Nov 20, 2023
Do you know Anything Goes (1934) ?
Yes, I’ve been in it/worked on it
Yes, I’ve seen it
Yes, I’ve listened to it
No, but I’ve heard of it
No, never heard of it
Voting ended onNov 27, 2023
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Czechia
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seen from China
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from Sweden
seen from Japan
seen from United States
seen from Philippines
seen from Taiwan
seen from Russia
seen from Sweden
seen from Mexico
Do you know Anything Goes (1934) ?
Yes, I’ve been in it/worked on it
Yes, I’ve seen it
Yes, I’ve listened to it
No, but I’ve heard of it
No, never heard of it
Guy Bolton - The Enchantress - Robert Hale - 1966
Literary history that happened on 23 November
POLLY WITH A PAST
1917
Polly With a Past is a three act play by George Middleton and Guy Bolton. It was originally produced by David Belasco and directed by Louis Massen. The play starred Ina Claire.
The play takes place in an apartment in New York City in late July and a summer home in North Hampton, Long Island in early August. It depicts the efforts of two young men to help a shy friend, Rex, win the attention of the aloof woman he loves; they arrange for their young housekeeper, Polly, to pose as a glamorous French rival for Rex's affections, but this leads to romantic complications.
Polly with a Past premiered at Nixon’s Apollo Theatre on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City NJ on June 11, 1917.
Before moving on to Broadway, the play was seen at two more Jersey Shore theatres: The Savoy in Asbury Park, and the Broadway in Long Branch.
The play opened on Broadway on September 6, 1917 at the Belasco Theatre.
The Broadway cast was headed by Ina Claire as Polly, Herbert Yost as Rex (both pictured above), with Winifred Fraser, H. Reeves-Smith, Thomas Reynolds, and Cyril Scott. It ran for nearly a year.
The piece was presented in London in 1921 starring Edna Best and Donald Calthrop, with a supporting cast including Noël Coward, Edith Evans, Henry Kendall, Claude Rains and C. Aubrey Smith, running for three months.
It was adapted for film in 1920 in which Ina Claire reprised her role as Polly Shannon. Clifton Webb was also in the cast. The film is now considered lost.
The film played in Atlantic City at the Bijou Theatre, Boardwalk and South Carolina. Opening in 1903, this was the first movie house in Atlantic City. By 1920 it had been renamed the Cort Theatre. It was was demolished in 1924.
A musical version simply titled Polly played on Broadway in 1929. Archie Leach, who later became known as Cary Grant, was in an out-of-town tryout of the musical. Also in the cast were Fred Allen (in a newly-created part) and June Tripp in the title role. Leach was replaced as Rex by John Hundley for the Broadway run, which opened at the Lyric Theatre on January 8, 1929, and closed after just 15 performances.
J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Plans New 'Constantine' For HBO Max
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Matt Ryan‘s reign as John Constantine may be drawing to a close. Confirming earlier rumors from yesterday, Deadline reports J.J. Abrams‘s production company, Bad Robot, is plotting a new take on the short-lived Constantine series which first introduced Ryan as the magician/conman. British writer Guy Bolton will write the series, which will reportedly focus on a younger John during his misspent…
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From the first issue of The New Yorker, Feb. 21, 1925. Thumbnail reviews of some plays running on Broadway.
THE GIRL BEHIND THE GUN
1918
The Girl Behind the Gun is a three act musical farce by Ivan Caryll (music), Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse (book and lyrics), based on the French farce "Madame et son filleul" (”Madame and Her Godsons”) by Maurice Hennequin and Pierre Veber.
English writers Bolton and Wodehouse wrote nearly twenty musicals together with various composers, primarily Jerome Kern, who introduced them. Their most-produced collaboration is the book for 1934′s Anything Goes, despite the fact that their book was heavily re-written when a real-life sea disaster caused the show to change course. Wodehouse is probably best remembered as the author of the Jeeves and Wooster books, which were also made into musicals - two of them - both by Alan Ayckbourn and Andrew Lloydd Webber.
The musical takes place in Fontainbleu, France. In the plot, a soldier / playwright on leave visits his godmother instead of his wife. This pleases the godmother, but angers the wife, who then begins a flirtation with an Army Colonel.
The original production was produced by produced by Klaw & Erlanger, directed by Edgar MacGregor, and choreographed by Julian Mitchell.
The musical had its world premiere on August 26, 1918 at Nixon’s Apollo Theatre in Atlantic City. First-nighters on the Great Wooden Way were enthusiastic.
It opened on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre on September 16, 1918 and ran 160 performances. The cast was headed by Donald Brian, Jack Hazzard, Wilda Rennet, and Ada Mead.
“Quite properly, there was Just enough plot to get the characters on and off the stage. There were a lot of songs with a lilt that will lend them to whistling.” ~ BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE
Although the great war (World War I) wouldn’t officially end till November 11, 1918, the war was definitely winding down when the musical was first staged. Producers were still anxious to let playgoers know that this was not a war musical.
Don’t ask - Don’t tell!
COLONEL: “How long have you been in the service?” PRIVATE: “I was married four years ago last March, sir.”
COLONEL: “Have you got a wife?” PRIVATE: “The jury’s still out.”
In May 1919, The Girl Behind the Gun, revised and sensibly re-titled Kissing Time, opened in London at the Winter Garden Theatre, where it played 430 performances.
Guy Bolton was an Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical comedies.