''I Had a Ball'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

with a book by

Jerome Chodorov Jerome Chodorov (August 10, 1911 – September 12, 2004) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He co-wrote the book with Joseph A. Fields for the original Broadway musical '' Wonderful Town'' starring Rosalind Russell. The mu ...

and music and lyrics by Jack Lawrence and Stan Freeman. It starred

Buddy Hackett Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker; August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003) was an American comedian and comic actor. Known for his raunchy material, heavy appearance, and thick New York accent, his best remembered roles include Marcellus Washburn in ...

, and featured Richard Kiley and

Karen Morrow Karen Jane Morrow (born December 15, 1936) is an American singer and actress best known for her work in musical theater. Her honors include an Emmy Award and a Theatre World Award, and an Ovation Award and five Drama-Logue Award nominations. ...

Plot overview

Set on the Coney Island Boardwalk, it focuses on matchmaking grifter turned

fortune teller Fortune telling is the spiritual practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115–116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle ...

Garside, who tries to set up his friend, fellow grifter and recent

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

e Stan, with Wonder Wheel owner/operator Jeannie. Garside finds his crystal ball is real, as it foretells Stan falling in love with former Coney Island hawker and man-eater Addie (who's returned to the alley while on the prowl for rich husband number four), and Jeannie falling in love with Brooks, a

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at Usury, extremely high or illegal interest rates, has strict terms of debt collection, collection, and generally operates criminal, outside the law, often using the threat of violence or other illegal, ...

to whom Garside owes a hundred bucks (even though he only borrowed four). Garside watches the mismatched couples meet while getting dragged off to prison by Officer Millhauser (for running a fortune telling scam) ending the first act. Other characters include Ma Maloney, who heads the Alley Gang: Joe the Muzzler, Osaka Moto, and Gimlet. Act II finds the successful couples returning the day Garside comes back from jail, only for the ball, which Ma has kept safe, to make another prediction. Jeannie celebrates her newfound happiness at a party, singing the title song, only to have it all dashed again when Brooks, who misinterpreted the ball's prediction as referring to a business deal, tells her they're broke; he's even sold the Wonder Wheel on her. Meanwhile, Stan catches Addie cheating on him and leaves her. As Addie is telling Garside about her failed marriage, Brooks shows up to get revenge for the bad business advice, and the two meet and fall in lust. As the newly poor Stan and Jeannie try to make a living on the boardwalk, they wind up chased by Officer Millhauser until he finally handcuffs them together, much to the delight of Garside, as the right couple has finally found each other, once he points out to them who's on "the other half" of their cuffs.

Background

''I Had a Ball'' was similar to earlier projects designed to showcase the talents of a comic, short on plot and overloaded with

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

-like

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

routines and musical numbers. In this case the star was

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

comic

, appearing for the first time in a structured theatrical production. Steven Suskin called this the "clown show"; "They were about the fellow — almost always a man — at the center.

Ed Wynn Isaiah Edwin Leopold (November 9, 1886 – June 19, 1966), better known as Ed Wynn, was an American actor and comedian. He began his career in vaudeville in 1903 and was known for his ''Perfect Fool'' comedy character, his pioneering radio show ...

Bert Lahr Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American stage and screen actor and comedian. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Z ...

or Victor Moore or the brothers Marx...""ON THE RECORD: 'I Had a Ball' and Jessica Molaskey's 'Good Day'"
playbill.com, June 1, 2003

Production

The production had a critically and commercially successful run in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. After an additional stop in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, the musical opened on Broadway at the

Martin Beck Theatre The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburg ...

on December 15, 1964 where it ran for 199 performances."'I Had a Ball'"
playbillvault.com, accessed May 24, 2012 Choreography was by Onna White. Lloyd Richards, who later was the Artistic Director for the

Yale Repertory Theatre Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented stud ...

and a frequent collaborator with

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

August Wilson August Wilson (né Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of 10 plays, collectively called '' ...

