Theatre Register
Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies

Sophisticated Ladies

Shows · Sophisticated Ladies

Sophisticated Ladies is a musical revue based on the music of Duke Ellington. The revue ran on Broadway in 1981–83, earning two awards and eight nominations at the 35th Tony Awards.

Opened
1981
Performances
767
Type
Musical
Era
Megamusical
Music: Duke EllingtonLyrics: Miscellaneous writers

Productions1 on Broadway

1981 Lunt-Fontanne Theatre Original. March 1, 1981 · Michael Smuin 767 performances

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

Licensing 1 entry

US 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 literature18 passages

Among criteria for selection were length of run (all book musicals remaining over 500 performances are here), seminal importance, people involved, uniqueness of approach or subject matter, quality of the score, and general acceptance as a significant work in the field. Broadway revivals were included if they ran longer… book:broadway-musicals-show-by-show-seventh-edition-stanley-green-cary-ginell#p7

Ain’t Misbehavin’, “The New Fats Waller Musical Show,” was such a popular attraction that it opened the way for two subsequent "catalogue” musicals, Eubie!, spotlighting the work of Eubie Blake, and Sophisticated Ladies, which did the same for Duke Ellington. book:broadway-musicals-show-by-show-green-stanley-green-kay-5th-ed-rev-and-updated-by#p275

Sophisticated Ladies moved into the Lunt-Fontanne in 1981 and thrilled theatregoers for 767 performances with its silken Ellington melodies and sparkling choreography. book:at-this-theatre-100-years-of-broadway-shows-stories-and-botto-louis-viagas-rober#p58

Sophisticated Ladies built itself into a surprise hit. But not an easy one. book:more-opening-nights-on-broadway-a-critical-quotebook-of-compiled-by-steven-suski#p892

The black composer anthology fad of the late Seventies brought forth an Ellington revue, SOPHISTICATED LADIES [March 1, 1981]. book:show-tunes-1905-1985-the-songs-shows-and-careers-of-steven-suskin-1st-ed-new-yor#p572

Sophisticated Ladies (Duke Ellington, 1981; 767 performances) was a hit but traditional tribute revues were becoming less popular. book:the-complete-book-of-1990s-broadway-musicals-dan-dietz-paxton-mcnallie-2016-rowm#p228

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

Something wrong here? Correct a field or report the problem. Every change is recorded in public under the contributor licence.