Rosalie
Opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre, New York on January 10, 1928. 335 performances. Music by George Gershwin and Sigmund Romberg. Lyrics by P. G. Wodehouse and Ira Gershwin. Book by William Anthony McGuire and Guy Bolton. Staged by Florenz Ziegfeld, Seymour Felix, and William Anthony McGuire. Produced by Florenz Ziegfeld. Cast included Marilyn Miller, Jack Donahue, Gladys Glad, Frank Morgan, Bobbe Arnst, and Margaret Dale.
How can a musical with two composers, two lyricists, and two book writers still be a success? If you’re Florenz Ziegfeld and you’ve hired your favorite star and ex-mistress, Marilyn Miller, and added George and Ira Gershwin plus P. G. Wodehouse to the mix, you at least have a chance. And that’s what happened with ROSALIE, a fanciful story of a princess who falls in love with a commoner, a typical 1920s musical comedy scenario. When Sigmund Romberg informed Ziegfeld that he could not complete the entire score in the allotted time, and Wodehouse was occupied on another show with Rudolf Friml, the Gershwins were brought in and proceeded to fill their portion of the score with cast-offs from their previous shows. Only two other Gershwin musicals (LADY, BE GOOD! and OF THEE I SING) had longer Broadway runs than ROSALIE, proving that many cooks are not always the cause of spoiled broth.