The Conquering Hero 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 music by Mark Charlap

Mark Charlap

Mark "Moose" Charlap was a Jewish-American Broadway composer. Born Morris Isaac Charlip in Philadelphia, he was best known for "Peter Pan" , for which Carolyn Leigh wrote the lyrics. The idea to do the show came from Jerome Robbins, who planned to have a few songs by Charlap and Leigh...

, lyrics by Norman Gimbel

Norman Gimbel

Norman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with an Oscar for...

, and book by Larry Gelbart

Larry Gelbart

Larry Simon Gelbart was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...

. The musical was based on Preston Sturges' 1944 film Hail the Conquering Hero

Hail the Conquering Hero

Hail the Conquering Hero is a satirical comedy/drama written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken, Ella Raines and William Demarest, and featuring Raymond Walburn, Franklin Pangborn, Elizabeth Patterson and Bill Edwards....

.

It was originally staged and choreographed by 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...

, who was replaced during previews by Albert Marre

Albert Marre

Albert Marre is an American director and producer in the theatre.Born in New York City, Marre made his Broadway debut as an actor and associate director of the 1950 revival of John Vanbrugh's Restoration comedy The Relapse...

 as director and Todd Bolender as choreographer. Settings and lighting were 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....

.

Produced by Robert Whitehead

Robert Whitehead

Robert Whitehead was an English engineer. He developed the first effective self-propelled naval torpedo. His company, located in the Austrian naval centre in Fiume, was the world leader in torpedo development and production up to the First World War.- Early life:He was born the son of a...

 and Roger L. Stevens

Roger L. Stevens

Roger Lacey Stevens was an American theatrical producer, arts administrator, and a real estate executive. He is the founding Chairman of both the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts , and National Endowment for the Arts .Born in Detroit, Michigan, Stevens was educated at The Choate School in...

, the 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...

 production, opened on January 16, 1961 at the ANTA Playhouse, where it ran for 8 performances. Featured in the cast was Tom Poston

Tom Poston

Thomas Gordon "Tom" Poston was an American television and film actor. He starred on television in a career that began in 1950...

.

During out of town tryouts in Philadelphia, Gelbart comically said, still quoted by theater people: " If Hitler's alive, I hope he's out of town with a musical."

Songs

Act I

• "Girls! Girls!"
• "Five Shots of Whiskey"
• "Hail, the Conquering Hero!"
• "Must Be, Given to You"
• "Wonderful, Marvelous You"
• "Truth"
• "Won't you Marry Me?"
• "The River Bank"
• "Only Rainbows"
• "The Campaign"

Act II

• "One Mother Each"
• "I’m Beautiful"
• "Rough Times"
• "Yours, All Yours"
• "What I Mean to Say"