You Never Know 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 Rowland Leigh, adapted from the original European play By Candlelight

By Candlelight

By Candlelight is an Austrian play by Siegfried Geyer and Karl Farkas. In 1933, it was filmed by director by James Whale, and starring Elissa Landi, Paul Lukas, Nils Asther, and Dorothy Revier...

, by Siegfried Geyer and Karl Farkas

Karl Farkas

Karl Farkas was an Austrian actor and cabaret performer.In accordance with the wishes of his parents, he was to study law, but decided to follow the call of the stage...

, with music by Cole Porter

Cole Porter

Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...

 and Robert Katscher, lyrics by Cole Porter, additional lyrics by Leigh and Edwin Gilbert, directed by Leigh, and songs by others.

Produced by John Shubert, 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 September 21, 1938 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 78 performances, after tryouts in New Haven, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Indianapolis, among others. The cast featured Clifton Webb

Clifton Webb

Clifton Webb was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for his Oscar-nominated roles in such films as Laura, The Razor's Edge, and Sitting Pretty...

, Lupe Vélez

Lupe Vélez

Lupe Vélez was a Mexican film actress. Vélez began her career in Mexico as a dancer, before moving to the U.S. where she worked in vaudeville. She was seen by Fanny Brice who promoted her, and Vélez soon entered films, making her first appearance in 1924. By the end of the decade she had...

, Libby Holman

Libby Holman

Libby Holman was an American torch singer and stage actress who also achieved notoriety for her complex and unconventional personal life.-Early life:...

, Toby Wing

Toby Wing

-Life and career:Born Martha Virginia Wing, she began working onscreen at age 9; her father, Paul Wing, was an assistant director for Paramount Pictures. In 1931 she became one of the first Goldwyn Girls, and in 1932 she was seen in Mack Sennett-produced comedies made by Paramount, one starring...

 (later replaced by June Havoc

June Havoc

June Havoc was a Canadian-born American actress, dancer, writer, and theater director. Havoc was a child Vaudeville performer under the tutelage of her mother. She later acted on Broadway and in Hollywood and stage directed . She last appeared on television in 1990 on General Hospital...

), and Rex O'Malley

Rex O'Malley

Rex O'Malley was a British actor.. His mother was Irish and a seamstress. At one stage she worked for Queen Victoria as her dressmaker and had a store on Sloane Street, London.-Selected filmography:* Somebody's Darling...

. A revival of the show, starring Kristin Chenoweth

Kristin Chenoweth

Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer and actress, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. She is best known on Broadway for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , for which she won a Tony Award, and for originating the role of Glinda in the musical...

, added the song Let's Misbehave

Let's Misbehave

"Let's Misbehave" is a famous song written by Cole Porter in 1927, originally intended for the female lead of his first major production, Paris...

to the score.

Songs

Act I

• Overture
• I Am Gaston
• Au Revoir, Cher Baron
• By Candlelight (lyrics by Rowland Leigh; music by Robert Katscher)
• Maria
• You Never Know
• Ladies’ Room (lyrics by Edwin Gilbert and Alexander Fogarty)
• What Is That Tune?
• For No Rhyme or Reason
• From Alpha to Omega
• Don’t Let It Get You Down
• What Shall I Do (lyrics by Rowland Leigh)

Act II

• Entr'acte
• Let's Put It to Music (lyrics by Edwin Gilbert and Alexander Fogarty)
• At Long Last Love (song)
  At Long Last Love (song)
  "At Long Last Love" is a popular song written by Cole Porter, for his 1938 musical You Never Know , where it was introduced by Clifton Webb.-Notable recordings:*Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Loves Cole...
  
  
• Take Yourself a Trip (lyrics by Edwin Gilbert and Alexander Fogarty)
• Yes, Yes, Yes
• Gendarme (lyrics by Rowland Leigh and Robert Katscher)
• No (You Can’t Have My Heart) (music and lyrics by Dana Suesse
  Dana Suesse
  Dana Suesse , full name Nadine Dana Suesse, was an American musician, composer and lyricist.-Biography:While still a child, Suesse toured the Midwest vaudeville circuits with an act centered on dancing and piano playing. During the recital, she would ask the audience for a theme, and then proceed...
  
  )
• Good Evening, Princess

Cut Songs

• I'll Black His Eyes
• I'm Yours
• What a Priceless Pleasure
• Just One Step Ahead of Love
• Ha, ha, ha
• The Cafe Society Set
• I'm Back in Circulation
• I'm Going in for Love
• It's No Laughing Matter

Critical Response

Critical reception was generally poor for the original production, and the show closed after 78 performances and after a salary cut for the cast. Variety had noted, "a limited stay is indicated," and The New Yorker wrote, "it is sad to see so many handsome and talented people wandering helplessly around a stage." In the Times, Brooks Atkinson wrote that Clifton Webb "has a whole bookcase stacked against him...handfuls of bad jokes [and] innuendoes with the delicacy of an elephant stampede."