The New York Times’ Bosley Crowther quipped that the film "bears such a basic resemblance to My Fair Lady that the authors may want to sue themselves,” though he added that the movie “is not only a charming comprehension of the spicy confection of Colette, but it is also a lovely and lyrical enlargement upon that story's flavored mood and atmosphere.” Time magazine, however, was the first to complain that the musical was too wholesome for its source material: “if all the French finery impresses the customers, it also smothers the story…the physical exuberance of the production flusters the pensive sensuality of Colette’s mood.” The film met with mostly favorable reviews. Karin Wolfe as Gigi, and Daniel Massey as Gaston, in 1973. Lerner and Loewe wrote seven original songs for the film: “Thank Heaven for Little Girls,” which was sung by Honore in the film and 1973 stage show “It’s a Bore “The Parisians,” a number for Gigi to express her own boredom with society’s obsession with love-particularly the materialistic aspects espoused by Aunt Alicia “She’s Not Thinking of Me ” “The Night They Invented Champagne ” the title song and “I’m Glad I’m Not Young Anymore.” Lerner and Loewe interpolated “Say a Prayer,” a song cut from My Fair Lady, and “I Remember It Well,” derived from a similar song from the Lerner-Kurt Weill musical Love Life. To Mamita’s relief, Gigi and Gaston get married, effectively rejecting the lives for which they have been groomed. Gaston, a world-weary friend of Gigi and her grandmother “Mamita,” similarly is taught-by his Uncle Honore-to fulfill the role of a Man About Town. A rich young man falls in love with her and transforms her life. ![]() Is about a young girl being trained…in the social graces so that she may become a courtesan. Lerner and Loewe biographer Gene Lees observed that Gigi It is unsurprising that he relented, as the setting permitted the Viennese-born composer to write in an operetta idiom. Lerner agreed Loewe, who was disinterested in composing for films, declined until he read Lerner’s script. The idea of adapting Collette’s novella into a musical was that of Arthur Freed, one of the foremost producers at MGM, who had collaborated with Lerner on An American in Paris and Brigadoon. Gigi did not enjoy a long run in 2015, but neither did the original production. Actually, the 1958 film had already removed much of the novella’s sexuality, librettist/lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe themselves had made changes for the stage, and Karin Wolfe had been a television actress before performing the title role on Broadway in 1973, although she appeared in Bye Bye Birdie thirteen years earlier. Reading these reviews, one is left with the impression that the stage musical of Gigi was a classic that was ruined by bowdlerization, script changes, and an actress whose primary credit had been a Disney television musical. ![]() Actually, the 1958 film had already removed much of the novella’s sexuality, librettist/lyricist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe themselves had made changes for the stage, and Karin Wolfe had been a television actress before performing the title role on Broadway in 1973. Reading the 2015 reviews, one is left with the impression that the stage musical of Gigi was a classic that was ruined by bowdlerization, script changes, and an actress whose primary credit had been a Disney television musical. Photo by Katherine Frey/ The Washington Post. The New York Times complained that the show “has been scrubbed of anything even remotely naughty or distasteful…no parent chaperoning a tween fan of the show’s star, Vanessa Hudgens, of High School Musical renown, will have much explaining to do after the curtain has fallen.” The Huffington Post reserved its most scathing criticisms for the textual revisions by Heidi Thomas, which “will likely both infuriate and amuse fans of the film.” Vanessa Hudgens as Gigi. When the Broadway revival of Gigi opened last April, the reviews seemed united in their contempt for a perceived Disney-fication of the musical.
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