50 Favourite Musicals: 50: ON YOUR TOES (1936) (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

I have been asked many times what my favourite musical is and I do always struggle: having seen so many it's always hard to be so definitive... but let's give it a go, eh?  Anyone compiling a "best of.." list immediately hits a wall, should one be objective or subjective, heart or head?  I have had to be fairly ruthless in dropping shows to a manageable 50 but, of course, some personal feelings for shows will have coloured my objectivity with the remaining titles.

So let's launch into the 50 shows that have stood out down the years and, as we get up among the paint cards, the shows that have become the cast recording of my life:

  

First performed: 1936, Imperial Theatre, NY

First seen by me: 1984, Palace Theatre, London

Productions seen: one

Score: Richard Rodgers / Lorenz Hart

Book: Rodgers / Hart / George Abbott

Plot: Phil Dolan, a former vaudeville performer is now a music teacher and is so impressed with a jazz ballet written by one of his students that he manages to get it performed by a visiting Russian ballet company.  However romantic complications ensue when he is targeted by the imperious Russian prima ballerina Vera Baronova, whose ballet partner/lover is driven to murderous revenge.

Five memorable numbers: IT'S GOT TO BE LOVE; THERE'S A SMALL HOTEL; GLAD TO BE UNHAPPY; ON YOUR TOES; SLAUGHTER ON TENTH AVENUE (ballet)

A shining example of the best of 1930s musicals with likeable characters, a smooth-running book which links the musical numbers like carriages on a brightly-coloured train and a memorable, tune-packed score.  34 years after seeing this, I still remember the thrill of seeing prima ballerina assoluta Natalia Makarova turn her pure star wattage to musical comedy and in particular, her breathtaking, sinuous sexuality dancing Balanchine's SLAUGHTER ON TENTH AVENUE.  It's about time for a revival... 

 

Click on Al Hirschfeld's great illustration below to watch highlights from a 2013 Broadway Encores! semi-staged concert version...

Dvd/150: EVERGREEN (Victor Saville, 1934)

A favourite of my friend Andrew, this is the 1934 film which consolidated Jessie Matthews as a genuine film star, EVERGREEN.

She had starred in the 1930 stage version which featured songs by Rodgers and Hart but only a few were used in the film, thankfully the lovely DANCING ON THE CEILING survived.

Music Hall star Harriet Green retires to marry a Lord but her estranged husband threatens to expose she has a baby. Harriet flees abroad and after her death, her daughter, also named Harriet, arrives in London to become a musicals performer.

Discovered by old showgirl Maudie and publicist Tommy, they convince Leslie Benn to star her in his upcoming show, masquerading as her 60 year-old mother returning to the stage ensuring the show's success.

Jessie Matthews is radiant but it is annoying that her co-star could have been Fred Astaire but his studio RKO refused.

Shelf or charity shop? I think I will hang onto it for a while... *nb* it actually ended up at the charity shop!