Higher and Higher is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers

Richard Rodgers

Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...

, lyrics by Lorenz Hart

Lorenz Hart

Lorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...

, and book by Gladys Hurlbut and Joshua Logan

Joshua Logan

Joshua Lockwood Logan III was an American stage and film director and writer.-Early years:Logan was born in Texarkana, Texas, the son of Susan and Joshua Lockwood Logan. When he was three years old his father committed suicide...

 and produced by Dwight Deere Wiman

Dwight Deere Wiman

Dwight Deere Wiman was an American silent movie actor, playwright and theatrical director. He is best known as a Broadway producer.-Early life & Education:...

. It ran on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 for 84 performances in 1940.

Production

Higher and Higher premiered on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 at the Shubert Theatre

Shubert Theatre (Broadway)

The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States.Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family...

 on April 4, 1940 and closed on June 15, 1940 after 84 performances. It played a return engagement at the Shubert Theatre from August 5, 1940 to August 24, 1940.

It was directed by Joshua Logan, with choreography by Robert Alton

Robert Alton

Robert Alton was an American dancer and choreographer, a major figure in dance choreography of Broadway and Hollywood musicals from the 1930s through to the early 1950s...

, scenic design by Jo Mielziner

Jo Mielziner

Joseph "Jo" Mielziner was an American theatrical scenic, and lighting designer born in Paris, France. He is "the most successful set designer of the Golden era of Broadway", and worked on both stage plays and musicals.-Career:He was the son of artist Leo Mielziner, Sr...

 and costume design by Lucinda Ballard

Lucinda Ballard

Lucinda Ballard was an American costume designer who worked primarily in Broadway theatre.Born Lucinda Davis Goldsborough in New Orleans, Louisiana, Ballard studied at the Art Students League in New York City. Her first professional credits was as the scenic and costume designer for a 1937...

. The cast starred Jack Haley

Jack Haley

John Joseph "Jack" Haley was an American stage, radio, and film actor best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man and Kansas farmworker Hickory in The Wizard of Oz.-Career:...

, Marta Eggerth

Marta Eggerth

Marta Eggerth is a singer/actress from "The Silver Age of Operetta". Many of the 20th century's most famous operetta composers, including Franz Lehár, Fritz Kreisler, Robert Stolz, Oscar Straus, and Paul Abraham, composed works especially for her...

, and Shirley Ross

Shirley Ross

Shirley Ross was an American actress and singer.Ross was born Bernice Gaunt in Omaha, Nebraska but her family relocated to California when she was a child. She studied at Hollywood High School and the University of California and auditioned successfully for Gus Arnheim's band during her second...

, with Leif Erickson

Leif Erickson

Leif Erickson was an American film and television actor.-Background:Leif Erickson was born William Wycliffe Anderson in Alameda, California. His father was commander of a fleet of ships and his mother was a noted newspaperwoman and writer...

 and Lee Dixon

Lee Dixon

Lee Michael Dixon is a former English professional footballer born in Manchester.He formed part of the Arsenal defence from the late 1980s, through till 2002. He was capped 22 times for England, scoring once....

 and included Vera Ellen and June Allyson

June Allyson

June Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...

.

A film based on the stage musical was released in 1943, starring Haley.

Songs

Act 1

• A Barking Baby Never Bites - Zachary Ash and Sandy Moore
• From Another World - Minnie Sorenson, Zachary Ash, Sandy Moore, Hilda O'Brien, Byng and Company
• Mornings at Seven - Mike O'Brien, Dottie and Ensemble
• Nothing But You - Minnie Sorenson, Patrick O'Toole and Singers
• Disgustingly Rich - Zachary Ash, Sandy Moore, Mike O'Brien, Hilda O'Brien, Byng, Miss Whiffen, Dottie and Ensemble

Act 2

• Blue Monday - Byng, Nursemaid, Scullery Maid, Ladies' Maid and Ensemble
• Ev'ry Sunday Afternoon - Minnie Sorenson and Patrick O'Toole
• Lovely Day for a Murder - Mike O'Brien, Dottie and Ensemble
• How's Your Health - Zachary Ash, Minnie Sorenson and Patrick O'Toole
• It Never Entered My Mind
  It Never Entered My Mind
  "It Never Entered My Mind" is a show tune from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical Higher and Higher , where it was introduced by Shirley Ross.-Notable recordings:...
  
  - Sandy Moore
• I'm Afraid - Zachary Ash, Sandy Moore and Specialty Girls and Boys
• I'm Afraid (Reprise) - Sandy Moore, Ellen, Mike O'Brien, Byng, Hilda O'Brien, First Cop and Company
• Finale - Company

External links

• Higher and Higher at LorenzHart.org