose Lee, following Rose's advice to never take it all off, and a glamorous figure with intellectual pretensions in celebrity society of the 1930s-1940s era. It was the heartbreak chapters of her best-selling memoirs that suggested a backstage musical show without the usual happy ending expected by Broadway audiences. "Gypsy" lost out in the 1960 Tony competition for best musical to "The Sound of Music."

As the final curtain falls on "Gypsy," Louise has left her mother in the dust, having told her that all she ever wanted was for her mother to notice her. Rose also is given a chance to explain herself in "Rose's Turn," a haunting song sung on a bare stage in which she laments what she might have been in the theater if she had not been "born too soon and started too late."

Source: www.areaguide.net/

A nouveau-riche American widow goes to Monaco hoping to be invited to the wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier. She decides to match her daughter up with an impoverished Spanish duke but finds herself attracted to him, while her daughter falls for a lawyer.

Source: playbill.com/

In New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1913, the Longstreet family, consisting of Mama, Papa, Mama's younger sister Fran, and her college boyfriend Oggle, is affected when a con man, Harrison Floy, and his shill, Mr. Pontdue, come to town. The duos' dubious intentions are made clear as Floy pitches "snake-oil" schemes ("He Tried to Make a Dollar") including selling fake watches and diamond mines, and the shill Mr. Pontdue asks for two. They are chased by the police, and the phony scheme is repeated. After they cheat the Longstreets in a phony land deal, Floy and Pontdue try to escape to Atlantic City, New Jersey with their ill-gotten profits and also take Fran (who has become romantically involved with Floy) with them.

As the con men Floy and Pontdue are pursued to the Atlantic City beach while carrying a satchel full of stolen money, the people on the beach dance around them ("The Bathing Beauty Ballet"). They tangle with a large number of people—including bathing beauties, lifeguards, other criminals, identical twins—and one gorilla. The climax occurs when the Keystone Cops arrive, and Floy loses everything when he bets on the wrong football team.

Source: guidetomusicaltheatre.com/

Loulou is the owner of a Newport coffee house. She falls in love with Bilge, one of the many sailors who patronise her eatery whenever they're in port. But Bilge is reluctant to consider marriage. So Loulou takes the small fortune she has come into and follows him all the way to China. When she finally seems to have won her point, Bilge discovers she is wealthy. Bilge is unwilling to marry but Loulou wins this round by agreeing to sign away her money to their first child.

Source: www.nodanw.com/

When a restless, creative, and ambitious window washer named J. Pierrepont Finch happens upon a book entitled 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,' he decides to begin his rise up the corporate ladder. With the book's instructions and a dose of his own cleverness, Finch starts by landing a job in the mail-room at the World Wide Wicket Company, before quickly gaining promotions and outsmarting his scheming, sniveling rival, Frump—who also happens to be the boss's nephew—until finally reaching the very top of the organization. From the very beginning, Finch has had the love and support of Rosemary, a marriage-minded secretary who recognizes Finch's potential, and finds his innocent demeanor endearing. But in his single-minded pursuit of the top job, Finch is in danger of discounting Rosemary's love. In a moment of crisis, Finch's manual to success can no longer help him: he must rely on his own wits, and ultimately, his heart, to save the day. The standout score by Frank Loesser features such classics as the surreal and funny "Coffee Break," the rousing "Brotherhood of Man," and the melodious tongue-in-cheek ballad, "I Believe In You," while the immensely clever book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1962 for Best Drama.

Source: stageagent.com/

Charm is the word for IRENE ... a special kind of charm, made up of equal parts of comedy, vivacity, romance and nostalgia. And as a special attraction, IRENE contains some of the best loved, most singable numbers in the history of the musical theatre. Originally produced in 1919, this new version carries its age with grace and style, for its story is of a delightful Irish lass who believed in women's lib before the term was invented.

Irene O'Dare helps her widowed mother in a little music shop in New York City. She's not unhappy, but she feels there must be more to life than this - the world, she says, must be bigger than Ninth Avenue. Against all tradition, she intends to be a successful business woman. In fact, she installs a telephone in the shop - the first in the neighbourhood. And the very first time the phone rings, Irene is asked to tune the pianos at a very swanky Long Island house. There she meets Donald Marshall, a young tycoon, and despite his rather aloof manner, she is immediately captivated by him. Donald is intrigued by this cheerful lass, so unlike the society girls his mother has been urging him to marry. He is particularly taken by her description of her adventures when she wore her favourite dress - her 'Alice Blue Gown'.

Donald's addle-pated cousin Ozzie arrives with a new idea. He wants to open a dress salon, to be run by a wild eccentric who calls himself Madame Lucy. Donald agrees to finance the project, with the proviso that his new discovery, Irene O'Dare.. shall take charge of the business. She is a great success a t this, and some of her Ninth Avenue friends are taken on at the salon as models, under the tuition of Madame Lucy. It is arranged that Madame Lucy's fashions are to be introduced at a society ball, where, to impress the gathering, Irene is announced as the Contessa Irena O'Dari. She captivates everyone with her Continental chic. But when Donald insists that she continue to play the role for business purposes, Irene is outraged. She will not live a lie, for Donald or anyone else. She reflects that 'I'm Always Chasing Rainbows'. Her Ninth Avenue friends cheer her up with the rousing and spectacular number 'Irene'.

