The run closed January 8, 1944
- Opened
- January 7, 1943
- Closed
- January 8, 1944
- Performances
- 422
- Previews
- —
- Theatre
- Neil Simon Theatre
Of the 890 productions we hold that opened in the 1940s and record a performance count, this is the 68th longest. That is a rank within what we hold, not within everything that was staged.
Who was in it97 named
Jimmy Allison
Alice Anthony
The Barnes Twins
Joseph Bell
May Block
William Callahan
Stanley Catron
Madeleine Clive
Jean Coyne
Bob Davis
Betty Deane
Patricia Deering
Benny Desio
Alan Fleming
Jerry Florio
Albert Gaeta
Aaron Gobetz
Ruth Godfrey
Dolores Goodman
Jack Hartley
Richard Harvey
Betty Heather
Buddy Irving
Margie Jackson
Jeanne Jones
Art Lambert
Stuart Langley
Bruce Lord
William Lynn
David Mann
Paul Mario
Remi Martell
Paul Martin
John Mayo
Frances Mercer
Joseph Monte
Duncan Noble
Jean Owens
Ricky Riccardi
Walter Rinner
Leslie Shannon
Ethel Sherman
Puddy Smith
Nina Starkey
William Vaux
Joe Viggiano
William Weber
Patricia Welles
Helen Wenzel
June Wieting
Parker Wilson
Leon Anthony
Tom Barrigan
Dick Beard
Forrest Bonshire
Gloria Brooks
Edward Cassell
Clarissa
Muriel Cole
William Drew
Charles Flynn
Jack Foley
Charles Howard
George Lambrose
Roma Leigh
Brayton Lewis
June Maclaren
Jack Malis
Jerry Meilan
Mavis Mims
Willamae Montur
Ben Murphy
Mischa Pompianov
Nancy Porter
Bobby Preist
Dale Preist
Jules Racine
Gordon Richards
Bob Roland
Ruth Ryder
George Sabo
Shirl Thomas
Terry Towne
14 of these 97 names have a person record behind them and link to one. The other 83 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
- Hassard Short
- Choreographer
- Jack Cole
- Orchestrations
- Hans Spiale
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
Something for the Boys is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields. Produced by Mike Todd, the show opened on Broadway in 1943 and starred Ethel Merman in her fifth Cole Porter musical.
On January 7, 1943, there was a unique opening night at the Alvin for the latest Cole Porter/Ethel Merman musical, Something for the Boys. This was the date that a new government ruling went into effect because of the war. At This Theatre 100 Years of Broadway Shows Stories and Botto Louis Viagas Rober, p. 289
With Ethel Merman, Paula Laurence introduced “By the Mississinewah” in Cole Porter’s Something for the Boys (1943);
Speaker not recorded. The Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals Dan Dietz Hardcover 2014 Rowman Lit, p. 894- The scene was a military base in Texas, and Ethel Merman was the star. Michael Todd produced, and Herbert, in addition to co-authoring the libretto with Dorothy, co-directed with Hassard Short. Broadway Its History People and Places An Encyclopedia Bloom Ken 1949 2nd Ed New, p. 189
- The producer of Something for the Boys was the extraordinary showman, Michael Todd. Todd was upset by the New York critics’ practice of leaving shows early so they could make deadlines. Todd had his ushers block the aisles, and he himself refused to let Burns Mantle of the Daily News and Howard Barnes of the Herald Tri… Broadway Its History People and Places An Encyclopedia Bloom Ken 1949 2nd Ed New, p. 369
- The next occupant of the Alvin was among the first shows to explore psychiatry, Lady in the Dark (1/23/41; 467 performances). The musical starred Gertrude Lawrence, returning to the Alvin in a better vehicle than her previous offering, Treasure Girl. KURT WEILL and Ira Gershwin supplied the score to a libretto by Moss… Broadway Its History People and Places An Encyclopedia Bloom Ken 1949 2nd Ed New, p. 394
- Something for the Boys (1/7/43; 422 performances), at the Alvin Theater, marked Porter’s last score written for Ethel Merman. Bill Johnson, Paula Laurence, and Betty Garrett were also in the wartime musical. Broadway Its History People and Places An Encyclopedia Bloom Ken 1949 2nd Ed New, p. 439
- Their musicals together were timely, hilarious fare that included the Merman vehicles DuBarry Was a Lady, Panama Hattie, and Something for the Boys. Broadway Musicals the 101 Greatest Shows of All Time Bloom Ken 1949 Vlastnik Fra, p. 21
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 Something for the Boys at all.
- Reviews, box office, running order, understudies and designers: none of it is held for any production.