Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1926), a comedy by Anita Loos and John Emerson. [Times Square Theatre, 199 perf.] Lorelei Lee (June Walker), a gold‐digging blonde from Little Rock, Arkansas, has all her expenses paid by a rich button manufacturer, Gus Eisman (Arthur S. Ross). He even sends Lorelei and her friend Dorothy (Edna Hibbard) to Europe, where Lorelei wangles a tiara from an English lord and dates dashing young Henry Spofford (Frank Morgan). When she learns that Spofford may be richer than Eisman, she plans to dump Eisman. By that time, however, Dorothy has claimed Spofford. Based on Loos's famous novel, the Edgar Selwyn production capitalized on the book and the current Roaring Twenties setting. The story became a popular musical of the same title in 1949 with a book by Loos and Joseph Fields, lyrics by Leo Robin, and music by Jule Styne. The Herman Levin and Oliver Smith production ran at the Ziegfeld Theatre for 740 performances and made Carol Channing, who played Lorelei, a Broadway star. Yvonne Adair was Dorothy, Jack McCauley was Gus, and Eric Brotherson was Spofford. Notable songs: A Little Girl from Little Rock; Bye Bye Baby; Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend. The musical has been successfully revived both in its original version and in a revised version with Channing called Lorelei (1974).