Hit the Deck (musical)

Hit the Deck is a musical with music by Vincent Youmans, lyrics by Clifford Grey and Leo Robin and book by Herbert Fields.[1] It was based on the 1922 play Shore Leave by Hubert Osborne.[citation needed] The title refers to a nautical slang term that means to prepare for action (general) or to drop to a prone position on the ground (as a defensive response to hostile fire). The musical is set in China and Newport, Rhode Island, and on a ship traveling between the two locations.

The original production was staged at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway, opening on April 25, 1927, and running for 352 performances.[1] Charles King played Bilge and Louise Groody played Loulou. The show's co-producers were Youmans and Lew Fields, and Lew Fields co-directed with Alexander Leftwich. The production ran for 352 performances.[2]

The first London production opened at the Hippodrome on July 3, 1927 and ran for 277 performances. It starred Stanley Holloway.[3][4] In The Manchester Guardian, Ivor Brown praised Holloway for a singing style "which coaxes the ear rather than clubbing the head."[5]

  1. ^ a b Soul, Keeping (5 December 2010). "Malcolm Lowry @ The 19th Hole: Hit The Deck 1927". Malcolmlowryatthe19thhole.blogspot.com. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  2. ^ Hit the Deck, IBDB database, accessed 16 March 2012
  3. ^ "Stanley Holloway The English Entertainer In Hit The Deck". Gettyimages.co.uk. 1927-07-03. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  4. ^ "Hit the Deck", The Times, 4 November 1927, p. 7
  5. ^ Brown, Ivor. "Hit the Deck", The Manchester Guardian, 4 November 1927, p. 15