Make a Wish is a musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 with a book by Preston Sturges

Preston Sturges

Preston Sturges , originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a celebrated playwright, screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois...

 and Abe Burrows

Abe Burrows

Abe Burrows was a Tony and Pulitzer-winning American humorist, author, and director for radio and the stage.-Early years:...

, who was not credited, and music and lyrics by Hugh Martin

Hugh Martin

Hugh Martin was an American musical theater and film composer, arranger, vocal coach, and playwright. He is best known for his score for the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St...

.

Based on Sturges' screenplay for the 1935 film The Good Fairy

The Good Fairy (film)

The Good Fairy is a 1935 romantic comedy film written by Preston Sturges, based on the 1930 play A jó tündér by Ferenc Molnár as translated and adapted by Jane Hinton, which was produced on Broadway in 1931...

, which in turn is based on the play of the same name

The Good Fairy (play)

The Good Fairy is the English translation by Jane Hinton of the 1930 play A jó tündér by Ferenc Molnár. The Hungarian original premiered in Budapest, Hungary in October 1931, and the English translation was presented on Broadway with Helen Hayes playing "Lu" for 151 performances in...

 by Ferenc Molnár

Ferenc Molnár

LanguageFerenc Molnár was a Hungarian dramatist and novelist. His Americanized name was Franz Molnar...

 as translated by Jane Hinton, the musical focuses on Janette, who experiences various adventures, including love with young artist Paul Dumont, when she abandons her tour group during a visit to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

.

The musical opened 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...

 on April 18, 1951 at the Winter Garden Theatre

Winter Garden Theatre

The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1634 Broadway in midtown Manhattan.-History:The structure was built by William Kissam Vanderbilt in 1896 to be the American Horse Exchange....

 where it ran for a total of 102 performances until it closed on July 14, 1951. The production was produced by Harry Rigby

Harry Rigby

Harry Rigby was a Tony Award-winning American theatre producer and writer.Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Rigby joined forces with Jule Styne and Alexander H. Cohen to produce the short-lived 1951 Hugh Martin musical Make a Wish as his first Broadway outing...

, Jule Styne

Jule Styne

Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...

 and Alexander H. Cohen

Alexander H. Cohen

Alexander H. Cohen was a prolific American theatrical producer who mounted more than one hundred productions on both sides of the Atlantic. He was the only American producer to maintain offices in the West End as well as on Broadway.-Personal life:Cohen was born in New York City...

; staged by John C. Wilson

John C. Wilson

John C. Wilson was an American theatre director and producer.-Early life:Born in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, Wilson started out his working life as a stockbroker.-Career:...

; and choreographed by Gower Champion

Gower Champion

Gower Carlyle Champion was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.-Early years:Champion was born in Geneva, Illinois, the son of John W. Champion and Beatrice Carlisle. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, where he graduated from Fairfax High School...

. Raoul Pène Du Bois

Raoul Pene Du Bois

Raoul Pene Du Bois was an American costume designer and scenic designer for the stage and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.-Career:...

 designed the sets, lights, and costumes for the production. The original cast included Nanette Fabray

Nanette Fabray

Nanette Fabray is an American actress, comedienne, singer, dancer, and activist. She began her career performing in vaudeville as a child and then became a musical theatre actress during the 1940s and 1950s, winning a Tony Award in 1949 for her performance in Love Life...

 as Janette, Harold Lang

Harold Lang

Harold Lang was an American dancer and actor.-Biography:Lang began his professional career as a ballet dancer, making his professional debut with the San Francisco Ballet in 1938 and then going on to perform with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo two years later and American Ballet Theatre in 1943...

 as Ricky, Melville Cooper

Melville Cooper

George Melville Cooper , best known as Melville Cooper, was a British stage, film and television actor. Among his roles are the cowardly Sheriff of Nottingham in The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn, and Mr...

 as Marius Frigo, Stephen Douglass

Stephen Douglass

Stephen Douglass is an American actor-singer.Born Stephen Fitch in Mount Vernon, Ohio, Douglass has had a distinguished theatrical career and has appeared occasionally on television. He was the last performer to play Billy Bigelow in the original Broadway production of Carousel and he created the...

 as Paul Dumont, Helen Gallagher

Helen Gallagher

Helen Gallagher is an American actress, dancer, singer and makeup artist.-Early years:Born in Brooklyn, she was raised in Scarsdale, New York for several years until the Wall Street crash which heralded the Great Depression, and her family moved to the Bronx. Her parents separated and she was...

 as Poupette, Phil Leeds

Phil Leeds

Phil Leeds was a Jewish-American Hollywood character actor. Leeds' bulging eyes, rubbery face and wizened features made him a distinctive presence.-Biography:...

 as Dr. Francel, Eda Heinemann as Dr. Didier, and Howard Wendell

Howard Wendell

Howard Wendell, , was an American actor. Wendell made a number of film appearances but worked mostly on TV, in such programmes as Dragnet, Perry Mason, Wagon Train, Bonanza, The Munsters, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Big Valley and Adam-12.-Selected Filmography:* Affair...

as the policeman.

Song list

Act I

• The Tour Must Go On
• I Wanna Be Good'n Bad
• The Time Step
• (You're Just) What I Was Warned About
• Who Gives a Sou?
• Folies Labiche Overture (Hello, Hello, Hello)
• Tonight You Are in Paree
• When Does This Feeling Go Away
• Suits Me Fine
• Students Ball
• Paris, France

Act II

• That Face!
• Make a Wish
• I'll Never Make a Frenchman Out of You
• Over and Over
• The Sale (Ballet)
• Over and Over (Reprise)
• Who Gives a Sou? (Reprise)
• Take Me Back to Texas With You
• Suits Me Fine (Reprise)
• Finale