Hollywood Pinafore or The Lad Who Loved A Salary (1945)

Book and Lyrics by George S. Kaufman
Music by Sir Arthur Sullivan

Musical Director: Pat Parr
 

Playbill Notes

George Kaufman's dislike and distrust of all things Hollywood was well-known. In addition to co-authoring and directing the scathing satire Once in a Lifetime in 1931, Kaufman's experiences as a film writer gave him the raw material for any number of essays and articles lampooning the motion picture industry. When a chance remark by playwright Charles Lederer indicated the possibility of a Gilbert and Sullivan satire, Kaufman once again decided to turn his wicked wit loose on Tinseltown.

When his transformations of H.M.S. Pinafore was complete, Kaufman set to work casting the play with some of Broadway's brighest lights. William Gaxton and Victor Moore, co-stars of Kaufman's Of Thee I Sing and Let 'Em Eat Cake were reunited to play agent Dick Live-Eye and studio chief Joseph Porter. Shirley Booth signed on to play Louhedda Hopsons, Kaufman regular Mary Wicks became executive secretary Miss Hebe; and Metropolitan Opera star Annamary Dickey created her first musical comedy role as Brenda Blossom.

Unfortunately, Hollywood Pinafore hit Broadway after a string of G&S take-offs had left the public weary of the idea. In fact, another Americanization of H.M.S. Pinafore, Memphis Bound! (set in a riverboat and starring Bill Robinson as the Captain) opened only a week before. Critical reaction was thus understandably mixed, but there were several positive notices:

"A gaily impudent musical show which brightens the season immesaurably-audacious and vastly entertaining."
-New York Herald Tribune

"A joyous show, Hollywood Pinafore land definitely in the upper brackets of Broadways evenings."
-New York Sun

The competition proved too great, though, and Hollywood Pinafore disappeared after 53 performances. However, the script was published (in abridged form,) and this inspired us to seek the performance rights from Kaufman's daughter, Ann Kaufman Schneider.

Since the show has remained untouched for the last 49 years, this involved a bit of detective work. A complete production script was located at the Princeton Library, but the score had completely vanished. Local arranger Wayne Love was recruited to create a new piano-vocal score, using Kaufman's lyrics and the original Sullivan score. Fortunately, the reviews made it clear that Kaufman had presented the music essentially "straight"; as opposed to the swing variations of many of hte other G&S take-offs.

The results are here for you to see this evening-the first production of Hollywood Pinafore since the original played the Alvin Theatre in 1945.

This production represents a coup for 42nd Street Moon as a production company, and it is the perfect capper for our season of off-beat musicals. We hope you enjoy it!

-Greg MacKellan

Plot Summary

Starlet Brenda Blossom, pining for a lowly writer, Ralph, is promised in marriage by her father (a director looking to advance his own career) to the studio head, Joseph Porter. If she marries Ralph, she'll be tossed out of Hollywood and forced to make a living on the stage. Fortunately, everything turns out for the best when it is discovered that a mix-up in Louhedda Hopsons' gossip column was responsible for Ralph's fall from grace. In reality, it was Ralph who was meant to head the studio instead of Porter.