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Who Played Poetry Lover in Beg, Borrow, or Steal

Poetry Lover is a role in Beg, Borrow, or Steal, a musical that opened Broadway in 1960.

from a story by Bud Freeman and Marvin Seiger<p>Clara's boyfriend, Rafe, is a charlatan who owns a coffee house called the Pit and manages to live on credit because folks tend to regard beatniks as quaint and don't hold them to the standards of the real world. Pretending to be one of the beats, Rafe is actually looking to exploit them. <p>Into Clara's life comes Junior, an Ivy Leaguer who used to live in the neighborhood. Junior claims to be doing research on beatnik poets, but, by the end of the first act, it's revealed that Junior is actually "Rexall," a celebrated beatnik poet who assembles his verse by mixing lines from <i>Alice in Wonderland, Silas Marner, Finnegan's Wake,<i> and <i>Mickey Spillane.</i> <p>Looking to use Clara's money to refinance the Pit, Rafe sells Clara a supposedly valuable painting that he himself painted. Rafe gets Clara to transform herself into a beatnik and read poetry at the Pit. When she's made over and becomes an attraction at the Pit, Rafe tries to sell her to Madison Avenue executives and to turn the Pit into a tourist trap. At the end, Junior gets Clara away from Rafe and his fraudulent world. The central joke of Beg, Borrow or Steal was that button-down Junior was actually a beat while Rafe, who seemed to be part of the beat culture, was, at heart, a conformist interested in the commercial exploitation of the beats.

3 actors have played Poetry Lover in Beg, Borrow, or Steal.

View full cast of Beg, Borrow, or Steal

Performer Production Opened
Georgia Kennedy Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Shelia Dee Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Virginia Barnes Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Virginia Barnes Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960

Other Roles in Beg, Borrow, or Steal

Role Production Opened
Bar Girl Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Blanding Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Chess Player Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Clara Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Dance Class Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Ethel Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Flamenco Dancer Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Freida Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Guitarist Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Jason Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Judy Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Junior Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Kibitzer Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Knitter Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Koppisch Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Lover Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Mobile Artist Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Model Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Modern Dance Leader Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Mrs. Plonsky Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Muscle Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Ollie Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Painter Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Patriot Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Phil Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Pistol Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Poet Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Poetry Lover Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Pottery Girl Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Rafe Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Rug Hooker Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Sam Lee Howard Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960
Sculptor Broadway Beg, Borrow, or Steal 1960

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