Show guide
42nd Street
42nd Street is the quintessential backstage musical, a glittering tribute to the grit and glamour of putting on a Broadway show during the Great Depression. Its thunderous tap numbers have made it a defining piece of Golden Age showmanship.
- Broadway premiere
- 1980
- Music by
- Harry Warren
- Genre
- Golden Age
- Setting
- 1930s
42nd Street: quick answers
What is 42nd Street about?
- 42nd Street follows Peggy Sawyer, a small-town chorus girl who lands in the ensemble of a new Broadway show during the Great Depression and is thrust into the lead when the temperamental star breaks her ankle.
When did 42nd Street open on Broadway?
- 42nd Street opened on Broadway on August 25, 1980, at the Winter Garden Theatre and later moved to the Majestic and the St. James, running 3,486 performances until January 8, 1989. A 2001 revival won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.
Is 42nd Street a Golden Age musical?
- No. 42nd Street opened in 1980, long after the Golden Age, but it is a loving throwback to 1930s backstage movie musicals, built from songs Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote for Hollywood films such as Gold Diggers of 1933 and Dames.
Where and when is 42nd Street set?
- 42nd Street is set in New York City and Philadelphia in the early 1930s, during the Great Depression.
Has 42nd Street played in London's West End?
- 42nd Street opened in London on August 8, 1984, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical. A 2017 revival returned to Drury Lane with Sheena Easton as Dorothy Brock.
Is there a 42nd Street movie?
- The musical is based on the 1933 film 42nd Street, directed by Lloyd Bacon with dances by Busby Berkeley and starring Ruby Keeler, Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, and Dick Powell. A recording of the 2017 London revival aired on PBS's Great Performances in 2019.
The story of 42nd Street
Set in New York City in the early 1930s, 42nd Street follows Peggy Sawyer, a fresh-faced chorus girl who arrives from small-town Pennsylvania hoping to break into show business. When the temperamental leading lady of a new musical is injured, Peggy gets an unexpected shot at stardom, and the show becomes a classic tale of ambition, hard work, and the electric unpredictability of live theatre.
The production leans into the mythology of backstage life during the Depression, when Broadway offered audiences an escape from hard times through spectacle and dazzle. Its plot follows the familiar rhythm of understudy-to-star stories, but its real engine is the show-within-a-show energy of rehearsal halls, demanding directors, and dreams built on tap shoes.
The music and the makers
42nd Street draws its songs from the catalog of composer Harry Warren, whose melodies were originally written for 1930s Hollywood films and later adapted for the stage. The score is pure Golden Age Broadway: bright, brassy, and built for spectacle, with orchestrations designed to support massive ensemble tap numbers rather than intimate character work.
The show's identity is inseparable from its choreography and staging, which treat the chorus line itself as the star. Big group numbers with synchronized tapping are the heart of the experience, turning the stage into a rhythmic wall of sound and movement that audiences still find thrilling.
42nd Street on Broadway
42nd Street opened on Broadway in 1980, arriving at a moment when audiences were hungry for old-fashioned, feel-good entertainment. It became an instant crowd-pleaser and has remained a favorite for revivals and touring productions ever since, prized for its accessibility and its sheer scale of dance.
Part of its lasting appeal lies in nostalgia: it celebrates an earlier era of Broadway even while performing on a Broadway stage, letting audiences experience the glamour of the 1930s theatre world firsthand. For fans of tap and classic musical comedy, it remains a benchmark production.
42nd Street: frequently asked questions
When did 42nd Street open on Broadway?
42nd Street opened on Broadway in 1980.
Who composed 42nd Street?
The music is by Harry Warren, originally written for films and later adapted for the stage.
What is 42nd Street about?
It follows a young chorus girl named Peggy Sawyer who gets a chance to become a Broadway star after the leading lady is injured, set against the backdrop of Depression-era New York.
Can you name today's mystery Broadway show?
Play the Show Guesser