The Band Wagon (musical)

The Band Wagon
Sheet music cover (cropped)
Music	Arthur Schwartz
Lyrics	Howard Dietz
Book	George S. Kaufman and Howard Dietz
Productions	1931 Broadway

For the film, see The Band Wagon

The Band Wagon is a musical revue with book by George S. Kaufman and Howard Dietz, lyrics by Howard Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz. It first played on Broadway in 1931, running for 260 performances. It introduced the song "Dancing in the Dark" and inspired two films.

The revue opened on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre on June 3, 1931 and closed on January 16, 1932, running a total of 260 performances. Produced by Max Gordon, staging and lighting were by Hassard Short, choreography by Albertina Rasch, and scenic design by Albert R. Johnson. The cast included Fred Astaire, Adele Astaire, Helen Broderick, Tilly Losch, and Frank Morgan.

According to Steven Suskin, "very few people are around who saw The Band Wagon, but they all seem to insist that it was the finest Broadway revue ever." According to Furia and Lasser, The Band Wagon is "arguably the greatest of the 'little' revues of the 1930s". Ken Bloom states that The Band Wagon "is considered the greatest of all revues."

The show introduced one of the best Schwartz-Dietz songs, "Dancing in the Dark", which was also the title of one of the two motion pictures made from this show. (The other was The Band Wagon.) This was the first New York production to use the double revolving stage for the songs and sketches. Although it had incomparable dancing by Fred and Adele Astaire, it was the last time the brother and sister team appeared together.