Seven Lively Arts

A Musical Revue
Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Ballet Music by Igor Stravinsky
Sketches by Moss Hart, George S. Kaufman, Robert Pirosh, Joseph Schrank, Charles Sherman, and Ben Hecht

Tryouts began November 24, 1944 at the Forrest Theatre, Philadelphia

Opened December 7, 1944 at the Ziegfeld Theatre, NYC
Ran for 183 performances
Produced by Billy Rose
Staged and Lighted by Hassard Short
Sketches directed by Philip Loeb
Choreographed by Jack Donohue
Ballets choreographed by Anton Dolin
Sets by Norman Bel Geddes
Costumes by Mary Grant

Cast

Beatrice Lillie, Bert Lahr, Benny Goodman, Alicia Markova, Anton Dolin, Doc Rockwell, Teddy Wilson, Red Norvo, Bill Tabbert, Nan Wynn, Jere McMahon, Dolores Gray, Billie Worth, Paula Bane, Mary Roche, and Helen Gallagher

Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye [sheet music]

Musical Numbers

  • "Big Town" - Nan Wynn, Jere McMahon, Paula Bane, Billie Worth, Mary Roche, Bill Tabbert, Dolores Gray, and Ensemble
  • "Is It the Girl (or Is It the Gown?)" - Dolores Gray and Ensemble
  • "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" - Nan Wynn
  • "Only Another Boy and Girl" - Mary Roche and Bill Tabbert
  • "Wow-Ooh-Wolf!" - Nan Wynn, Dolores Gray, and Mary Roche
  • "Drink" - Bert Lahr and Ensemble
  • "When I Was a Little Cuckoo" - Beatrice Lillie
  • "Frahngee-Pahnee" - Bill Tabbert and Ensemble
  • "Dancin' to a Jungle Drum (Let's End the Beguine)" - Beatrice Lillie
  • "Hence It Don't Make Sense" - Nan Wynn, Mary Roche, Dolores Gray, Billie Worth, and Jere McMahon
  • "The Band Started Swinging a Song" - Nan Wynn
  • "The Big Parade / Yours for a Song" [not listed in the program, may have been dropped]

Cut Songs

  • "Pretty Little Missus Bell" - Beatrice Lillie [dropped before the New York opening]
  • "Dainty, Quainty Me" [unused, intended for Bert Lahr]
  • "I Wrote a Play" [unused, probably intended for Bill Tabbert]
  • "If I Hadn't a Husband" [unused; music used later for "Should I Tell You I Love You" in Around the World in Eighty Days]
  • "Where Do We Go From Here?" [unused, intended for Beatrice Lillie and Bert Lahr]
  • "Cafe Society Still Carries On" [unused, intended for Bert Lahr]

Original Cast Recordings

"Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye" / "Only Another Boy and Girl" - Benny Goodman Quintet [A-side vocal: Peggy Mann; B-side vocal: Jane Harvey]

  • 78 RPM, 1945 [Columbia 36767] A-side charted on March 10, 1945; peaked at #12

"Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye" - Teddy Wilson Quintet [vocal: Maxine Sullivan]

  • 78 RPM, 1945 [Musicraft 317]

Contemporaneous Recordings

"Hence It Don't Make Sense" - Tony Pastor and His Orchestra

  • 78 RPM, 1945 [Victor 20-1640]


Porter In Order
Previous Project / Next Project

Return to the Table of Contents