Ankles Aweigh

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Ankles Aweigh is a musical comedy directed by Guy Bolton and Eddie Davis and written by Sammy Fain .

The musical, in which 176 shows were played, was from April 1955 to September 1955 at the Mark Hellinger Theater on Broadway .

production

The Ankles Aweigh book was written by Guy Bolton, who also wrote the books on Anything Goes and Oh, Kay , and Eddie Davis. The lyrics to the songs by Sammy Fain were written by Dan Shapiro. Bolton, Davis and Shapiro worked together for Follow the Girls . Oscar Hammerstein , brother of co-producer Reginald Hammerstein, and Richard Rodgers invested in the piece, which ended up with a deficit of $ 340,000 on an investment of $ 275,000 . During rehearsals for Ankles Aweigh , Lew Parker (Dinky) was swapped for Myron McCormick, and Sonny Tufts was replaced by Mark Dawson in the role of Lieutenant Bill Kelley.

The New York critics were not very enthusiastic about the piece, so the performances in the Mark Hellinger Theater should be ended early. Brady Farrell, the owner of the theater, spoke out against it and allowed the play to continue until the last performance on September 17, 1955. When Farrell had to cut fees because of the high costs, Betty Kean, Mark Dawson and Thelma Carpenter left the production.

action

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Wynne, a Hollywood starlet, and her sister Elsey are in Sicily to make her film debut in a low-budget musical. On site, Wynne falls in love with US Lieutenant Bill Kelley and secretly marries him against the contract clause. In order to go on a secret honeymoon, Wynne disguises herself with the help of her sister Elsey and her husband's two comrades, Dinky and Spud, and sneaks as a sailor on his ship, the USS Alamo, which is supposed to cross over to Morocco .

Arrived in Morocco, they meet Bill's jealous ex-girlfriend Lucia, who is now the lover of the leader of a spy ring. In revenge for Bill Wynne's marriage, Lucia embroils him in an espionage case. With the help of Dinky and Spud, the two sisters find a way to acquit Bill of charges and celebrate him as a hero.

Song list

Source:

Act 1

  1. Italy (Boys and Girls)
  2. Old-Fashioned Mothers (Elsey and Wynne)
  3. Skip the Build-Up (Elsey and Dinky)
  4. Nothing at All (Wynne and Bill)
  5. Walk Like a Sailor (Wynne, Dinky, Spud, Girls, Elsey, Hank Brujes and Skeet Geunther)
  6. Headin 'for the Bottom (Chipolata, Girls and Patrons of night spot)
  7. Nothing Can Replace a Man (Wynne and Boys)
  8. Here's to Dear Old Us (Elsey, Dinky and Spud)
  9. His and Hers (Wynne and Bill)
  10. La Festa (Natives, Boys and Girls)

Act 2

  2. Ready Cash (Croupiers and Gamblers)
  3. Kiss Me and Kill Me with Love (Wynne and Bill)
  4. Honeymoon (Elsey and Girls)
  5. The Villain Always Gets It (Boys and Girls)
  6. The Code (Joe's Henchmen)
  7. Walk Like a Sailor (Dance) (Reprise) (Boys and Girls)
  8. Eleven O'Clock Song (Elsey and Wynne)
  9. Finale (Entire Company)

roll

Name of the role Cast at the premiere on April 18, 1955
Elsey Betty Kean
Wynne Jane Kean
Lt. Bill Kelley Mark Dawson
Dinky Lew Parker
Captain carpenter Mark Allen
Chipolata Thelma Carpenter
Pizza Cart Man Frank Conville
Tommy Bill Costin
Spud Gebariel Dell
Tony / singer Herb Fields
Lucia Betty George
Shore patrol / dancers Skeet Guenther
Soot Ed Hanley
Admiral Pottles Will Hussung
Joe Mancinni Mike Kellin
Camera Man / Singer Ray Mason
The Duchess / singer Karen Shepard
Native girls / singers Nancy Walters

Performances

Ankles Aweigh was performed at the Mark Hellinger Theater on Broadway from April 18, 1955 to September 17, 1955. A total of 176 shows were played.

A revival took place on July 13, 1988 in East Haddam, Connecticut (Goodspeed Opera House). The book was revised by Charles Busch . For the new edition of the piece, the songs An Old-Fashioned Mother , The Villain Always Gets It and The Code were removed, a new title was written for the finale of the first act ( The Chase ) and the title I can Dream, Can't I ? added from the 1938 Broadway musical Right This Way . Despite the refreshment, the new performance was not a great success either. While the audience was more impressed than before, the critics were just as unenthusiastic as at the time of the premiere.

criticism

The short performance period of five months reflects the interest and enthusiasm of the audience. Walter Kerr wrote of the musical that it was an open, unabashed throwback to the musicals of the 1920s and 1930s, with old-fashioned and lewd jokes. Ethan Mordden describes the play in his work Anything Goes - A History of American Musical Theater as a “ derivative goulash of guilty pleasures ”.

Columnists Walter Winchell and Ed Sullivan spoke out in favor of the play. In their opinion, the critics are “ … unable to enjoy an old-fashioned extravaganza. "The reviews remained mostly negative: John McClain of the New York Journal-American wrote about the piece that it was" banal "and" cheesy "and that the only highlight was the male dance number The Code .

literature

  • Dan Dietz: The Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham 2004.
  • Ethan Mordden: Anything Goes - A History of American Musical Theater. Oxford University Press, New York 2013.
  • Ken Mandelbaum: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops - Not Since Carrie. St. Martin Press, New York 1991.
  • Steven Suskin: Opening Night On Broadway - A Critical Quotebook of the Golden Era of the Musical Theater, Oklahoma! (1943) to Fiddler on the Roof (1964). Schirmer Books, New York 1990.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ankles Aweigh. In: The Guide to Musical Theater. Retrieved September 1, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c Ankles Aweigh in the Internet Broadway Database , accessed September 1, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b Mandelbaum 1991, p. 42
  4. ^ Ankles Aweigh. In: The Guide to Musical Theater. Retrieved September 1, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b c Dietz 2014, p. 201
  6. ↑ a b Mandelbaum 1991, p. 43