Excerpts from an article in LIFE Magazine “ The Show Must Go On-- But Not Too Long ” Published in July, 1967, just after Sweet Charity closed on Broadway after 608 performances and 18 months. “Longtime long-runner Gwen Verdon has missed so many nights as Sweet Charity that the show will close much sooner than expected (right now, Miss Verdon is ill and out of the show.) And many big-name stars are simply refusing to sign a contract for more than six months, which is not even

Gwen Verdon as Charity Hope Valentine in Sweet Charity. Photo by Ralph Morse for LIFE Magazine. Gwen Verdon All Aglow from LIFE Magazine, March 25, 1966 "Though the very look of it is rosy-hued sin, the lady is dreaming of the suburban world of kids, station wagons and PTA. She is Gwen Verdon, starring as Chair in the new Broadway musical Sweet Charity, in which she is anything but the devil’s helpmate she portrayed in Damn Yankees. She is a dime-a-dance girl who is the soul

Gwen Verdon as Charity singing "If My Friends Could See Me Now" Photo by Friedman-Abeles. Library of Congress Unfortunately there is no stage footage of Gwen in the original 1966 Broadway production of Sweet Charity. We do have two numbers that were recorded on the Ed Sullivan show on March 5, 1966: "If My Friends Could See Me Now" and "I'm a Brass Band." Sets, costumes and staging are not 100% accurate to the stage version due to the constrains of television studios. Below

Excerpts from an opening night review by Stanley Kauffman in the New York Times, 1966. "Mr. Fosse’s staging of numbers is often superb. ‘Big Spender,’ in which the hostesses line up at a railing that has arisen just behind the footlights, is a splendid mobile frieze of floozies. ‘Rich Man’s Frug’ and ‘Rhythm of Life,’ the ‘religious’ beatnik number with a sharp vocal arrangement, are electric uses of jazz. Mr. Fosse also employs nice silent-movie touches—subtitles flashed o

Whatever Verdon Sings… excerpted from a New York Times article written by John S. Wilson, 1966 "The mere presence of Gwen Verdon in the original cast recording of Sweet Charity, gives this musical an advantage over most of those that have been served up to us this season. As a dance hall hostess of unquenchable romantic optimism, Miss Verdon works wonders with her oddly charming voice— a voice that is slightly nasal, slightly raspy, slightly sibilant but always touched with

The original Broadway production of Sweet Charity, composed by Cy Coleman with lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon, opened on J anuary 29, 1966, at the Palace Theatre . The production played 10 previews and 608 performances before closing July 15, 1967, earning nine Tony Awards with Bob Fosse winning Best Choreography . Based on the screenplay Nights of Cabiria by Federico Fellini, Sweet Charity follows the adventures of a New York taxi dancer with an open-heart

Photo by Ralph Morse for LIFE Magazine, 1966 From Life Magazine, March 25, 1966 by Thomas Thompson: "Last year, Gwen decided she wanted to return to the stage [after a 5 year retirement], and Fosse started searching for an idea. One day they went to see a Fellini movie called Nights of Canaria. One their way home afterward, Gwen said: ‘It didn’t do a thing for me.’ But it did something for Bob. He stayed up all night working out a musical treatment for the plot. Fellini’s he

Wilhelmina Frankfurt & David Richardson. Photo by Martha Swope, 1976. NYPL In 1976 at the Maurice Ravel Festival, Balanchine premiered the ballet, “Le Tombeau de Couperin.” Anna Kisselgoff declared, this ballet was, “was the masterpiece of the [Ravel] Festival, a ballet that deserves to endure with the best of the Balanchine repertory and one whose creative and intellectual underpinnings are first-rate. “In ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin,’ Mr. Balanchine has used the 18th-century c

Suzanne Farrell in her autobiography Holding on to the Air: "Prodigal Son tells the story of the fall and redemption of the biblical character, and its recent revival had provided Edward Villella with one of the greatest roles of his career. I asked Mr. B if I might dance the Siren who lures the Prodigal Son into the depths of greedy sensuality, a part originally designed for my beloved teacher Mme. Doubrovska . I was curious to explore a darker, more earthy role. Because at

The following text comes from Edward Villella's autobiography, Prodigal Son: Dancing for Balanchine in a World of Pain and Magic. The major breakthrough in my career came in 1960. I was cast in Prodigal Son, and in typical New York City Ballet fashion no one ever talked to me about it officially. I wasn't even aware that Prodigal was being revived. I was standing around waiting for a rehearsal to finish when Diana Adams turned to me and said, "Oh, congratulations." I said, "A

