Production
The musical opened on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on December 26, 1988 and closed on February 19, 1989 after 64 performances and 72 previews (far more than the usual 16-24 preview periods). Directed by Robert Allan Ackerman with choreography by Alan Johnson, the scenic design was by David Mitchell, costume design by Willa Kim, and lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer (Associate). The cast included Peter Allen (Jack Diamond), Julie Wilson (Flo), Randall Edwards (Kiki Roberts), Brenda Braxton (Madge), Joe Silver (Arnold Rothstein), Jim Fyfe (Moran), Christian Kauffmann (Bones), Pat McNamara (Devane), and Raymond Serra (Augie).
The reviews were unanimously negative, with particular disbelief at Peter Allen's attempts to play so totally against type as a suave lothario. Frank Rich commented that the evening's most compelling drama was watching Allen figure out "what to do with his hands". The failure of the musical was so total that it compelled the Nederlander Organization to finally sell the beloved but flop-prone Mark Hellinger Theatre to the Times Square Church, which still owns it.
Read more about this topic: Legs Diamond (musical)
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“The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.”
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—Friedrich Engels (1820–1895)
“Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.”
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965)