Funny Face [S]

Opened at the Alvin Theatre, New York on November 14, 1927. 244 performances. Book by Fred Thompson and Paul Gerard Smith. Directed by Edgar MacGregor. Dances staged by Bobby Connolly. Produced by Alex A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley. Cast included Fred and Adele Astaire, William Kent, Victor Moore, Allen Kearns, Gertrude McDonald, and Betty Compton.

Originally entitled SMARTY (with a book co-authored by humorist Robert Benchley), FUNNY FACE was the third show for which George and Ira provided a score for Fred and Adele Astaire, and it was the inaugural production at the Alvin Theatre, named for the producers Alex Aarons and Vinton Freedley. FUNNY FACE is a romp about Jimmy Reeve (Fred Astaire) and his three wards. The plot involves a stolen diary and the family jewels that are both kept in blue envelopes, leading to general pandemonium. In 1983, MY ONE AND ONLY reintroduced several of the songs from FUNNY FACE to Broadway audiences.