Drawings

This video demonstrates set changes and projection concepts for the entirety of the libretto for 42nd Street.
Act I
Scene
OvertureVoices of kids in darkness
1Stage of the 42nd-Stree Theatre, NY
2The Gypsy Tea Kettle, restaurant
3Stage of the 42nd Street Theatre
4Dorothy Brock’s Dressing Room
5Stage of the 42nd Street Theatre
6Stage of the Arch Street Theatre, Philadelphia.  PRETTY LADY “Maison des Dames” exterior and interior
7The Regency Hotl, Phildalphia.  A duplex set:  Dorothy Brock’s room above, Regency Club with bar is below.
8PRETTY LADY, Opening Night, Philadelphia
Act II
1Outside of the Stage Door, Arch Street Theatre
2Voices of the Kids in darkness; TheKids Dressing Rooms, a three-tiered unit
3Outside of the Stage Door, Arch Street Theatre
4Broad Street Station, Phladelphia.  The Train platform with two staircases, leading down from the Main Hall Above
5Backstage, the Forty-Second Street Theatre, New York
6Peggy Sawyer’s Dressing Room
7PRETTY LADY:  Cross-secion of a Pullman Car with curtained berths.   Full-stage – behind a dark scrim.  Full Stage – Glittering Marquees of 42nd Street
8On Stage, immediately following the performance


The 1932 Film

Bradford Ropes wrote in 1932 that America was still waiting for the “Uncle Tom’s Cabin of the chorus girl.” (The Great American Songbooks: Musical Texts, Modernism, and the Value of Popular Culture)

The 1933 film was racey and edgy, especially for that era. The cinematrography was done almost completely from low angles, strange angles, and with obstructred views. The crowded, obstructed, chaotic nature of what we do in show business was evident. Shots in the theatre were almost never straight-on from the audience perspective. They were from the elevated fly rail, or from the wings, or from the chorus line with fabric-covered audience seats in view in the house. It was immersive and put us into the minds of the performers. There was a deliberate effort to bring the audience backstage in both charming and uncomfortable ways.