42nd Street: stage vs screen

The 1933 film 42nd Street, directed by Lloyd Bacon with dances by Busby Berkeley and starring Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, and Ruby Keeler, is already a backstage movie musical about a chorus girl who becomes a star. The stage musical opened on Broadway in 1980 with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, staging by Gower Champion, and a score drawn mainly from Warren and Dubin's film songs. Here is what the stage changed.

Stage

Broadway musical (1980)

Screen

42nd Street (1933), directed by Lloyd Bacon with dances by Busby Berkeley

1. The film came first, and it is already a musical

The story began as Bradford Ropes's 1932 novel, became the 1933 Warner Bros. film, and reached Broadway in 1980. Because the film is itself a movie musical, the stage show is a musical of a musical: both follow a Depression-era Broadway show, Pretty Lady, whose star is injured so that chorus girl Peggy Sawyer must replace her, and in both the show tries out in Philadelphia.

2. The film has five songs, the stage show has many more

The film's score has five Warren and Dubin numbers: "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me," "It Must Be June," "Shuffle Off to Buffalo," "Young and Healthy," and "42nd Street." The musical keeps all of them except "It Must Be June" and adds Warren and Dubin songs from other films, such as "We're in the Money," "Lullaby of Broadway," and "Dames," plus "There's a Sunny Side to Every Situation," which Warren wrote with Johnny Mercer.

3. Dorothy Brock gets bigger numbers

Bebe Daniels's Dorothy in the film sings "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me" and shares "It Must Be June." On stage, Dorothy, the fading star kept by a wealthy backer while secretly seeing Pat Denning, also gets "Shadow Waltz" and coaches Peggy through "About a Quarter to Nine." The stage Dorothy was originated by Tammy Grimes, and Christine Ebersole won a Tony for the role in the 2001 revival.

4. Peggy takes over in a different way

In the film, Peggy's chance comes after Dorothy breaks her ankle, when backer Abner Dillon demands that his girlfriend Annie take the lead. Annie admits she cannot carry the show and suggests Peggy. On stage, Peggy accidentally knocks Dorothy down and is fired, and the chorus girls push for her to take over in "Sunny Side to Every Situation."

5. Julian wins Peggy back at the station

In the film, Warner Baxter's Julian Marsh is a broke director warned by his doctor that the strain of the show could kill him, and he drills Peggy until the Philadelphia opening. In the musical, Julian catches Peggy at Broad Street Station as she tries to leave, and she agrees to stay after the company sings "Lullaby of Broadway." Jerry Orbach originated the stage role.

6. Billy meets Peggy in a new way

In the film, juvenile lead Billy Lawler (Dick Powell) takes a liking to Peggy after she is tricked into bursting into his dressing room. On stage, Billy Lawlor (the spelling changes) spots her as she arrives late from Allentown for the auditions and sings "Young and Healthy" to win a date, before the choreographer sends her away. Later she faints and is carried into Dorothy's dressing room, where Dorothy finds her with Pat.

7. Different last images

In the film, Billy tells Peggy he loves her, Dorothy arrives to wish her luck and say she is marrying Pat, and Julian is left outside hearing the audience praise Peggy, not him. The musical ends with Peggy skipping the official party and Julian alone on stage under a ghost light, quietly singing a reprise of "42nd Street."

8. Berkeley's camera becomes Champion's staging

Busby Berkeley staged the film's musical numbers, which are built for the movie camera. Gower Champion directed and choreographed the stage show for a live audience, and the musical won the Tony Award for Best Choreography. Champion died on the day of the Broadway opening in 1980, and producer David Merrick announced it at the curtain call, which made the show's debut famous.

42nd Street movie vs musical: FAQs