At a party at the Marshall house, Donald confesses his love for Irene with 'You Made Me Love You'. Mrs. O'Dare suddenly meets the man who was her own long-lost love - none other than Madame Lucy. And Donald introduces the lovely Contessa O'Dari as the girl he will marry - Irene O'Dare.

Source: guidetomusicaltheatre.com/

The English language version, with the new book and lyrics provided by Julian More, David Heneker and Monty Norman, opened in London's West End in July 1958. The English version uses a few colloquial French expressions, including some of the Parisian underworld slang of the original, making an exotic and entertaining feature of it, as in the titles of songs, "Le Grisbi is le Root of le Evil in Man" (grisbi is old slang word for money, also present in the 1954 Jean Gabin movie title Touchez pas au grisbi) and "Dis-Donc," and employs a narrator to guide the audience through the linguistics.

The London production starred Elizabeth Seal in the title role, Keith Michell as Nestor and Clive Revill as Bob-le-Hotu, the narrator, and ran for 1512 performances. The show transferred to Broadway in September 1960 with the same three lead actors, winning Elizabeth Seal the 1961 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and ran for 524 performances.

The musical tells the story of an impoverished law student, Nestor le Fripé, who falls in love with a prostitute, Irma la Douce, and becomes her protector and dependent. Through jealousy of her clients he disguises himself as a rich older man who visits and pays Irma for conversation and becomes her only client. Nestor becomes exhausted with working hard enough to make enough money for Irma to support him and decides that the only way out of his mess is to destroy his alter ego. When the older man disappears, Nestor is convicted of murder and sent to Devil's Island but he escapes and returns to Irma when he hears that she is pregnant. He manages to prove his innocence of murder by briefly assuming his disguise once more and all ends well.

The setting is a tropical, relatively apolitical paradise called Pigeon's Island, off Jamaica's coast. There a poor, handsome fisherman, Koli loves the beautiful Savannah. But Savannah spends her hours dreaming of living in New York. A hustling dude, Joe Nashua has come to the island to exploit pearl-diving possibilities in its shark-infested waters. Savannah sees in him an all-expenses-paid trip to the big city. However, when Koli saves the life of Savannah's little brother during a hurricane, she comes to face reality and accepts her island suitor. She visits New York only in a dream ballet.

Source: guidetomusicaltheatre.com/

In 1939, during a time when gay people were viewed as abhorrent subversives and a threat to society, two gay lovers, Danny Brown and Doc Benner, created and produced America's first racially inclusive traveling revue of female impersonators. It was staffed almost entirely by gay men and one gay woman and was known as the Jewel Box Revue. In many ways it was America's first gay community.

A recent and insightful paper by Mara Dauphin argues that the early drag/female impersonation revues of the 1940s and 1950s were "highly instrumental in creating queer communities and carving out queer niches of urban landscape in post-war America that would flourish into the sexual revolution of the sixties." And though there were other popular female impersonation clubs, such the famous Finnochio's in San Francisco and the infamous mafia-owned Club 82 of New York City, with the exception of the Jewel Box Revue, all the revues were operated and controlled by straight people, who were not always very gay-friendly (a notable exception being the Garden of Allah cabaret in Seattle, which featured the Jewel Box Revue as their opening-night act in 1946). Robin Raye, who performed in several early establishments, including Finocchio's and the Jewel Box Revue, once said of Mrs. Finocchio, "I don't think she liked gay people, but she certainly knew how to use them."

Consequently, my own research and interviews with several cast members of the Jewel Box Revue reveal Danny Brown and Doc Brenner as being some pretty tough customers who knew how to handle themselves in a fight, but who were also incredibly protective of the revue, which they considered family. In fact, both Danny's mother and Doc's mother were known to travel with the show.

Creating America's first gay community was not what Danny and Doc initially had in mind when they created the revue. They felt that Vaudeville had sidelined female impersonation acts into little more than burlesque shows, and both were passionate about reviving drag as an art form. Danny and Doc also intentionally catered the show to a heterosexual audience and tried their best to be viewed as legitimate entertainment by locals and authorities, to stay clear of any legal charges of sexual deviance. But behind the protective spin of publicity, it cannot be denied that the revue fostered one of the first gay-positive communities in America, if not the first. It was a place where "gayness" was accepted before the concept of gay-identity had even been fully conceived. Tobi Marsh, who joined the revue as a rebellious teenager in the late 1950s, viewed Danny and Doc not only as his bosses but as no-nonsense parental figures. Their over-protective nature agitated Tobi at the time, but his agitation would later grow into a grudging respect, as Danny and Doc took great efforts to protect him and the other members of the revue from the often brutal homophobic realities of life in the pre-Stonewall era.

