New Girl in Town

*New Girl in Town*
New Girl in Town
Book	George Abbott
Basis	Eugene O'Neill's play ; Anna Christie
Productions	1957 Broadway

New Girl in Town is a musical with a book by George Abbott and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill based on Eugene O'Neill's 1921 play Anna Christie, about a prostitute who tries to live down her past. New Girl, unlike O'Neill's play, focuses on the jealousy of the character Marthy and on love's ability to conquer all. The musical ends far more hopefully than the play.^[1]

Background

The

Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and the show received three other Tony nominations, including the Best Musical and best choreography for Bob Fosse

. Verdon, somewhat unusually, had three standbys: one each for acting, singing and dancing.

Synopsis

Anna, a former

common-law wife

, drunkenly reveals the truth about Anna's past. Anna's sailor leaves on the next ship, and her hopes of leading a normal life seem dashed, but Anna picks up the pieces of her life, becoming a farmer in Staten Island. When Mat finally returns to port, Chris tries to keep the two lovers apart, but their reunification is inevitable – time heals all wounds, and the lovers kiss and make up.

Production notes

Choreographer Bob Fosse was eager to showcase the talents of star Gwen Verdon, for whom the show had been fashioned, but the material didn't lend itself to big song-and-dance routines. During rehearsals he devised a second act dream sequence that depicted life in a brothel through seductive and suggestive movement, and during its tryout run in New Haven, Connecticut, local police closed the show. Fosse restaged the number at director Abbott's request, but restored the original version soon after the New York City opening.^[3]

For Merrill, at the time best known for the 1952 novelty tune "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" popularized by Patti Page, this was a first attempt at a musical score. Only six songs were related directly to plot or character; the remainder were filler closely resembling typical musical comedy numbers, although New Girl is not a musical comedy in what was then the traditional sense.

The Broadway production opened on May 4, 1957 at the 46th Street Theatre, where it ran for 431 performances. The cast included Gwen Verdon as Anna, Cameron Prud'homme as Chris, Thelma Ritter as Marthy, and George Wallace as Mat.

Song list

Act I

Roll Yer Socks Up - Chorus
Anna Lilla - Chris
Sunshine Girl - Oscar, Pete, Bartender
On the Farm - Anna
Flings - Marthy, Lily, Pearl
It's Good to Be Alive - Anna
Look at 'Er - Mat
It's Good to Be Alive (Reprise) - Mat
Yer My Friend, Aintcha? - Marthy, Chris
Did You Close Your Eyes? - Anna, Mat
At the Check Apron Ball - Chorus
There Ain't No Flies on Me - Anna and Company

Act II

Ven I Valse - Anna, Chris, Chorus
Sunshine Girl (Reprise) - Chorus
If That Was Love - Anna
Chess and Checkers - Marthy, Chorus
Look at 'Er (Reprise) - Mat

A "Cathouse Ballet" was cut when the show tried out in Boston, possibly because it made Anna's former life as a prostitute appear far more appealing than her present circumstances. The producers went so far as to burn the scenery, in the alley behind the theatre, to prevent the sequence from being restored.

An original cast recording was released by

RCA Victor, and both Carol Burnett and Martha Raye

recorded "Flings."

Principal characters

Anna — Chris's long lost daughter
Chris Christopherson — Anna's father; an old whiskey-drinking Swedish sailor
Marthy — Chris's common-law wife; a jealous drunk
Mat Burke — A simple-minded sailor

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
1958	Tony Award	Best Musical		Nominated
		Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical	Gwen Verdon	Won
		Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical	Thelma Ritter	Won
		Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical	Cameron Prud'Homme	Nominated
		Best Choreography	Bob Fosse	Nominated

Notes

^ "Information from a review of Eugene O'Neill-related events" Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine eoneill.com
^ "Information from the MTI site". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
^ Information from PBS.org and That's Dancin': Fosse on Broadway, retrieved April 2007

References

Green, Stanley. Broadway Musicals: Show by Show, 5th ed. (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1996), p. 173.
That's Dancin': Fosse on Broadway, retrieved April 2007
New Girl in Town at the MTI website, retrieved April 2007
Information from the Noda site, retrieved May 2007
Information from the Stage Agent website, retrieved May 2007

External links

New Girl in Town at the Internet Broadway Database
New Girl in Town at the Musical Heaven website, retrieved April 2007

[1] "Information from a review of Eugene O'Neill-related events" Archived 2007-01-07 at the Wayback Machine eoneill.com

[2] "Information from the MTI site". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-05-04.

[3] Information from PBS.org and That's Dancin': Fosse on Broadway, retrieved April 2007

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