No, No, Nanette is a musical comedy with lyrics by Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach, music by Vincent Youmans, and a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. Its songs include the well-known "Tea for Two" and "I Want to Be Happy". It was first produced on March 11, 1925 at London's Palace Theatre, where it starred Binnie Hale and George Grossmith, Jr. and ran for 665 performances.

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History

The Broadway production of No, No, Nanette opened on September 16, 1925 and ran for 321 performances.

No, No, Nanette was made into musical films in both 1930 and 1940, with both film adaptations featuring character actress ZaSu Pitts. In 1950, a film entitled Tea for Two , a very loose adaptation of the show, was released. It starred Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Eve Arden, and Billy DeWolfe.

For the 1971 Broadway revival, Burt Shevelove adapted the book, and the cast featured screen legend Ruby Keeler, Helen Gallagher, Jack Gilford, Patsy Kelly, Bobby Van, and Loni Ackerman. The production was supervised by aging Hollywood legend Busby Berkeley, although it was rumored that his name was his primary contribution to the show. At each performance, Keeler—who had been lured out of retirement—brought down the house with an energetic tap routine incorporated into the "I Want to Be Happy" sequence. The show opened to uniformly glowing reviews and sparked interest in the revival of similar musicals from the 1920s and '30s. Tony and Drama Desk Awards went to costume designer Raoul Pène Du Bois, choreographer Donald Saddler, and Gallagher as Best Leading Actress in a Musical, Kelly won a Tony as Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and Shevelove's work earned him a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book. This production transferred to London in 1973, with a cast starring Anna Neagle, Anne Rogers and Tony Britton.

City Center's Encores! presented a new production of No, No, Nanette in May 2008, directed by Walter Bobbie, with choreography by Randy Skinner, starring Sandy Duncan, Beth Leavel and Rosie O'Donnell.

"Curse of the Bambino"

Some years after the premiere, it was claimed that producer Harry Frazee, a former owner of the Boston Red Sox, financed the show by selling baseball superstar Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, resulting in the "Curse of the Bambino," which, according to a popular superstition, kept the Red Sox from winning the World Series from 1918 until 2004. ^[1] In the 1990s, that story was partially debunked on the grounds that the sale of Ruth had occurred five years earlier. The truth was somewhere in between those two stories. As Leigh Montville discovered during research for his book, The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth , ^[2] No, No, Nanette had originated as a non-musical stage play called My Lady Friends , which opened on Broadway in December 1919. That play had, indeed, been financed by the Ruth sale to the Yankees.

Synopsis

Jimmy Smith, a millionaire due to his Bible publishing business, is married to the overly frugal Sue. Jimmy and Sue want to teach their ward, Nanette, to be a respectable young lady. Nanette has an untapped wild side and wants to have some fun in Atlantic City. She is being pursued by Tom Trainor. With so much income at his disposal, Jimmy decides to become the benefactor for three beautiful women (Betty from Boston, Winnie from Washington, and Flora from San Francisco), but soon realizes his good intentions are bound to get him in trouble, as the women are now blackmailing him for more money. He enlists his lawyer friend and Tom's uncle, Billy, to help him discreetly ease the girls out of his life. Billy agrees, and suggests that Jimmy take refuge in Philadelphia. He decides to take Tom and meet the three ladies in the Smith's Atlantic City home, Chickadee Cottage. Sue and Lucille, Billy's wife, hearing that both their husbands will be away on business, decide to also take a vacation to the cottage. Finally, Jimmy hears of Nanette's desire to see Atlantic City. Instead of going to Philadelphia, he agrees to take her to Chickadee Cottage, with the grumpy maid, Paulene, acting as Nanette's chaperone.

In Atlantic City, everyone meets at once. Tom and Nanette fantasize about being happily married one day. Sue overhears Billy speaking to the women and assumes that he is having an affair with them; trouble ensues. Sue tells Lucille of Billy's supposed unfaithfulness and Billy, to divert suspicion of Jimmy's involvement, does not deny it. Sue also finds out that Nanette came to Atlantic City against her wishes, which causes Tom and Nanette to quarrel and Nanette and Paulene to leave for New York. Jimmy finally pays off the ladies, and, feeling sorry for Lucille, they explain everything: Billy was not cheating on her, and neither was Jimmy. Nanette and Paulene, unable to catch a train to New York, return to the cottage, where Tom and Nanette make up and agree to marry. The show ends with a party, where Sue wows Jimmy with a fancy dress and a final dance number.

Musical numbers

;Act I Overture Too Many Rings Around Rosie I've Confessed to the Breeze Call of the Sea I Want to Be Happy I Want to Be Happy Dance No, No, Nanette Finaletto Act I

;Act II Peach on the Beach Peach on the Beach Dance Tea for Two Tea for Two Dance You Can Dance With Any Girl You Can Dance With Any Girl Dance Finaletto Act II

;Act III Telephone Girlie Where-Has-My-Hubby-Gone Blues Waiting for You Dress Parade Take a Little One-Step Finale

Awards and nominations

1971 Tony Award nominations

• Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical - Bobby Van
• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical - Helen Gallagher (Winner)
• Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical - Patsy Kelly (Winner)
• Tony Award for Best Costume Design - Production Design by Raoul Pène Du Bois (Winner)
• Tony Award for Best Choreography - Donald Saddler (Winner)
• Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical - Burt Shevelove

Theatre World Award

• Theatre World Award - Roger Rathburn (Winner)

1971 Drama Desk Award nominations

• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book - Book adapted by Burt Shevelove (for the adaptation) (Winner)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography - Donald Saddler (Winner)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design - Production Design by Raoul Pène Du Bois (Winner)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance - Helen Gallagher (Winner)

Notes

1. Kepner, Tyler. "Red Sox Erase 86 Years of Futility in 4 Games", ''The New York Times'', 28 October 2004, p. A1
2. Montville, Leigh. ''The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth'' Random House (2006), pp. 161–64

References

1. Kepner, Tyler. "Red Sox Erase 86 Years of Futility in 4 Games", ''The New York Times'', 28 October 2004, p. A1
2. Montville, Leigh. ''The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth'' Random House (2006), pp. 161–64