In the end Danny Brown and Doc Benner were successful and saw their dreams of reviving female impersonation as an art form come to fruition. The Jewel Box Revue became very successful and toured throughout the country for over three decades, even headlining at famed venues like the Apollo in New York City. But their contributions resonate far beyond their impacts on the field of female impersonation. In a very real sense Danny and Doc are the true godfathers of the modern gay community. The show was billed as "25 Men and 1 Woman," but hundreds of gay entertainers and female impersonator would come to work with the revue over the years, and their influence on the burgeoning gay rights movement still resonates to this very day, one particular performer somewhat more so than others. The African-American lesbian drag king Storme Delarvarie was the "1 Woman" of the Jewel Box Revue. She spent decades living, working and traveling with Danny and Doc's tough but protective community of touring entertainers. Those experiences and life lessons would prove invaluable in Storme's later life, and her actions continue to inspire generations of gay people. Storme Delarvarie is credited as being one of the first people to bravely fight back against the police as they raided the Stonewall Inn in New York City on the night of June 27, 1969. Her courage helped to spark a riot that begat the modern gay rights movement.

Source: huffpost.com/

"The King and I" is a moving, radiant story of East meets West. It is the early 1860s when newly widowed Anna Leonowens and her son, Louis, set sail from their native England for Bangkok, Siam (now Thailand). Anna, still grieving, has set her sights on a new adventure and taken a position as the schoolteacher for the royal offspring of the King of Siam. The King is determined to usher Siam into the modern world, and he thinks Western education can be a part of that - yet, Anna is horrified at first by many of the traditions that he holds dear. Anna and the King struggle to find common ground. The King is largely considered to be a barbarian by rulers of the West, and he takes Anna on as an advisor, asking her to help change his image - if not his actual practice. With both keeping a firm grip on their respective traditions and values, Anna and the King teach each other about understanding, respect, and love that can transcend the greatest of differences. Beneath the fraught, fiercely opinionated, conflict-ridden surface of Anna and the King's relationship lies one of the most unique love stories in the musical theatre canon.

Source: stageagent.com/

With extreme cleverness and a fair amount of luck, the poor but wily Poet rises from the streets of Baghdad, avoids losing a hand when put on trial for theft, and is instead given the title of Emir by the Wazir of Baghdad. Meanwhile, the Wazir is in debt and has taken out a loan with the King of Ababu. In return, he must now marry the Caliph to one of Abbabu's princesses...or all three! This plan hits a snag when the Caliph falls in love with the Poet's beautiful daughter, Marsinah, while traveling around the city incognito. He announces his plans to the Wazir, who is not best pleased and relies on the assistance of his new Emir. In a series of unfortunate circumstances, Marsinah is spotted within the Wazir's harem and announced as his new bride to the devastated Caliph. Realizing what has occurred, the Poet tricks the Wazir into entering a pool of water where he is drowned. Caliph and Marsinah are reunited, the Poet is pardoned for the Wazir's murder and, for his "punishment" he is rewarded with a life in luxurious exile with the Wazir's beautiful widow, Lalume. Exotic, seductive, and Golden Age Broadway, these events could only happen on an Arabian Night!

Source: stageagent.com/

A musical version of William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" and the conflict on and off-stage between Fred Graham, the show's director, producer, and star, and his leading lady, his ex-wife Lilli Vanessi. A secondary romance concerns Lois Lane, the actress playing Bianca, and her gambler boyfriend, Bill, who runs afoul of some gangsters.

The musical was inspired by the on-stage/off-stage battling of husband-and-wife actors Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne during their 1935 production of "The Taming of the Shrew," witnessed by future Broadway producer Arnold Saint-Subber. In 1947, he asked the Spewacks (undergoing their own marital woes at the time) to write the script; Bella Spewack in turn enlisted Cole Porter to write the music and lyrics.

Source: wikipedia.org/

It's a typical day in wretched and picturesque Dogpatch, USA, and the local yokels are up to their usual tricks: brewing moonshine, cuddling pigs, and collecting unemployment. Beautiful Daisy Mae is pining after strong handsome Li'l Abner, an unsentimental youth who escapes her pursuit to go fishing. But when Dogpatch is chosen for an atomic test site, and Daisy Mae is claimed in marriage by dirty wrestler Earthquake McGoon, Li'l Abner has to step up and fight for the things he doesn't know he loves.

Guided and guarded by traveling preacher Marryin' Sam, Li'l Abner travels to Washington, DC, where he tangles with a gaggle of goofy scientists, unscrupulous capitalist General Bullmoose, and scheming minx Appassionata Von Climax. Suspense builds in a Cornpone Meeting, the romantic free-for-all that is the Sadie Hawkins Day race--where the girls put on their running shoes to catch themselves a groom--and the shenanigans that ensue when a snooty Washington, DC, engagement party is invaded by Hillbillies. Based on Andy Capp's beloved comic strip, with clever book by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, and catchy score by Johnny Mercer and Gene de Paul, Li'l Abner is a rousing, bombastic, tuneful American musical, which is equal parts slapstick comedy, knowing government satire, and tale of young love.

Source: stageagent.com/