Bloomer Girl

File:Bloomer-Girl-Douglass-Wilson-McCracken.jpg (Pompey) and Joan McCracken (Daisy) in the Broadway production of Bloomer Girl (1944)]]

The original Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theatre on October 5, 1944, directed by William Schorr and produced by John C. Wilson in association with Nat Goldstone. The production's scenic designer and lighting designer was Lemuel Ayers.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/09/11/archives/lemuel-ayers.html|title= Obituary: Lemuel Ayers|date=September 11, 1955|work=The New York Times|author=Arnold Saint-Subber}} Agnes de Mille was the choreographer,{{cite web |title=Bloomer Girl – Broadway Musical – Original |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/bloomer-girl-1583 |website=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=July 3, 2022}} and her contributions included a Civil War ballet.Stempel, p.316-17 The production starred Celeste Holm as Evelina, David Brooks as Jeff Calhoun, Dooley Wilson as the slave Pompey, and Joan McCracken in the featured dancing role as Daisy.Bordman, 597 While successful—it closed on April 27, 1946, after 657 performances on Broadway—it has seldom been revived.

Alisa Roost directed an Off-Broadway revival, which recreated Agnes deMille's original dream ballet, at the Theatre at St. Clements in 2000{{cite web |url= https://www.playbill.com/article/bloomer-girl-kicks-up-its-skirts-in-nyc-rare-tuner-opens-sept-7-com-91695 |website= Playbill |title= Bloomer Girl Kicks Up Its Skirts in NYC; Rare Tuner Opens Sept. 7 |date= September 7, 2000 |first= Kenneth |last= Jones |access-date= July 3, 2022 }} and New York City Center's Encores! staged concert series performed it for a week in 2001.Suskin, 93{{cite web |last1=Simonson |first1=Robert |last2=Jones |first2=Kenneth |author1-link=Robert Simonson |title=Bosco and Chalfant Star in Encores!' Bloomer Girl, March 22–25 |url=https://www.playbill.com/article/bosco-and-chalfant-star-in-encores-bloomer-girl-march-22-25-com-95640 |website=Playbill |access-date=July 3, 2022 |date=March 22, 2001}}

Bloomer Girl caused a temporary rift between de Mille and Jerome Robbins when, about a year into the show's run, Robbins appropriated several dancers then in the chorus, including James Mitchell and Arthur Partington, for Billion Dollar Baby (1945).Lawrence, Greg. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rNwtNHJl-2IC&dq=%22Agnes+de+Mille%22++%22Jerome+Robbins%22&pg=PT473 deMille and Robbins] Dance with Demons: The Life of Jerome Robbins, Penguin, May 7, 2001, {{ISBN|1101204060}}

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;Act 1

• When the Boys Come Home - Serena, Octavia, Lydia, Julia, Phoebe and Delia
• Evelina - Jeff Calhoun and Evalina
• Welcome Hinges - Serena, Horatio, Lydia, Julia, Phoebe, Delia, Joshua Dingle, Herman Brasher, Ebenezer Mimms, Wilfred Thrush, Hiram Crump, Evalina and Jeff Calhoun
• Farmer's Daughter - Joshua Dingle, Herman Brasher, Ebenezer Mimms, Wilfred Thrush and Hiram Crump
• It Was Good Enough for Grandma - Evalina and the Bloomer Girls
• The Eagle and Me - Pompey
• Right As the Rain - Jeff Calhoun and Evalina
• T'Morra', T'Morra' - Daisy
• Rakish Young Man With the Whiskers - Evalina and Jeff Calhoun
• Pretty As a Picture - Male Ensemble

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;Act 2

• Sunday in Cicero Falls - Principals and Company
• I Got a Song - Alexander, Augustus and Pompey
• Lullaby - Evalina
• Simon Legree - Second Deputy
• Liza Crossing the Ice - Ensemble
• I Never Was Born - Daisy
• Man For Sale - Soloist
• The Eagle and Me (Reprise) - Ensemble
• When the Boys Come Home (Reprise) - Entire Company

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An original cast album was released on American Decca 78 RPM set DA 381Album cover for Decca set DA 381, 8 10" 78 RPM disks, copyright 1944 Decca Records, Inc. during the original Broadway run of Bloomer Girl. The recording was re-released on LP in the 1950s. It then remained out of print until the same recording became available on CD in the early 1990s. The [CD] recording restored the second half of Sunday in Cicero Falls, which was deleted from the [LP] due to length.

An abridged version of the musical, which eliminated most of Agnes de Mille's choreography, except for the dance after "It Was Good Enough For Grandma" and the Civil War ballet, aired on Producers' Showcase in 1956; it starred Barbara Cook and Keith Andes and featured many of the original dancers, including James Mitchell, Lidija Franklin, Betty Low, and Emy St. Just.

{{reflist}}

• Bordman, Gerald (2001). American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle. Third ed. New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-513074-X}}
• Easton, Carol (1996). No Intermissions: The Life of Agnes de Mille. New York: Little, Brown. {{ISBN|978-0-316-19970-4}}.
• Stempel, Larry (2010). Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater. New York: W. W. Norton. {{ISBN|978-0-393-92906-5}}
• Suskin, Stephen (1990). Opening Night on Broadway: A Critical Quotebook of the Golden Era of the Musical Theatre. New York: Schirmer Books. {{ISBN|0-02-872625-1}}.

• {{ibdb title|1583}}
• {{ibdb title|473558|1947 revival}}
• [http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_b/bloomer_girl.htm Bloomer Girl] Guide to Musical Theatre

Category:Broadway musicals

Category:Musicals by Harold Arlen

Category:1944 musicals

Category:Musicals based on plays

Category:Musicals set in the United States

Category:Musicals set in the 19th century