Musicals Set in The 1920's

Posted: 5/23/13 at 7:55pm

I'm doing a school project on how the 1920's are depicted in musicals, and am trying to comprise a list of musicals set during that time, but written in the subsequent decades. I already have:

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
The Boy Friend
Saturday Night
Jimmy
Sugar
Chicago
Thoroughly Modern Millie
The Wild Party
The Drowsy Chaperone
Death Takes A Holiday

Also parts of Fiorello, Gypsy, Funny Girl and Mame.

Are there any others I may have missed?

[ddenoff2]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 8:36pm

Nice Work If You Can Get It!

[After Eight]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 8:50pm

Scenes in Sophie, Mack and Mabel, Chaplin.

[Enjolras77]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 9:55pm

Floyd Collins
Singin' in the Rain

Posted: 5/23/13 at 10:04pm

Nymph Errant

[NoName3]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 10:11pm

The high school scenes in Allegro.

There's both a musical and an opera based on The Great Gatsby but I know nothing about the former.

And I know there's either a musical or a revue based on the life of Josephine Baker, but again, I don't know even the title.



Updated On: 5/23/13 at 10:11 PM

[mc1227]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 10:26pm

How about 42nd St?

[John Adams]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 10:47pm

No, No, Nanette has a revised book written in 1971 that's the most commonly used, but the original show was created in the 20s. (Don't know if that counts for you)

You might also be interested in this thread:
Musicals about the roaring twenties

[all that jazz]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 10:50pm

Anything Goes?

[NoName3]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 10:52pm

42nd Street, like Annie, is set in The Great Depression of the 1930's. Ditto Anything Goes, which was set in the present when it premiered in 1934.

Updated On: 5/23/13 at 10:52 PM

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 10:56pm

By Jeeves is set around that period.

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/23/13 at 11:22pm

Both of the musicals I am working on at the moment are set in or around the twenties: one about gangster Al Capone, the other a very loose adaptation of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari inspired by film noir styles.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 8:14am

Porgy and Bess
the end of Showboat
The Most Happy Fella
parts of Allegro
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Fifty Million Frenchmen
Happy End
The Boyfriend
The Girlfriend
A Connecticut Yankee (apart from the time travel)
Sally
Sunny
Lady Be Good
Oh, Kay
Funny Face
Irene (opened on Broadway 1919, contempt. set)
Strike Up the Band
Show Girl
Angel
parts of Little Me
flashback scenes of On The Twentieth Century




Updated On: 5/24/13 at 08:14 AM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 3:09pm

henrik, I think the OP is looking for musicals written in later decades that take place in the 20's, not authentic 20's-written shows.

Like
LEGS DIAMOND
GRAND HOTEL
BOUNCE/ WISE GUYS/ ROAD SHOW (in part)
MY ONE AND ONLY (rewritten book with 20's songs)
THE COLOR PURPLE (in part)
FIORELLO (in part)
MACK & MABEL (in part)


Updated On: 5/24/13 at 03:09 PM

[elmore3003]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 3:50pm

"Nymph Errant" is a 1930s musical.

[BroadwayStar4]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 4:27pm

There's The Great Gatsby musical?? What?

[Steve C.]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 5:27pm

I may be a little off but A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine and The Will Rogers Follies come to mind.

[NoName3]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 6:07pm

BwayStar, use Google. It turns out there's been more than one:

great gatsby musical -film -luhrmann Updated On: 5/24/13 at 06:07 PM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 5/24/13 at 7:16pm

Someone in a tree, you're absolutely right, I missed that qualification. But some of the old shows I mentioned were created well after the 20s. Including The Boyfriend, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Porgy and Bess, The Most Happy Fella and Angel.

Posted: 5/28/13 at 3:57pm

Thank you all so much!

I know GIANT starts in the 1920s and goes through the 1950s, but does anyone know at how much is set in the 20s?

Thanks again for all your help!

[newintown]

Posted: 5/28/13 at 4:07pm

Angel is set in 1916.

Porgy and Bess is set in "the early 30s."

A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine is definitely a 30's musical, contemporary with Marx Brothers films and most of the songs in Act I.

Several others mentioned, while set during the decade between 1920-1930, aren't really what one would call a "20s musical," I think. I believe the term describes a show that celebrates the specific feel of that specific "decade," whereas a show like The Most Happy Fella could just as easily be set 10 years earlier or later.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 5/28/13 at 5:17pm

I think you're right Newintown (and I was mistaken) but I remain curious as to why the action of Porgy and Bess was changed from the 20s (as it is in the play Porgy from 1925) to the 30s. Does anyone know if there was some specific reason?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/28/13 at 7:06pm

Billion Dollar Baby