Maria Tallchief in her autobiography Maria Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina: George Balanchine (left) Maria Tallchief & Jerome Robbins. Photo by Walter E.Owen, 1950. "Balanchine believed New York City Ballet needed a story ballet in its repertory and hoped Prodigal Son would serve the purpose. The ballet was a success at its premiere in 1929 and had never been seen in America. The Original Ballet Russe had presented David Lichine's version of the Prokofiev score, but it w

In 1950, Balanchine felt that NYCB needed a story ballet in its repertoire, so he revived his 1929 ballet Prodigal Son . He was not especially fond of the ballet because he was obliged to create it on Serge Lifar, who was Diaghilev's favored dancer in the Ballet Russe at the time. Balanchine didn't care for his dancing, but he also felt more personally inspired to create ballets that showcased women rather than men. Prodigal Son was the antithesis of his normal inclination: f

From Balanchine's Ballerinas : Conversations with the Muses by Robert Tracy Robert Tracy: Prodigal Son must have been strange for you to learn. The role of the Siren is very far from the classical parts you were trained for. Doubrovska: Yes, it was difficult. But Diaghilev and Balanchine tell me to go home and think about my part. About the pas de deux with Lifar. And I think about a snake, which is not human, but which hypnotizes and be-witches. I used my eyes, and the move

Serge Lifar as the Prodigal Son. Photo by Roger Violett, 1929 The most complete account of the creation of the original Prodigal Son ballet is found in the diaries of Serge Prokofiev, the composer of the ballet. From his commission in October, 1928 to premiere in May, 1929, his entries describe the personal animosity that existed between himself and Balanchine, which partly explains why Balanchine was so apathetic about reviving the ballet for NYCB decades later. Excerpts fr

The libretto for Prodigal Son was written by Boris Kochno, the secretary and collaborator of Serge Diaghilev. This is his recounting of how the ballet came to be: Text from Diaghilev and the Ballet Russe by Boris Kochno: "In 1927 [...] Diaghilev asked Prokofiev to write a new ballet for the company. He had no specific theme to suggest, and his great preoccupation at the time was to find one. He wanted the new work to be simple and easy to follow, unlike Prokofiev's earlier b

On December 28, 1932, Radio City Musical Hall opened. The Rockettes were a part of that very first performance. Below are covers, and insides the programs from the 30s and 40s. About a year after opening, the Music Hall became a movie house in order to be financially viable. Every movie was accompanied by a stage show featuring the Rockettes. From that point on, the stage shows were 50 minutes long. From the 30s-70s the Music Hall was a first-run movie house and before and af

On December 28, 1932, Radio City Musical Hall opened. The Rockettes (Then called the Roxyettes) were a part of that very first performance. Opening Night, 1932. Photo from New York Times In the days leading up to the grand opening of the theater, an advertisement quoted Roxy Rothafel as saying: “We believe that nothing approaching the Radio City theaters has ever been given to the entertainment world…into this crowning work of my life I have poured the best that I have learn

In 1928, the Missouri Rockets traveled to New York City to perform in the Broadway show Rain or Shine where the caught the eye of showbiz impresario Roxy Rothafel. In 1930 they appeared in their first film, “ King of Jazz ”—a pre-Code musical revue starring Paul Whiteman ands orchestra. It contained only musical numbers and comedy sketches. King of Jazz was the nineteenth all-talking motion picture filmed entirely in two-color Technicolor rather than simply including colo

Though it was Russell Markert who formed the original Rockettes (The Missouri Rockets) in 1925, the man who formed the first precision dance troupe was an English man named John Tiller. Tiller Girls 1891 In the 1880s, Tiller formed a dance school in Manchester, UK. In 1890 John was asked to present a quartet of children for the pantomime Robinson Crusoe at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Liverpool. He chose four of his best Manchester pupils, all aged about 10 years; Dolly Grey

Russell Markert founded the Missouri Rockets in 1925 and remained the chief choreographer. image-preserver and resident father-figure of the famous troupe until his retirement in 1971. In the era when the Music Hall played to full houses every day of the year, he trained and rehearsed 2,500 Rockettes, young women who had to be 5’5’’ to 5’8’’ tall. Markert began his professional career on Broadway, graduated from the chorus to dance director of the annual revue ‘Early Carroll’