Girl Crazy
This article is about the stage musical. For other uses, see Girl Crazy (disambiguation).
Girl Crazy is a theater musical with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and Jack McGowan. It is remembered as the show that made stars of both Ginger Rogers (who, with Allen Kearns, sang "Could You Use Me?" and "Embraceable You" and, with Willie Howard, "But Not for Me") and Ethel Merman (who sang "I Got Rhythm", "Sam and Delilah", and "Boy! What Love Has Done To Me!" ).
It has been adapted three times for film, most notably in 1943 with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. In that version, the roles played by Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman were combined into one, played by Garland. It was revived (and heavily revised, with a completely new plot, and songs from other Gershwin shows added) in 1992 under the name Crazy for You. It features the greatest amount of hit songs by Gershwin in one Broadway show, and is the only one of the Gershwin musical comedies to be filmed more than once.
Film adaptations
The 1932 RKO Radio Pictures production was very unlike the stage play except for its score. The film was tailored for the comic talents of Wheeler & Woolsey, a once-popular comedy team. In 1943, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a lavish version starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. In 1965, MGM once again dusted off the property for Connie Francis. Unlike the previous two versions, the title was changed to When the Boys Meet the Girls. It co-starred Herman's Hermits, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, Louis Armstrong, and Liberace. A number of Gershwin songs were retained, including "Embraceable You", "Bidin' My Time", "But Not for Me", "Treat Me Rough", and "I Got Rhythm".
[edit] Footnotes
The Dictators Go Girl Crazy! was the influential 1975 debut album of the New York-based proto-punk band The Dictators. Trouser Press lauded the band's first—and arguably bes—release as a "wickedly funny, brilliantly played and hopelessly naïve masterpiece of self-indulgent smartass rock'n'roll" Originally released on the Epic label on 1975, the album has been re-issued on CD and LP by Epic, Norton Records and Sony Music Media
Influence
In its review, Allmusic notes that while the album was confusing to audiences at the time of its release, it became inspirational for dozens of groups to follow, with its blend of punk rock and heavy metal.[3] Trouser Press also enthuses that the band deserves "scads of credit" for "blazing a long trail, melding the essentials of junk culture...with loud/hard/fast rock'n'roll and thus creating an archetype".[2] According to a 2001 article in the Village Voice, the album's "blueprint for bad taste, humor, and defiance" has been replicated in the work of such bands as the Ramones, Beastie Boys and Kid Rock.[4]
In addition to musicians, the album was also one of two factors influencing the creation of Punk Magazine by music journalist Legs McNeil. In Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, McNeil said that the album so resonated with him and his friends that they started the magazine strictly so they could "hang out with the Dictators".[5]
Track listing
Girl Crazy (1930), a musical comedy by Guy Bolton, John McGowan (book), George Gershwin (music), Ira Gershwin (lyrics). [Alvin Theatre, 272 perf.] To keep him from nightclubs, gambling casinos, and women, Mr. Churchill sends his son Danny (Allen Kearns) to Custerville, Arizona, to run a dude ranch. Danny hires New York taxi driver Gieber Goldfarb (Willie Howard) for the journey, and soon after their arrival Danny has transformed the ranch into a club with gambling rooms and bevies of girls. But he falls in love with Molly Gray (Ginger Rogers) and woos and wins her with the help of Kate Fothergill (Ethel Merman), daughter of the local saloonkeeper. Notable songs: Bidin' My Time; But Not for Me; Embraceable You; I Got Rhythm; Sam and Delilah; Boy! What Love Has Done to Me! The Alex A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley production was the last traditional musical comedy by the Gershwins before they attempted their political satires. Merman made a sensational debut singing “I Got Rhythm” and “Sam and Delilah,” and it made her a star. In 1992 a revised version of the musical titled CRAZY FOR YOU opened at the Shubert Theatre and ran 1,622 performances, winning the Tony Award. Ken Ludwig wrote the new libretto that worked in some Gershwin standards from other plays and films, and Harry Groener and Jodi Benson were featured as the primary couple, though Susan Stroman's exuberant choreography was the show's real star.
Girl Crazy is a theater musical with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and Jack McGowan. It is remembered as the show that made stars of both Ginger Rogers (who, with Allen Kearns, sang "Could You Use Me?" and "Embraceable You" and, with Willie Howard, "But Not for Me") and Ethel Merman (who sang "I Got Rhythm", "Sam and Delilah", and "Boy! What Love Has Done To Me!" ). It has been adapted twice for film, most notably in 1943 with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. In that version, the roles played by Ginger Rogers and Ethel Merman were combined into one, played by Garland. It was revived (and heavily revised, with a completely new plot, and songs from other Gershwin shows added) in 1992 under the name Crazy for You. It features the greatest amount of hit songs by Gershwin in one Broadway show, and is the only one of the Gershwin musical comedies to be filmed
