Sugar Babies
Encyclopedia
Sugar Babies is a musical revue
conceived by Ralph G. Allen
and Harry Rigby
, with music by Jimmy McHugh
, lyrics by Dorothy Fields
and Al Dubin
and various others. The show is a tribute to the old burlesque
era. First produced in 1979 on Broadway
and running nearly three years, the revue attracted warm notices and was given subsequent touring productions.
at the Mark Hellinger Theatre
on October 8, 1979 and closed on August 28, 1982 after 1,208 performances. Staging and choreography was by Ernest Flatt, with sketches directed by Rudy Tronto, musically directed by Glen Roven
, scenic and costume design by Raoul Pene Du Bois
, lighting design by Gilbert Vaughn Hemsley, Jr., vocal arrangements and lyrics by Arthur Malvin
, additional vocal arrangements by Hugh Martin
, Ralph Blane
, and orchestrations by Dick Hyman
.
The revue starred Mickey Rooney
in his Broadway debut, Ann Miller
, Scot Stewart, Tom Boyd, Peter Leeds
, Jack Fletcher, Jimmy Mathews, Bob Williams, Sid Stone, and Ann Jillian
. After the original stars left, successors included Juliet Prowse, Anita Morris
, Joey Bishop
, Eddie Bracken
, and Rip Taylor
.
The revue subsequently had a short-lived National tour which starred Carol Channing
and Robert Morse
, from August 1980 through November 1980. The Bus and Truck Tour starred Eddie Bracken
and Jaye P. Morgan
(who was succeeded by Mimi Hines
) and ran in 1982. The 2nd National Tour, in 1984 and 1985, reunited Rooney and Miller.
' and 'I Feel a Song Comin' On', interspersed with newly created musical numbers, including 'The Sugar Baby Bounce' ".
The show had burlesque "tropes as the swing number, the sister act, the fan dance, the vaudeville dog act. It was all fast and funny and it ended with a patriotic number...with the entire company in red, white, and blue with a flag background and Miller as the Statue of Liberty."
Act 1
Act 2
wrote that the show is a "happy send-off to burlesque", and "Rarely has so much energy been packed into so small a package. Rooney dances, he sings, he mugs, he dresses in drag."
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
conceived by Ralph G. Allen
Ralph G. Allen
Ralph Gilmore Allen was an American producer, director, writer, lyricist, and professor. He is credited, along with Harry Rigby with having conceived of the Tony Award-winning musical comedy Sugar Babies, a tribute to the burlesque era. In 1965, Allen was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in the...
and Harry Rigby
Harry Rigby
Harry Rigby was a Tony Award-winning American theatre producer and writer.Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Rigby joined forces with Jule Styne and Alexander H. Cohen to produce the short-lived 1951 Hugh Martin musical Make a Wish as his first Broadway outing...
, with music by Jimmy McHugh
Jimmy McHugh
James Francis McHugh was a U.S. composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he composed over 270 songs...
, lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist.She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films...
and Al Dubin
Al Dubin
Alexander "Al" Dubin was an American lyricist. He became known through his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren.-Life and works:...
and various others. The show is a tribute to the old burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
era. First produced in 1979 on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and running nearly three years, the revue attracted warm notices and was given subsequent touring productions.
Productions
Sugar Babies opened on BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at the Mark Hellinger Theatre
Mark Hellinger Theatre
The Mark Hellinger Theatre is a generally used name of a former legitimate Broadway theater, located at 237 West 51st Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City. Since 1991, it has been known as the Times Square Church...
on October 8, 1979 and closed on August 28, 1982 after 1,208 performances. Staging and choreography was by Ernest Flatt, with sketches directed by Rudy Tronto, musically directed by Glen Roven
Glen Roven
Glen Roven is an Emmy Award-winning composer, lyricist, and conductor. One of his notable compositions include a violin concerto based on the children's book The Runaway Bunny. Another notable composition is "Goodnight Moon, An Aria for Singer and Orchestra" which Lauren Flanigan performed in...
