Theatre Register

Vernon Duke

Shows · Vernon Duke

Composer 1903–1969

Vernon Duke (10 October [O.S. 27 September] 1903 – 16 January 1969) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter who also wrote under his birth name, Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for "Taking a Chance on Love," with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John Latouche (1940); "I Can't Get Started," with lyrics by Ira Gershwin (1936); "April in Paris," with lyrics by E. Y. ("Yip") Harburg (1932), and "What Is There To Say," for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934, also with Harburg. Duke wrote the words and music for "Autumn in New York" (1934) for the revue Thumbs Up! In his book American Popular Song, The Great Innovators 1900-1950, composer Alec Wilder praises this song, writing, “The verse may be…

Also credited on4 works

Banjo Eyes
Cabin In The Sky
Two’s Company
Ziegfeld Follies

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature8 passages

  • Vernon Duke (1903-69) was born Vladimir Dukelsky, in Parfianovka, Russia where he went to school with George Balanchine . After arriving in New York, he worked on Garrick Gaieties for the Theatre Guild. He also wrote serious works under his birth name, although according to Alan Jay Lerner , “Duke proved to be more successful than Dukelsk…ebooks/Atkey, Mel/Million Miles from Broadway_ Musical Theatre Beyond New York and London, A - Mel Atkey.txt
  • It's a fine piece, my love, despite all the repetition, and Vernon Duke's verdict that it's “just 20th Century Fox”. He's insufferable anyway.ebooks/Bernstein, Leonard/Leonard Bernstein Letters, The - Leonard Bernstein.txt
  • 21 . Vernon Duke, “Gershwin, Schillinger, and Dukelsky: Some Reminiscences,” Musical Quarterly 33 (January 1947): 108.ebooks/Block, Geoffrey/Enchanted Evenings_The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber - Geoffrey Block.txt
  • Music : Vernon Duke, Sheldon Harnick (ballet music by Genevieve Pitot and David Baker)ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Act Two: “Dance Hall Hostess” (Rhapsody in Black , 1931; lyric by Mann Holiner, music by Alberta Nichols); “Odd Moments” (music by Reginald Beane) (Reginald Beane); Jerome Kern Medley (Reginald Beane); “Taking a Chance on Love” (Cabin in the Sky , 1940; lyric by Ted Fetter and John LaTouche, music by Vernon Duke); “Somethin’ Told Me Not t…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Johnson had the distinction of introducing on Broadway songs by Vernon Duke, Cole Porter, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, and Rodgers and Hammerstein. In Duke’s Banjo Eyes (1941), he introduced the jaunty “Not a Care in the World”; in Porter’s Something for the Boys (1943) he and Ethel Merman introduced “Hey, Good Lookin’”; and in Le…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Any staging. This name appears in no production cast list we hold — 1,877 of 7,139 people are in that position, most of them writers, composers and designers rather than performers.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — composer — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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