Jupiter Forbid

This chapter details Bolger’s return to New York after exiting his MGM contract at the conclusion of filming The Wizard of Oz. His Broadway show Keep Off the Grass with Jimmy Durante, a revue, is discussed as is his last collaboration with Rodgers and Hart: the long-running Broadway hit By Jupiter. This chapter also remarks on the outbreak of World War II and United States involvement in it. The chapter concludes with Bolger quitting By Jupiter to join the United Service Organization’s (USO) Camp Show tour. Ray had promised his agent he would go overseas again with the USO after a year’s work on By Jupiter. He informed Rodgers privately of the decision, but he could not publicly share his true reason for leaving the show due to the USO’s efforts to keep the camp show trip under wraps for security.

The New Triple Threat Man

Chapter 9 explores the creation of the Warner Brothers film Where’s Charley? based on the Broadway show. Bolger and the cast traveled to the campus of Oxford University; Where’s Charley? was the first movie filmed on the campus. Interior scenes were shot at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, but St. John’s College at Oxford was used for exteriors. Bolger’s first television appearances and his lucrative contract opening the Sahara Resort in Las Vegas are discussed. There is also an extended description of the creation of Bolger’s sitcom, Where’s Raymond? later renamed The Ray Bolger Show, one of the first sitcoms on network television, which was filmed at Desilu Studios.

Soldiers in Greasepaint

Chapter 7 retraces Bolger’s four-month stint in the South Pacific with pianist Little Jack Little. The two were the first entertainers to interact with Americans in the South Pacific. The USO sent just Bolger and Little to the South Pacific because many of the territories they would tour were still considered unfit for women, even for female nurses; Japanese militants were still on some of the islands. The logistics of battle in these islands and the impacts on Bolger and Little, as well as their audiences, are discussed. Simultaneously, the author traces Gwen Bolger’s attempts to secure Bolger a contract for a film with Rita Hayworth while Bolger was abroad. British director Victor Saville wanted Bolger for a supporting role in his forthcoming adaptation of the play Heart of the City. The film would be a Technicolor musical, telling the story of a London variety theater that refused to close for even a single performance during the Blitz.

Broadway Goes West

This chapter chronicles Bolger’s assignments as an employee of MGM. Of primary note is The Great Ziegfeld, the acclaimed Oscar-winning picture that earned Bolger a longer contract. Bolger’s next Broadway collaboration with Rodgers and Hart, On Your Toes, is explored. This was the first Broadway show to incorporate ballet and included “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” choreographed by George Balanchine and introduced by Bolger. Bolger then returns to MGM to film the Nelson Eddy/Eleanor Powell movie Rosalie, and the Nelson Eddy/Jeanette MacDonald pictures Sweethearts and The Girl of the Golden West. Bolger’s assignment to, and the production of, The Wizard of Oz, figure prominently into the second half of the chapter.

Entering Show Business

Chapter 2 chronicles Bolger’s entrance into New York show business. The 1920s were a transitional decade for American entertainers and entertainment, as film grew in popularity and as show business became increasingly complicated to navigate. The business structure of vaudeville in the 1920s and the demands it placed upon performers are discussed in depth. This chapter details Bolger’s work for vaudeville impresario Gus Edwards and Bolger’s debut, as part of Edwards’s act, at the Palace Theatre—the pinnacle of vaudeville theaters. Bolger’s early film work for Red Seal Pictures, his work in the “movie palaces” conceived by Roxy Rothafel, and his Broadway debut are discussed. This chapter also includes information on Bolger’s courtship of his would-be wife, Gwendolyn Rickard.

Epilogue

After Bolger left Broadway, he took up permanent residence in his Beverly Hills home. New York became just a place to visit. He began touring the country’s social clubs with a dance-lecture he called “Ray Bolger’s World.” This allowed him to share his philosophy, nostalgia, and dancing talent in small, intimate settings. He realized he didn’t need the fuss of a big production, the grueling work, the personalities at odds. As Richard Rodgers, in his later years, had said of creating a musical, “I now realize that the whole business, from start to finish, is the most intense collaborative effort in the world, with the possible exception of running a war.”...

All American

Chapter 10 describes the sunset of Bolger’s career. Particular focus is given to the creation of All American, Mel Brooks’s first musical, starring Bolger. The show hearkened back to the era that shaped Bolger’s core values. But, like so much of the art reflecting the culture of the 1960s, All American was actually out to lampoon these values. This story offers insight into the culture wars of the 1960s and Bolger’s changing attitude toward stardom. His increasing interest in political activities is explored. The Republican Party encouraged his participation in their activities. He performed for President Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon at the 1957 inauguration. He would go on to work on three presidential campaigns for Nixon. Bolger’s final Broadway show, Agnes de Mille’s Come Summer, also features prominently in this chapter.

Where’s Charley?

Chapter 8 chronicles the inception and creation of Where’s Charley?, Bolger’s most important Broadway show. The estate that held rights to the show agreed to let Feuer and Martin produce it if three conditions were met: Bolger needed to be the star, the show had to play in a first-class Broadway theater, and Feuer’s edits to the original Samuel French edition of the play had to be the basis of the finished musical. The chapter includes accounts of director George Abbott, composer and lyricist Frank Loesser, choreographer George Balanchine, and new producers Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin, who received assistance from Bolger’s wife, Gwen Rickard. In particular, Bolger’s “Once in Love with Amy” number is discussed for its importance and for the role it played in securing him a Tony Award for his performance as Charley Wykeham.

Steppin’ in Society

Chapter 3 begins with Bolger’s first work abroad, as he appeared in London while honeymooning with his wife, Gwen Rickar Bolger, the summer before the stock market crash of 1929. The Brits enjoyed American entertainers. Bolger’s act was new to them, but his style resonated with the British, who were no strangers to pantomime or dry humor. Bolger’s eccentric steps and faux British accent were well received at the Kit Kat Club. The chapter then chronicles Bolger’s first major Broadway book musical, Rodgers and Hart’s Me for You, which became Heads Up!, and his first critically acclaimed Broadway show, George White’s Scandals of 1931.

“What Will You Be? It’s Up to You!”

Ray Bolger was descended from Irish Catholic Republicans. Chapter 1 explores his origins in Boston, including details of his nuclear family. Also discussed is Bolger’s pre-entertainment career of being an office clerk for New England Mutual Life insurance. He learned to dance informally on the streets of Boston in a style called “eccentric dance,” a tradition of stylized physical comedy that exploded in America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its origins could be traced all the way back to pantomime performed in Ancient Greece. Even so, Bolger most definitely “came up the hard way”—attaining success and notoriety only by overcoming difficult circumstances. The events that led to his beginnings as a dancer are explored, as well as his first professional opportunities as a comic and a dancer in repertory theater and vaudeville.