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[[start page]] [[start advertisement]] "When I was growing up, we had a name for great Italian food. Mamma Leone's." [[image - black and white portrait of smiling man, formally dressed, with glasses and mustache]] Joe Montalbaus Direttore Generale Mamma Leone's New York's most memorable restaurant Lunch, Dinner and After-theatre Supper seven days a week. 48th Street, West of Broadway. 586-5151. Free parking after 5 PM. [[end advertisement]] PLAYBILL THE NATIONAL THEATRE MAGAZINE April 1987 Vol. 87 No. 4 5. At This Theatre 6. Dear Playbill [[italics]]by Louis Botto[[/italics]] 8. Jackie Mason Goes Legit[[italics]]by Harry Haun[[/italics]] 14. A Joyous Noel[[italics]]by Sheryl Flatow[[/italics]] 25. ONSTAGE 42. Theatre Scenes 48. A Theatregoer's Notebook [[italics]]by Rebecca Morehouse[[/italics]] 50. Time for Emile[[italics]]by Sheryl Flatow[[/italics]] 53. Celebrity Choice[[italics]]by Bob Edison[[/italics]] 54. Fashion Forecast[[italics]]by Michelle Moore[[/italics]] 56. Men's Fashion[[italics]]by Anne Anable[[/italics]] 58. Playbill Dining and Entertainment Guide 66. Notes From The League 70. A View from the Audience[[italics]]by Howard Schneider[[/italics]] Joan Alleman, [[italics]] editor-in-chief[[/italics]] Louis Botto [[italics]]senior editor[[/italics]] Linda Smith[[italics]]asst. editor[[/italics]] Norma Adler[[italics]]program editor[[/italics]] Gregory Bossler[[italics]]program editor[[/italics]] Judy Samelson[[italics]]managing editor[[/italics]] L. Robert Charles,[[italics]]general sales director[[/italics]] Thomas A. Steinfeld[[italics]]national sales director[[/italics]] Elaine Klein[[italics]]special sales director[[/italics]] Irv Winick,[[italics]]rest. & entertain. sales[[/italics]] Advertising Sales-71 Vanderbilt Ave., Suite 320, New York, N.Y. 10169 212 557-5757 Arthur T. Birsh,[[italics]]publisher[[/italics]] Gary Pearce[[italics]]director graphic services[[/italics]] Neil M. Babitch[[italics]]asst. to publisher[[/italics]] Russell Cannizzaro[[italics]]comptroller[[/italics]] Lewis Cole[[italics]]asst. comptroller[[/italics]] PLAYBILL[[registered trademark symbol]] is a registered trademark of Playbill Incorporated [[copyright symbol]] Copyright 1987. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited. Licensed Theatre Editions: Boston, Florida and Philadelphia/Baltimore. New York edition of Playbill is published by Playbill Incorporated, 71 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, N.Y. 10169. 212-557-5757. President: Arthur T. Birsh; Treasurer: Russell Cannizzaro; Secretary; Theodore P. Halperin. Printed in U.S.A. PLAYBILL[[registered trademark symbol]]-[[italics]]The National Magazine of the Theatre[[/italics]], available monthly to subscribers for $18 per year (U.S.); $21 (outside U.S.). Opening Night service, current and back issues available. Inquire for details. [[end page]] [[start page]] AT THIS THEATRE [[image-black and white illustration of the 46th Street Theatre]] THE FORTY-SIXTH STREET The Forty-Sixth Street Theatre is traditionally the most musical house on Broadway. The theatre was built by the Chanins in 1924 and was known as Chanin's 46th Street until it was sold in 1932. One of the biggest hits was [[italics]]Good News[[/italics]] in 1927, followed by [[italics]]Follow Thru[[/italics]] (Jack Haley, Eleanor Powell), [[italics]]Top Speed[[/italics]] (Ginger Rogers), [[italics]]Sweet and Low[[/italics]] (Fannie Brice, George Jessel) and [[italics]]You Said It[[/italics]] (Lou Holtz). [[italics]]She Loves Me Not[[/italics]] was a 1933 comedy hit, and Henry Fonda made friends in [[italics]]The Farmer Takes A Wife[[/italics]]. In 1938, [[italics]]Hellzapoppin[[/italics]] was such a hit that it moved to a larger theatre and was succeeded by Cole Poter's rowdy [[italics]]Du Barry Was A Lady[[/italics]] (Ethel Merman, Bert Lahr, Betty Grable), which in turn, was followed by another Porter/Merman triumph, [[italics]]Panama Hattie[[/italics]]. Hits of the 1940's and '50's included [[italics]]One Touch of Venus[[/italics]] (Mary Martin), [[italics]]Finian's Rainbow, Guys and Dolls, Ondine[[/italics]] (Audrey Hepburn), and three Gwen Verdon delights: [[italics]]Damn Yankees, New Girl In Town[[/italics]], and[[italics]]Redhead[[/italics]]. One of the 46th Street Theatre's biggest hits opened in 1961 and won the Pulitzer Prize: Frank Loesser's [[italics]]How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying[[/italics]], starring Robert Morse and Rudy Vallee. On March 18, 1965, the Richard Rodgers/Stephen Sondheim/ Arthur Laurents musical [[italics]]Do I Hear A Waltz?[[/italics]] opened, to be followed by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's musical version of [[italics]]The Fourposter[[/italics]] called [[italics]]I Do! I Do!,[[/italics]] starring only two people: Mary Martin and Robert Preston. The Declaration of Independence was signed 1217 times between 1969 and 1971 when the Tony Award-winning [[italics]]1776[[/italics]] musicalized the doings of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. The splashy revival of the 1925 smash, [[italics]] No, No, Nanette [[/italics]] in 1971 brought Ruby Keeler back to Broadway in what proved to be her biggest stage hit. Also in the cast were two Tony Award-winners, Helen Gallagher and Patsy Kelly, plus Jack Gilford, Bobby Van and Susan Watson. [[italics]] Raisin,[[/italics]] a musical remake of Lorraine Hansberry's [[italics]] Raisin In The Sun,[[/italics]] opened October 18, 1973. It was followed in Feb- [[Black & White photo of The Playbill of Guys & Dolls]] ruary, 1975, by glittering revival of Noel Coward's 1931 comedy, [[italics]] Private Lives,[[/italics]] starring Maggie Smith. In October of the same year, Gwen Verdon returned to the 46th Street Theatre in Bob Fosse's [[italics]] Chicago,[[/italics]] also starring Jerry Orbach and Chita Rivera, singing and dancing a Kander and Ebb score. Mary Martin and Anthony Quayle next appeared in a two-charater play, [[italics]] Do You Turn Somersaults?,[[/italics]] followed by the musical [[italics]] Working,[[/italics]] based on the book by Studs Terkel. [[italics]] The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas [[/italics]] moved to this theatre in 1978 and became its longest-running show. This was followed by the Tony Award-winning musical [[italics]] Nine [[/italics]] and [[italics]] Brighton Beach Memoirs. [[/italics]] [[underneath both columns across the bottom]] Space limitations prevent us form mentioning all the productions which have played this theatre