, scenic and costume design by Raoul Pene Du Bois
Raoul Pene Du Bois
Raoul Pene Du Bois was an American costume designer and scenic designer for the stage and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.-Career:...
, lighting design by Gilbert Vaughn Hemsley, Jr., vocal arrangements and lyrics by Arthur Malvin
Artie Malvin
Artie Malvin was a composer and vocalist who was the baritone member of The Crew Chiefs, and he also sang with Glenn Miller's band....
, additional vocal arrangements by Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin
Hugh Martin was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He is best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St...
, Ralph Blane
Ralph Blane
Ralph Blane was an American composer, lyricist, and performer.-Life and career:Born Ralph Uriah Hunsecker in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Blane was the son of grocery store owners. He attended Tulsa Central High School...
, and orchestrations by Dick Hyman
Dick Hyman
Richard “Dick” Hyman is an American jazz pianist/keyboardist and composer, best-known for his versatility with jazz piano styles. Over a 50 year career, he has functioned as pianist, organist, arranger, music director, and, increasingly, as composer...
.
The revue starred Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
in his Broadway debut, Ann Miller
Ann Miller
Johnnie Lucille Collier, better known as Ann Miller was an American singer, dancer and actress.-Early life:...
, Scot Stewart, Tom Boyd, Peter Leeds
Peter Leeds
Peter Leeds was an actor who appeared on television more than 8,000 times, and also had many film, Broadway, and radio appearances. The majority of his work took place in the 1950s and 1960s...
, Jack Fletcher, Jimmy Mathews, Bob Williams, Sid Stone, and Ann Jillian
Ann Jillian
Ann Jillian is an American actress, who started acting at age 10. Her career reached its zenith in the 1980s, with her best-known role being that of waitress Cassie Cranston on the sitcom It's a Living.-Early life and career:...
. After the original stars left, successors included Juliet Prowse, Anita Morris
Anita Morris
-Career:Among many roles, Morris's most prominent film role was as Carol Dodsworth, the mistress to Danny DeVito, in Ruthless People and for her sensual performance as Carla in the musical Nine opposite Raul Julia. While nominated for a Best Featured Actress Tony Award as Carla, she lost to Liliane...
, Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop
Joey Bishop was an American entertainer who was perhaps best known for being a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin...
, Eddie Bracken
Eddie Bracken
Edward Vincent "Eddie" Bracken was an American actor.-Life and career:Bracken was born in Astoria, New York, the son of Catherine and Joseph L. Bracken. Bracken performed in vaudeville at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway musical Too Many Girls in a role he reprised for the 1940...
, and Rip Taylor
Rip Taylor
Charles Elmer "Rip" Taylor, Jr. is an American actor and comedian.-Early life:Taylor was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Elizabeth, a waitress, and Charles Elmer Taylor, Sr., a musician. As a young man, Taylor served in the Korean War while in the U.S...
.
The revue subsequently had a short-lived National tour which starred Carol Channing
Carol Channing
Carol Elaine Channing is an American singer, actress, and comedienne. She is the recipient of three Tony Awards , a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination...
and Robert Morse
Robert Morse
Robert Morse is an American actor and singer. Morse is best known for his appearances in musicals and plays on Broadway. He has also acted in movies and television shows. His best known role is that of J. Pierrepont Finch in the 1961 Broadway musical, and 1967 film How to Succeed in Business...
, from August 1980 through November 1980. The Bus and Truck Tour starred Eddie Bracken
Eddie Bracken
Edward Vincent "Eddie" Bracken was an American actor.-Life and career:Bracken was born in Astoria, New York, the son of Catherine and Joseph L. Bracken. Bracken performed in vaudeville at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway musical Too Many Girls in a role he reprised for the 1940...
and Jaye P. Morgan
Jaye P. Morgan
Mary Margaret Morgan , known professionally as Jaye P. Morgan, is a retired popular music American singer, actress and game show panelist.-Early life:...
