42nd Street (musical) - Productions

Productions

Original Broadway

In June 1980, the musical premiered in out-of-town tryouts at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. After six previews, the Broadway production opened on August 25, 1980 at the Winter Garden Theatre, eventually moving to the Majestic and then the St. James, closing after 3,486 performances. (Frank Rich called this a sign of the "shift of power" on Broadway, as the show had to leave the Winter Garden to make way for Cats and the Majestic to accommodate The Phantom of the Opera.) The original cast included Jerry Orbach as Julian Marsh, Tammy Grimes as Dorothy Brock, Wanda Richert as Peggy Sawyer, and Lee Roy Reams as Billy Lawlor. Replacements later in the run included Barry Nelson and Don Chastain as Julian, Elizabeth Allen, Dolores Gray, and Millicent Martin as Dorothy, and Lisa Brown and Karen Ziemba as Peggy. The show's designers, Robin Wagner (sets), Theoni V. Aldredge (costumes), and Tharon Musser (lights) were the same team who had designed the original Broadway production of A Chorus Line. The musical is the 13th longest running show in Broadway history, as of May 2012.

This Tony nominated wardrobe, designed by Theoni V. Aldredge, is on display at the Costume World Broadway Collection in Pompano Beach, Florida.

However, the opening night triumph was overshadowed by tragedy. Following a lengthy standing ovation, Merrick went onstage and stated, "It is tragic...Gower Champion died this afternoon." He went on to explain that Champion had died of cancer just hours before the performance, "when he said that Mr. Champion had died, there were gasps and screams." The producer had advised only Bramble of Champion's death and managed to keep the news a secret from the cast (including Richert, the director's girlfriend), crew, and the public prior to his announcement.

42nd Street proved to be not only Champion's last show but Merrick's final success. Merrick lived until 2000, but, as described by Anthony Bianco, 42nd Street "was his last big hit, his swan song."

West End - 1984

The West End production opened at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on August 8, 1984. The career of teenaged Catherine Zeta-Jones, a chorus member in the 1984 West End production, was launched when a vacation and an illness felled both the actress portraying Peggy Sawyer and her understudy on a night one of the producers happened to be in the audience. Zeta-Jones filled in and was impressive enough to be cast permanently in the role shortly afterward.

Broadway revival - 2001

Bramble revised the book for and directed the Broadway revival, with choreography by Randy Skinner (dance assistant for the original production). It opened, after 31 previews, on May 2, 2001 at the Foxwoods Theatre (formerly the Ford Center for the Performing Arts), where it ran for 1,524 performances. The cast included Michael Cumpsty as Julian, Christine Ebersole as Dorothy, Kate Levering as Peggy, and David Elder as Billy. Meredith Patterson, who made her Broadway musical debut in the chorus and was the understudy for the role of Peggy Sawyer, took over the role in August 2001. Todd Lattimore, who was a swing and understudy took over the role of Billy. Other notable replacements included Patrick Cassidy and Tom Wopat as Julian and Shirley Jones and Beth Leavel as Dorothy.

UK Tour - 2007

The Broadway revival production, by UK Productions, toured the UK in 2007. The cast included Paul Nicholas as Julian for the first part of the tour, later replaced by Dave Willetts, Julia J Nagle as Dorothy, Jessica Punch as Peggy and Ashley Nottingham as Billy.

Asian Tour - 2007-08

An Asian tour of the Broadway revival played major venues throughout China and South Korea, with an English speaking company directed by Mark Bramble. The cast included Paul Gregory Nelson as Julian, Natalie Buster as Dorothy, Kristen Martin as Peggy, and Charles MacEachern as Billy.

Regional - 2009

A production directed by director/choreographer Randy Skinner made its debut at the Westchester Broadway Theatre in Elmsford, New York on September 24, 2009 through February 2010. A one-act condensed version played for several months at the Reno Eldorado Hotel, Reno, Nevada showroom using recorded music track, closing in October 2009.

Chichester and Leicester UK, 2011–12

A brand new production was staged for the Chichester Festival at the Chichester Festival Theatre in summer 2011. It was directed by Paul Kerryson withg new choreography by Andrew Wright and starred Kathryn Evans as Dorothy and Tim Flavin as Julian. This production transferred to Curve in Leicester for the Christmas 2011 season (breaking all previous box office records for the theatre). Tim Flavin reprised his role, Ria Jones played Dorothy and Daisy Maywood portrayed Peggy.

UK Tour - 2012

UK Productions is mounting a provincial UK tour of the show in 2012 in which Dave Willetts will reprise the role of Julian and Marti Webb will play Dorothy, with direction by Mark Bramble.