 panama hattie is a musical with music and lyrics by cole porter and book by herbert fields and b. g. desylva. it is also the title of a 1942 metro-goldwyn-mayer musical film based upon the play. the title is a play on words, referring to the popular panama hat. ==productions== pre-broadway tryouts started at the shubert theatre, new haven on october 3, 1940, and then at the shubert theatre, boston on october 8, 1940."'panama hattie' production listing" sondheimguide.com, accessed january 11, 2011 the musical premiered on broadway at the 46th street theatre on october 30, 1940 and closed on january 3, 1942 after 501 performances. it was directed by edgar macgregor, with choreography by robert altongreen, stanley and green, kay. "'panama hattie'" broadway musicals, show by show (5 ed.), hal leonard corporation, 1996, isbn 0-7935-7750-0, p. 111 and scenic design and costumes by raoul pÃ¨ne du bois. the cast featured ethel merman as hattie, arthur treacher as vivian, betty hutton as florrie, james dunn as nick, phyllis brooks as leila, joan carroll as geraldine, rags ragland as woozy, and pat harrington as skat. among the dancers were june allyson,"'panama hattie' history" tcm, accessed january 11, 2011 doris dowling and constance dowling,saxon, wolfgang. "doris dowling, 81, is dead; known for classic films of 40's" new york times, june 28, 2004 betsy blair, lucille bremer and vera-ellen. the show opened in the west end at the piccadilly theatre on november 4, 1943 and ran for 308 performances."'panama hattie' production, synopsis, musical numbers" guidetomusicaltheatre.com, accessed january 11, 2011 it was produced by william mollison with the entire production supervised by lee ephraim and dances by wendy toye. the cast featured bebe daniels as hattie, max wall as eddy, claude hulbert as vivian, frances marsden as florrie, ivan brandt as nick, georgia mackinnon as leila, richard hearne as loopy and betty blackler as elizabeth.[http://www.sond
1940_musicals 1940s_musical_films 1942_films American_films Black-and-white_films Broadway_musicals English-language_films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer_films