Ethel Merman: A Life (43 page)

Authors: Brian Kellow

BOOK: Ethel Merman: A Life

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Gypsy

Broadway Theatre
O
PENED
: May 21, 1959
C
LOSED
: March 25, 1961, after 702 performances
P
RODUCERS
: David Merrick, Leland Hayward
D
IRECTOR AND CHOREOGRAPHER
: Jerome Robbins
M
USIC
: Jule Styne
L
YRICS
: Stephen Sondheim
B
OOK
: Arthur Laurents
S
ET DESIGNER
: Jo Mielziner
C
OSTUME DESIGNER
: Raoul Pène DuBois
C
ONDUCTOR
: Milton Rosenstock
C
AST
: Ethel Merman (as Rose), Jack Klugman, Sandra Church, Lane Bradbury, Paul Wallace, Maria Karnilova, Faith Dane, Chotzi Foley, Mort Marshall, Erv Harmon, Peg Murray, Marilyn Cooper
E
THEL
M
ERMAN’S SONGS
: “Some People,” “Small World,” “Mr. Goldstone, I Love You,” “You’ll Never Get Away from Me,” “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “Together, Wherever We Go,” “Rose’s Turn”
N
OTES
: While
Gypsy
was generally recognized by many (including Ethel herself) as the crowning achievement of the Merman career, it failed to win a single Tony Award, the honors that year being split by
Fiorello! and The Sound of Music.
Ethel campaigned long and hard for Warner Bros.’ film version of
Gypsy,
which in the end went to Rosalind Russell. Close friends called it the greatest professional disappointment of her life. Although she went briefly on the road with
Red, Hot and Blue!, Something for the Boys,
and
Call Me Madam,
Ethel mostly kept to a no-touring rule.
Gypsy
was an exception: she starred as Rose in a nine-month cross-country tour.

Annie Get Your Gun

Revival at New York State Theater
O
PENED
: May 31, 1966
C
LOSED
: November 26, 1966 (having moved to the Broadway Theatre, where it played 78 performances)
P
RODUCER
: Music Theater of Lincoln Center (Richard Rodgers, director) D
IRECTOR
: Jack Sydow
M
USIC AND LYRICS
: Irving Berlin
S
ET DESIGNER
: Paul McGuire
C
OSTUME DESIGNER
: Frank Thompson
C
HOREOGRAPHER
: Danny Daniels
C
ONDUCTOR
: Jonathan Anderson
C
AST
: Ethel Merman (as Annie Oakley), Bruce Yarnell, Rufus Smith, Jerry Orbach, Benay Venuta, Harry Bellaver, Jaime Rogers, Jack Dabdoub, Ronn Carroll
E
THEL
M
ERMAN’S SONGS
: the same as in 1946, with the addition of “An Old-Fashioned Wedding,” which she performed with Bruce Yarnell.
N
OTES
: Ethel was fifty-eight when she revived
Annie,
prompting many to dub the show
Granny Get Your Gun.
“An Old-Fashioned Wedding” was the last hit song of Irving Berlin’s career.

Hello, Dolly!

St. James Theatre
O
PENED
: January 16, 1964
E
THEL’S FIRST PERFORMANCE
: March 28, 1970
C
LOSED
: December 27, 1970, after 2,844 performances (in 210 of which Ethel Merman starred)
P
RODUCER
: David Merrick
D
IRECTOR AND CHOREOGRAPHER
: Gower Champion
M
USIC AND LYRICS
: Jerry Herman
B
OOK
: Michael Stewart
S
ET DESIGNER
: Oliver Smith
C
OSTUME DESIGNER
: Freddy Wittop
C
ONDUCTOR
: Saul Schechtman
C
AST
: Ethel Merman (as Dolly Levi), Jack Goode, Russell Nype, Danny Lockin, June Helmers, Marcia Lewis, Georgia Engel, David Gary, Patricia Cope
E
THEL
M
ERMAN’S SONGS
: “I Put My Hand In,” “World, Take Me Back,” “Put on Your Sunday Clothes,” “Motherhood,” “Dancing,” “Love, Look in My Window,” “Before the Parade Passes By,” “Hello, Dolly!,” “So Long, Dearie”
N
OTES
: Ethel was the seventh actress to star on Broadway as Dolly Levi, the others being the part’s originator, Carol Channing, followed by Ginger Rogers, Martha Raye, Betty Grable, Pearl Bailey, and Phyllis Diller. Jerry Herman composed
Hello, Dolly!
with Ethel in mind. When she turned it down and the part went to Channing, two songs, “World, Take Me Back” and “Love, Look in My Window” were dropped, to be restored six years later when Ethel assumed the part.

A Gala Tribute to Joshua Logan

Imperial Theatre
O
PENED
: March 9, 1975 (special one-night benefit)
P
RODUCERS
: Friends of the Theater and Music Collection of the Museum of the City of New York
D
IRECTOR
: Anna Sosenko
C
AST
: Ethel Merman, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Joshua Logan C
HOREOGRAPHER
: Donald Saddler

Together on Broadway: Mary Martin & Ethel Merman
Broadway Theatre

O
PENED
: May 15, 1977 (special one-night benefit)
P
RODUCERS
: Friends of the Theater and Music Collection of the Museum of the City of New York, Anna Sosenko
D
IRECTOR
: Donald Saddler
C
OSTUME DESIGNERS
: Morty Sussman, Jean-Louis
M
USICAL DIRECTOR
: Jay Blackton
C
ONDUCTORS
: Eric Knight, John Lesko

FILM APPEARANCES
In the early 1930s, Ethel Merman made a number of short films. For Warner Bros. Vitaphone:
The Cave Club
(1930). For Paramount:
Her Future
(1930),
The Devil Sea
,
Roaming
(both 1931),
Old Man Blues
,
Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Ireno
,
You Try Somebody Else
,
Time on My Hands
(all 1932),
Song Shopping
,
Be Like Me
(both 1933)

FEATURE FILMS

Follow the Leader
(Paramount, 1930)

D
IRECTOR
: Norman Taurog

W
RITERS
: Gertrude Purcell, Sid Silvers

C
AMERA
: Larry Williams

C
AST
: Ed Wynn, Ginger Rogers, Ethel Merman (as Helen King)

We’re Not Dressing
(Paramount, 1934)

P
RODUCER
: Benjamin Glazer

D
IRECTOR
: Norman Taurog

W
RITERS
: Horace Jackson, Frances Marion and George Marion Jr., based on a story by Benjamin Glazer

C
AMERA
: Charles Lang

C
AST
: Bing Crosby, Carole Lombard, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Ethel Merman (as Edith), Leon Errol, Raymond Milland

Kid Millions
(Goldwyn–United Artists, 1934)

P
RODUCER
: Samuel Goldwyn

D
IRECTOR
: Roy del Ruth

W
RITERS
: Arthur Sheekman, Nat Perrin, Nunnally Johnson C
AMERA
: Ray June

C
AST
: Eddie Cantor, Ann Sothern, Ethel Merman (as Dot Clark), George Murphy

The Big Broadcast of 1936
(Paramount, 1935)

P
RODUCER
: Benjamin Glazer

D
IRECTOR
: Norman Taurog

W
RITERS
: Walter de Leon, Francis Martin, Ralph Spence

C
AMERA
: Leo Tover

C
AST
: Bing Crosby, George Burns, Gracie Allen, Charlie Ruggles, Jack Oakie, Wendy Barrie, Ethel Merman, Lyda Roberti, the Nicholas Brothers, Bill Robinson