Lady in the Dark
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| Lady in the Dark | |
| Music | Kurt Weill |
|---|---|
| Lyrics | Ira Gershwin |
| Book | Moss Hart |
| Productions | 1941 Broadway 1944 Film |
Lady in the Dark is a Broadway musical written by Kurt Weill (music), Ira Gershwin (lyrics), and Moss Hart (book and direction). It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fashion magazine, Allure, who is undergoing psychoanalysis, said to be based on Hart's own experiences with psychoanalyst Gregory Zilboorg. Except for the final song, all the music in the play is heard in three extended dream sequences: the Glamour Dream, the Wedding Dream, and the Circus Dream which, to some extent, become three small operas integrated into a straight play. The final song, "My Ship," functions as a leitmotif for Liza's insecurity: as each dream commences, a snippet of the tune is heard, as it is a haunting melody which Liza recognizes but cannot name, or sing with words, until her anxiety is resolved.
The musical opened at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon) on January 23, 1941 and closed on May 30, 1942 after 467 performances. The original production starred Gertrude Lawrence, Danny Kaye, Bert Lytell, and Victor Mature.
Kaye's performance as a gay fashion photographer, and particularly his consistently showstopping performance of the patter song Tschaikovsky and Other Russians in which he dashes through the names of 50 Russian composers in 39 seconds, made him a star.
The 1944 film version starred Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland, and cut all but four and a half songs from the score ("Suddenly It's Spring", "The Saga of Jenny", and "My Ship" remained, and part of "This Is New" is played by a nightclub band in the background). Kaye's role went to Hollywood's "Mad Russian", the slightly taller Mischa Auer.
[edit] Songs
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[edit] External links
- Lady in the Dark at the Internet Broadway Database
- plot description
- Detailed review of the film
- UArts Lady in the Dark Summary
- Lady in the Dark (1944) at Internet Movie Database
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