Crazy for You (musical)

Crazy for You is a romantic comedy musical with a book by Ken Ludwig, lyrics
Crazy for You
by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. Billed as "The New Gershwin
Musical Comedy", it is largely based on the songwriting team’s 1930 musical,
Girl Crazy, but incorporates songs from several other productions as well.
Crazy for You won the 1992 Tony Award for Best Musical.

Contents
Production history
original cast recording
Characters
Follies Music George Gershwin
Cowboys Lyrics Ira Gershwin
Musical numbers Book Ken Ludwig
Synopsis Basis Adaptation of the
Awards and nominations Gershwins' 1930 musical
Original Broadway production
Girl Crazy
Original London production
2011 London revival Productions 1992 Broadway
1993 West End
References
2011 West End revival
External links
2014 São Paulo
2014 Brazilian tour
Awards
Production history Tony Award for Best
Musical
The Broadway production was directed by Mike Ockrent and choreographed by Laurence Olivier Award for
Susan Stroman. It was produced by Roger Horchow, Elizabeth Williams, Best New Musical
Richard Godwin, and Valerie Gordon.[1] After a Washington, D.C. tryout and 10 Laurence Olivier Award for
previews, it opened at the Shubert Theatre on February 19, 1992, and ran for Best Musical Revival
1,622 performances. The cast included Jodi Benson as Polly, Harry Groener as
Bobby Child, Bruce Adler as Bela Zangler, John Hillner as Lank Hawkins, Bibi Ferreira Award for
Michele Pawk as Irene Roth, Jane Connell as Mother, Beth Leavel as Tess Best Musical
(Leavel also understudied Benson), Ronn Carroll as Everett Baker, and Stephen
Temperley and Amelia White as Eugene and Patricia Fodor. The Manhattan Rhythm Kings played cowboys Mingo, Moose, and Sam,
singing in their trademark close harmony.

In his review in The New York Times, Frank Rich wrote, "When future historians try to find the exact moment at which Broadway
finally rose up to grab the musical back from the British, they just may conclude that the revolution began last night. The shot was
fired at the Shubert Theater, where a riotously entertaining show called Crazy for You uncorked the American musical’s classic blend
of music, laughter, dancing, sentiment and showmanship with a freshness and confidence rarely seen during the Cats decade . . .
Crazy for You scrapes away decades of cabaret and jazz and variety-show interpretations to reclaim the Gershwins’ standards, in all
[2]
their glorious youth, for the dynamism of the stage."

A cast album was released by Angel Records.

The West End production, directed by Ockrent, choreographed by Stroman, and starring Ruthie Henshall, Kirby Ward, and Chris
Langham, opened at the Prince Edward Theatreon March 3, 1993 and ran for nearly three years.[3][4]

On October 20, 1999, thePBS series Great Performances broadcast a production directed by Matthew Diamond, who was nominated
for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Direction of a Variety or Music Program.[5]

On October 18, 2009, a showtime challenge, charity gala performance of Crazy for You, directed by Katherine Hare and
choreographed by Racky Plews was staged by Eyebrow Productions at the London Palladium. Eyebrow are well known for their
unique Showtime Challenges, where all aspects of the show are rehearsed and performed in 48 hours. All proceeds went to Cecily's
Fund.[6][7]

In 2011, Regent's Park Open Air Theatredid a revival of Crazy for You as part of the 2011 Summer Season. The production moved to
the West End, at the Novello Theatre where it ran from October 8, 2011 to March 17, 2012.[8]

The Off-West End premiere of Crazy For You, directed by John Plews, choreographed by Grant Murphy and musically directed by
Oliver John Ruthven, ran at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate from December 13, 2012 to January 27, 2013. The production
made use of a smaller ensemble with cast doubling, and a six-piece band.

In the 2017 concert production of Crazy for You at the Lincoln Center, the cast was joined by choirs across the world including
Denver School of the Arts.

