High Button Shoes
A Musical Comedy in 2 Acts, 15 Scenes. Book by Stephen Longstreet, adapted from his novel The Sisters Liked Them Handsome. Music by Jule Styne. Lyrics by Sammy Cahn.
New Century Theatre, Broadway - 9 October, 1947 (727 perfs)
London Hippodrome - 22 December, 1948 (291 perfs)
Synopsis
College frivolity and the fight for "dear old Rutgers", intermingled with the hilarious adventures of Harrison Floy, a small-time pitchman, mark this Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn collaboration as a very lively production.
Highlights include an insanely delightful ballet in the manner of a Mack Sennett Keystone Cops chase and the songs " There's Nothing Like a Model T", " Papa Won't You Dance With Me", and "Nobody Ever Died for Dear Old Rutgers".
Story
In New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1913, the Longstreet family, consisting of Mama, Papa, Mama's younger sister Fran, and her college boyfriend Oggle, is affected when a con man, Harrison Floy, and his shill, Mr. Pontdue, come to town. The duos' dubious intentions are made clear as Floy pitches "snake-oil" schemes ("He Tried to Make a Dollar") including selling fake watches and diamond mines, and the shill Mr. Pontdue asks for two. They are chased by the police, and the phoney scheme is repeated. After they cheat the Longstreets in a phoney land deal, Floy and Pontdue try to escape to Atlantic City, New Jersey with their ill-gotten profits and also take Fran (who has become romantically involved with Floy) with them.
As the con men Floy and Pontdue are pursued to the Atlantic City beach while carrying a satchel full of stolen money, the people on the beach dance around them ("The Bathing Beauty Ballet"). They tangle with a large number of people—including bathing beauties, lifeguards, other criminals, identical twins—and one gorilla. The climax occurs when the Keystone Cops arrive, and Floy loses everything when he bets on the wrong football team.
Musical Numbers:
ACT 1
- He Tried to Make a Dollar - Singers
- Can't You Just See Yourself in Love With Me? Hubert Ogglethorpe, Fran
- There's Nothing Like a Model T (Choral arrangement by Hugh Martin) Harrison Floy, Company
- Next to Texas, I Love You - Hubert Ogglethorpe, Fran
- Dance - Girls, Boys
- Security - Sara Longstreet, Fran, Singing Girls
- Tango - Nancy, Uncle Willie
- Bird Watcher's Song - Sara Longstreet, Singing Girls
- Get Away for a Day in the Country - Henry Longstreet, J. Stewart, Singers
- A Summer Incident - A Boy, His Playmate, A Popular Girl, Her Friend
- Papa, Won't You Dance With Mel - Sara Longstreet, Henry Longstreet, Girls, Boys
- Finaletto - Entire Company
ACT 2
- On a Sunday By the Sea - Singers
- Mack Sennett Ballet - Bathing Beauties, Life Guard, The Twins, Crooks, Chief of Police, Cops
- You're My Girl - Hubert Ogglethorpe, Fran
- I Still Get Jealous - Sara Longstreet, Henry Longstreet
- You're My Boy - Harrison Floy, Mr. Pontdue
- Nobody Ever Died for Dear Old Rutgers - Harrison Floy, Hubert Ogglethorpe, Singing Boys
- Castle Walk - Danced by Sara Longstreet, Henry Longstreet
- He Tried to Make a Dollar (reprise) Entire Company
Cast:
Male 9, Female 4, plus Townspeople, Football Players, Ladies Bird Watching Society, singers and dancers.
|
|
Scenes and Settings
Act 1
- Scene 1: Kokomo and Points East.
- Scene 2: Living-room of the Longstreet Home, New Brunswick, N.J. Early Autumn, 1913.
- Scene 3: Redmond Street.
- Scene 4: Near the Stadium.
- Scene 5: The Longstreet Living-room.
- Scene 6: Road to the Picnic.
- Scene 7: Longstreetville.
Act 2
- Scene 1: Atlantic City—the Bathhouses.
- Scene 2: The Beach.
- Scene 3: The Bathhouses.
- Scene 4: Redmond Street, New Brunswick.
- Scene 5: The Longstreet Living-room.
- Scene 6: The Road.
- Scene 7: The Stadium.
- Scene 8: The Longstreet Garden.
Discography:
Original Broadway Cast Recording - RCA Special Music - CAD1-457