Destry Rides Again... and Again... and Again

 I found it very interesting in reading Artistic Director Greg MacKellan's program notes that Destry Rides Again is one of the most adapted western stories of our time!

The brain child of author Max Brand*, Destry was first adapted in 1932 by Universal and starred Tom Mix (this is when and how Harry Destry became "Tom" Destry - Tom Mix is pictured left).

While James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich get top honors for immortalizing the characters of Tom Destry and Frenchy in the 1939 version of Destry Rides Again, Audie Murphy and Thomas Mitchell would star in the 1954 remake entitled simply Destry (which would also star Mary Wickes!).

The most interesting remake however has to be the 1951 version entitled Frenchie starring Shelley Winters.

Greg discussed Frenchie during the "talk back" on Sunday, Nov. 1 , here's what he had to say:

The final screen version of the Destry story was a television series also entitled Destry, staring John Gavin (Right). However the character was not Harry or Tom, but Harrison Destry. Harrison, Tom Destry's son, was wrongfully imprisoned and, after he was released, sought justice from those who framed him. Just like his dad, he eschewed guns and violence whenever possible.

Destry didn't make it to the stage until David Merrick (in his debut on Broadway) brought him to the Great White Way in 1959 with the tremendous talent of Harold Rome and Leonard Gershe. The only other major production of the Musical was a London production in 1982 starring Alfred Molina.

Don't miss your chance to catch a truly rare musical, Destry Rides Again stars San Francisco's favorite chanteuse Connie Champagne, and runs until November 15 at the Eureka Theatre. For tickets click here or call (415) 255-8207.

*Max Brand was actually the acclaimed poet Fredrick Schiller Faust. He was one of the most prolific writers of all time having written nearly 30,000,000 words under 19 different pseudonyms. He is most famous for his characters Tom Destry and Dr. James Kildare.

Destry Rides Where the Buffalo Rome

Gershwin, Kern, Porter, and Berlin, these are some of the best-known contributors to the Great American Songbook canon and of Broadway's history. However this season's fifth composer, Harold Rome (b. 1908), may not be as familiar.

Although you'll soon be familiar with Destry Rides Again, you may not know that, coincidental to our just completed production, one of his early successes was entitled Call Me Mister (1946) about service men returning home from war.

Rome had a number of hit shows however, with I Can Get It For You Wholesale (1962), Pins and Needles (1934), and of course Fanny (1954) - the hit show starring Florence Henderson and Ezio Pinza that would debut David Merrick's talents as a Broadway producer.

Rome also introduced the world to a new ingénue in Wholesale, it’s such a shame she was lost to obscurity. I doubt any of you have ever heard of her, Barbra Streisand?

But I digress.

Rome was actually a Yale-educated architect who showed promise as a painter as well. He said, "I was an architect with no buildings to build, a painter with no patrons." So of course, he felt musical theatre would be an easier life.

Rome's music career was highlighted by truly satirical songs. He often used his musical talents to campaign against social injustice; one critic of the 1930's hailed him "Noel Coward, with a social conscience." An example is "Four Angels of Peace", which was written as a quartet for Neville Chamberlin, Tojo, Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler to sing in Pins and Needles. It seems the relevance of his lyrics has not been lost to time:

Four little angels of peace are we
Loving our neighbors so peacefully
There's really no harm if we do not disarm
For we always in close harmony

He was also fond of singing "Sing Me a Song With Social Significance" when he made public appearances throughout his life:

Sing me a song with social significance
Or you can sing 'til you're blue
Let meaning shine from ev'ry line
Or I won't love you

Rome left us relatively recently, in 1993, but his vibrant music and wonderful adaption of the western comedy spoof, Destry Rides Again will live on at the Eureka Theatre beginning October 28th.  For tickets click here or call (415) 255-8207.