Characters
1993 2017
1992 2011
Original Manhattan
Original Revival
Character West Concert
Broadway West End
End Productions
actor actor
actor actor
Bobby Harry Kirby Sean
Tony Yazbeck
Child Groener Ward Palmer
Polly Jodi Ruthie Clare
Laura Osnes
Baker Benson Henshall Foster
Bela Bruce Chris
David Burt Harry Groener
Zangler Adler Langham
Irene Michele Amanda Kim
Rachel Bloom
Roth Pawk Prior Medcalf
Lank John Shaun Michael Jerry
Hawkins Hillner Scott Mckell O'Connell
Everett Ronn Don Sidney Mark Linn-
Baker Carroll Fellows Livingstone Baker
Mother
Jane Avril Harriet
(Lottie Nancy Opel
Connell Angers Thorpe
Child)
Eugene Stephen Samuel Jack
N/A
Fodor Temperley Holmes McBrayer
Patricia Amelia Paula Harriet
Rachel Dratch
Fodor White Tinker Thorpe
Beth
Tess Leavel Angie
N/A N/A
(Folly) (and Polly Schworer
US)
Gerry Samuel Jim
Perkins N/A
Burkhardt Homes Borstelmann
Follies
Patsy – Stacey Logan (and Polly US)
Sheila – Judine Hawkins Richard
Mitzi – Paula Leggett
Susie – Ida Henry
Louise – Jean Marie
Betsy – Penny Ayn Maas
Margie – Salome Mazard
Vera – Louise Ruck (Played by Naomi Kakuk in 2017 concert production)
Elaine – Pamela Everett
Swing – Maryellen Scilla

Cowboys
Mingo – Tripp Hanson
Moose – Brian M. Nalepka
Sam – Harold Shane
Junior – Casey Nicholaw
Pete – Fred Anderson
Jimmy – Michael Kubala
Billy – Ray Roderick
Wyatt – Jeffrey Lee Broadhurst
Harry – Joel Goodness
Custus – Gerry Burkhardt
Note: While Eugene Fodor was the real-life founder of Fodor's Travel Guides, the character in the musical is highly fictionalized.
The real Eugene Fodor was Hungarian-American, not British, and his first travel book was aboutEurope.

Musical numbers
Act I Act II

Overture
"K-ra-zy for You" (from Treasure Girl) – Bobby
"I Can't Be Bothered Now" (from A Damsel in Distress) –
Bobby, Follies Girls
"Bidin' My Time" (from Girl Crazy) – Cowboy Trio and
Cowboys
"Things Are Looking Up" (from A Damsel in Distress) –
Bobby
"Could You Use Me" (from Girl Crazy) – Bobby and Polly
"Shall We Dance?" (from Shall We Dance) – Bobby
Entr'acte
"The Real American Folk Song is a Rag" (from Ladies
First) – Cowboy Trio and Chorus
"What Causes That?" (from Treasure Girl) – Bobby and
Zangler
"Naughty Baby"≠≠ – Irene, Lank, Cowboy Quartet
"Stiff Upper Lip" (from A Damsel in Distress) – Eugene,
Patricia, Bobby, Polly, and Chorus
"They Can't Take That Away from Me" (from Shall We
Dance) – Bobby

"Entrance to Nevada" – Follies Girls and Cowboys
"Someone to Watch Over Me" (from Oh, Kay!) – Polly
"Slap That Bass" (from Shall We Dance) – Bobby, Pete,
Patsy, Tess, and Chorus
"Embraceable You" (from Girl Crazy) – Polly and Bobby
"Tonight's the Night"≠ – Chorus
"I Got Rhythm" (from Girl Crazy) – Polly and Chorus
≠ Lyrics by Gus Kahn and Ira Gershwin
≠≠ Lyrics by Desmond Carter and Ira Gershwin
"But Not for Me" (from Girl Crazy) – Polly
"But Not for Me" (Reprise) – Polly
New York Interlude (Concerto in F)
"Nice Work If You Can Get It" (from A Damsel in Distress) –
Follies Girls, and Bobby
"Bidin' My Time" (French Reprise) – CowboyTrio
"Things Are Looking Up" (Reprise) – Everett
Finale – Chorus
Synopsis
Act 1

Backstage at the Zangler Theater in New York in the 1930s, the last performance of the Zangler Follies is wrapping up for the season
and Tess, the Dance Director, is dodging the advances of the married Bela Zangler. Bobby Child, the rich son of a banking family, is
backstage hoping for an audition with Mr. Zangler. Bobby performs "K-ra-zy for You," but fails to impress Zangler after landing on
Zangler's foot during the final flourish of his dance routine. Dejected, Bobby heads outside.

Bobby is met by Irene, the wealthy woman to whom he has been engaged for five years, and then by his mother who demands that
Bobby carry out her piece of banking business for her. Bobby is told to go to Deadrock, Nevada, to foreclose on a rundown theatre.
As the women argue over him, Bobby imagines himself dancing with the Follies Girls and joins them in a rousing rendition of "I
Can't Be Bothered Now." Brought back to reality, Bobby decides to escape to Nevada.

