Trivial Pursuit #120
Trivial Pursuit #120
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#0Trivial Pursuit #120
Posted: 5/3/05 at 11:13pm
This 1940 Irving Berlin Musical gently parodied the corrupt Administration of Louisiana Governer Huey P. Long.
Its Opening Chorus even advised the Audience what they were about to see was NOT based on actual characters!
What musical am I referring to?
GOOD LUCK, Everybody!!! 
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#1re: Trivial Pursuit #120
Posted: 5/3/05 at 11:17pmHint #1: Thomas Jefferson.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
kjklo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/03
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#3re: Trivial Pursuit #120
Posted: 5/3/05 at 11:22pm
kj! EXCELLENT!!!
CON-GRAT-U-LATIONS!
YES, LOUISIANA PURCHASE was the musical based on the events of the Huey Long Administration--but then started off by insisting that the show was NOT based on real characters (due to legal reasons, of course, its all explained in the Opening Chorus--when the show's Attorney contacts its Producer, Buddy deSylva!)
FINE JOB, kj!!!
Now for your bonus points:
What VERY WELL KNOWN comic (he hosted the Oscars like a Zillion times) starred in the film version of LOUISIANA PURCHASE?
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#5re: Trivial Pursuit #120
Posted: 5/3/05 at 11:27pmWhat song title from LOUISIANNA PURCHASE did Berlin slightly alter and use a decade later?
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#6re: Trivial Pursuit #120
Posted: 5/3/05 at 11:27pm
Well, kj, here is your prize for winning tonight:
Tomorrow morning, you are head STRAIGHT to New Orleans (I believe that's pronounced NAWL'NS) and investigate the shading doings of the Louisiana Purchase Company!
But WATCH OUT for that Senator Longberry--he's up to HIS ears in corruption--and if you're NOT careful, he'll get YOU involved in his dirty shenagians as well! 
Have a Trivial Night, Folks!!!
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
kjklo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/03
#7re: Trivial Pursuit #120
Posted: 5/3/05 at 11:28pmJose beat me to it! But everyone else in the cast was mostly transferred from Broadway.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#8re: Trivial Pursuit #120
Posted: 5/3/05 at 11:29pm
It was your "prize" to win, kj.
Now about that song...
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#9re: Trivial Pursuit #120
Posted: 5/3/05 at 11:30pm
"Apologia":
My dear Mister DeSylva
I've read the book of your show
And as your legal advisor
I'm writing to let you know
That you're skating on very thin ice
And since you've asked my advice
Let me warn you it can't be done
I know it's all in fun
But there is a state called Louisiana
And anyone can tell
That both your acts are based on facts
And they're gonna be sore as hell
You won't get away with it -- they'll sue
You and Ryskind and Berlin, too
Because
There are laws
Laws that specifically say
You can't write a book or a play
Based on characters living today
And that's what you've done
I know it's in fun
But, for instance, the very first scene
The character you call the Dean
You've changed the name but just the same
They're going to know who you mean
And you won't get away with it, oh no
The minute you open they'll close the show
And they'll sue
They'll sue
You and Ryskind and Berlin, too
And the cast will go to jail
Of that I have no doubt
But speaking as your attorney
Let me say that there is a way out
You can make the whole thing legal
Without changing a line in your book
It can still be Louisiana
You can call a crook a crook
But you must say it's based on fiction
And everything will be fine
Yours truly, Sam Lebowitz
Of Rafferty, Driscoll and O'Brien
Music and Lyrics: Irving Berlin
Copyright © ASCAP. All rights reserved.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
kjklo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/03
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#11re: Trivial Pursuit #120
Posted: 5/3/05 at 11:33pm
Very good, kj.
For LOUISIANNA PURCHASE Berlin wrote, "It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow."
Ten years later, for CALL ME MADAM, he penned "It's A Lovely Day Today."
kjklo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/03
#12re: Trivial Pursuit #120
Posted: 5/3/05 at 11:36pmAh, very interesting. I'll try to retain that in my trivia cache for future reference.
TxTwoStep
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/24/03
#13re: Trivial Pursuit #120
Posted: 5/4/05 at 1:26pm
i saw a "new" production of LOUISIANA PURCHASE at Swine Palace Productions (unfortunate name, that) at Louisiana State U in recent memory.
It still needs work. Even the Berlin score couldn't save it.
Will: They don't give out awards for helping people be gay... unless you count the Tonys.
"I guarantee that we'll have tough
times. I guarantee that at some point
one or both of us will want to get out.
But I also guarantee that if I don't
ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for
the rest of my life..."
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#14re: Trivial Pursuit #120
Posted: 5/4/05 at 1:30pm
I believe that's the problem with a "Topical" show like LOUISIANA PURCHASE, Tx.
What is a "laugh riot" one year can become downright CONFUSIG in just a year or two...
But have you heard the Encores! Recording? I agree--it is an excellent score--and THAT Recording does it FULL JUSTICE.
If you have not heard it, I HIGHLY recommend it!!!
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
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