1940s HIGH BUTTON SHOES Broadway SOUVENIR PROGRAM Eddie Foy JACK WHITING Meadows

Description

HIGH BUTTON SHOES PROGRAM
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c.1940s souvenir program from Proser and Kipness's High Button Shoes starring Eddie Foy Jr, Jack Whiting and Audrey Meadows.
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High Button Shoes
is a
musical
with music by
Jule Styne
, lyrics by
Sammy Cahn
and book by
George Abbott
and
Stephen Longstreet
. It was based on the semi-autobiographical 1946 novel
The Sisters Liked Them Handsome
by Longstreet. The story concerns the comic entanglements of the Longstreet family with two con men in
Atlantic City
.
The musical opened on
Broadway
in 1947 (running for 727 performances), on the
West End
in 1948, and has had several regional revivals as well as being televised in 1956.
History
[
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]
Many involved with
High Button Shoes
were Broadway first-timers or relatively unknown, except for the director,
George Abbott
. The creative team, composer
Jule Styne
, lyricist
Sammy Cahn
and writer
Stephen Longstreet
had worked in Hollywood, as had the producers Monte Proser and Joseph Kipness (who had also produced several short-lived Broadway shows) and actors
Phil Silvers
, who was known for his on-screen con-man persona, and
Nanette Fabray
. The designers
Oliver Smith
and
Miles White
and choreographer
Jerome Robbins
were all Broadway veterans. Rumors circulated that the book by Longstreet was "hopeless" and that Abbott and Silvers were "heavily rewriting" it. The
Shuberts
, involved because the show was to play in one of their theaters, approved an increase in Abbott's percentage to include author's royalties.
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1
]
Historian
Ken Mandelbaum
agrees that the show's book was originally by Longstreet but that it was extensively rewritten by Abbott.
[
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]
Synopsis
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]
In
New Brunswick, New Jersey
in 1913, the Longstreet family, consisting of Mama, Papa, Mama's younger sister Fran, and her college boyfriend Oggle, is affected when a con man, Harrison Floy, and his shill, Mr. Pontdue, come to town. The duos' dubious intentions are made clear as Floy pitches "snake-oil" schemes ("He Tried to Make a Dollar") including selling fake watches and diamond mines, and the shill Mr. Pontdue asks for
two.
They are chased by the police, and the phoney scheme is repeated. After they cheat the Longstreets in a phoney land deal, Floy and Pontdue try to escape to
Atlantic City
, New Jersey with their ill-gotten profits and also take Fran (who has become romantically involved with Floy) with them.
As the con men Floy and Pontdue are pursued to the Atlantic City beach while carrying a satchel full of stolen money, the people on the beach dance around them ("The Bathing Beauty Ballet"). They tangle with a large number of people—including bathing beauties, lifeguards, other criminals, identical twins—and one gorilla. The climax occurs when the
Keystone Cops
arrive, and Floy loses everything when he bets on the wrong football team. But after his being captured we learn that Pontdue has bet on not a football team, but a filly named "Princeton." Floy gives the conned citizens their money back, but before he leaves tries to get the audience to buy one more item of "great worth..."
Dance elements
[
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]
The highlight of the original production was a long (7-10 minute) ensemble dance number ("The Bathing Beauty Ballet", to the song "On a Sunday by the Sea") at the beginning of the second act. Choreographer Robbins staged this number in the manner of a
Mack Sennett
silent slapstick film. It uses the music of "On A Sunday By the Sea", Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody, and Offenbach's
can-can
from "Orpheus in the Underworld". "This number was so basic to the show that deleting it would render the evening incoherent. It was a major evocation of a period, a tribute to silent-film comedy."
[
3
]
Amanda Vaill
, in her biography of Robbins describes this dance number: "The actors career across the stage, in and out of a row of boardwalk bathhouses, slamming doors, falling, rolling, leaping to their feet, colliding with one another, in a masterpiece of intricately plotted chaos that bears all the marks of the developing Robbins style: wit, character, drama, and precision."
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Songs
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]
Act I
He Tried to Make a Dollar – Singers
Can't You Just See Yourself in Love with Me? – Hubert Ogglethorpe and Fran
There's Nothing Like a Model T – Harrison Floy and Company
Next to Texas, I Love You – Hubert Ogglethorpe and Fran
Security – Sara Longstreet, Fran and Singing Girls
Bird Watcher's Song – Sara Longstreet and Singing Girls
Get Away for a Day in the Country – Henry Longstreet, Stevie Longstreet and Singers
Papa, Wont You Dance with Me? – Sara Longstreet, Henry Longstreet, Girls and Boys
Act II
On a Sunday by the Sea – Singers
You're My Girl – Hubert Ogglethorpe and Fran
I Still Get Jealous – Sara Longstreet and Henry Longstreet
You're My Boy – Harrison Floy and Mr. Pontdue
Nobody Ever Died for Dear Old Rutgers – Harrison Floy, Hubert Ogglethorpe and Singing Boys
He Tried to Make a Dollar (Reprise) – Entire Company
Productions
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]
High Button Shoes
opened on
Broadway
at the
New Century Theatre
on October 9, 1947 and closed on July 2, 1949 after 727 performances. It transferred to the
Shubert Theatre
on December 22, 1947 and finally to
The Broadway Theatre
on October 18, 1948 during the run. The cast starred Silvers as Harrison Floy and Fabray as Sara Longstreet (who was replaced by
Joan Roberts
in June 1948), and featured
Joey Faye
as Mr. Pontdue and Jack McCauley as Henry (Papa) Longstreet. The direction was by Abbott, choreography by Jerome Robbins, scenic design by Oliver Smith, costume design by Miles White, and lighting design by Peggy Clark. Robbins won the
Tony Award
for choreography.
The U.S. national tour opened in the summer of 1949, after the Broadway closing, with
Joey Faye
as Harrison Floy and Jack Whiting as Papa Longstreet. It played at least 16 cities in the Midwest and Great Plains, including Chicago, Denver and Minneapolis, and closed in Kansas City on December 31, 1949.
A London production opened at the
Hippodrome
on December 22, 1948 and ran for 291 performances. Two unknowns,
Audrey Hepburn
and
Alma Cogan
, were among the chorus girls.
A television adaptation was broadcast live on November 24, 1956 on
NBC
with Nanette Fabray and Joey Faye repeating their original roles,
Hal March
as Harrison Floy and
Don Ameche
as Papa Longstreet.
[
5
]
The musical was revived at the
Goodspeed Opera House
,
East Haddam, Connecticut
July 1982 through September 11, 1982.
[
6
]
It was revived again by
Goodspeed Musicals
, opening on July 13, 2007 through September 22, 2007.
[
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[
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Response
[
edit
]
Brooks Atkinson
, theatre critic for
The New York Times
, wrote that it was a "very happy musical show in a very cheerful tradition." He particularly praised Phil Silvers' performance as "an uproarious comic. He has the speed, the drollery and the shell-game style of a honky-tonk buffoon." He commented that the story was a "sentimentally amusing fable" and that the songs were "simple in style and very pleasant to hear."
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