Silk Stockings (1955) - 1996 Concert Production

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Book by George Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath, and Abe Burrows

Directed by Greg MacKellan
Musical Staging by Greg MacKellan and Isadora Stendo

Playbill Notes

That Silk Stockings should open to such enthusiastic response was considered something of a theatrical miracle in 1955, for the show had suffered through one of the longest-and most contentious-try-out periods in Broadway history.

Silk Stockings opened in Philadelphia in November, 1954, directed by George S. Kaufman, choreographed by Helen Tamiris, and starring Don Ameche (as Steve Canfield), Hildergarde Kneff (as Ninotchka) and Yvonne Adair (as movie queen Janice Dayton). By the February 24, 1955, opening in New York, thirteen of Porter's song had been replaced or rewritten; Cy Feur and Eugene Loring had replaced Kaufman and Tamiris; and a young chorus girl named Gretchen Wyler had been elevated to the lead role of Janice Dayton (taking the town by storm in the process). As Walter Kerr observed "...the authors were changed, the directors were changed, the choreographer's were changed, and the changes were changed."

This time too many cooks proved a boon, however. The book missed the champagne fizz of its source material (Ernst Lubitsch's 1939 Garbo classic, Ninotchka) but hit the mark with raucously funny satires of Hollywood movie-making and Cold War-era Communism. A successful two-year Broadway run was the result, and in 1957 an MGM move version, starring Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, and Janis Paige, was released to wide acclaim.

The show's success was a bittersweet one for Cole Porter, however. The opening was his first since the death of his wife, Linda (friends continued Linda's tradition of sending him a gold cigarette case to mark the occasion) and Porter was all too aware that the sophisticated, upper-class world he had celebrated in song (and in his life) for so long was disappearing. In fact, Silk Stockings would be his final Broadway show, and by the end of the decade Porter's glittering musical career was over (though he would survive-debilitated and depressed-until October, 1964.

For all its popularity at the time, Silk Stockings is rarely revived. We at 42nd Street Moon would like to thank Roberta Staats of the Cole Porter Trusts for suggesting that we give the show a look, for Silk Stockings represents state-of-the-art 50's Broadway craftsmanship, and offers ample testament to the talent of two of the American theatre's brightest lights, George S. Kaufman and Cole Porter.

Plot Summary

Loosely based on the popular Greta Garbo film, Ninotchka, the 1955 musical, Silk Stockings, tells the story of a female Russian Commissar who goes to Paris to retrieve a wavering comrade composer of highbrow music, only to be beguiled by romance, luxury, jazz, and other such capitalist corruptions.

The very serious and dedicated Ninotchka arrives to retrieve not only the young Russian composer who has come under the spell of Paris (and into the grip of an American agent), but also to collect the three Kremlin agents sent before her, who have also fallen prey to the seductions of the West. However, the temptation of fine French silk and champagne proves too much for even this humorless woman of the Kremlin, who falls in love with both the delightful luxuries of Paris and an amorous American movie agent.

Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO (14 March 1996) -- 42nd Street Moon, one of only three companies in the world exclusively devoted to presenting the "lost" treasures of musical theatre, launches its 4th anniversary season with a revival of the 1950's musical satire of Soviet Russia, Silk Stockings, music by Cole Porter, book by George S. Kaufman, Abe Burrows and Leueen McGrath. Kicking off 42nd Street Moon's seven-show Lost Musical Series celebrating songwriters of the Golden-Age of Broadway music, Silk Stockings features a romantic and witty score by Cole Porter which the New York Times exclaimed, "put Mr. Porter back in his best form." Silk Stockings will be presented April 11 - April 28, 1996 (preview April 10), at the New Conservatory Theatre, 25 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco.

Loosely based on the popular Greta Garbo film, Ninotchka, the 1955 musical Silk Stockings tells the story of a female Russian Commissar who goes to Paris to retrieve a wavering comrade composer of highbrow music, only to be beguiled by romance, luxury, jazz, and other such capitalist corruptions. The very serious and dedicated Ninotchka arrives to retrieve not only the young Russian composer who has come under the spell of Paris (and into the grip of an American agent), but also to collect the three Kremlin agents sent before her, who have also fallen prey to the seductions of the West. However, the temptation of fine French silk and champagne proves too much for even this humorless woman of the Kremlin, who falls in love with both the delightful luxuries of Paris and an amorous American movie agent.

In its one-and-a-half year run, the 1955 production of Silk Stockings garnered rave reviews, making a star of Gretchen Wyler, who as an understudy stepped in for Yvonne Adair in the role of the not-very-bright but extremely vivacious American aquatic actress, "Janice Dayton." Featuring Don Ameche as the handsome and persuasive American movie agent, and Hildegarde Neff as the stern, but charming Ninotchka, Silk Stockings was hailed by the New York Times as representing "the best goods in the American musical comedy emporium...offering the wittiest dialogue of recent years, Cole Porter's best work, and enormous gusto and skill in performance. This is one of Gotham's memorable shows, on a level with Guys and Dolls." Two years later, the musical was made into a popular film starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse.

42nd Street Moon's production of Silk Stockings will be directed by co-founder Greg MacKellan. In the lead, 42nd Street Moon's own Stephanie Rhoads will be featured as Ninotchka. Rhoads has appeared in the role of Professor Charlotte Kenyon in Good News at Woodminster Amphitheater, in addition to numerous performances with 42nd Street Moon, including last season's Three Sisters, Connecticut Yankee, and Something for the Boys. Mark Silence portrays the suave American film agent who, while having attached himself to the Communist genius composer, also manages to capture the stern Ninotchka's heart. Silence's credits include several local ACT productions such as Good, Charley's Aunt, A Christmas Carol, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He has also played leads in the musicals Pippin and West Side Story. He currently holds a recurring part on the T.V. series Beverly Hills 90210. In the role of the high-strung Russian composer Boroff will be Jon DiSavino. Recently seen in Unidentified Human Remains at the Magic Theatre, DiSavino has also appeared in lead roles in THE MATCHMAKER and Brigadoon. Rounding out the cast will be Alice Lynn as the American movie queen Janice Dayton, Sean Sharp and Bill Fahrner as Russian KGB agents, Robert Weinapple as Marcovitch, and Lori Leigh Gieleghem as a temperamental Russian ballet dancer. Natasha Burr, Dyan McBride, and Ed Graham will also appear. MacKellan will direct, with musical direction provided by Peggy Gorham.