One Touch of Venus

One Touch of Venus (1943), a musical comedy by S. J. Perelman (book), Ogden Nash (book, lyrics), Kurt Weill (music). [Imperial Theatre, 567 perf.] When Whitelaw Savory ( John Boles) tells his barber, Rodney Hatch ( Kenny Baker), that Savory's statue of Venus is the most beautiful woman in the world, Hatch disagrees. After all, he is engaged to the most beautiful woman in the world, Gloria Kramer ( Ruth Bond). To prove his point, he places Gloria's engagement ring on the marble statue, which promptly comes to life. The escapades of Venus ( Mary Martin) and Hatch turn Manhattan upside down, with Savory, Gloria and her mother, and a mad Anatolian all in pursuit. The fling destroys the Hatch‐Kramer romance, so Hatch is especially disconsolate after Venus returns to stone. But just as he is about to walk away from Savory's art school, a young girl appears. She is the image of Venus, and Hatch is certain he has an engagement ring to fit her finger. Notable songs: Speak Low; That's Him; The Trouble with Women; Foolish Heart; I'm a Stranger Myself Here. With a book and lyrics among the most literate and witty of any American musical comedy, the John Wildberg–Cheryl Crawford production was also the first musical comedy to use the briefly voguish Agnes de Mille ballets that Oklahoma! had popularized fewer than seven months before. As with Oklahoma!'s dream ballet, the second act, “Venus in Ozone Heights,” contained material that shaped and furthered the action, in this instance convincing Venus that she would be unhappy remaining earthbound. S[idney] J[oseph] PERELMAN (1904–79), the noted Brooklyn‐born humorist, rarely had good luck on Broadway. His first efforts were sketches for the revues The Third Little Show (1931) and Walk a Little Faster (1932), but his plays All Good Americans (1933) and The Night Before Christmas (1941) failed to run. After One Touch of Venus, Perelman's other major work is the literate farce The Beauty Part (1962), which opened in the midst of a newspaper strike and could not find an audience.