Girl Crazy

Girl Crazy
Music	George Gershwin
Lyrics	Ira Gershwin
Book	Guy Bolton John McGowan
Productions	1930 Broadway 1932 film 1943 film

Girl Crazy is a 1930 musical with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and John McGowan. Ethel Merman made her stage debut in this musical production and it also turned Ginger Rogers into an overnight star.

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.

The 1930 stage version follows the story of Danny Churchill, who has been sent to Custerville, Arizona, to manage his family's ranch. His father has sent him there to focus on more serious matters than alcohol and women, but Danny turns his family's place into a dude ranch, importing showgirls from Broadway and hiring Kate Forthergill (played by Merman) as an entertainer. Eventually, visitors come from both coasts to the ranch and Danny falls in love with the local postmistress, Molly Gray (originally played by Ginger Rogers). The subsequent films followed different plots.

The musical opened at the Alvin Theatre on October 14, 1930 and closed on June 6, 1931 after 272 performances. It was directed by Alexander Leftwich, with choreography by George Hale and sets by Donald Oenslager. This musical made a star of Ginger Rogers, who, with Allen Kearns, sang "Could You Use Me?" and "Embraceable You" and, with Willie Howard, "But Not for Me". Ethel Merman, in her Broadway debut sang "I Got Rhythm", "Sam and Delilah", and "Boy! What Love Has Done To Me!" and "became an overnight sensation...that launched her fifty year career." Also of note is the opening night pit orchestra, which was composed of many well-known jazz musicians, including Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Glenn Miller and Jimmy Dorsey.

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