Out of This World
A Musical Comedy in Two Acts
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Book by Dwight Taylor and Reginald Lawrence, based on Amphitryon
by Plautus
Working Titles: Amphitryon, Heaven
on Earth, and Cloudburst
Tryouts began November 4, 1950 at the Shubert Theatre, Philadelphia
November 28, 1950 at the Shubert Theatre, Boston
Opened December 21, 1950 at the New Century Theatre, NYC
Closed May 5, 1951
Ran for 157 performances
Produced by Saint Subber and Lemuel Ayers
Entire production staged by Agnes de Mille
Choreography by Hanya Holm
Settings and Costumes by Lemuel Ayers
Musical Director: Pembroke Davenport
Orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett
Dance Music Arranged by Genevieve Pitot
Incidental Music Arranged by Trudi Rittman
The Messrs. Subber and Ayers gratefully wish to acknowledge the assistance
of Mr. George Abbott
Synopsis
Jupiter, father of the gods, has decided that Helen Kenyon, a fair
American mortal, will be his latest conquest, to the consternation of his
wife, Juno. She traipses around the Greek countryside in various
ineffectual mortal disguises searching for her cheating husband. Their
son Mercury escorts Helen to an inn near Athens, where Jupiter woos her
in the guise of her husband, Art. The next day, Helen realizes she
has been deceived; meeting the god face to face, she rejects his offer
of immortality, insisting that her husband's love is all she needs. Throw
into the mix, Niki Skolianos, American gangster turned innkeeper, who trades
barbs with Juno in her mortal disguise, and Niko's ambitious niece, Chloe,
providing a love interest for Mercury.
Cast
Charlotte Greenwood (Juno), William Eythe (Art O'Malley),
Priscilla Gillette (Helen), William Redfield (Mercury), Barbara
Ashley (Chloe), Janet Collins (Night), George Jongeyans [George
Gaynes] (Jupiter), David Burns (Niki Skolianos), Ray Harrison
(Strephon), Peggy Rea (Vulcania), and Frank Milton (Waiter)
Musical Numbers
Act One
- Overture - Orchestra
Prologue: Curtain
- "Prologue" - Mercury
Scene 1: Jupiter's Portico
- "I Jupiter, I Rex" - Jupiter and Ensemble
Scene 2: New York Bar
- "Use Your Imagination" - Helen and Mercury
Scene 3: Curtain of Night
Scene 4: Great Hall -- Olympus
- "Hail, Hail, Hail" - Vulcania, Mercury, and Ensemble
- "Juno's Ride"
- "Entrance of Juno"
- "I Got Beauty" - Juno and Ensemble
Scene 5: Road to Athens
Scene 6: Arcadia Inn
- "Maiden Fair" - Ensemble [not on the original cast
recording]
- "Where, Oh Where?" - Chloe
- "I Am Loved" - Helen
Scene 7: Colonnade
- "They Couldn't Compare to You" - Mercury
Scene 8: Inn Tavern
- "What Do You Think About Men?" - Juno, Helen, and
Chloe
Scene 9: Arcadia Inn
- Dance of Night (Night)
- "I Sleep Easier Now" - Juno
- Ballet (Night, Strephon, and Dancing Ensemble)
Act Two
- Entr'acte - Orchestra
Scene 1: Mt. Olympus
- "Climb Up the Mountain" - Juno, Niki, and Company
Scene 2: Curtain of Night
Scene 3: Arcadia Inn
- "No Lover" - Helen
Scene 4: Colonnade
- "Cherry Pies Ought to Be You" - Mercury & Chloe,
Niki & Juno
Scene 5: Bedroom
- "I Am Loved" (reprise) - Helen
Scene 6: Curtain of Night
- "Hark to the Song of the Night" - Jupiter
Scene 7: Mountain Shrine
- Peasant Dance (Strephon, Chloe, and Ensemble) [themes from "Maiden
Fair"]
Scene 8: Another Part of the Forest
- "Nobody's Chasing Me" - Juno
- Dance (Ensemble)
Scene 9: Arcadia Inn and Heaven
- Finale (Use Your Imagination) - Company
Cut Songs
- "We're on the Road to Athens" [dropped during the
tryouts; sung by Mercury and Ensemble after "I Got Beauty"]
- "From This Moment On" [dropped during the tryouts;
sung by Art and Helen before "They Couldn't Compare to You"
and by the Company in the finale; used in the film version of Kiss
Me Kate]
- "You Don't Remind Me" [dropped during the tryouts;
sung by Jupiter]
- "Hush, Hush, Hush" [dropped during the tryouts; sung
by Mercury, Juno, Chloe and Strephon]
- "Away From It All" [unused; intended for Helen and
Ensemble]
- "Midsummer Night" [unused; intended for Mercury and
Ensemble]
- "Oh, It Must Be Fun" [unused]
- "To Hell With Ev'rything But Us" [unused; intended
for Art and Helen; the interlude was used in "From This Moment
On"]
- "Tonight I Love You More" [unused]
- "Why Do You Wanta Hurt Me So?" [unused; intended for
Juno]
- "Lock Up Your Chickens" [unused]
Original Cast Recording
Produced for Records by Goddard Lieberson
Recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio, NYC
on December 31, 1950
All releases are mono
- LP, 1951 [Columbia ML-54390]
- 78 RPM, 1951 [Columbia MM-980]
- 45 RPM (7 discs), 1951 [Columbia A-980]
- LP reissue, 19?? [Columbia OL-4390]
- LP reissue, 1973 [Columbia CML-4390]
Remastered Version
Reissue produced by Didier C. Deutsch
Digitally remastered by Tim Tiedermann
- Compact Disc, 1992 [Sony Broadway SK 48223]
- Cassette, 1992 [Sony Broadway ST 48223]
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