Show Girl (1929 musical): History and Key Facts

Show Girl is a musical with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Gus Kahn, and a book William Anthony McGuire. It ran at Broadway's Ziegfeld Theatre from Jul 2, 1929 to Oct 5, 1929. A backstage musical, much of the action of the musical's story takes place at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Other scenes take place in Trenton, New Jersey; Brooklyn; and at a Penthouse apartment in New York City. The show tells the story of aspiring showgirl Dixie Dugan (played by Ruby Keeler) as she is pursued by four suitors (played by Eddie Foy, Jr., Joseph Macauley, Austin Fairman, and Frank McHugh).

The character of Dixie Dugan was created by J. P. McEvoy and was first introduced in Liberty before McEvoy published his 1928 novel Show Girl (on which the musical was loosely based).

The Broadway production was produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, directed by McGuire, and choreographed by Bobby Connolly, with ballet sequences—including one set to An American in Paris—by Albertina Rasch. Duke Ellington conducted the orchestra. The show opened on July 2, 1929 at the Ziegfeld Theatre and ran for 111 performances. The cast included Ruby Keeler as Dixie (replaced by Dorothy Stone a few weeks into the run), Jimmy Durante, Eddie Foy, Jr., Frank McHugh, and Nick Lucas.

Keeler's husband, Al Jolson, frequently sat in the audience and serenaded her with the show's closing number, "Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)", from his seat. The song was featured in the 1946 biopic The Jolson Story.

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