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NEW GIRL IN TOWN Musical in Two Acts, 16 Scenes. Book by George Abbott. Based on the play "Anna Christie" by Eugene O'Neill. Music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. Dances and musical numbers staged by Bob Fosse. Production (settings, costumes) designed by Rouben Ter-Arutunian. Musical direction by Hal Hastings. Dance music devised by Roger Adams. Orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang. Directed by George Abbott. Produced by Frederick Brisson, Robert E. Griffith and Harold S. Prince. Opened 14 May 1957 at the 46th Street Theatre and closed 24 May 1958 after 432 performances. SYNOPSIS Chris Christopherson, an old, hard-drinking Swedish barge captain, gets word that his daughter, Anna, is coming to visit him. He hasn't seen her since she was 5 and is expecting the innocent young girl he remembers. Anna arrives and is greeted by Marthy, Chris's common-law wife. She confesses her life is quite different from what Chris has imagined. Recently the "house" where she was working was raided. The resulting jail sentence has ruined Anna's health. She is hoping Chris will put her up until she regains her strength. Chris welcomes her with open arms and reformed manner. Chris is different from what Anna expected, and she hides her hurt from him. His respectable airs even force him to evict Marthy. Chris takes Anna on his next barge run to Boston. On the return trip they rescue three shipwrecked sailors, including Mat Burke, a defiant, worldly ox of a seaman. After she repulses his initial passes, they become fast friends. Anna is proud of her new-found dignity. The change is healthful and brings elegance to her character. On land the romance continues. One reward is tickets to society's Check Apron Ball where Anna is the stand-out in the crowd. Marthy has taken all she can and begins drinking. She becomes loud, and when Mat tries to quiet her down, Marthy tells him the truth about Anna's past. Anna tries to convince Mat that she has changed, but his disillusionment will no longer permit him to accept their love. He joins a ship sailing for China to try and forget her. Anna has picked up the pieces before and she does so again. She becomes a farmer in Staten Island and finds compassion in Henry, a produce shop owner. Marthy repents and swears off drinking. It's a year later, Marthy is beating a drum for the Seamen's Home, and Mat is back in port. Chris tries to keep him away from Anna who is visiting, but the meeting is inevitable. Mat has come to find her and find her he does. She is in her potato-picking rags, yet a beautiful sight to Mat. Time has healed and Anna is as lovely as that first night on the barge. STORY Act I The Waterfront in New York City - a dock with ships in the background. A shack, "Atlantic Coal Company," with a sign over the door reading "office." Various people are there: prostitutes, wives waiting for men to arrive from sea, and sailors going into the office to get their pay. Marthy, a brassy and mature woman, enters and approaches Chris, a drunken Swedish seaman. It is revealed that Chris has been getting drunk and standing-up Marthy. Upset at him, she has a good mind to not give him a bit of important news that has just arrived. Chris attempts to tell Marthy that he’s, in fact, been looking for her for a while, but his breath gives him away. Nevertheless, reluctantly gives him the letter. It is from his daughter, Anna, informing him that she is coming to visit from St. Paul, Minnesota. Anna is a nurse who has been living a life of her own. Chris hasn't seen her since she was a five-year-old child

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