''Life of the Party'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The first of the team's many collaborations, it is a musical adaptation of Barry Connor's farce ''The Patsy''. It was written for a

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

stock theatre company. The play was performed in October 1942 at the Wilson Theatre, Detroit, and had a run of nine weeks, directed by Russell Filmore and starring Dorothy Stone, Charles Collins,

Charles Ruggles Charles Sherman Ruggles (February 8, 1886 – December 23, 1970) was an American comic character actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles appeared in close to 100 feature films, often in mild-mannered and comic roles. He was also the e ...

and

Margaret Dumont Margaret Dumont (born Daisy Juliette Baker; October 20, 1882 – March 6, 1965) was an American stage and film actress. She is best remembered as the comic foil to the Marx Brothers in seven of their films; Groucho Marx called her "practically ...

. The musical was never staged on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

.Suskin, Steven.
"'Life of the Party'"
''Show Tunes:The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers'', Oxford University Press US, 2000, , p. 222

References

{{Lerner and Loewe 1942 musicals Musicals based on plays Musicals by Alan Jay Lerner Musicals by Frederick Loewe