184. Great Lady 1938
Musical Comedy in Two Acts and Fourteen Scenes
- Music
Music by Frederick Loewe. Lyrics by Earle Crooker. Book by Earle Crooker and Lowell Brentano. Orchestrations by Hans Spialek
- Choreography
George Balanchine (for contractual reasons credited in the printed program to William Dollar)
- Production
Produced by Dwight Deere Wiman and J. H. Del Bondio by arrangement with Frank Crumit. Staged by Bretaigne Windust. Scenery by Albert R. Johnson. Costumes by Lucinda Ballard and Scott Wilson. Scenery built by Turner Scenic Construction Company and painted by Studio Alliance, Inc.; costumes executed by Brooks Costume Company
- Premiere
December 1, 1938, Majestic Theatre, New York. Conductor: John Fredhoven. (Out-of-town preview: October 21, Forrest Theatre, Philadelphia.)
- Cast
Eliza Bowen (later Elsa de la Croix), Norma Terris; Stephen Jumel, Tullio Carminati; Madame Colette, Irene Bordoni; and others. Premier Danseur, André Eglevsky; Premières Danseuses, Leda Anchutina, Annabelle Lyon; 19 Ladies of the Ballet, 11 Gentlemen of the Ballet.
MADAME COLETTE’S DRESSMAKING SHOP (Act I, Scene 5): Floorwalker, André Eglevsky; Shop Forewoman, Annabelle Lyon; Shop Assistant, Leda Anchutina; Betty Bowen, Norma Terris; corps de ballet.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN (Act I, Scene 7): Norma Terris (singer); William Mende (actor); Poor Girl, Leda Anchutina; Rich Boy, Annabelle Lyon.
AND SO WILL YOU (Act II, Scene 2): Irene Bordoni (singer), six Ladies of the Ballet.
SISTERS UNDER THE SKIN (Act II, Scene 3): Helen Ford, Gentlemen of the Ballet.
ELSA’S REVERIE: THERE HAD TO BE THE WALTZ (Act II, Scene 3): 1. The Waltz: Napoleon, Ray Schultz; corps de ballet. 2. Pas de Sept: Holly Howard; Albia Kavan, Yvonne Patterson, Nora Kaye, Olga Suarez, Hortense Kahrklin, Doris Jane Solly. 3. Pas de Trois and Variations: Anchutina, Lyon, Eglevsky
Performance Type
Musical Theater
Note
20 performances. Broadway debut of Jerome Robbins, Alicia Alonso, and Frederick Loewe. Alonso has suggested that Dollar, the rehearsal director, may have set ‘Sisters Under the Skin.’
Alicia Alonso, Annabelle Lyon, Barbara Palfy
