Paris Productions: Vaudeville and Operetta
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1927
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Le
Théâtre de la Chauve-Souris
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Nikita
Balieff’s Franco-Russian vaudeville was a great success in Paris, London,
and New York during the 1920s. The 1927 edition featured three solo dances by
Tamara Geva, two of which were choreographed by Balanchine. They were the first
Balanchine choreography seen by Lincoln Kirstein and the first Balanchine works
performed in America.
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1928
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Le
Théâtre de la Chauve-Souris
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|
The maître
de chorégraphie for this
edition of Balieff’s Bat Theatre of Moscow was billed as “G.
Bulanchin.” The dance
tableaux were set to music by Charles Laurent, Tchaikovsky, and Debussy.
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1931
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Orphée aux Enfers
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This production of Offenbach’s 1874 comic opera had a gala opening on
Christmas Eve 1931. The dancing ensemble, billed as “Les Ballets Russes
de Georges Balanchine,” was led by Felia Doubrovska and Anatole Vilzak.
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London Productions: Revues, Variety Shows, and Film
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1929
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Charles B. Cochran’s 1929 Revue
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After a long run in London, this revue, entitled Wake Up and Dream!, was brought to New York, where it opened on 30 December 1929. Tilly Losch was the star of a number choreographed by Balanchine to Cole Porter’s sultry song “What Is This Thing Called Love?”
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1929
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Dark Red Roses
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This
film was one of the earliest feature-length talking motion pictures made in
England. Balanchine choreographed a pas de trois and danced it with Lydia Lopokova and Anton Dolin.
They heard of Diaghilev’s death during filming.
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1930
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Charles
B. Cochran’s 1930 Revue
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Among
the various dance scenes was a ballet called “Luna Park, or The
Freaks,” with a book by
Boris Kochno and music by Lord Berners. Alice Nikitina danced The One-Legged
Woman, and Serge Lifar danced The Six-Armed Man.
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1931
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Sir
Oswald Stoll’s Variety Shows |
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The
dancing ensemble of sixteen women was variously billed as “The Balanchine
Ballet,” “Balanchine’s Girls,”
“Balanchine’s Sixteen Novelty Dancers,” “George
Balanchine’s Sixteen Delightful Dancers,” and “16 Delightful
Balanchine Girls 16.”
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1931
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Charles
B. Cochran’s 1931 Revue
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|
The
large cast of “Scaramouche: An Impression of the Commedia
dell’Arte” included John Mills as Harlequin and Bobby Clark as a
sailor, backed up by Mr. Cochran’s Young Ladies and The John Tiller
Girls.
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Broadway Shows: Revues, Book Musicals, and Operettas
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1936
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Ziegfeld Follies of 1936
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Harriet
Hoctor was the dancing star, but it was Balanchine’s sensual choreography
for Josephine Baker, just returned from her triumphs in Paris, that caught
everyone’s eye.
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1936
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On Your Toes
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Balanchine’s
first big-time Broadway show, written by Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, and
George Abbott, with music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart. “Slaughter on
Tenth Avenue,” danced by Ray Bolger and Tamara Geva, became its most
famous number. |
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1937
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Babes
in Arms
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Another
Rodgers and Hart show, remembered today primarily for the spectacular jazz tap
dancing of the Nicholas Brothers and for “Peter’s Journey,”
considered to be the first dream ballet on Broadway.
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1938
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I Married an Angel
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Rodgers
and Hart again, starring Vera Zorina in her Broadway debut. Its biggest number
was “At the Roxy Music Hall,” danced by the entire cast. It
featured Vivienne Segal and Audrey Christie as exuberant Rockettes, Zorina as a
graceful naiad, and Walter Slezak as an ungainly sea monster.
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1938
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The Boys from Syracuse
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|
Balanchine’s
fourth show with Rodgers and Hart was based on Shakespeare’s play The
Comedy of Errors. Eddie Albert and
Jimmy Savo were the stars, with Heidi Vosseler and George Church as featured
dancers.
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1938
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Great Lady
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Led
by André Eglevsky, Leda Anchutina, and Annabelle Lyon, the dancing
ensemble included two young dancers making their Broadway debuts: Alicia Alonso
and Jerome Robbins. The score was the first full Broadway score by Frederick
Loewe.
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1940
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Keep
Off the Grass |
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A
musical revue starring Jimmy Durante, Ray Bolger, Jane Froman, and Ilka Chase,
with Betty Bruce, Larry Adler, Virginia O’Brien, Sunnie O’Dea, and
Jackie Gleason, and featuring José Limón, Daphne Vane, Margery
Moore, and Dodson’s Monkeys.
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1940
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Louisiana Purchase
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With
music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and with Vera Zorina, William Gaxton, and
Victor Moore in leading roles, this show was a big hit, running for 444
performances on Broadway and going on a national tour. It was made into a movie
in 1941, with Zorina and Bob Hope.
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1940
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Cabin
in the Sky
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Ethel
Waters was the star of an all-black cast, which included Katherine Dunham and
the Dunham Dancers. Balanchine staged the entire production and collaborated
with Dunham on the choreography for her company. The score by Vernon Duke had lyrics by John
Latouche.
