Background and Productions
Astaire's sister Adele retired from showbusiness and married Lord Charles Cavendish after her last show with Fred, The Band Wagon (1931). When the producers of Gay Divorce asked Fred to star in the show, he deferred an answer until he could spend the summer of 1932 wooing his future wife, Phyllis, in London. He finally agreed, and rehearsals began in September 1932. The show was both Astaire's last Broadway musical (after which he moved to Hollywood) and also his only stage musical without Adele. Also in the cast were Erik Rhodes and Eric Blore who soon became famous in the early 1930s RKO comedies.
Gay Divorce opened in pre-Broadway tryouts at the Wilbur Theatre, Boston on November 7, 1932 and then moved to the Shubert Theatre, New Haven on November 21, 1932. It opened on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on November 29, 1932 and transferred to the Shubert Theatre on January 16, 1933 and closed on July 1, 1933 for a total run of 248 performances. Directed by Howard Lindsay with choreography by Barbara Newberry and Carl Randall, and set design by Jo Mielziner, the cast featured Fred Astaire as Guy Holden, Claire Luce as Mimi, Luella Gear as Hortense, G. P. Huntley Jr as Teddy, Betty Starbuck as Barbara Wray, Erik Rhodes as Tonetti, Eric Blore as Waiter, and Roland Bottomley as Pratt.
The show opened in the West End at the Palace Theatre on November 2, 1933 and ran for 180 performances. It was directed by Felix Edwardes with Astaire, Luce, Rhodes and Blore reprising their roles. They were joined by Olive Blakeney as Gertrude Howard, Claud Allister as Teddy, Joan Gardner as Barbara Wray and Fred Hearne as Octavius Mann.
The book is dated, and professional modern productions are rare. Goodspeed Opera House staged the show in 1983 and an adapted version was seen off-Broadway in New York in 1987. A concert version was presented at Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall) in New York City in June 1993 and featured Robert Westenberg as Guy, Rebecca Luker as Mimi, Judy Kaye as Hortense, and Kurt Ollmann as Tonetti. A "Musicals Tonight!" (New York City) concert production ran in March 2004. The regional company 42nd Street Moon produced the piece in San Francisco, California from April 12 - May 6, 2007.
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