By Jupiter is a musical with a book by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart.
| By Jupiter | |
|---|---|
 Ray Bolger in the original Broadway production | |
| Music | Richard Rodgers |
| Lyrics | Lorenz Hart |
| Book | Lorenz Hart Richard Rodgers |
| Basis | The Warrior's Husband by Julian F. Thompson |
| Productions | 1942 Broadway 1967 Off-Broadway revival |
Based on the play The Warrior's Husband by Julian F. Thompson, it's set in the land of the Amazons, where the women rule and do battle while the men stay at home, mind the children, and buy new hats. An army of Greek soldiers, led by Theseus and Hercules, arrives in search of the Sacred Girdle of Diana, currently in the hands of reigning Queen Hippolyta. Accompanying them is war correspondent Homer, author of a recent bestseller called The Iliad. The Greek warriors are captured by the Amazons, and romance blossoms between Theseus and Antiope, the warrior-leader of the Amazons. A subplot involves Hippolyta's epicene gender-bending son Sapiens, who employs his "feminine wiles" to get his way with the opposite sex.
The Broadway production, directed by Joshua Logan and choreographed by Robert Alton, opened on June 3, 1942 at the Shubert Theatre, where it ran for 427 performances. The cast included Ray Bolger, Benay Venuta, Vera-Ellen, and Constance Moore, who was replaced by Nanette Fabray later in the run.
At one point, 20th Century Fox considered pairing Laurel and Hardy with Martha Raye in a movie version of the show, but the idea was eventually shelved.
On January 19, 1967, a revival with new material by Fred Ebb and directed by Christopher Hewett opened at the off-Broadway Theatre Four, where it ran for 118 performances. Bob Dishy headed the cast.
The musical proved to be not only Rodgers and Hart's longest-running Broadway hit, but their last full-length work. (They collaborated on a revision of their 1927 show A Connecticut Yankee in 1943, writing six new numbers.)
Song list
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References
- Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre by Stanley Green, published by Dodd, Mead, 1976