Previews:
May 19, 1959
(2 previews)
Opening
May 21, 1959
Closing:
March 25, 1961
Length of Run:
702 perf.
Run Type:
Open-ended
Market:
Broadway
Location:
New York, NY
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Director and Choreographer
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Baby Louise
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Baby June
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Rose
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Herbie
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Louise
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June
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Tulsa
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Agnes
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Tessie Tura
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Mazeppa
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These song lists document any changes that the production went through aside from the opening night song list.
See MoreDuring the summer of 1960, the production shut down for five weeks. When it reopened on August 15, having moved from the Broadway to the Imperial, the Christmas sequence at Minsky's had been downsized. Originally, there had been seven showgirls in the sequence, on an enormous Christmas tree unit, along with all six of the actresses who played the Hollywood Blondes, and also with Faith Dane, who played Mazeppa, and possibly Chotzi Foley, who played Electra.
This sequence had caused much contention among the creative team before the opening. After the opening, discussions continued for months, and those discussions got testy. At one point, co-producer Leland Hayward, who seems to have been the person pushing the issue (at least in the letters that survive), asked Robbins if it would be OK for Danny Daniels to come in and try to redo the sequence. Hayward even suggested that he might try to fix it himself, to which Robbins, unsurprisingly, responded, "No other choreographer or director will touch this show." That letter from Robbins to Hayward was dated Oct. 5, 1959.
Discussions continued into January, focusing on a new costume for Gypsy (Robbins's idea), with Hayward responding that costume designer Raoul Pene duBois was in Europe and unavailable to design a new costume.
In any case, after the break and the move, the sequence was trimmed down. It's not altogether clear if the Hollywood Blondes were still part of it, but the playbill listed only four showgirls, one of whom was Faith Dane, who had always been in the sequence but had not been listed in the playbill as one of the showgirls. The Hollywood Blondes were also never listed as among the showgirls.
Also perhaps in an attempt to cut down on expenses, at some point (perhaps starting only after the move), the actress playing Electra doubled as the Maid in the backstage scene at Minsky's.
Previews:
May 19, 1959
(2 previews)
Opening
May 21, 1959
Closing:
March 25, 1961
Length of Run:
702 perf.
Run Type:
Open-ended
Market:
Broadway
Location:
New York, NY
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