Theatre Register
Call Me Madam

Call Me Madam

Shows · Call Me Madam

Once President Harry S. Truman named Washington party-giver Perle Mesta Ambassador to Luxembourg, the foundation was laid for a musical-comedy satire that would kid politics, foreign affairs, and the familiar sight of the comically gauche American abroad.

Opened
1950
Performances
644
Type
Musical
Era
Golden Age
Music: Irving BerlinLyrics: Irving BerlinBook: Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse

Productions2 on Broadway

1950 Imperial Theatre Original. October 12, 1950 · George Abbott 644 performances
1952 Transfer Theatre not recorded.

Every Broadway staging held in broadway-data, sourced to IBDB. West End runs are not yet held.

Licensing 2 entries

US Concord Theatricals Concord Theatricals available
UK Concord Theatricals Concord Theatricals available

Read from the licensor's own pages and catalogues. Rights move, and an empty row means we have not confirmed a publisher, not that the show cannot be licensed.

In the literature43 passages

Another piece, Irving Berlin’s “Mr. Monotony,” makes its Broadway debut in this production since it had been cut out of both Miss Liberty and Call Me Madam. book:broadway-musicals-show-by-show-seventh-edition-stanley-green-cary-ginell#p274

Annie Get Your Gun was the first of two shows Irving Berlin wrote for Ethel Merman (the other was Call Me Madam). book:broadway-musicals-show-by-show-green-stanley-green-kay-5th-ed-rev-and-updated-by#p154

Most shows were lighhearted in nature, and it’s notable the critics often used such words as carnival, jubilee, fandango, hoedown, haymaker, and festival to describe not just a particular song or dance sequence but also to characterize their take-away, overall impressions of the musicals they reviewed. But if fun was t… book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p2

Call Me Madam was the first Broadway show to sell $1 million worth of tickets before its New York opening. book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p82

The song “Mr. Monotony” was next heard in the tryout of Call Me Madam (it was sung by Merman, Muriel Bentley, Tommy Rall, and Arthur Partington), but again was dropped (it was replaced by “Something to Dance About”). book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p85

The collection also notes that for the musical’s national tour (which starred Elaine Stritch and Kent Smith), “I Like Ike” was replaced by “Our Day of Independence”; but the new song was soon dropped and the former number was restored to the production (one program lists the song as “They Liked Ike”). book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p86

Passages naming this show, found by keyword across 178 books. Where this show turns up in the literature, not curated trivia about it.

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