(who was succeeded by Mimi Hines
Mimi Hines
Mimi Hines is a Canadian-born singer and comedienne best known for her appearances on The Tonight Show and her work on Broadway...
) and ran in 1982. The 2nd National Tour, in 1984 and 1985, reunited Rooney and Miller.
Concept
The show consists of "traditional material ... routines going back 50 to 60 years. It contains standard songs such as 'Don't Blame MeDon't Blame Me (song)
"Don't Blame Me" is a popular song with music by Jimmy McHugh and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. The song was published in 1933.The song received two significant "rock era" remakes: a mellow ballad version by the Everly Brothers, released by Warner Bros...
' and 'I Feel a Song Comin' On', interspersed with newly created musical numbers, including 'The Sugar Baby Bounce' ".
The show had burlesque "tropes as the swing number, the sister act, the fan dance, the vaudeville dog act. It was all fast and funny and it ended with a patriotic number...with the entire company in red, white, and blue with a flag background and Miller as the Statue of Liberty."
Songs and scenes
Source: ScriptAct 1
- Scene: A Memory of Burlesque
- A Good Old Burlesque Show
- Scene: Welcome to the Gaity
- Let Me Be Your Sugar BabyLet Me Be Your Sugar Baby"Let Me Be Your Sugar Baby" is a song written by Artie Malvin.The song inspired the Broadway musical, Sugar Babies, for which Malvin received a Tony Award nomination. This song also inspired the name for the iconic Sugar Babies candy that was originally developed in 1935....
- Scene: Meet Me Round the Corner
- Scene: Travelin'
- In Louisiana
- Goin' Back to New Orleans
- Scene: The Broken Arms Hotel
- Scene: Feathered Fantasy (Salute to Sally RandSally RandSally Rand was a burlesque dancer and actress, most noted for her ostrich feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance. She also performed under the name Billie Beck.-Early life and career:...
)
- Sally
- Scene: The Pitchmen
- Scene: Ellis Island Lament
- Immigration Rose
- Scenes from Domestic Life
- Scene: Torch Song
- Scene: Orientale
- Scene: The Little Red Schoolhouse
- Scene: The New Candy-Coated Craze
- The Sugar Baby Bounce
- Scene: Special Added Attraction
- Down At the Gaity Burlesque
- Mr. Banjo Man
Act 2
- Scene: Candy Butcher
- Scene: Girls and Garters
- I'm Keeping Myself Available For You
- Exactly Like You
- Scene: Justice Will Out
- Scene: In A Greek Garden
- Warm and Willing
- Scene: Presenting Madame Alla Gazaza
- Scene: Tropical Madness
- Cuban Love Song
- Scene: Cautionary Tales
- McHugh Medley
- Every Day Another Tune
- I Can't Give You Anything But Love, BabyI Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby"I Can't Give You Anything but Love" is an American popular song and jazz standard by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields .The song was introduced by Adelaide Hall at Les Ambassadeurs Club in New York in January 1928 in Lew Leslie's Blackbird Revue, which opened on Broadway later that year as the...
- I'm Shooting High
- When You and I Were Young, Maggie Blues
- On the Sunny Side of the StreetOn the Sunny Side of the Street"On the Sunny Side of the Street" is a song with music composed by Jimmy McHugh and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, which was introduced in the Broadway musical Lew Leslie's International Revue, starring Harry Richman and Gertrude Lawrence....
- Scene: Presenting Bob Williams
- Scene: Old Glory
- You Can't Blame Your Death on Uncle Sammy
Reception
TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
wrote that the show is a "happy send-off to burlesque", and "Rarely has so much energy been packed into so small a package. Rooney dances, he sings, he mugs, he dresses in drag."
Tony Award nominations
- Best Musical
- Best Book of a Musical
- Best Original Score
- Best Actor in a Musical - Mickey Rooney
- Best Actress in a Musical - Ann Miller
- Best Costume Design - Raoul Pène Du Bois
- Best Choreography
- Best Direction of a Musical