Not-So-Plain Janie and Your Own Thursday Headlines

 

Courtesy IMDB.

This week's Notable Opening Night is Sept. 10, 1942, when Janie opened at what is now the Stephen Sondheim.

Written by Josephine Bentham and Herschel Williams from Bentham's 1940 novel, Janie is yet another of those shows that I just can't imagine playing well outside of its time. The original book was apparently a slice of life kind of story: "Sixteen-year-old Janie Colburn is sure love has passed her by and she is destined for a life of spinsterhood until just one month before the senior dance when she meets Dick Lawrence, who will be a freshman at Leland Stanford," according to the University at Albany, New York.

Bentham and Williams appear to have responded to World War II, according to the summary of Janie's 1944 film adaptation, which Warner Bros. called its "National Joy Show!" "Janie is a free-spirited teenager living in a small town. Her father, the local newspaper publisher, opposes the establishment of an army camp nearby. Janie and her bobby soxer friends are excited at the prospect of having so many young soldiers nearby. She dates one of them, which makes her boyfriend jealous."

Janie's Broadway run starred Gwen Anderson, while Joyce Reynolds played the role in movies. Neither young woman had a long-running career. Clare Foley, who played Janie's kid sister -- and declares herself to be "anti-social" at seven years old -- at least got to appear in the film.

During its 16-month run, Janie played what was then Henry Miller's Theatre until Christmas 1942. It spent more than a month at the then-Biltmore (now Samuel J. Friedman), nearly another month at Miller's, nine months at the now-demolished Playhouse, and its final month at the then-Mansfield (now Lena Horne). It's now much, much too expensive for a show to move theaters that often in such a short time.

Other notable Sept. 10 openings include:

Chaplin, which opened at the Barrymore in 2012. This wasn't a long-runner (135 performances), but it did score Rob McClure a Tony nod for Best Lead Actor in a Musical. He lost to Billy Porter for Kinky Boots.

Courtesy YouTube.

Next week ... we'll keep it in the family.