Way back in the dark ages (circa early 1930s) when musicals were musical comedies (if you don’t know what I mean, listen to “Musicals,” the showstopper in the light-hearted hit Something Rotten!), the writers and composers’ aim was simply to entertain, not to comment (except with a wink) on the then current world outside, not to lecture, not to preach. Many years later, towards the end of 1969 a young performer came onstage as an unknown and took a bow two hours later as a star. She was Bernadette Peters and as “Ruby” in this delightful spoof of those early musicals she had the kind of notices which are the stuff of which dreams are made. Read more…
http://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2015/10/30/dames-at-sea-at-the-helen-hayes-theatre-in-new-york-city/