Musicals Tonight! Revives Irma La Douce 10/14-16
By: Faetra Petillo
Musicals Tonight! will revive Irma La Douce on October 14th-16th at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre (2161 Broadway at 76th Street). For a complete performance schedule and to purchase tickets please visit www.musicalstonight.org
One of the big hits of the 1960-61 season, the saucy Irma La Douce, is a Parisian musical which was a sensation in London before its Tony-winning New York run. The story of Irma, the big-hearted streetwalker who falls for a young law student, was later made into a hit movie starring Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon, but with the songs sadly relegated to background music. The show previews on September 25 and 26, and opens on Saturday, September 27, running through October 12 at the Eureka Theatre.One of the most successful musicals of the 1960s, Irma played simultaneously in France, the UK, the USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Brazil, and Italy. Disagreements between the various authors have kept the English-language version restricted for nearly thirty years; the last SF production was in 1978 for the old Civic Light Opera starring Priscilla Lopez and Larry Kert.
Marguerite Monnot, whose songs are intimately linked to France's best-loved singer, Edith Piaf, composed the score, with the book and original French lyrics by Alexandre Breffort. The English lyrics and book are by Julian More, David Heneker and Monty Norman. Hit songs from the production include "Our Language of Love," as well as "Dis-Donc," "There is Only One Paris for That," "Valse Milieu" and "From a Prison Cell."
