Lady in the Dark

Lady in the Dark was a Broadway musical written by Kurt Weill (music), Ira Gershwin (lyrics), and Moss Hart (book and direction). The protagonist is the unhappy female editor of a fashion magazine who is undergoing psychoanalysis, said to be based on Hart's own experiences. All the music in the play is heard in three extended dream sequences: the Glamor Dream, the Wedding Dream, and the Circus Dream.

Related Topics:
Kurt Weill - Ira Gershwin - Moss Hart

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The musical opened at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon) on January 23, 1941 and closed on May 30, 1942 after 467 performances. The original production starred Gertrude Lawrence, Danny Kaye, Macdonald Carey, and Victor Mature. Kaye's performance as a gay fashion photographer, and particularly his literally showstopping performance of the patter song "Tschaikowsky and Other Russians" in which he dashes through the names of 50 Russian composers in 39 seconds, made him a star.

Related Topics:
Gertrude Lawrence - Danny Kaye - Macdonald Carey - Victor Mature

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(With adjustments to Gershwin's spelling, here are the Russian composers mentioned in the song, in order: Maliszewski, Rubinstein, Arensky, Tchaikovsky, Sapellnikoff, Dmitriev, Tscherepnin, Kryjanovsky, Godowsky, Artiboucheff, Moniuszko, Akimenko, Soloviev, Prokofiev, Tiomkin, Korestchenko, Glinka, Winkler, Bortniansky, Rebikoff, Ilyinsky, Medtner, Balakirev, Zolotarev, Kvoschinsky, Sokolov, Kopyloff, Dukelsky, Klenovsky, Shostakovich, Borodin, Glière, Nowakowsky, Lyadov, Karganoff, Markevitch, Pantschenko, Dargomyzhsky, Stcherbatcheff, Scriabin, Vassilenko, Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Gretchaninoff, Glazunov, César Cui, Kalinnikov, Rachmaninov, and Rumshinsky.)

Related Topics:
Maliszewski - Rubinstein - Arensky - Tchaikovsky - Sapellnikoff - Dmitriev - Tscherepnin - Kryjanovsky - Godowsky - Artiboucheff - Moniuszko - Akimenko - Soloviev - Prokofiev - Tiomkin - Korestchenko - Glinka - Winkler - Bortniansky - Rebikoff - Ilyinsky - Medtner - Balakirev - Zolotarev - Kvoschinsky - Sokolov - Kopyloff - Dukelsky - Klenovsky - Shostakovich - Borodin - Glière - Nowakowsky - Lyadov - Karganoff - Markevitch - Pantschenko - Dargomyzhsky - Stcherbatcheff - Scriabin - Vassilenko - Stravinsky - Rimsky-Korsakov - Mussorgsky - Gretchaninoff - Glazunov - César Cui - Kalinnikov - Rachmaninov - Rumshinsky

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The film version in 1944 starred Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland, and cut all but one and a half songs from the score ("Jenny", and part of "This Is New" is played by a nightclub band in the background).

Related Topics:
Ginger Rogers - Ray Milland

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