After the death of George, Ira Gershwin “retired” from writing as he seems to have lost his will. It wouldn’t be until three-years later that Moss Hart and Kurt Weill would be able to lure him from that self-imposed exile in order to write the first musical about psychoanalysis, “Lady in the Dark” which we’ll be sampling in an “all-star” program on this week’s Dress Circle (2/16 7:00 p.m.). We’ll have performances from its original stars, Gertrude Lawrence and Danny Kaye, as well from London, television, and studio cast recordings.
Some of the "stars" include Rise Stevens, Ann Southern, Maria Friedman, Julie Andrews, Adolph Green, and Hume Cronyn. The show ran originally for 467 performances and was unique in that the majority of the musical numbers appeared in three dreams that the leading lady, Liza, tells to her analyst about why she simply cannot make up her mind about her career, love, and life. It was a ground-breaking show for its time which has been sadly overlooked today.
