Life Begins at 8:40
Life Begins at 8:40 | |
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Music | E.Y. Harburg |
Productions | 1934 Broadway |
Life Begins at 8:40 is a
When Harburg and
The original Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on August 27, 1934 and closed on March 16, 1935 after a run of 237 performances. It was devised and staged by John Murray Anderson, choreographed by Robert Alton, and starred Ray Bolger, Brian Donlevy, Luella Gear, Frances Williams, Dixie Dunbar, and Esther Junger in addition to Lahr. Among those who contributed to the costume design were Raoul Pene Du Bois and Irene Sharaff.
Time called the production "the season's first first-rate entertainment."[4]
A concert revival at the Library of Congress on March 22, 2010 was recorded and released on CD by PS Classics. This performance featured Rebecca Luker, Brad Oscar and Faith Prince, and the orchestra was conducted by Aaron Gandy.[5]
Song list
- Act One
- Life Begins (at Exactly 8:40 or Thereabouts)
- Spring Fever
- You're a Builder-Upper
- My Paramount-Publix-Roxy-Rose
- Shoein' the Mare
- Quartet Erotica
- Fun to Be Fooled
- C'est la Vie
- What Can You Say in a Love Song (That Hasn't Been Said Before)
- Act Two
- Let's Take a Walk Around the Block
- Things
- (All) The Elks and the Masons
- I Couldn't Hold My Man
- A Weekend Cruise (Will You Love Me Monday Morning as You Did on Friday Night?)
- It Was Long Ago
- I'm Not Myself
- Life Begins at City Hall (Beautifying the City)
References
- ISBN 0-19-512599-1, pp. 52-53
- ISBN 0-415-93704-3, p. 565
- ISBN 0-520-22304-7, pp. 135-142
- ^ Time review
- ^ Liner Notes to Life Begins at 8:40, concert recording (2010), CD issued 2010, PS Classics