Wikipedia

Sunny (musical)

Sunny is a musical comedy with music by Jerome Kern and a libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach. The plot involves Sunny, the star of a circus act, who falls for a rich playboy but comes in conflict with his snooty family. This show was the follow-up to the 1920 hit musical Sally, both starring Marilyn Miller in the title roles, and it was Kern's first musical in collaboration with Hammerstein. Sunny also became a hit, with its original Broadway production in 1925 running for 517 performances. The London production starred Binnie Hale and ran for 364 performances, while the UK national tour starred Felice Lascelles and ran for nearly three years.

Sunny
MusicJerome Kern
LyricsOscar Hammerstein II
Otto Harbach
BookOscar Hammerstein II
Otto Harbach
Productions

Productions

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The Sunny audience. Empire Theatre, Sydney, Australia, March 1927. Photo by Sam Hood.

The musical premiered on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre on September 22, 1925, where it was produced by Charles Dillingham and directed by Hassard Short, with scenic and costume design by James Reynolds. The cast included Marilyn Miller as Sunny, Jack Donahue as Jim Deering, Clifton Webb as Harold Harcourt Wendell-Wendell, Mary Hay as "Weenie" Winters, Louis Harrison as the First Mate, Joseph Cawthorn, Paul Frawley as Tom Warren, Cliff Edwards, Pert KeMoss & Fontana, Esther Howard as Sue Warren, Dorothy Francis, and the George Olsen Orchestra.[1] Dances for Marilyn Miller were staged by Fred Astaire.[1] The musical closed on December 11, 1926 after 517 performances.[1][2]

The show was also produced in London at the Hippodrome, opening on October 7, 1926 and closing on July 16, 1927, after 364 performances.[3][4] It starred Binnie Hale as Sunny and Jack Buchanan as Jim Demming.[5] Buchanan doubled as choreographer, with direction by Charles Mast.[6][7] This musical comedy was so popular in the UK that two separate companies of actors toured it simultaneously in the provinces; Lee Ephraim's company—starring Felice Lascelles as Sunny and Max Kirby, then Eric Fawcett, as Jim Demming—did so for nearly three years, opening in Margate on July 4, 1927[8] and closing in Ilford on May 31, 1930.[9]

Another production of Sunny opened at the Empire Theatre, Sydney, Australia, in March 1927;[10] it was produced by Ernest C. Rolls and starred the British performers Fred Bluett, Wyn Richmond, and Queenie Ashton, as well as the American Beatrice Kay.[11]

Musical numbers

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L-R: Paul Hartman, Anna Neagle, and Ray Bolger in the 1941 film adaptation
 
Judy Garland as Marilyn Miller in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), in a show-within-a-show performance from the musical Sunny.
 
Judy Garland as Marilyn Miller singing "Who?" from Sunny in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

Note: The song list below is from the most common version of the show currently performed and excludes all specialties, cut numbers, and those added for other major productions.

Act I
  • "Here We Are Together Again" - Ballyhoo and Ensemble
  • "Sunny" - Tom and Boys
  • Entrance of Sunny - Ensemble
  • "Who?" - Tom and Sunny
  • "So's Your Old Man" - Harold and the Eight Girls
  • "Let's Say Good Night Till It's Morning" - Jim and Weenie
  • "Pas de Equestrienne" - Sunny
  • "D'Ye Love Me?" - Sunny
  • "The Wedding Knell" - Sunny and Boys
  • "Two Little Bluebirds" - Harold and Weenie
  • Finale Act One - Company
Act II
  • Opening Chorus - Ensemble
  • "When We Get Our Divorce" - Jim and Sunny
  • "Sunshine" - Marcia
  • "Who?" (reprise) - Tom and Sunny
  • Dance - Sunny, Jim, Harold, Weenie and Ensemble
  • "The Chase" - Sunny, Tom, and Ensemble
  • "The Hunt Ball" - Chorus
  • "Pas d'Equestrienne" - Sunny
  • "Finale Ultimo" - Sunny and Company

Films

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The musical was adapted for a 1930 film version directed by William A. Seiter and featuring additional music by Kern.

In 1941, a second film version was produced, directed by Herbert Wilcox. The first film starred Marilyn Miller, the second one (with a highly revised plot) starred Anna Neagle, with Ray Bolger in his first film role after playing the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Recreation of scenes in film

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In Sally of the Scandals (1928), the main character is in a musical production that was filmed using the chorus and sets from a production of Sunny at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles.[12]

In the film Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), a fictionalized biography of composer Jerome Kern, two songs from the show, "Sunny" and "Who?", are performed by Judy Garland as Marilyn Miller, representing a performance from the lead character, Sunny Peters.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Sunny – New Amsterdam Theatre, Broadway (1925–1926)". playbill.com. Playbill (vault). Cast (Opening night). Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  2. ^ Hischak, Thomas S. (2007). "Sunny". The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 276–277. ISBN 978-0-313341403.
  3. ^ "Le Monde des musicals: Sunny" [The World of Musicals: Sunny]. bruxellons.be (in French). Bulles Production. n.d. [Scroll down to "Version 2"]. Retrieved 18 June 2024. Sunny (1926-10-Hippodrome-London) (...) [Opening:] 7 October 1926. [Closing:] 16 July 1927. [Number of performances:] 364. (...)
  4. ^ "Sunny". guidetomusicaltheatre.com. The Guide to Musical Theatre. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  5. ^ Marshall, Michael (1979) [1978]. "Career of Jack Buchanan". Top Hat and Tails - The story of Jack Buchanan (hardcover). Foreword by Fred Astaire (2nd ed.). London: Elm Tree Books. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-241-89602-0. 1926. October. Jim Demming in Sunny at the London Hippodrome.
  6. ^ Ellacott, Vivian. "London Musicals, 1925–1929" (PDF). Sunny. overthefootlights.co.uk. [Scroll down to page 31]. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  7. ^ Hischak, Thomas S. (2013). "Sunny". The Jerome Kern Encyclopedia. Scarecrow Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-0-810891685.
  8. ^ "'Sunny' - Hippodrome, Margate". Entertainments, Etc. Isle of Thanet Gazette. Vol. 58, no. 2, 992. Margate. July 2, 1927. p. 7; col.5. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "'Sunny' - Hippodrome, Ilford". On Tour. The Stage. No. 2, 565. London. May 29, 1930. p. 1; col.2. Retrieved June 18, 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "EMPIRE-"8UNNY"". Sydney Morning Herald. April 2, 1927. p. 12. Retrieved April 2, 2021 – via Trove.
  11. ^ "Empire opening - Bright musical play". Gala Night. Sydney Evening News. March 1, 1927. p. 11. Retrieved April 1, 2021 – via Trove.
  12. ^ "Studio Briefs". Motion Picture News. 37. New York: 442; col.2. February 11, 1928. Retrieved May 8, 2019 – via Internet Archive.
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