Ankles Aweigh

Ankles Aweigh
Original cast recording
Music	Sammy Fain
Lyrics	Dan Shapiro
Book	Guy Bolton Eddie Davis
Productions	1955 Broadway 1989 Goodspeed Opera House revival

Ankles Aweigh is a musical with a book by Guy Bolton and Eddie Davis, lyrics by Dan Shapiro, and music by Sammy Fain. The plot involves Hollywood starlet Wynne, who secretly marries a Navy pilot while filming a movie in Sicily. She disguises herself as a sailor and stows away on his ship to grab a covert honeymoon. They get mixed up with an espionage ring.

The original Broadway production ran for 176 performances in 1955 and lost money.

By 1955, audiences had become accustomed to book musicals that seamlessly integrated dialogue scenes with musical numbers, so this throwback to vaudeville-style entertainment, complete with burlesque jokes, chorus girls, and impersonations of Marlene Dietrich and Zsa Zsa Gabor, "seemed a shockingly dated effort", according to Ken Mandelbaum.Rodgers and Hammerstein invested in the show but made no creative contributions. During rehearsals, lead comic Myron McCormick was replaced by Lew Parker, and Sonny Tufts was fired in New Haven.Jerome Robbins spent two weeks revamping the show in Boston. The Allmusic reviewer noted that "the show seemed like such a throwback" and was "dated".

The musical opened on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on April 18, 1955 and closed on September 17, 1955 after 176 performances. The show was directed by Fred F. Finklehoffe and choreographed by Tony Charmoli, with a cast that featured real-life sisters Jane and Betty Kean as Wynne and Elsey, Mark Dawson as Bill, Gabriel Dell as Spud and Thelma Carpenter as featured singer Chipolata. The producers immediately posted a closing notice, but theatre owner Anthony Brady Farrell decided to keep the show running with his own financing. Broadway columnists Walter Winchell's and Ed Sullivan's glowing reports failed to generate much business, and when salaries were cut to keep losses to a minimum, most of the major players quit in protest. After struggling for five months, the show finally closed at a loss of $340,000, which was more than its initial investment.