Character guide
Ozzie
from On the Town
Ozzie is a supporting character in On the Town, Leonard Bernstein's 1944 musical, playing one of three sailors on a whirlwind twenty four hour shore leave in New York City.
- Show
- On the Town
- Broadway premiere
- 1944
- Role
- Supporting
- Music by
- Leonard Bernstein
Ozzie on stage vs screen
Broadway compared with the 1949 film
Ozzie was originated on Broadway in 1944 by Adolph Green, who co-wrote the show's book and lyrics with Betty Comden, the stage Claire. In MGM's 1949 film, Jules Munshin played Ozzie, and his romance with Claire gets new music: their stage duet Carried Away is gone, replaced by Roger Edens's Prehistoric Man, in which Claire, an anthropologist, decides Ozzie is the prehistoric man she has been looking for at the museum.
Who is Ozzie?
Ozzie is one of Gabey's two sailor friends, brash and confident where Chip is more easily flustered. During the group's day in the city, he meets Claire DeLoone, an anthropologist studying primitive man, and the two strike up an unlikely, playful romance built on mutual attraction and shared impulsiveness.
Ozzie's storyline with Claire adds another comic romantic thread alongside Gabey's search for Ivy and Chip's pursuit by Hildy, rounding out the show's structure of three sailors each finding an unexpected connection in a single day.
Ozzie's role in On the Town
Ozzie is a supporting role featured in scenes with Claire at the Museum of Natural History, including comic numbers built around her academic study of primitive man contrasted with her attraction to Ozzie himself. The part requires confident comic energy and strong ensemble chemistry with the other sailors.
Adolph Green, who co-wrote the show's book and lyrics with Betty Comden, originated the role of Ozzie on Broadway in 1944. Audiences remember Ozzie as the most self assured of the three sailors, whose easy confidence makes his pairing with the equally impulsive Claire especially fitting.
Ozzie: frequently asked questions
What show is Ozzie from?
Ozzie is a supporting character in On the Town, which opened on Broadway in 1944.
Is Ozzie a lead or supporting role?
Ozzie is a supporting role, one of the three sailors on shore leave.
Who wrote the music for On the Town?
Leonard Bernstein composed the music for On the Town, with book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green.
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