The run closed July 14, 1951
- Opened
- April 18, 1951
- Closed
- July 14, 1951
- Performances
- 102
- Previews
- —
- Theatre
- Winter Garden Theatre
Of the 705 productions we hold that opened in the 1950s and record a performance count, this is the 214th longest. That is a rank within what we hold, not within everything that was staged.
Who was in it49 named
Ray Borden
Aleen Buchanan
Dick Crowley
Robert Davis
Ed Gombos
Mary Harmon
Eda Heinemann
Carol Hendricks
David Huenergardt
Anne Humphrey
Janie Janvier
Margaret Jeanne
Lynn Joelson
Lida Loehring
John Laverty
Carol Lee
Douglas Luther
Sylvia Manon
Ellen Martin
Mike Mason
Beverly Mcfadden
Don Mckay
Claire Mitchell
Peggy O Hara
Le Roi Operti
Rica Owen
Ernie Preston
Jack Purcell
Charlotte Ray
Richard Reed
Sue Scott
Bob Shaver
Thelma Tadlock
Norma Thornton
Kenneth Urmston
David Vogel
Victor Voley
Howard Wendell
Ken Whelan
10 of these 49 names have a person record behind them and link to one. The other 39 are set from the identifier in the cast list, which is a slug of the name — so hyphens and full stops are lost and a few come out wrong. We hold nothing else about them. Nobody here is matched to a character: the cast list records who was in the company and not what they played.
Creative team
- Director
- John C. Wilson, John
- Choreographer
- Gower Champion
A producer is one string on this record, however many people or companies it names. Directors and choreographers are held both as text and as identifiers; where an identifier exists the name links to a page.
Around this production
The book was written by Preston Sturges, who had done the screenplay for the Sullavan movie, but Sturges quit in Philadelphia and returned to Hollywood.
- The failure of MAKE A WISH [April 18, 1951] virtually ended Martin’s Broadway career. Show Tunes 1905 1985 the Songs Shows and Careers of Steven Suskin 1st Ed New Yor, p. 376
- Styne’s Broadway producing career began with a major failure (MAKE A WISH! [Martin: April 18, 1951]), followed by the highly successful revival of PAL JOEY. Show Tunes 1905 1985 the Songs Shows and Careers of Steven Suskin 1st Ed New Yor, p. 408
- Martin followed the failure of MAKE A WISH [April 18, 1951] with the highly successful if old-fashioned London musical LOVE FROM JUDY, collaborating with Timothy Gray (who had contributed uncredited lyrics to MAKE A WISH). Show Tunes the Songs Shows and Careers of Broadway S Suskin Steven Suskin Steven, p. 235
- Styne determined to become a Broadway producer. His first show was a poorly produced mess of a fail- ure, MAKE A WISH! [Martin: April 18, 1951]), which was followed by the highly successful revival [January 3, 1952] of PAL JOEY [Rodgers: December 25, 1940]. Show Tunes the Songs Shows and Careers of Broadway S Suskin Steven Suskin Steven, p. 258
- We should note some more or less direct-from-Broadway fifties movie preservations. Martin’s own music and lyrics can be heard in Make A Wish (Victor, Sepia)—a Sondheim favorite, by the way— Anything Goes A History of American Musical Theatre Ethan Mordden, p. 422
Passages naming this production, found by keyword across 178 books. Where it turns up in the literature, not curated notes about it.
What this page does not know
- No photograph of this staging. 48 of 13,459 productions hold one.
- No character names. We can say who was in the company and not who they played.
- No recording is held for Make A Wish at all.
- Reviews, box office, running order, understudies and designers: none of it is held for any production.