Plain and Fancy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Plain and Fancy is a musical with a book by Joseph Stein and Will Glickman, lyrics by Arnold Horwitt, and music by Albert Hague.

Its plot focuses on New York City sophisticates Dan King and Ruth Winters, who travel to Bird-in-Hand in the Amish country of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to sell a piece of property to Jacob Yoder, who intends to present it to his daughter Katie and her intended Ezra as a wedding gift. While there, they become involved with the local villagers, including Hilda Miller, who mistakes Dan's kindness for romantic overtures, and Ezra's banished brother Peter, who returns to claim the hand of his childhood sweetheart - Katie. One of the first depictions of an Amish community in American pop culture, it includes a traditional barn-raising and an old-fashioned country wedding.

The Broadway production, directed by Morton DaCosta and choreographed by Helen Tamiris, opened on January 27, 1955 at the Mark Hellinger Theater. A month later it transferred to the Winter Garden, where it remained for slightly more than eight months before returning to the Mark Hellinger to complete its run of 461 performances. The cast included Richard Derr as Dan, Shirl Conway as Ruth, Will Able as Jacob, Gloria Marlowe as Katie, Douglas Fletcher Rodgers as Ezra, Barbara Cook as Hilda, and David Daniels as Peter. Bea Arthur understudied Conway and Carol Lawrence was among the chorus members.

Conway, Cook, and Daniels all received the Theatre World Award for their performances.

The West End production opened on January 25, 1956 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where it ran for 315 performances. The cast included Jack Drummond, Joan Hovis, Malcolm Keen, Grace O'Connor, Michael Craze, and Virginia Somers.

Original cast recordings of both the Broadway and London productions were released.

Since 1986, the Round Barn Theatre in Nappanee, Indiana has staged Plain and Fancy every summer as part of its repertory program. To date it has been performed by the company more than 3000 times.