''Miss Liberty'' is a 1949 Broadway musical with a

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

by Robert E. Sherwood and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. It is based on the sculpting of the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

(''Liberty Enlightening the World'') in 1886. The score includes the song "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor", a musical setting of Emma Lazarus's sonnet "

The New Colossus "The New Colossus" is a sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus (1849–1887). She wrote the poem in 1883 to raise money for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''). In 1903, the poem was cast ...

" (1883), which was placed at the base of the monument in 1903.

Plot

In 1885, '' New York Herald'' publisher James Gordon Bennett assigns novice reporter Horace Miller to find the woman who served as Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi's model for the

. In the artist's

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

studio, Miller sees a photograph of Monique DuPont and mistakenly believes she was the one. Bennett arranges for her and her grandmother to accompany Horace back to

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 ...

, where she becomes a media darling. When rival publisher

Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born , ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and a newspaper publisher of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in the U.S. Democ ...

discovers it was Bartholdi's mother who actually posed for him, he exposes Monique as a fraud in his '' New York World''. She faces deportation until a sympathetic Pulitzer comes to her rescue, paving the way for her to plan a future with Horace, who jilts his American girlfriend Maisie Doll in favor of the French beauty.

Background and productions

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Robert Sherwood was deeply moved when he saw what the Statue of Liberty meant to American GIs who were being shipped overseas, and he wanted to write a story about this symbol of freedom. While crossing the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

on the '' Queen Mary'' with 15,000 recruits, the playwright had been "deeply moved" and "greatly impressed by the emotion that sight of the statue generated among these soldiers." Upon meeting Irving Berlin in England, he invited him to compose the score, and Berlin suggested Moss Hart become part of the creative team as a co-producer and director. The book and score were completed in May 1949 and a cast of fifty-five began rehearsals. The musical opened 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 ...

on June 13 and, despite mostly negative reviews, the four-week-long run was a sellout, resulting in a profit of $175,000.Alonso, Harriet Hyman, ''Robert E. Sherwood: The Playwright in Peace and War''. University of Massachusetts Press 2007. , p. 293-296 With an advance sale of $500,000, the Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on July 15, 1949 and closed on April 8, 1950, following 308 performances. Directed by Moss Hart and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, the cast included Eddie Albert as Horace Miller, Allyn McLerie as Monique DuPont, Mary McCarty as Maisie Doll, Philip Bourneuf as Joseph Pulitzer, and Charles Dingle as James Gordon Bennett, with Maria Karnilova and Tommy Rall among the supporting players. Oliver Smith designed the sets. Ward Morehouse of the '' New York Sun'' thought it was a "sharp disappointment," Richard Watts, Jr. of the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' felt it was "only pretty fair," and the '' Variety'' critic, citing an "overly-plotty book, undistinguished score, insufficient comedy and merely adequate performances," described it as "something of a clinker." Despite the poor reviews, many of its songs become popular hits, and 98 singles and three albums of the show's tunes were released. Weekly profits ranged from $5,000 to $9,000, although a six-week tour lost about $25,000. 42nd Street Moon in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

produced the musical in November 2005."Irving Berlin's ''Miss Liberty'' is an Old Fashioned Winsome Musical"
talkinbroadway.com, retrieved December 19, 2009.

Songs

;Act 1 *Extra, Extra - Newsboys and Ensemble *What Do I Have to Do to Get My Picture Took? - Maisie Doll, Horace Miller, and Dancers *The Most Expensive Statue in the World - Joseph Pulitzer, James Gordon Bennett, the Mayor, Singers, and Dancers *A Little Fish in a Big Pond - Horace Miller, Maisie Doll, and the Sharks * Let's Take an Old-Fashioned Walk - Horace Miller, Monique DuPont, Singers, and Dancers *Homework - Maisie Doll *Paris Wakes Up and Smiles - Monique DuPont and Ensemble *Only for Americans The Countess - Horace Miller, Singers, and Dancers *Just One Way to Say I Love You - Horace Miller and Monique DuPont ;Act 2 *Miss Liberty - Entire Company *The Train - Monique DuPont and the Train * You Can Have Him - Maisie Doll and Monique DuPont *The Policeman's Ball - Maisie Doll, the Dandy, and Ensemble *Homework (Reprise) - Maisie Doll *Follow the Leader Jig - Ensemble *Me and My Bundle - Horace Miller, Monique DuPont, and Company *Falling Out of Love Can Be Fun - Maisie Doll *Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor (from the poem ''

'' by Emma Lazarus) - Monique DuPont and Singers

References

External links

*
''Miss Liberty'' plot and production information at guidetomusicaltheatre.com
{{Statue of Liberty Musicals by Irving Berlin 1949 musicals Broadway musicals Statue of Liberty in fiction Musicals set in New York City Musicals set in the 1880s