, was signed to direct. Following a clash with producer Joseph Kipness he was replaced by John Allen, although Richards retained official credit in the program. Prior to opening, several songs had to be cut; Hackett's lack of singing ability led to Garside's solo "Lament/I'm An Average Guy" being removed, as well as Hackett's duet with Kiley entitled "Be A Phony." "I'm An All American Boy", a song that Kiley enjoyed and had requested for himself (but which had been written for a different character), was poorly received in Detroit and was removed. In addition to Hackett as Garside, the cast included Richard Kiley as Stan,

as Jeannie, Steve Roland as Brooks, Luba Lisa as Addie,

Rosetta LeNoire Rosetta LeNoire (born Rosetta Olive Burton; August 8, 1911 – March 17, 2002) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She was known to contemporary audiences for her work in television. She had regular roles on such series as ' ...

as Ma Maloney, and Ted Thurston as Officer Millhauser. The Alley Gang was made up of Al Nesor as Gimlet, Jack Wakefield as Joe the Muzzler, and Conrad Yama as George Osaka. Morocco, a belly dancer was credited as herself.

Reception

The

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

critics were less enamored with the show than their Detroit counterparts had been, and without a strong directorial hand to keep him under control, Hackett soon began ignoring the script and breaking character to inject his own routines into the proceedings, especially to defend the show from reviews. Despite mixed reviews, positive word-of-mouth, linked with one-night cameos made by several of Hackett's friends (such as Sammy Davis Jr.,

Joey Bishop Joseph Abraham Gottlieb (February 3, 1918 – October 17, 2007), known professionally as Joey Bishop, was an American entertainer who appeared on television as early as 1948 and eventually starred in his own weekly comedy series playing a Talk ...

, and

Steve Lawrence Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935 – March 7, 2024) was an American singer, comedian, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop duo Steve and Eydie with his wife Eydie Gormé, and for his performance as Maury Slin ...

) during a tunnel of love sequence, caused an increase in the box office. However, competition from heavy-hitters like ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

''; '' Hello, Dolly!'' and '' Funny Girl'', plus Hackett demanding to be released from his contract without a replacement ready, ultimately led to an early closing with losses of $225,000 from a $300,000 investment. Luba Lisa was nominated for the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and received the 1965 Theatre World Award for her performance.

Recordings

The original Broadway Cast Recording was released on the Mercury label in 1965. A reviewer of the recording wrote: "There are a couple of mildly witty numbers, 'Neighborhood,' sung by Rosetta Le Noire, and 'The Affluent Society,' by Kiley and Steve Roland, and the romantic ballad 'Almost' isn't bad. But little of the music is memorable, and some of it is derivative." A compilation, '' I/We Had a Ball'', consisting of jazz versions of songs from the musical was released on Limelight Records in 1964. It features sessions led by

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solos as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and his penchant for collaborating with ...

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

and

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

Songs

Source: guidetomusicaltheatre.com"'I Had a Ball' Synopsis, Cast, Musical Numbers"
guidetomusicaltheatre.com, accessed May 24, 2012 ;Act I *Coney Island, U.S.A. *The Other Half of Me *Red-Blooded American Boy *I Got Everything I Want *Freud *Think Beautiful *Addie's at It Again *Faith *Can It Be Possible? ;Act II *The Neighborhood Song *The Affluent Society *Boys, Boys, Boys *Fickle Finger of Fate *I Had a Ball *Almost *You Deserve Me *You Deserve Me (reprise) *Tunnel of Love Chase

Notes

References

*''Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops'' by Ken Mandelbaum, published by

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

(1991), pages 89–90 ()

External links

Internet Broadway Database listingInterview with Jack Lawrence
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201080358/http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsC/chodorov-jerome.html , date=2012-02-01 1964 musicals Broadway musicals Songs written by Jack Lawrence (songwriter) Musicals set in Brooklyn