When Bobby arrives in Deadrock, it's clear that the gold-mining town has seen better days. The men, who are cowboys, sing "Bidin'
My Time" in a long, slow drawl. Everett Baker receives a letter from New York warning of the bank foreclosing on the Gaiety
Theater. The only woman left in this forlorn town is Everett's daughter, the spunky Polly Baker, who vows to get even with Bobby
Child if she ever meets him.

Lank Hawkins, proprietor of the town's Saloon, argues with Everett, trying to convince Everett to let him buy the theater before the
bank takes it. The stubborn old man refuses to give up the theater on the memory of Polly's mother being the star of all the theater's
old shows.

Bobby enters the town almost dying of thirst, and falls in love with Polly at first sight, not realizing who she is, and expresses his
excitement in "Things Are Looking Up." Lank isn't pleased to see a rival for Polly's fections.
af

Bobby finds himself in quite a bind. If he forecloses on the theater he will lose the girl of his dreams. Inspired, he comes up with the
idea of putting on a show to pay off the mortgage. Polly agrees to this plan until she finds out who he is and suspects a trick. Bobby
and Polly are both heartbroken, but Bobby decides to put on the show anyway... disguised as Mr. Zangler. Polly, deeply hurt,
expressed her loneliness in "Someone to W
atch Over Me."

A few days later, ten Follies Girls on vacation from The Zangler Follies appear like a mirage in the desert. Bobby has asked them to
help stage a spectacular show in Deadrock. When the men of Deadrock see the girls, the sleepy town becomes very lively. Lank
Hawkins continues to express extreme dislike for the show, threatening to shoot Bobby. Rehearsals for the show aren't going well and
the Cowboys in particular are terrible dancers. Bobby changes all that in the course of one rehearsal with the song "Slap That Bass".
Spirits are now at a high point. Meanwhile, to Bobby's dismay, Irene arrives, threatening to expose Bobby's charade, and Polly has
fallen in love with Bobby's impersonation of Zangler
. She expresses her love for Zangler with the song "Embraceable oYu."

Opening night arrives, with everyone in high hopes ("Tonight's the Night!"). Sadly, everyone is disappointed to find that the only
people to arrive are Eugene and Patricia Fodor, British tourists writing a guidebook on the American West. What starts out as a
disappointment changes into the realization that the show has galvanized the once-sleepy town, making it lively and spirited. They
celebrate with a spirited rendition of "I Got Rhythm" while the real Zangler stumbles unnoticed into the town, almost dehydrated and
collapses, just as the scene ends.

Act 2

In Lank's saloon Bobby is professing his love to Polly. Unfortunately, she is still in love with the man who she thinks is Zangler.
Bobby is about to convince Polly that he has been impersonating "Zangler" when the real Zangler stumbles into the saloon looking
for Tess.

Zangler finds Tess, but refuses her request to produce the show. Tess storms off, Zangler, now drunk after being disgusted by the
town, bemoans his fate. Bobby, dressed like Zangler, reels in to drown his sorrow over losing Polly. Drunk and depressed, the two
men act as mirror images of each other, and lament their lost loves in "What Causes That."
The next morning, Polly sees the two Zanglers and realizes what has happened. She slaps Bobby and leaves in a huff, while the
townsfolk prepare for a meeting at the theater to discuss what to do with the show. Irene comes to Bobby in one final attempt to make
him go back to New York with her, but Bobby rejects her, and states his love for Polly. Immensely frustrated with Bobby, Irene
seduces Lank in "Naughty Baby".

The townsfolk are all now gathered at the theatre. Bobby is all for trying the show again, while Polly thinks they should abandon the
venture. The Fodors counsel the dejected townspeople to keep a "Stiff Upper Lip," which includes a parody of the barricade scene
from Les Misérables but by the end of the song, only Polly, Everett, Bobby, and Tess still think the show should continue.

Everyone but Bobby and Polly leave the theater; Bobby prepares to leave for New York, professing that his memories of Polly will
never fade in "They Can't Take That Away from Me." Polly realizes, too late, that she does love Bobby, and after he leaves, laments
her loss in "But Not For Me."

