The run closed June 30, 1996
- Opened
- March 27, 1996
- Closed
- June 30, 1996
- Performances
- 110
- Previews
- —
- Theatre
- Music Box Theatre
Of the 368 productions we hold that opened in the 1990s and record a performance count, this is the 133rd longest. That is a rank within what we hold, not within everything that was staged.
Who was in it27 named
Jackie Angelescu
Leslie Bell
Linnea Dakin
Suellen Estey
Tim Fauvell
J Lee Flynn
Darrian C Ford
Amy Gage
Newton R Gilchrist
Charles Goff
Susan Haefner
Tina Johnson
Jacquiline Rohrbacker
Michael Lee Scott
Mary C Sheehan
John Wilkerson
Scott Willis
10 of these 27 names have a person record behind them and link to one. The other 17 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.
Characters15 roles recorded
John Davidson Abel Frake
Kathryn Crosby Melissa Frake
Andrea McArdle Margy Frake
Ben Wright Wayne Frake
Donna McKechnie Emily Arden
Scott Wise Pat Gilbert
Charles Goff Dave Miller
Peter Benson Harry
Susan Haefner Eleanor
John Wilkerson Lem
J. Lee Flynn Clay
Newton R. Gilchrist Hank Munson
Darrian C. Ford Charlie
Tina Johnson Vivian
Leslie Bell Jeanne
Only 512 of 13,459 productions carry role names, and these came out of a wiki table — the names arrived with the table's own cell markup on them and have been stripped back. They are not linked to person records because the identifiers in that table do not resolve to ours.
Creative team
- Director
- Randy Skinner, James Hammerstein
- Choreographer
- Randy Skinner
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
State Fair is a musical with a book by Tom Briggs and Louis Mattioli, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and music by Richard Rodgers. Phil Stong's original 1932 novel, State Fair, was first adapted for film in 1933 in a production starring Will Rogers. In 1945, the film was remade as a musical with original songs by Rodgers and Hammerstein. This was subsequently remade in 1962 as well as adapted into a made-for-television movie in 1976. The stage production closely follows the plot of its predecessors, providing a glimpse into the life of a farming family, the Frakes, and their three-day adventure at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines in 1946. While parents Abel and Melissa are hoping to win a…
State Fair was released in August 1945, several months after the April opening of Carousel. Enchanted Evenings the Broadway Musical From Show Boat Block Geoffrey Oxford New, p. 663
- Today, some of the score lives on in stage versions of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1945 film State Fair and 1957 television musical Cinderella , both of which had short scores requiring more music to fill out their evenings. Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals the Dan Dietz, p. 332
- the 1996 Broadway version of State Fair , which appropriated two songs from Pipe Dream Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals the Dan Dietz, p. 517
- After a stint in Hollywood, where they wrote the movie musical State Fair, the team’s next Broadway musical was Allegro at the Majestic Theater (10/10/47; 315 performances). Broadway Its History People and Places An Encyclopedia Bloom Ken 1949 2nd Ed New, p. 462
- Merrick returned to Broadway with two final musicals, an ill-advised stage version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s State Fair (1996). More Opening Nights On Broadway A Critical Quotebook of Compiled By Steven Suski, p. 1101
- the 1973 Broadway version of GIGI (for which Loewe and Lerner wrote additional songs) and the 1996 version of STATE FAIR (which included previously unused Rodgers and Hammerstein material) are included; British productions of Porter’s TV musical “Aladdin” or Loesser’s film Hans Christian Andersen—filled out with interp… Show Tunes the Songs Shows and Careers of Broadway S Suskin Steven Suskin Steven, p. 22
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 recording is held for State Fair at all.
- Reviews, box office, running order, understudies and designers: none of it is held for any production.