Let's Face It!
Let's Face It! | ||
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Book Herbert and Dorothy Fields | | |
Basis | The play The Cradle Snatchers by Russell Medcraft and Norma Mitchell | |
Productions | 1941 Broadway 1942 West End |
Let's Face It! is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The book by Herbert and Dorothy Fields is based on the 1925 play The Cradle Snatchers by Russell Medcraft and Norma Mitchell.
The 1941 Broadway and 1942 West End productions were successful, and a film version was released in 1943.
Plot
Three suspicious wives, Maggie Watson, Nancy Collister and Cornelia Pigeon, invite three
Song list
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"A Fairy Tale" and "Melody in Four F" were written by Sylvia Fine and Max Liebman. Both were dropped later in the run, and "Melody in Four F" was replaced by "It Ain't Etiquette" from Du Barry Was a Lady.
Productions
The original production was directed by Edgar MacGregor and choreographed by
Tryouts in the UK began on June 23, 1942, at the Palace Theatre in
An Australian production played from November 1943 to January 1944 at His Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne.[2][3]
42nd Street Moon in San Francisco, California, presented a staged concert version of the show in October 1999.[4][5] Musicals Tonight!, New York City, presented a staged concert version in May 2006.[6]
Film and television versions
A 1943 screen adaptation featured Bob Hope and Betty Hutton. Although the plot remained the same, most of the Porter score was replaced by songs by other composers.[7]
A made-for-television live broadcast of the show was presented on the NBC television network on November 21, 1954 on The Colgate Comedy Hour, with Bert Lahr as Frankie Burns / Aunt Pamela Burns, Vivian Blaine as Winnie Potter, Gene Nelson as Jerry Walker, and Betty Furness as Maggie Watson.[8]
Response
Stephen Citron wrote in 2005: "No one ever has ever called Let's Face It a great musical. Nor did anyone expect it to be the smash hit that it was, least of all its producer. Freedley was not deceived into complacency when in The New Yorker Wolcott Gibbs called it 'brilliant foolishness', or Life Magazine dubbed it the season's 'smash' and declared, 'Porter has come out of his slump.' He knew it was the stars, especially Danny Kaye's brilliant double-talk routines, and the wartime escape atmosphere that filled the theatre nightly."[9]
References
- ^ London Production at Sondheimguide.com
- ^ "AMUSEMENTS". The Age. No. 27641. Victoria, Australia. 22 November 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "LET'S FACE IT". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 30, 380. Victoria, Australia. 10 January 1944. p. 6. Retrieved 18 March 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ 'Let's Face It' listing Archived 2003-01-07 at the Wayback Machine 42ndstmoon.org, retrieved January 19, 2010
- ^ Connema, Richard.Review talkinbroadway.com, retrieved January 19, 2010
- ^ Listing Archived 2010-10-22 at the Wayback Machine musicalstonight.org, retrieved January 19, 2010
- ^ Internet Movie Database listing, Let's Face It, 1943 imdb.com, accessed August 25, 2009
- ^ Internet Movie Database listing, Let's Face It, 1954 imdb.com, accessed August 25, 2009
- ISBN 0-634-09302-9, p. 189