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1942
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The
Lady Comes Across
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Despite
the collaboration of Vernon Duke and John Latouche, this show was a dismal
flop. Ray Bolger and Jessie Matthews, the original stars, resigned their roles
before the show opened in New York. It closed after only three performances on
Broadway.
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1942
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Rosalinda
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In the fourth Broadway revival of Die Fledermaus since 1900, Dorothy Sarnoff played Rosalinda, and
Shelley Winters had a supporting role. Mary Ellen Moylan and José
Limón, the dancing stars, were replaced during the long run of more than
five hundred performances by Elise Rieman and William Dollar.
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1943
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The
Merry Widow
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A
new musical version of Franz Lehár’s perennially popular operetta,
with English lyrics. Jan Kiepura and Marta Eggerth were the singing stars, and
Lubov Roudenko, Milada Mladova, Chris Volkoff, and James Starbuck were featured
dancers.
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1943
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What’s
Up
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This
show was the first public collaboration of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe.
Among the dance numbers were two dream ballets, and among the featured players
was a girl billed as Marjorie Beecher, later to become famous as Marge
Champion.
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1944
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Dream
with Music
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Clay
Warnick based his music on themes from numerous classical composers; Edward
Eager supplied the lyrics; and Vera Zorina headed a huge cast of actors,
singers, and dancers. Balanchine did the choreography for all the numbers
except the tap routines, which were staged by Henry Le Tang.
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1944
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Song
of Norway
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The
first of more than nine hundred performances took place in Los Angeles. The
original dancing ensemble was the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, with Alexandra
Danilova, Frederic Franklin, Nathalie Krassovska, Leon Danielian, Maria
Tallchief, Ruthanna Boris, Alexander Goudovitch, Mary Ellen Moylan, and many
other dancers who would become well known.
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1945
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Mr.
Strauss Goes to Boston
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The
pretext of the show is a visit to Boston by Johann Strauss in 1872. The music
by Robert Stolz was based on Strauss waltzes, polkas, galops, and marches.
Harold Lang, Barbara Heath, and Helen Gallagher led the dancers.
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1947
|
The
Chocolate Soldier
|
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This
operetta by Oscar Straus, with a libretto based on Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw, was first presented in New
York in 1909. The large cast of the 1947 production featured Billy Gilbert as
Popoff, the comic lead, and Mary Ellen Moylan and Francisco Moncion as
principal dancers. |
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1948
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Where’s
Charley?
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A blockbuster hit, starring Ray Bolger as Charley and Allyn Ann McLerie as Amy,
with a book by George Abbott and music and lyrics by Frank Loesser.
Bolger’s rendition of “Once in Love with Amy” was so
infectious that it was eventually performed as an audience sing-along.
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1951
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Courtin' Time
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Set in Maine and based on Down East folklore, this show featured a square dance, a hoedown, a softshoe number, and a ballet called "Johnny and the Puckwudgies," danced by Peter Conlow, Gloria Patrice, and the ensemble. |
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1951
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House
of Flowers
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Written by Truman Capote and Harold Arlen, this show became notorious during
rehearsals and tryouts for disagreements between its creators and its
producer. Balanchine withdrew before the New York opening, and Herbert Ross
revised the choreography.
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Hollywood Films
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1938
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The
Goldwyn Follies
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|
A
United Artists Production. Balanchine directed the filming of the choreography
for his first Hollywood work. Vernon Duke wrote the music for the “Romeo
and Juliet Ballet” and for the “Water Nymph Ballet,” in which
Vera Zorina rises out of a pool before beginning to dance. Balanchine also
created a ballet to George Gershwin’s An American in Paris, but Sam Goldwyn rejected it.
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1939
|
On
Your Toes
|
|
A
Warner Brothers Production, starring Vera Zorina and Eddie Albert. The film is
a close adaptation of the stage play of 1936. Balanchine again directed the
filming of the dance sequences.
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1940
|
I
Was an Adventuress
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A Twentieth Century–Fox Production, starring Vera Zorina as an international spy. The dance scene, set to music from Swan Lake, act 2, was filmed using elaborate camera techniques developed with Balanchine’s collaboration.
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1942
|
Star Spangled Rhythm
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|
A Paramount Pictures Production. This patriotic film revue, with a large cast of Hollywood stars, was made to entertain military personnel on active duty during World War II. Vera Zorina, appearing as herself, dances a solo choroegraphed by Balanchine to "That Old Black Magic," sung by Johnny Johnston.
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1944
|
Follow the Boys
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A Universal Studios Production. Made for USO distribution, this film starred George Raft and Vera Zorina in a thin story designed to introduce an array of Hollywood singers and dancers. Raft and Zorina dance a beguine choreographed by Balanchine.
|
Circus
|
1942
|
The
Ballet of the Elephants
|
|
Set
to music by Igor Stravinsky, this “original choreographic tour de
force” for “fifty
elephants and fifty beautiful girls” was created for the Ringling
Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. In the first performance at Madison
Square Garden in New York City, Vera Zorina rode the lead elephant. She, the
girls, and the elephants all wore fluffy tutus designed by Norman Bel Geddes
and Miles White.
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