On Your Toes

On Your Toes

Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Book by Rodgers & Hart and George Abbott

On Your Toes

On Your Toes

Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Book by Rodgers & Hart and George Abbott

Overview

Junior's folks pull him from the family's vaudeville act and pack him off to school where he becomes a music teacher. He meets Sydney, a composer, and Frankie, a coed who's fallen hard for him, and together they set about trying to sell Sydney's new jazz ballet to a Russian ballet company. The prima ballerina wants to teach Junior more than a few new steps, but with her assistance, "Slaughter On Tenth Avenue" is produced with Junior dancing the lead. In one of the funniest set pieces ever devised, Junior dances the premiere while being shot at from the audience by thugs who've mistaken him for a dancer who owes on a gambling debt. This landmark musical was directed by the legendary George Abbott and choreographed by newcomer George Balanchine, whose use of ballet here marked the first time in musical comedy that dance was a direct proponent of the plot.

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Cautions

  • Artboard 3 Gun Shots

Details

  • Genre: Farce, Romantic Comedy
  • Time Period: 1930s
  • Cast Attributes: Flexible Cast Size, Room for Extras, Strong Role for Leading Man (Star Vehicle), Strong Role for Leading Woman (Star Vehicle)
  • Target Audience: Appropriate for All Audiences

Authors

Richard Rodgers

Richard Rodgers' contribution to the musical theatre of his day was extraordinary, and his influence on the musical theatre of today and tomorrow is legendary. His career spanned more than six decades, his hits ranging from the silver screens of Hollywood to the bright light ...

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Lorenz Hart

Lorenz Hart was born in New York City on May 2, 1895, the oldest of two sons of Frieda and Max Hart. Hart graduated from Columbia Grammar School and attended the Columbia School of Journalism. In the late teens a mutual friend introduced Hart to composer Richard Rodgers. Rodg ...

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George Abbott

A Broadway actor, director, playwright and producer, George Abbott (1887-1995) wrote and starred in his first comedy, Perfectly Harmless, while attending Harvard. In the 20's/30's, his plays were mostly comedies, including Twentieth Century, Three Men on a Horse and Room Serv ...

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