Dames at Sea
Dames at Sea is a 1966 musical with book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller and music by Jim Wise.
Dames at Sea
George Haimsohn
Robin Miller
George Haimsohn
Robin Miller
1966 Off-Off-Broadway
1968 Off-Broadway
1969 West End
1973 Lake Forest, Illinois
1985 Off-Broadway revival
1989 West End revival
2004 Off-Broadway revival
2015 Broadway
The musical is a parody of large, flashy 1930s Busby Berkeley-style movie musicals in which a chorus girl, newly arrived off the bus from the Midwest to New York City, steps into a role on Broadway and becomes a star. It originally played Off-Off-Broadway in 1966 at the Caffe Cino and then played Off-Broadway, starring newcomer Bernadette Peters, beginning in 1968 for a successful run. The show has enjoyed a London run, a television adaptation and a number of revivals, before its Broadway premiere in October 2015.
Production history[edit]
The musical was originally a short sketch,[1] based loosely on the Gold Diggers movies, written by George Haimsohn, Jim Wise, and Robin Miller. The character of "Ruby" was suggested by the Ruby Keeler-type from those early movies. It was lengthened to a 50-minute production,[1] and director Robert Dahdah prepared it for its first staging. After the original actress who was to play "Ruby" withdrew during rehearsals, choreographer Don Price recommended newcomer Bernadette Peters for the role. The show opened in May 1966 as Dames at Sea, or Golddiggers Afloat at the Caffe Cino, a small coffee house/performance space in New York City's Greenwich Village, where it continued for 148 performances. The original Caffe Cino cast featured Peters as Ruby, Joe McGuire as Frank, David Christmas as Dick, Jill Roberts as Joan, Norma Bigtree as Mona and Gary Filsinger as the Director and Captain. Peters was replaced by her sister, Donna Forbes (now DeSeta) during the run.[2]
Retitled simply Dames at Sea, the musical re-opened at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre on December 20, 1968,[3] and transferred to the larger Theater de Lys on April 22, 1969, and closed on May 10, 1970, after a total of 575 performances.[4] Directed and choreographed by Neal Kenyon, the show again featured Peters in the role of Ruby and David Christmas as Dick. The cast also featured Steve Elmore as the Captain, Tamara Long as Mona Kent, Joseph R. Sicari as Lucky, and Sally Stark as Joan.[4] After Peters left the show, the role of "Ruby" was played by Loni Ackerman, Bonnie Franklin, Janie Sell, Barbara Sharma, and Pia Zadora.[4][5]
On August 27, 1969, the show opened at London's Duchess Theatre,[6] where it ran for 127 performances. The West End production was filmed for the television program Theatre Date, and was broadcast on BBC1 on November 4, 1969.[7]
Peters appeared in a regional production at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey in early 1973.[8] In July 1973, Peters appeared again as Ruby at the Academy Playhouse, Lake Forest, Illinois.[9] Subsequent revivals have been staged at the Lamb's Theatre in Manhattan (1985) (with Stephen Flaherty playing the piano),[10] the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester, London (1989),[11] and at the theater where the musical first played off-Broadway, the Bouwerie Lane Theatre, produced by Jean Cocteau Repertory and directed by David Fuller, from September 3, 2004, to November 28, 2004.[12]
The show began previews on Broadway on September 24, 2015, and officially opened on October 22 at the Helen Hayes Theatre, with direction and choreography by Randy Skinner.[13][14][15] A workshop for this production was held in January 2014 with Laura Osnes, Rachel York, Mara Davi, John Bolton, Cary Tedder, and Danny Gardner.[16] The Broadway cast featured John Bolton as The Captain/Hennesey, Mara Davi as Joan, Danny Gardner as Lucky, Eloise Kropp as Ruby, Lesli Margherita as Mona Kent and Cary Tedder as Dick.[17] The show is described as "a tap-happy gem of a show that celebrates the golden era of movie musicals".[15] Among the producers are Infinity Theatre Company and Perry Street Theatricals. The show was produced in 2012 by Infinity Theatre Company, Annapolis, Maryland with direction and choreography by Randy Skinner.[18] This production closed on January 3, 2016, after 85 performances and 32 previews.[19][20][21]
The musical is popular for schools and has been produced in many countries.[5][22]
Television[edit]
An adaptation for television starred Ann-Margret as Ruby, Ann Miller as Mona, Anne Meara as Joan, Harvey Evans as Dick, Fred Gwynne as Hennesy and Dick Shawn as the Captain.[32][33] It was broadcast on the Bell System Family Theater on NBC on November 15, 1971. The cast had extra chorus girls and boys, and there were full production numbers, turning into the very thing it was spoofing. Ann Miller was singled out for praise, especially when "she was allowed to tap out her brassy impersonation of the temperamental star".[34]