Carnival in Flanders (musical)

Carnival in Flanders
Original Poster
Music	Jimmy Van Heusen
Lyrics	Johnny Burke
Book	Preston Sturges
Basis	1934 French comedy film La Kermesse Héroïque
Productions	1953 Broadway

Carnival in Flanders is a musical with a book by Preston Sturges, lyrics by Johnny Burke, and music by Jimmy Van Heusen.

Based on the 1934 French comedy film La Kermesse Héroïque, it is set in 1616 in the small Flemish village of Flackenburg, where a Spanish duke and his entourage descend upon the community. The mayor plays dead, hoping that his ruse will force the visitors to depart, but the duke sets his sights on the man's "widow" and begins to woo her. The musical had a brief run on Broadway in 1953.

The musical is the source of the song "Here's That Rainy Day", which has become a standard.

Harold Arlen was approached to write the score, but the task ultimately fell to Van Heusen and Burke. Bing Crosby was providing much of the financing for the production and had great faith in the songwriting team, who had written several of his hits, despite the fact that their previous theatrical collaboration, Nellie Bly (1946), had been a critical and commercial flop.

George Oppenheimer, one of the book's original co-writers, withdrew from the project during pre-Broadway tryouts in Philadelphia, and Dorothy Fields joined her brother Herbert to help with rewrites. Eventually all their work was discarded by Sturges, who replaced Bretaigne Windust as director and completely reworked the book before the show reached California for a series of stagings by light opera companies prior to the New York City opening. Choreographer Jack Cole was replaced by Helen Tamiris, and several cast changes were made before the troubled production finally opened on Broadway.

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