Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (musical)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a musical with a book by Joseph Fields and Anita Loos, lyrics by Leo Robin, and music by Jule Styne, based on the best-selling 1925 novel of the same name by Loos. The story involves an American woman's voyage to Paris to perform in a nightclub.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
The musical opened on Broadway in 1949 (running for 740 performances and introducing Carol Channing), a London production was mounted in 1962, and there was a Broadway revival in 1995. It was made into a 1953 film of the same name, starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. The popular songs "Bye Bye Baby" and "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" were introduced in this musical. An adaptation called Lorelei (also starring Carol Channing) was performed on Broadway in 1974.
Productions[edit]
Original Broadway[edit]
The musical opened on Broadway at the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 8, 1949, and closed September 15, 1951, after 740 performances. It was produced by Herman Levin and Oliver Smith, directed by John C. Wilson, and choreographed by Agnes de Mille, with vocal direction by Hugh Martin. Financial backers included Harold M. Esty Jr.[1]
Several blonde actresses, including Betty Hutton,[2] Jayne Mansfield (Carousel Theater, 1964),[3] Mamie Van Doren, Carroll Baker (Dallas, August 1966), Barbara Eden (Florida, January 1999)[4] and Morgan Fairchild have starred in regional and summer stock productions of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes over the years. Carroll Baker also performed two numbers from the show on The Ed Sullivan Show on 16 October 1966.
West End[edit]
The musical ran in the West End at the Princes Theatre, opening on August 20, 1962, for 223 performances, and featured Dora Bryan as Lorelei Lee, Anne Hart as Dorothy, and Bessie Love as Mrs. Ella Spofford.[5][6]
Broadway 1974[edit]
A revised version titled Lorelei opened on Broadway at the Palace Theatre on January 27, 1974, and ran for 320 performances. This production also starred Carol Channing, who received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.[7][8]
Broadway 1995[edit]
The Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam, Connecticut, revival ran in November 1994, and featured KT Sullivan as Lorelei Lee, Karen Prunzik as Dorothy Shaw, Jamie Ross as Josephus Gage, and Allen Fitzpatrick as Gus Esmond.[9] The production transferred to Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre on April 10, 1995[10] and closed on April 30, 1995, after 16 previews and 24 performances.[11]
Other productions[edit]
A concert staging of the musical was mounted as part of the "Discovering Lost Musicals" series directed and produced by Ian Marshall-Fisher at Barbican Cinema 1 in London in 1997, which featured Louise Gold as Lorelei Lee, Kim Criswell as Dorothy Shaw, and Dilys Laye as Mrs Ella Spofford.[12]
The Open Air Theatre, Inner Circle, Regent's Park, London, production ran from July 23, 1998, through September 1, 1998, and featured Sara Crowe as Lorelei Lee and Debby Bishop as Dorothy.[5]
42nd Street Moon theatre company, San Francisco, California, presented the musical in April 2004.[2]
A staged concert production was presented in the Encores! series of Great American Musicals in Concert at the New York City Center May 9–13, 2012 with Megan Hilty as Lorelei Lee and Rachel York as Dorothy, directed by John Rando and choreographed by Randy Skinner.[13]
In October 2019, the Union Theatre in London staged a production of the musical, directed and produced by Sasha Regan.[14]
Film version[edit]
A 1953 film adaptation, released by 20th Century Fox studios, was directed by Howard Hawks and starred Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe.