42nd Street

Description

42nd Street was first published as a novel by Bradford Ropes in 1932.
The novel was adapted into a movie by Arian James and James Seymour. It premiered at The Strand Theatre in Manhattan on March 3 1933. The movie was directed by Lloyd Bacon with choreography by Busby Berkeley. Featuring songs with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin and starred Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers. It was distributed by Warner Bros.
David Merrick presented the musical adaptation on Broadway at The Winter Garden Theatre, New York which opened on August 25 1980. The stage musical was adapted by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin and Johnny Mercer. It was directed and choreographed by Gower Champion. The orchestrations were by Philip J. Lang and starred Jerry Orbach as Julian Marsh, Tammy Grimes as Dorothy Brock, Wanda Richert as Peggy Sawyer and Lee Roy Reams as Billy Lawlor. Cathy Wydner and Karen Ziemba replaced Wanda Richert as Peggy Sawyer. Jamie Ross as Julian Marsh for the last 3 years of its Broadway run. Art Ostrin played Bert Barry in, and Craig Barna conducted, various productions of the musical's tours across the United States. Gower Champion died on the day of its opening on Broadway.
The Broadway production transferred to London on August 8 1984. It played at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. It starred James Laurenson as Julian Marsh, Georgia Brown as Dorothy Brock, Clare Leach as Peggy Sawyer, Michael Howe as Billy Lawlor. Frankie Vaughan and Shani Wallis took over as Julian and Dorothy. Catherine Zeta Jones, who was in the chorus in 1984, took over as Peggy.
The musical was revived on Broadway at the Foxwoods Theatre (also known as The Lyric Theatre, The Hilton Theatre and The Ford Center For Performing Arts) on May 2 2001. It was directed by Mark Bramble and choreographed by Randy Skinner. It starred Michael Cumpsty as Julian, Christine Ebersole as Dorothy, Kate Levering as Peggy and David Elder as Billy. Notable replacements include Meredith Patterson as Peggy, David Cassidy and Tom Wopat as Julian, Shirley Jones and Beth Leavel as Dorothy.
The London revival of the musical opened on April 4 2017. It was again directed by Mark Bramble and choreographed by Randy Skinner. It starred Sheena Easton as Dorothy, Tom Lister as Julian, Clare Halse as Peggy and Stuart Neal as Billy. Lulu and Bonnie Langford took over the role of Dorothy during its run.
JAY commenced the first complete recording of the original version of the musical with the original orchestrations by Philip J. Lang at Abbey Road Studios, London on October 5 1996 and completed it at Clinton Recording Studios, New York on October 19 1996. It was released on April 8 2022.