Bloomer Girl is a 1944 Broadway theatre musical theatre with music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, and a book by Sig Herzig and Fred Saidy, based on an unpublished play by writer Daniel Lewis James and his wife Lilith.[Suskin, 89]
A television version of the musical was shown in 1956.
Productions
The original Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theatre on October 5, 1944, directed by William Schorr and produced by John C. Wilson in association with Nat Goldstone.
[ The production's scenic designer and lighting designer was Lemuel Ayers.][Stempel, p.316-17] The production starred Celeste Holm as Evelina, David Brooks as Jeff Calhoun, Dooley Wilson as the slave Pompey, and Joan McCracken in the featured dancing role as Daisy.[Bordman, 597][ While successful—it closed on April 27, 1946, after 657 performances on Broadway—it has seldom been revived.
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Alisa Roost directed an Off-Broadway revival, which recreated Agnes deMille's original dream ballet, at the Theatre at St. Clements in 2000[Suskin, 93]
Bloomer Girl caused a temporary rift between de Mille and Jerome Robbins when, about a year into the show's run, Robbins appropriated several dancers then in the chorus, including James Mitchell and Arthur Partington, for Billion Dollar Baby (1945).[Lawrence, Greg. deMille and Robbins Dance with Demons: The Life of Jerome Robbins, Penguin, May 7, 2001, ]
Musical numbers
- Act 1
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When the Boys Come Home - Serena, Octavia, Lydia, Julia, Phoebe and Delia
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Evelina - Jeff Calhoun and Evalina
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Welcome Hinges - Serena, Horatio, Lydia, Julia, Phoebe, Delia, Joshua Dingle, Herman Brasher, Ebenezer Mimms, Wilfred Thrush, Hiram Crump, Evalina and Jeff Calhoun
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Farmer's Daughter - Joshua Dingle, Herman Brasher, Ebenezer Mimms, Wilfred Thrush and Hiram Crump
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It Was Good Enough for Grandma - Evalina and the Bloomer Girls
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The Eagle and Me - Pompey
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Right As the Rain - Jeff Calhoun and Evalina
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T'Morra', T'Morra' - Daisy
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Rakish Young Man With the Whiskers - Evalina and Jeff Calhoun
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Pretty As a Picture - Male Ensemble
- Act 2
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Sunday in Cicero Falls - Principals and Company
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I Got a Song - Alexander, Augustus and Pompey
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Lullaby - Evalina
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Simon Legree - Second Deputy
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Liza Crossing the Ice - Ensemble
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I Never Was Born - Daisy
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Man For Sale - Soloist
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The Eagle and Me (Reprise) - Ensemble
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When the Boys Come Home (Reprise) - Entire Company
Recording
An original cast album was released on American Decca 78 RPM set DA 381[Album cover for Decca set DA 381, 8 10" 78 RPM disks, copyright 1944 Decca Records, Inc.] during the original Broadway run of Bloomer Girl. The recording was re-released on LP in the 1950s. It then remained out of print until the same recording became available on CD in the early 1990s. The CD recording restored the second half of Sunday in Cicero Falls, which was deleted from the LP due to length.
Television production
An abridged version of the musical, which eliminated most of Agnes de Mille's choreography, except for the dance after "It Was Good Enough For Grandma" and the Civil War ballet, aired on Producers' Showcase in 1956; it starred Barbara Cook and Keith Andes and featured many of the original dancers, including James Mitchell, Lidija Franklin, Betty Low, and Emy St. Just.
Notes
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Bordman, Gerald (2001). American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle. Third ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
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Easton, Carol (1996). No Intermissions: The Life of Agnes de Mille. New York: Little, Brown. .
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Stempel, Larry (2010). Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. New York: W. W. Norton.
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Suskin, Stephen (1990). Opening Night on Broadway: A Critical Quotebook of the Golden Era of the Musical Theatre. New York: Schirmer Books. .
External links
