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PASSING STAGES
[[images of stamps]]
[[top left stamp]] USA 22 Siamese Cat, Exotic Shorthair Cat[[/stamp]]
[[bottom left stamp]] USA 22 Maine Coon Cat, Burmese Cat[[/stamp]]
[[top right stamp]] USA 22 Abyssinian Cat, Himalayan Cat[[/stamp]]
[[bottom right stamp]] USA 22 American Shorthair Cat, Persian Cat[[/stamp]]

CAT's MEOW
There were more cats than usual recently at the Winter Garden where Cats is still purring in its sixth year. The occasion was the dedication of a new block of U.S. Commemorative Stamps honoring eight breeds of pedigree cats.
On hand were Bernard B. Jacobs and Gerald Schoenfeld, President and Chairman, respectively, of the Shubert Organization; Postmaster General Preston R. Tisch; John D. Dawson, who designed the colorful stamps; Laurie Beechman, Grizabella in the show, who sang her big hit, "Memory"; and two other hip cats in the cast, Lily-Lee Wong and Brian Andrews. Also on hand, in person, were the eight exotic cats that appear on the stamps. The pedigrees did everything they could to upstage he Shubert Alley Cats in the show.

SHAGGY TALE
A theatregoer named Thomas F. Delaney has written to inquire why the dog that appears in Anything Goes at the Vivian Beaumont Theater is not listed in the cast and does not have a bio in the "Who's Who in the Cast" section of PLAYBILL. "This is really slighting a doggone good performance," wrote Mr. Delaney.
Checking out the matter, I learned that there simply wasn't space to credit the canine since there are not one, but two dogs in the show. They are both Yorkshire terriers and both answer to the name of Cheeky. The plot of Anything Goes requires that one dog have his hair intact and the other have it shaved, but we won't go into that here. Suffice to say that both Cheekys give terrific performances, although they are never onstage together.
When Anything Goes proved to be such an enormous hit and had its run extended, new contracts for the cast had to be drawn. The trainer of the two Yorkies wanted too much of a pay raise for his pooches, so they were dismissed. The current Cheekys are less demanding.

FOGGY FORECASTS
On Wednesday, January 1, 1941, Variety reviewed two shows when they opened out of town, prior to their Broadway premieres. Lady in the Dark starring Gertrude Lawrence (with a little-known comic, Danny Kaye, in a featured role) opened at the Colonial Theatre in Boston and drew this response from the Variety critic: "Whether Lady in the Dark is a smash hit is problematical, but it should enjoy a long enough run to recoup the $150,000 rumored to be spent on its production."
Arsenic and Old Lace opened at the Maryland Theatre in Baltimore, and another Variety critic had this opinion: "It lacks a continuity of punch and sustained shock, which, unless accomplished in its tryout stage, must limit its possibilities to a modest metropolitan run at best."
When both these shows opened in New York a few weeks later, they proved to be the sensations of the season. Lady in the Dark was a triumph for Gertrude Lawrence, Danny Kaye and the legendary musical's creators: Moss Hart, Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin. Arsenic and Old Lace convulsed Broadway for 1,444 performances and became one of Broadway's greatest comedy successes.
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by Louis Botto

56

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