Lyrics Sammy Cahn Productions 1965 Broadway Playwright Peter Stone Composer Jimmy Van Heusen | Book Peter Stone First performance 13 November 1965 Lyricist Sammy Cahn Adapted from Dream Girl | |
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Musicals My One and Only, High Spirits, Destry Rides Again, Woman of the Year, Big Deal | ||
Demi lovato skyscraper
Skyscraper is a musical that ran on Broadway in 1965 and 1966. The book was written by Peter Stone, and the music by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Sammy Cahn. Based on the 1945 Elmer Rice play Dream Girl, the Broadway production starred Julie Harris in her first musical.
Contents
Production
Skyscraper opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 13, 1965 and closed on June 11, 1966 after 248 performances and 22 previews. The musical was directed by Cy Feuer and choreographed by Michael Kidd. The cast included Julie Harris, Peter Marshall, and Charles Nelson Reilly.
An original cast album was released by Capitol Records.
Plot overview
The story is of Georgina, an antiques dealer who is determined to save her midtown Manhattan brownstone from the bulldozer. The girders of a new skyscraper are stalking her, and she has been offered $165,000 for her Rutherford B. Hayes-era building. When she can manage to stay on track, Georgina is bright in her thinking and staunch in her beliefs. But far too often she strays into a Walter Mitty-like dream world full of funny fantasies with her effete shop assistant.
Critical reception
The columnist Dorothy Kilgallen attended a preview performance—a benefit for charity—in October 1965. Despite a long Broadway tradition of refraining from reviewing shows still in previews, Kilgallen panned the show in one of her columns, calling it a "turkey". She died shortly after the column ran, amid an uproar from the theatrical community.
Skyscraper officially opened, five days after Kilgallen's death, to mixed reviews. Despite stiff competition from Hello, Dolly!, Mame, Man of La Mancha, and Sweet Charity, the production ran for 248 performances and was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Actress in a Musical.
The New York Times reviewer wrote that Georgina's daydreams "have become broadly comic cartoons of romance, among the funniest moments in a brash, fast-moving musical. ... Not all the songs have wit and melodic grace... [the] book is smart and timely. ... Julie Harris moves Georgina as well as herself into a musical with commanding confidence."
Songs
1Overture
2Occasional Flight Of Fancy
3Run For Your Life