Irving Berlin's MISS LIBERTY To Get U.K. Premiere In Concert Production With Four Cut Songs
With Americans settling into post-war prosperity and G.I.s happy to be home again, Irving Berlin's MISS LIBERTY was one of the most highly anticipated Broadway musicals of the late 1940s. The songwriter who gave the country its beloved "God Bless America" was now working on a musical about the Statue of Liberty, with a song called, "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor," based on the immortal words of Emma Lazarus.
Robert E. Sherwood's book had Eddie Albert starring as an 1885 American newspaper photographer who sets out to Paris to find the model for New York Harbor's newest resident, but when he finds the wrong woman, political and romantic complications ensue.
Alas, MISS LIBERTY did not win the hearts of theatregoers and it's perfectly respectable 308 performance run was credited mostly to a healthy advance sale.
The Stage reports that MISS LIBERTY is finally receiving a U.K. premiere in a concert production, using Don Walker's original orchestrations, staged on December 10th at the University of Sheffield's Frith Hall after the discovery of four cut songs from the score by senior lecturer in musicology, Dominic McHugh.
The Berlin estate has given permission for the additional songs to be heard for one night only.
Neither the production's website nor the article state the titles of the cut songs, but it's known that "The Honorable Profession of the Fourth Estate," "What Do I Have To Do To Get My Picture In The Paper," "I'll Know Better Next Time" and "Mrs. Monotony" were all cut before the Broadway opening.
That last song was originally titled "Mr. Monotony" and was filmed for the MGM movie EASTER PARADE, sung by Judy Garland, but cut from the film. After being cut from MISS LIBERTY, "Mr. Monotony" was cut from both the Broadway-bound production of CALL ME MADAM and the film THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS, both times intended to be sung by Ethel Merman.
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