#high button shoes

[electronicsquid]

Fashions from High Button Shoes

(Nina Leen. 1948)

[audreyhepburninblackandwhite]

Audrey Hepburn auditioning for a part in the chorus of High Button Shoes in London's West End Photography by Paul Popper / Popperfoto 1948

[lookingbackatfashionhistory]

• Pair of lady's boots or "High Button Shoes".

Date: 1905

Medium: Light blue leather and yellow suede.

[the-modern-edwardian]

Edwardian button-down boots.

[thechildrensmuseum]

Happy World Theatre Day! This playbill is for a showing of High Button Shoes. This comedy musical debuted on Broadway in 1947 and made its way to the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis in 1949.

[the-modern-edwardian]

A Selection of Edwardian footwear.

Sourced from the Sears. Roebuck Catalogue of 1912

[electronicsquid]

Fashions inspired by High Button Shoes

(Nina Leen. 1947)

[outoftowninac]

HIGH BUTTON SHOES

1947

HIGH BUTTON SHOES is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn and book by George Abbott, and Stephen Longstreet. It was based on the semi-autobiographical 1946 novel The Sisters Liked Them Handsome by Stephen Longstreet. 

The story concerns the comic entanglements of the Longstreet family of New Brunswick NJ with two con men in 1913 Atlantic City. 

Break-out songs included “Papa Won’t You Dance With Me?” and “I Still Get Jealous.”  

The highlight of the original production was a long ensemble dance number "The Bathing Beauty Ballet", to the song "On a Sunday by the Sea", at the beginning of the second act. Choreographer Robbins staged this number in the manner of a Mack Sennett silent slapstick film with the characters dancing in and out of Atlantic City bathing cabanas on the beach.  The number was recreated in 1987′s Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. 

NEW JERSEY & ATLANTIC CITY

Interestingly, by 1947, Atlantic City was no longer a usual try-out town for new plays and musicals. Despite the musical being nearly entirely set in New Jersey, the show previewed in Philadelphia PA then opened in New York City, skipping the Garden State entirely.  Being set in New Brunswick, there are naturally references to Rutgers University, including the song “Nobody Ever Died for Dear Old Rutgers”. 

Author Stephen Longstreet grew up in New Brunswick and briefly attended Rutgers University. Recalling the New Jersey he left in 1923, Mr. Longstreet said, 

“It was a wonderful state to grow up and mature in.” During summers, the entire family would pile into his father's Model-T Ford and head for Atlantic City.  Mr. Longstreet remembers the resort as “heaven” where he delighted in “the saltwater taffy and the Steel Pier, where you could bring up the nets full of sea life twice a day and watch the diving horse plunge into the sea.”

PRODUCTION HISTORY

High Button Shoes opened on Broadway at the New Century Theatre October 9, 1947, it transferred to the Shubert Theatre December 22, 1947, then to The Broadway Theatre October 18, 1948, before closing July 2, 1949, after 727 performances. The cast starred Phil Silvers as Harrison Floy and Nanette Fabray as Sara Longstreet. The direction was by George Abbott, choreography by Jerome Robbins, scenic design by Oliver Smith, costume design by Miles White, and lighting design by Peggy Clark. Robbins won a Tony Award for his choreography.

The US national tour ran in parallel with the Broadway show, with Eddie Foy Jr. as Harrison Floy and Audrey Meadows as Sara "Mama" Longstreet. It opened in Boston and played at least 16 cities including Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, and Los Angeles.

A London production opened at the Hippodrome December 22, 1948, and ran for 291 performances. Then unknown Audrey Hepburn was among the chorus girls.

A television adaptation was broadcast live November 24, 1956, on NBC with Nanette Fabray and Joey Faye repeating their original roles, Hal March as Harrison Floy, and Don Ameche as Papa Longstreet.

In 2019, City Center Encores! presented the show starring Michael Urie as Floy and Betsy Wolfe as Mama Longstreet. 

Robert Goulet sings “I Still Get Jealous”