Up in Central Park | |
---|---|
Sheet Music Cover (cropped)
|
|
Music | Sigmund Romberg |
Lyrics | Dorothy Fields |
Book | Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields |
Productions | 1945 Broadway |
Up in Central Park is a Broadway musical with a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and music by Sigmund Romberg. The musical was Romberg's last stage work produced during his lifetime.
Produced by Michael Todd, the Broadway production, staged by John Kennedy, and choreographed by Helen Tamiris, opened on January 27, 1945 at the Century Theatre, where it ran for 504 performances. Cast included Wilbur Evans and Betty Bruce.
The musical is set in the Boss Tweed era of New York City in the 1870s. Wilbur Evans plays John Matthews, a New York Times reporter investigating the Tweed’s crooked political machine, especially the fraud connected with constructing Central Park. He falls in love with the daughter of one of the Boss’ ward heelers, who marries a politician, who is killed. She later rekindles her love for Matthews. The settings, costumes and dances evoked the lithographs of Currier and Ives.
In 1948 the musical was made into a film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Deanna Durbin, Dick Haymes and Vincent Price. Mary Grant designed the film's costumes. The movie version omits much of the Broadway score and changes the story considerably. The film was not a success.