Inside U.S.A.
| Inside U.S.A. | |
|---|---|
| Music | Arthur Schwartz |
| Lyrics | Howard Dietz |
| Book |
Arnold M. Auerbach Moss Hart Arnold B. Horwitt |
| Basis | Book by John Gunther |
| Productions | 1948 Broadway |
Inside U.S.A. is a musical revue by Arthur Schwartz (music) and Howard Dietz (lyrics). It was loosely based on the book Inside U.S.A. by John Gunther. Sketches were written by Arnold M. Auerbach, Moss Hart, and Arnold B. Horwitt.
The revue opened on Broadway at the New Century Theatre on April 30, 1948, transferred to the Majestic Theatre on September 23, 1948, and closed on February 19, 1949 after a total of 399 performances.
The sketches were directed by Robert H. Gordon, dances and Musical numbers were staged by Helen Tamiris, the production design was by Lemuel Ayers, costume design was by Eleanor Goldsmith, Beatrice Lillie's costumes and gowns were by Castillo and mask design was by John Robert Lloyd. The cast included Jack Haley, Beatrice Lillie, Valerie Bettis, Talley Beatty, Jack Cassidy, John Tyers, Jane Lawrence, Carl Reiner, and Nellie Hill.
The revue consists of a number of sketches related only in that they generally focus on a particular State. The opening is a serenade to the United States by the company ("Inside USA"). Lillie provides a "mocking madrigal" that praises the industry in Pittsburgh ("Come, Oh Come to Pittsburgh"). A woman loses her boyfriend to the horses at Churchill Downs ("Blue Grass"). In one sketch, a superstitious maid unnerves an actress on a Broadway opening night, using a ouija board and numerology (written by Moss Hart). New Orleans is featured in "At The Mardi Gras", with Lillie as the Queen. Wisconsin is featured in "First Prize At The Fair." Lillie and Haley, costumed as New Mexico Indians, declare "We Won't Take It Back." The romantic "Rhode Island Is Famous For You" turns into a ragtime number and names the most famous products of various states. In the Western number "My Gal Is Mine Once More" a cowboy celebrates remarriage to his first wife. Haley teaches apprentice waiters to make dining customers unhappy. Lillie is the "priggish, unimaginative leader of a choral society" and a mermaid with a strange romantic life. Herb Shriner, without harmonica, provides a wry Western themed monologue as "A Feller from Indiana."
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