Victor/Victoria (musical)

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Original Broadway poster

Victor/Victoria is a musical with a book by Blake Edwards, music by Henry Mancini, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Frank Wildhorn.

Based on the 1982 film of the same name, its plot centers on a penniless soprano who colludes with a struggling gay impresario to disguise herself as a male named Victor who entertains as a female impersonator known as Victoria - and as a result becomes the toast of Paris. Complications arise when a Chicago mobster sees his/her act and finds himself attracted to the star.

After 25 previews, the Broadway production, directed by Edwards and choreographed by Rob Marshall, opened on October 25, 1995 at the Marquis Theatre, where it ran for 734 performances. The original cast included Julie Andrews (reprising her role in the film), Tony Roberts, Michael Nouri, Rachel York, Richard B. Shull, and Rob Ashford.

When Andrews received the lone Tony Award nomination for the production, she made headlines when she rejected the honor with the statement, "I have searched my heart, and find that I can not accept the nomination, when the rest of the company have been so egregiously overlooked" [1].

During Andrews' four-week vacation in early 1997, her much-hyped replacement, Liza Minnelli, consistently stumbled over her dialogue and lyrics and missed nearly as many performances as she played, allegedly due to problems with her knees, although a few months later she checked herself into a rehab center to deal with her drug and alcohol addictions. Andrews, who boasted a four-octave vocal range, later was forced to quit the show permanently when she developed vocal problems. (She subsequently underwent surgery to remove non-cancerous nodules from her throat and was left without a singing voice. Her lawsuit against surgeon Stuart Kessler was settled for $20 million.) She was replaced by Raquel Welch for the duration of the run.