Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen

The musical is based on Patrick's 1953 play and screenplay The Teahouse of the August Moon. It focuses on Capt. Fisby who, assigned to Americanize the village of Tobiki on Okinawa following World War II, encourages the residents to build a school. They would prefer a traditional teahouse instead, and when Fisby discovers the potent alcoholic beverage they brew is popular with the American GIs and a big money-maker, he falls in with their plans. Helping him become assimilated to the local mores are local interpreter Sakini and geisha Lotus Blossom.

The musical opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Shubert Theatre on August 19, 1970 in its out of town tryout and then had tryout performances in Los Angeles (Civic Light Opera) and San Francisco.Suskin, Steven. [https://books.google.com/books?id=yy_9UJLhAUMC&dq=Patrick+%22Lovely+Ladies,+Kind+Gentlemen%22&pg=PT445 Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen] The Sound of Broadway Music: A Book of Orchestrators and Orchestrations, Oxford University Press, 2011, {{ISBN|0199790841}}, page number unknown The latter production's opening night performance was greeted by roughly 250 to 300 picketers—some carrying signs reading, "Sakini Dyed for Our Sins"—whose spokesperson stated:

Asians should be given the right to audition ... and to refuse to take such roles in a racist play.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103499049/the-san-francisco-examiner/ "Asian-Americans Picket Curran Musical -- 'Racist'"]. The San Francisco Examiner. November 4, 1970. p. 63. Retrieved June 10, 2022.

The musical premiered on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre on December 28, 1970 and closed on January 9, 1971 after 19 performances and three previews. Directed by Lawrence Kasha and choreographed by Marc Breaux, the cast included Kenneth Nelson as Sakini, David Burns as Colonel Wainwright Purdy III, Ron Husmann as Capt. Fisby, and Eleanor Calbes as Lotus Blossom.[http://www.playbill.com/production/lovely-ladies-kind-gentlemen-majestic-theatre-vault-0000007835# Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen] Playbill, retrieved October 14, 2017

Burns was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and Freddy Wittop was nominated for Best Costume Design.

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;Act I

• With a Snap of My Finger
• Right Hand Man
• Find Your Own Cricket
• One Side of the World
• Geisha
• You Say-They Say
• This Time
• Simple Word
• Garden Guaracha
• It's Good Enough for Lady Astor

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;Act II

• Chaya
• Call Me Back
• Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen
• You've Broken a Fine Woman's Heart
• One More for the Last One

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Critic Clive Barnes, in his review for The New York Times wrote: "Oh, dear! I come to bury Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentle man, [sic] not to praise it, but there were one or two decent things, and three or four half decent things, about this strangely dated musical that modestly opened last night at the Majestic Theater."Barnes, Clive. [https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/29/archives/theater-lovely-ladies-kind-gentlemen-opens-1953-plays-successor.html " 'Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen' Opens"] The New York Times, December 29, 1970

Douglas Watt, reviewing for the News, wrote "It is lively, colorful and generally engaging entertainment. The songs... are tuneful."[https://books.google.com/books?id=8QgEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Philadelphia+%22Lovely+Ladies,+Kind+Gentlemen%22&pg=PA26 "Ladies, Gentlemen Not So Lovely" and "Dailies"] Billboard, Vol. 83, No. 3, p. 26, January 16, 1971

The group Oriental Actors of America picketed the Majestic Theatre on opening night because of the production's use of "yellowface."{{Cite book|title=In the Long Run: A Cultural History of Broadway's Hit Plays|last=Schildcrout|first=Jordan|publisher=Routledge|year=2019|isbn=978-0367210908|location=New York and London|pages=124}}

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• {{cite book | last=Sneider | first=Vern J. | title=The Teahouse of the August Moon | url=https://archive.org/details/teahouseofaugust00snei | url-access=registration | location=New York | publisher=Putnam | year=1951 | oclc=429098}}

• {{IBDB show|5631}}
• [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/friedman-abeles-photograph-collection#/?roots=1:48c27050-c544-012f-0b3f-58d385a7bc34/548:b03e4000-c54d-012f-c704-58d385a7bc34 Photos from NYPL Digital Collections]
• {{IBDB title|8541|The Teahouse of the August Moon|(1953 play)}}
• {{IMDb title|qid=Q1171405|title=The Teahouse of the August Moon|description=(1956 film)}}

Category:1970 musicals

Category:Broadway musicals

Category:Musicals set in Japan

Category:Japan in non-Japanese culture

Category:Musicals based on films

Category:Musicals based on plays

Category:Musicals set in the 20th century