TWENTIETH CENTURY, PORGY & BESS Added to Library of Congress' National Film Registry

Each year, the Library of Congress selects twenty-five culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films to be added to the National Film Registry and preserved. This year's films spanned everything from cartoons (Bambi) to silent films (The Kid) - and a film that inspired a Broadway show as well as a Broadway show that inspired the film.

TWENTIETH CENTURY, which was named to the Registry this year, was the inspiration fo the musical ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. 

On the Twentieth Century is a musical with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Cy Coleman. Part operetta, part farce, part screwball comedy, the story involves the behind-the-scenes relationship of a temperamental actress and a director.

Following a Boston tryout at the Colonial Theatre, the Broadway production, directed by Hal Prince and choreographed by Larry Fuller, opened on February 19, 1978 at the St. James Theatre to mixed reviews. It ran for 11 previews and 449 performances.

The show has never been revived on Broadway; however, as part of an Actors Fund benefit, a one-night-only staged concert was held on September 26, 2005 at the New Amsterdam Theatre. The production starred Marin Mazzie as Lily, Douglas Sills as Oscar, Joanne Worley as Letitia Primrose and Christopher Sieber as Bruce, as well as appearances by Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Max Jacobs, Cheyenne Jackson as one of the "Life is Like a Train" porters, and Kathleen Turner as Imelda.

Also making the cut is PORGY AND BESS; a re-imagined production has just begun performances on Broadway, but the original 1935 production would inspire the 1959 film. 

The classic story by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward is set in Charleston's fabled Catfish Row, where the beautiful Bess struggles to break free from her scandalous past, and the only one who can rescue her is the crippled but courageous Porgy. Threatened by her formidable former lover Crown, and the seductive enticements of the colorful troublemaker Sporting Life, Porgy and Bess' relationship evolves into a deep romance that triumphs as one of theater's most exhilarating love stories.

To read the full list, visit the Hollywood Reporter.

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