The original Broadway production of 1948 featured
Patricia Morrison, Alfred Drake, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.
Alfred and Patricia and hair...in their roles
as Petruchio and Katharine.
(The hair played itself.)
Harold Lang as Bill Calhoun.
Professionally trained as a ballet dancer,
Harold switched to theatre dance, and later appeared
in Pal Joey (1951), and several other Broadway and touring shows.
He worked in television in the 1950s, but never entered
the world of movies.
Lisa Kirk as Bianca
and her "Tom, Dick and Harry"....
Charles Wood, Edwin Clay, and Harold.
In the 1953 movie,
(which was filmed in 3-D!)
Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel
played the leads...
This time around, Tommy Rall played ne'er do well Bill/Lucentio...
and of course Ann Miller was Lois Lane/Bianca...
Like Harold Lang, Tommy was also a ballet dancer,
and used his dancing/singing/acting talents
in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and My Sister Eileen
just to name two.
Later in life, he sang in operas!
(Ann Miller danced pretty well, too.)
The movie's version of Bianca's suitors:
Bobby Van, Tommy Rall, and Bob Fosse.
The fabulous Bob Fosse choreographed section
of "From This Moment On"...with Carol Haney.
This 2 minute piece (or was it even shorter than that?)
marked a turning point in Bob's career,
from "mere" dancer to creator.
Below, the movie theatre poster...
featuring (top left) the gangsters,
played by James Whitmore and Keenan Wynn.
Cole's most successful musical...
and winner of the very first Tony
for Best Musical.
Maybe they invented it just for him!
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