STEEL PIER An American Fable in 2 Acts 20 scenes. Music & Lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb: Book by David Thompson: Conceived by Scott Ellis, Susan Stroman and David Thompson Cover to OCR album Directed by Scott Ellis. Choreography by Susan Stroman. Setting design, Tony Walton. Costume design, William Ivey Long. Lighting design, Peter Kaczorowski. Sound design, Tony Meola. Dance and incidental music arrangements, Glen Kelly. Projections, Wcndall K. Harrington. Orchestrations by Michael Gibson. Musical direction and vocal arrangements by David Loud. Richard Rodgers Theatre, Broadway - Opened April 24, 1997. Closed 28 June, 1997 (76 perfs) Synopsis Place: STEEL PIER, ATLANTIC CITY Time: August, 1933 ACT ONE Prelude: Stunt Pilot Bill Kelly lies face down on the ground, his flight jacket torn, a cloud of smoke hanging in the air over him. He manages to stand up, looking at a raffle ticket he holds in his hand. It's good for three weeks. Ethereal dancers in white moving through the shadows sprinkle sand on the ground to transport the scene to the beach at Atlantic City in 1933. One-time celebrity Rita Racine is waiting for her partner so they can enter the dance marathon on the Steel Pier. Bill appears and watches Rita dancing in the surf. Known as "Lindy's Lovebird," Rita made her name as the first woman to kiss Lindbergh when he arrived back from France. Bill tells her he admired her singing act on the midway at the Trenton Air Show, but when he asks if she'll dance with him in the marathon, she tells him she's already got a partner. If he ever turns up. Bill goes off to find a partner of his own, while Rita sings of the home she'll return to after this one last marathon. Inside the Steel Pier ballroom, Mick Hamilton, the Master of Ceremonies, gets the marathon underway. The rules: for forty-five minutes in every hour the contestants must dance; if they fall, collapse or just stop moving, they will be disqualified. Waiting until the last minute for her no-show partner, Rita is forced to accept Bill's offer to dance (even though he has two left feet). He tells Rita about his daredevil stunts at the Trenton Air Show, where he crashed his plane but bought a winning raffle ticket for a kiss and a dance with "Lindy's Lovebird." He is obviously smitten with her, but Rita is secretly married to Mick, the Master of Ceremonies. Mick's scheme is simple. Rita adds glamor to the marathon, Mick makes sure she wins, they take the prize money and move on to the next town. Mick has promised her that this will be her last marathon, but as he confides in Mr. Walker, his assistant, winning is a powerful thing. The other marathon contestants include Shelby Stevens, a former cook in a lumber camp, and her partner, harmonica virtuoso Luke Adams; struggling young newlyweds from Utah, Precious and Happy McGuire; Olympic wrestler Johnny Adel and his partner, one-time socialite Dora Foster; and vaudeville brother-and-sister team Bette and Buddy Becker. Since Bill isn't up to Rita's level as a dancer, Mick himself shows her off on the dance floor while Bill watches from the sidelines, admiring the woman he loves. Mick gets the band to turn up the musical heat, as the dancers compete for sponsorship. As time passes, the contestants begin dropping from exhaustion, and Mick tries to liven things up with their
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