Leave it to Me is by the team that created Kiss Me Kate. The music and lyrics are by Cole Porter and the book is by Bella and Samuel Spewack.
Alonzo P. Goodhue, the American ambassador to the Soviet Union, is homesick for Topeka, Kansas and tries to get recalled. At first, all his calculated blunders backfire and Goodhue becomes a hero, only to successfully fail in the end. Mary Martin, Sophie Tucker, Tamara and Victor Moore starred in the 1938 production. Songs include "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," "Get out of Town," and "Most Gentlemen Don’t Like Love."
Book by Bella & Samuel Spewack
Reporters Bella Cohen and Sam Spewack married in 1922. Their first play was Solitaire Man in 1926. Clear All Wires (1932) became the musical Leave It to Me! (1938), and was their first collaboration with Cole Porter. Boy Meets Girl (1935) was inspired by Hollywood adventures. Among some 20 films were: My Favorite Wife (1940) and Weekend at the Waldorf (1945). Kiss Me Kate (1948) won the Spewacks the first Tony Award ever given to the book of a musical. Other plays included Two Blind Mice (1949), My 3 Angels (1957) and Once There Was a Russian (1961).
Music & Lyrics by Cole Porter
Cole Porter was born in Peru, Indiana in 1891. He attended Yale, where his football songs are still popular. After his first Broadway show flopped, he exiled himself to Europe and married legendary beauty, Linda
Thomas. Returning to New York in the late 1920s, he gained renown as the composer of some of the greatest songs ever heard on stage or screen – among them "Night and Day, "You’re the Top," "Begin the Beguine," "Don’t Fence Me In," and "Love For Sale." The 1930s were highlighted by Anything Goes, Gay Divorce, Jubilee, and Born to Dance. A crippling accident left him in constant pain, yet he continued to write memorable scores, among them Can-Can, Silk Stockings, and his masterpiece, Kiss Me Kate. Musicals Tonight! has been privileged to present Leave It To Me, and Fifty Million Frenchmen.
Director and Choreographer Thomas Mills
Music Director, Vocal and Dance Arranger Mark Hartman
With Robin Baxter*, Keith Benedict, Courtney Blythe, Liz Casasola*, Gordon Connell*, Jamie Day*, Christine Gonzales*, Blythe Gruda*, J. Michael McCormack*, Barbara McCulloh*, L.J. Mitchell*, Kenny Morris*, Seth Muse, Kurt Robbin*, Lois Saunders*, Michael Scott*, Ed Smit, John Wasiniak*, Will Woodrow.
*Denotes member of Actors Equity Association
Producer Mel Miller
Lighting by Shuhei Seo
Casting Director Stephen DeAngelis
Production Stage Manager Shih-hui Wu
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