Redhead is a musical with music composed by Albert Hague

Albert Hague

Albert Hague was a German-born songwriter, composer, and actor.-Early life:Hague was born as Albert Marcuse to a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany. His father, Harry Marcuse, was a psychiatrist and a musical prodigy, and his mother, Mimi , a chess champion...

 and lyrics by Dorothy Fields

Dorothy Fields

Dorothy Fields was an American librettist and lyricist.She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films...

, who with her brother, Herbert

Herbert Fields

Herbert Fields was an American librettist and screenwriter.Born in New York City, Fields began his career as an actor, then graduated to choreography and stage direction before turning to writing. From 1925 until his death, he contributed to the libretti of many Broadway musicals...

, along with Sidney Sheldon

Sidney Sheldon

Sidney Sheldon was an Academy Award-winning American writer. His TV works spanned a 20-year period during which he created The Patty Duke Show , I Dream of Jeannie and Hart to Hart , but he became most famous after he turned 50 and began writing best-selling novels such as Master of the Game ,...

 and David Shaw wrote the book/libretto. Set in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in the 1880s, around the time of Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper

"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...

, the musical is a murder mystery in the setting of a wax museum

Wax museum

A wax museum or waxworks consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses....

.

Productions and background

Herbert and Dorothy Fields wrote the musical, then titled The Works for Beatrice Lillie

Beatrice Lillie

Beatrice Gladys "Bea" Lillie was an actress and comedic performer. Following her 1920 marriage to Sir Robert Peel in England, she was known in private life as Lady Peel.-Early career:...

. When Sidney Sheldon joined the writing team, it was rewritten for Gwen Verdon

Gwen Verdon

Gwenyth Evelyn “Gwen” Verdon was an actress and dancer who won four Tony awards for her musical comedy performances. With flaming red hair and an endearing quaver in her voice, Verdon was a critically acclaimed dancer on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s...

, who just had two smash hits on Broadway (Damn Yankees

Damn Yankees

Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League...

and New Girl in Town

New Girl in Town

New Girl in Town is a musical with a book by George Abbott and music and lyrics by Bob Merrill based on Eugene O'Neill's 1921 gloomy play Anna Christie, about a prostitute who tries to live down her past. New Girl, unlike O'Neill's play, focuses on the jealousy of the character Marthy and on...

). Verdon took the lead on the condition that Bob Fosse

Bob Fosse

Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...

 would be the director as well as choreographer, making this his debut as a director.

Redhead 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...

 at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers Theatre

Richard Rodgers Theatre

The Richard Rodgers Theatre, is a Broadway theater in New York City, built by Irwin Chanin in 1925. When it was first opened, it was called Chanin's 46th Street Theatre. Chanin almost immediately leased it to the Shuberts, who bought the building outright in 1931 and renamed it the 46th Street...

) on February 5, 1959, and closed on March 19, 1960, after 452 performances. Bob Fosse directed and choreographed. Production design was by Rouben Ter-Arutunian

Rouben Ter-Arutunian

Rouben Ter-Arutunian was a costume and scenic designer for dance, opera, theater and television.Born in Tiflis, Georgia, he attended the Reimann Art School from 1939 to 1941, studied film music at the Hochschule fur Musik and took courses at the Friedrich-Wilhelm University , 1941–43, and at the...

 and lighting design was by Jean Rosenthal

Jean Rosenthal

Jean Rosenthal is considered a pioneer in the field of theatrical lighting design. She was born in New York City to Romanian-Jewish immigrants....

. The cast starred Verdon and Richard Kiley. The show won the Tony Award for Best Musical

Tony Award for Best Musical

This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...

. Neil Ripley was involved.

The Costa Mesa Playhouse in Costa Mesa, California

Costa Mesa, California

Costa Mesa is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 109,960 at the 2010 census. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to a primarily suburban and "edge" city with an economy based on retail, commerce, and light...

 known for mounting lesser-known, unique, and obscure musicals had a successful run of Redhead in June 1981.

The musical revival group 42nd Street Moon

42nd Street Moon

42nd Street Moon is a professional theatre company in San Francisco, California. The company specializes in the preservation and presentation of early and lesser-known works by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern,...

 in San Francisco, presented a staged concert of Redhead from September 2 to 20, 1998.

Original Broadway Cast

• Essie Whimple - Gwen Verdon
• Tom Baxter - Richard Kiley
• Ruth LaRue - Pat Ferrier
• Howard Cavanaugh - William LeMassena
• Maude Simpson - Cynthia Latham
• Sarah Simpson - Doris Rich
• George Poppett - Leonard Stone
• Inspector White - Ralph Sumpter
• May - Joy Nichols
• Tilly - Pat Perrier
• Alfy - Lee Krirger
• Sir Charles Willingham - Patrick Horgan

Songs

Act 1

• The Simpson Sisters - Singers and Dancers
• The Right Finger of My Left Hand - Essie Whimple
• Just for Once - Essie Whimple, Tom Baxter and George Poppett
• Merely Marvelous - Essie Whimple
• The Uncle Sam Rag - George Poppett, Singers and Dancers
• Erbie Fitch's Twitch - Essie Whimple
• She's Not Enough Woman for Me - Tom Baxter and George Poppett
• Behave Yourself - Essie Whimple, Maude Simpson, Sarah Simpson and Tom Baxter
• Look Who's in Love - Essie Whimple and Tom Baxter
• My Girl Is Just Enough Woman for Me - Tom Baxter and Passersby
• Essie's Vision - Essie Whimple and her Dream People
• Two Faces in the Dark - Essie Whimple, The Tenor, Singers and Dancers

Act II

• I'm Back in Circulation - Tom Baxter
• We Loves Ya, Jimey - Essie Whimple, May, Tilly and Clientele of the Green Dragon
• Pick-Pocket Tango - Essie Whimple and Jailer
• Look Who's in Love (Reprise) - Tom Baxter
• I'll Try - Essie Whimple and Tom Baxter
• Finale - Essie Whimple, Tom Baxter and Company

Awards and nominations

• Tony Award for Best Musical
  Tony Award for Best Musical
  This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...
  
   - (WINNER)
• Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical - Richard Kiley (WINNER)
• Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical - Gwen Verdon (WINNER)
• Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical - Leonard Stone (nominee)
• Tony Award for Best Costume Design
  Tony Award for Best Costume Design
  These are the winners and nominees for the Tony Award for Best Costume Design. The award was first presented in 1947 and included both plays and musicals...
  
   - Production Designed by Rouben Ter-Arutunian (WINNER)
• Tony Award for Best Choreography
  Tony Award for Best Choreography
  -1940s:* 1947: Agnes de Mille – Brigadoon / Michael Kidd – Finian's Rainbow* 1948: Jerome Robbins – High Button Shoes* 1949: Gower Champion – Lend An Ear-1950s:* 1950: Helen Tamiris – Touch and Go* 1951: Michael Kidd – Guys and Dolls...
  
   - Bob Fosse (WINNER)
• Tony Award for Best Conductor and Musical Director
  Tony Award for Best Conductor and Musical Director
  The Tony Award for Best Conductor and Musical Director was first presented in 1948, and later discontinued after 1964.-1940s:* 1948: Milton Rosenstock – Finian's Rainbow* 1949: Max Meth – As the Girls Go-1950s:...
  
  - Jay Blackton (nominee)

External links

• Internet Broadway Database listing
• MTI shows synopsis
• Guinness Who's Who of Stage Musicals - editor, Colin Larken, ISBN 0-85112-756-8