Meanwhile, Bela Zangler decides to put on the show as a favor to Tess; the two seem to be in love once more. Although he had been
planning to cast Bobby as the lead, he makes Polly the star of the show after learning that Bobby has left for Nework.
Y

Six weeks later, Bobby is still thinking of Deadrock as he works for his mother's bank. For his birthday, Mrs. Child gives him the
Zangler theater (Zangler has used all his money on the show in Deadrock). While initially ecstatic, Bobby realizes that his love for
Polly is worth more in "Nice Work if You Can Get It," and leaves for Deadrock with Mrs. Child to pursue her
.

Meanwhile, Polly has decided to leave for New York to look for Bobby, who enters Deadrock just after she leaves. After learning that
Polly has left to find him, he leaves the stage to "wash up" before driving back to New York to catch her. Bobby's mother and Irene
(who is now married to Lank) notice each other, and start an argument. Everett notices Mrs. Child, and falls head-over-heels in love
with her, as shown in a reprise of "Things Are Looking Up." His affections are reciprocated, and immediately afterwards, Polly
reenters with Custus, one of the cowboys. Custus is trying to give Polly a ride to the station, but his car has run out of gas, and she
has missed the train to New York. Together the townspeople concoct a plan, and Polly and Bobby are finally reunited in the "Finale."

Awards and nominations

Original Broadway production

 Year Award Ceremony Category Nominee Result
Outstanding Musical Won
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical Bruce Adler Nominated
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Michele Pawk Nominated

Drama Desk Outstanding Director of a Musical Mike Ockrent Nominated

Award Outstanding Choreography Susan Stroman Won
Outstanding Orchestrations William D. Brohn Nominated
Outstanding Costume Design William Ivey Long Nominated
Outstanding Set Design Robin Wagner Nominated
Best Musical Won
1992 Best Book of a Musical Ken Ludwig Nominated
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a
Harry Groener Nominated
Musical
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a
Jodi Benson Nominated
Musical
Tony Award
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a
Bruce Adler Nominated
Musical
Best Direction of a Musical Mike Ockrent Nominated
Best Choreography Susan Stroman Won
Best Costume Design William Ivey Long Won
Best Lighting Design Paul Gallo Nominated

Original London production

Year Award Ceremony Category Nominee Result

Best New Musical Won
Best Actor in a Musical Kirby Ward Nominated
Best Actress in a Musical Ruthie Henshall Nominated
Laurence Olivier Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a
1993 Chris Langham Nominated
Award Musical
Best Director of a Musical Mike Ockrent Nominated
Best Theatre Choreographer Susan Stroman Won
Best Set Designer Robin Wagner Won

2011 London revival

Year Award Ceremony Category Nominee Result

Laurence Olivier Best Musical Revival Won

2012
Award Best Costume Design Peter McKintosh Won

References
 1. "Crazy For You" (https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/crazy-for-you-4662). ibdb.com. The Broadway League.
Retrieved 2017-11-25.
2. Rich, Frank. "Review" (http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview
.html?res=9E0CEEDE173BF933A15751C0A
964958260) New York Times
3. "Crazy For You London theatre tickets and information" (http://www.thisistheatre.com/shows/princeedward47.html).
www.thisistheatre.com.
4. "The Envelope: Hollywood's Awards and Industry Insider - Los Angeles Times" (http://www.latimes.com/entertainme
nt/envelope/).
5. "'Crazy for You' Production, Great Performances" (https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/crazyforyou/index.html) pbs.org,
accessed January 17, 2011
6. User, Super. "Home" (http://www.cecilysfund.org). www.cecilysfund.org.
7. "Showtime Challenge to Produce 'Crazy for You' at the London Palladium in 48 Hours"(http://www.playbill.com/new
s/article/133886-Showtime_Challenge_to_Produce_Crazy_for_Y ou_at_the_London_Palladium_in_48_Hours)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20091019035242/http://www .playbill.com/news/article/133886-Showtime_Chal
lenge_to_Produce_Crazy_for_You_at_the_London_Palladium_in_48_Hours)2009-10-19 at the Wayback Machine.
playbill.com
8. Shenton, Mark."West End Run for Summer Production of 'Crazy for You' Resumes Oct. 7" (http://www.playbill.com/n
ews/article/155303-West-End-Run-for-Summer-Production-of-Crazy-for-You-Resumes-Oct-7) Archived (https://web.
archive.org/web/20111010013052/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/155303-West-End-Run-for-Summer-Producti
on-of-Crazy-for-You-Resumes-Oct-7) 2011-10-10 at the Wayback Machine. playbill.com, October 7, 2011

External links
Crazy for You at the Internet Broadway Database
Crazy for You at KenLudwig.com
Official UK Site

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