Audiences in London and now in New York are enjoying a semi-staged production by The Lost Musicals Charitable Trust of the ill-fated Orson Welles and Cole Porter musical Around the World.
The play premiered on Broadway at the Adelphi Theatre on May 31, 1946, with a cast and crew of 150 people. Welles returned from Hollywood to Broadway as the writer, producer, director and star-advertising the show as a “Musical Extravaganza.” The production boasted a giant mechanical elephant, an onstage train crash, fireworks, magic tricks, silent film clips, and an entire three-ring circus. The New York Post called Around The World “the most exciting musical in years.” The New Yorker hailed, “It’s a damn good show, like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”
Sadly, Around the World was a commercial flop. Welles, who had helped finance the musical, lost $320,000 on the production.
Seth Alexander Thévoz provided us with an insightful review of the London production last month. The New York Times has recently written about the Off-Broadway production in its pages.
Save for a handful of stills and a program, much of the 1946 production has been lost to history.
Fortunately, the Mercury Summer Theatre offered 30-minute abridged radio version of the show in June 1946.
It is the only known recording of Around the World, which opened on May 31, 1946, and closed on August 3 after just 75 performances.
If you missed the London performance last month and cannot make it to New York’s Mint Theater, enjoy the two recordings below:
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Wellesnet’s Mike Teal has tracked down a song from the musical NOT contained in the above radio show. It is called “Pipe Dreaming.”
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