Legs Diamond (musical)

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Legs Diamond

Original Cast Album
Music Peter Allen
Lyrics Peter Allen
Book Harvey Fierstein
Charles Suppon
Basis Joseph Landon film
The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond
Productions 1988 Broadway

Legs Diamond is a musical with a book by Harvey Fierstein and Charles Suppon based on the Warner Brothers film The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960), with a screenplay by Joseph Landon. The music and lyrics are by Peter Allen.

The Almost Totally Fictitious Musical History of Legs Diamond follows the travails of its title character, a depression-era mobster who wants to break into show business.

Production

The musical opened on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on December 26, 1988 and closed on February 19, 1989 after 64 performances and 72 previews (far more than the usual 16-24 preview periods). Directed by Robert Allan Ackerman with choreography by Alan Johnson, the scenic design was by David Mitchell, costume design by Willa Kim, and lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer (Associate). The cast included Peter Allen (Jack Diamond), Julie Wilson (Flo), Randall Edwards (Kiki Roberts), Brenda Braxton (Madge), Joe Silver (Arnold Rothstein), Jim Fyfe (Moran), Christian Kauffmann (Bones), Pat McNamara (Devane), and Raymond Serra (Augie).

The reviews were unanimously negative, with particular disbelief at Peter Allen's attempts to play so totally against type as a suave lothario. Frank Rich commented that the evening's most compelling drama was watching Allen figure out "what to do with his hands".[1] The failure of the musical was so total that it compelled the Nederlander Organization to finally sell the beloved but flop-prone Mark Hellinger Theatre to the Times Square Church, which still owns it.[2]

Song list

Act One
  • Prelude/When I Get My Name in Lights - Orchestra, Jack, Ensemble
  • Speakeasy - Madge, Ensemble
  • Applause - Flo, The Hotsy Totsy Girls
  • Knockers - Jack, The Hotsy Totsy Girls
  • I Was Made for Champagne - Kiki, The Tropicabana Dancers
  • Tropican Rhumba - Jack, Kiki
  • Sure Thing Baby - Jack
  • Speakeasy Christmas - The Hotsy Totsy Girls
  • Charge It to A. R. - Augie, Bones, Moran, A. R., A.R.'s Gang
  • Only an Older Woman - Jack, Flo
  • Taxi Dancers' Tango - Jack, Ensemble
  • Only Steal from Thieves - Jack, Kiki
  • When I Get My Name in Lights (reprise) - Jack, Company
Act Two
  • Cut of the Cards - Jack, Company
  • Gangland Chase - Orchestra
  • Now You See Me, Now You Don't - Jack, Kiki, Ensemble
  • The Man Nobody Could Love - Kiki, Flo, Madge
  • The Music Went Out of My Life - Flo
  • Say It Isn't So - Jack, Company
  • Say It Isn't So (reprise) - Ensemble
  • All I Wanted Was the Dream - Jack
  • Finale - Jack, Flo, Company

A song cut from the show "Come Save Me" had previously been recorded by Allen and Niki Gregoroff on Allen's 1985 Carnegie Hall album. It was later included in the Allen bio musical "The Boy From Oz".

Awards and nominations

  • Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Julie Wilson, nominee)
  • Tony Award for Best Costume Design (Willa Kim, nominee)
  • Tony Award for Best Choreography (Alan Johnson, nominee)
  • Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design (Willa Kim, nominee)

Discography

The Original Broadway Cast recording was released by RCA Victor (RCA Victor 7983-2-RC), now out of print. The most famous song "When I Get My Name in Lights" was re-done by Allen and his friend Harry Connick, Jr. on Allen's last album Making Every Moment Count. It was also included in the stage musical "The Boy From Oz" where the young Peter Woolnough (later Allen) sang it.

References

  1. ↑ Rich, Frank"Review/Theater; 'Legs' Opens After 9-Week Preview"The New York Times, December 27, 1988
  2. ↑ "Hellinger Theater Sold to Church"The New York Times, December 7, 1991

External links

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