Rio Rita (musical)

[http://www.nodanw.com/shows_r/rio_rita.htm] :"For other uses of Rio Rita, see Rio Rita (disambiguation).

"Rio Rita" is the name of a very successful 1927 stage musical by Florenz Ziegfeld, which originally united Wheeler and Woolsey as a team and made them famous.

Based on the success of this film, Wheeler & Woolsey were also given contracts to star in a series of comedies.

Characters:
*Rita Ferguson
*Captain Jim Stewart
*Ed Lovett
*Chick Bean
*General Esteban
*Dolly Bean
*Roberto Ferguson
*Carmen
*Katie Bean

Preview:Rio Rita, a lavish production chosen by Florenz Ziegfeld to open his sumptuous new Ziegfeld Theatre on Broadway, ran for 494 performances beginning on Feb 2, 1927. Only Showboat, which ran for 575 performances beginning on December 27, 1927, outpaced this incredibly popular production, which set attendance records which stood until Oklahoma! debuted in 1943. Rio Rita may be said to be one of the last, great, "light musical comedies" or "Follies based" type of musical. With the introduction of showboat, later that year, as well as the subsequent introduction of George Gershwin's musicals that year and thought the early 30's, the American musical became much more a dramatically cohesive "musical play", a form which reached its complete maturity in the Rodgers and Hammerstein years beginning with Oklahoma and culmination with South Pacific.

Rio Rita is a fun and fast-paced musical about a group of Texas Rangers chasing a notorious bandit named the Kinkajou. the captain of the rangers, Jim Stewart, is in San Lucar Mexico on the Rio Grande, in disguise in order to catch the Kinkajou. While there he falls in love with Rita Ferguson, an Irish-American-Mexican girl who sings in the local hotel after being displaced from her family ranch along with her brother Roberto.

General Esteban, the Governor of the San Lucar District, also loves Rita and hates all gringos. He hatches a plot to set Jim and Rita at odds by making Rita doubt both her own brother, who may or may not be the Kinkajou, and Jim, who may or may not be a Texas Ranger spying on her brother through her.

Amid all of this intrigue, Chick Bean, a soap salesman, and Dolly, an American cabaret girl, arrive in San Lucar and get married. Unbeknownst to Dolly, Chick also went to Mexico to obtain a quick divorce from his unfaithful first wife, Katie. But then hours after Chick and Dolly are wed Ed Lovett, a lawyer of dubious reputation, informs Chick that his divorce is not recognized by the US Government and comedic chaos break out. Will Esteban be successful in driving Rita and Jim apart? Will the Rangers Catch the Kinkajou? How will the Chick's mess be cleaned up?