First Impressions (musical)

First Impressions
1959 Original Broadway Cast Recording
Music	George Weiss Bo Goldman Glenn Paxton
Lyrics	George Weiss Bo Goldman Glenn Paxton
Book	Abe Burrows
Basis	Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice and Helen Jerome's 1935 play based on the novel
Productions	1959 Broadway

Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice

First Impressions is a Broadway musical with music and lyrics by George Weiss, Bo Goldman, and Glenn Paxton, and book by Abe Burrows, who also directed the musical. It is based on Helen Jerome's 1935 stage adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice.

Abe Burrows, who had previously written the books for the successful musicals Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, and Say, Darling, wrote the book for a new musical adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The score was credited to three authors: George Weiss, Robert Goldman, and Glenn Paxton, though composer Jule Styne, who produced the show under the auspices of the "Jule Styne Organization", was said to have augmented the score. The score mixes early-19th-century "period" music with standard Broadway idioms of the 1950s. The musical was originally titled A Perfect Evening, but before rehearsals began, the show's creators changed it to First Impressions, Austen's original, pre-publication title for Pride and Prejudice.

The musical concentrates more than the novel does on Mrs. Bennet's perspective and on her tireless attempts to marry off her five marriageable daughters despite the family's lack of money. The emphasis on Mrs. Bennet is the result of having cast a star (Hermione Gingold) in what was meant by Austen to be a secondary role.

According to Granger, the musical was beset by a series of disasters, the most notable all involving the frequently dangerous sets. Granger said several dancers were injured during rehearsals and the tryout in New Haven. Moreover, reports Granger, Gingold and Bergen disliked each other, and Mitchell felt ill-used.Stuart Hodes Mitchell's understudy and one of the injured dancers, says that Granger's account was exaggerated. Hodes also notes that Lucas's several replacements as choreographer included an uncredited Herbert Ross.