Saturday, January 12, 2008

Jumbo 1935 #3


Scan000010712, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

"Billy Rose, Ben Hect, Charles MacArthur and Paul Whiteman confer in the wee hours during a Jumbo rehearsal"

For some reason I doubt that the three gentlemen at right were around during the wee hours, this would more likely be John Murray Anderson who staged the thing and of course Mr. Rose who would be interested in seeing where his money was going.
Billy Rose was once asked if his financial success was his biggest satisfaction and he replied, "Not necessarily, I never heard anyone whistle or hum by AT&T holdings."
I'm sure some of you are aware that the great playwrite Charles MacArthur was the husband of actress Helen Hayes and their son James MacArthur, was Det. Danny Williams in "Hawaii 50".
"Book 'em Dano!"

Posted by Buckles at 1/12/2008 06:26:00 AM

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This picture couldn't have been taken at any time, of course, but it was likely that Hecht and MacArthur, and probably Rodgers and Hart, would be there in the wee hours. Those who were creating Broadway shows worked nearly round-the-clock, during rehearsals to see how things were working and then after rehearsals to write new material to replace what didn't work. It's rare for a Broadway show not to have lots of songs that were cut, replaced by those written overnight. (I've heard that in THE MUSIC MAN, Meredith Wilson replaced every song except one during rehearsals.) David Carlyon

12 January, 2008 08:26
Unknown said...

Actually, not long before the much-delayed JUMBO finally opened, Rose realized the show was running way too long, and he, Hecht, and MacArthur stayed up till all hours as reported in Variety, cutting a lot. Hecht was furious and two actresses (who were only in the deleted scenes) lost their jobs. At least two songs got cut, including "There's A Small Hotel," which Rodgers and Hart promptly recycled into their next show, ON YOUR TOES.

But why Whiteman would be there....

09 July, 2018 17:28

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