LUCY, JOE & ALVIN, TOO!

Lucille Ball always wanted to be a star on Broadway – until the silver screen and the small screen claimed her for posterity. Using

the stage name Diane Belmont, she was chosen to appear in Earl Carroll’s Vanities, for the third road company of Ziegfeld’s Rio Rita, and for Step Lively, but none of these performances materialized. 

In 1937 she was cast in a new play titled Hey Diddle Diddle that was Broadway bound – until the leading man fell ill and the production fell apart. 

Ten years later, as a recognizable film star, she starred in a tour of Elmer Rice’s play Dream Girl. Upon returning home to Hollywood, she began doing radio until her fate was changed by television – and “I Love Lucy.”  

Two years into the show’s tremendous success, Ball was accused of being a Communist by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) headed by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Before the filming of the first episode after the news hit the papers,

Desi introduced Lucy to the studio audience by saying:  

“And now I want you to meet my wife, my favorite redhead, in fact, that’s the only thing RED about her and even that’s not legitimate.”

The accusation was prompted by a 1936 voter registration form that Ball claimed she filled out to appease her Socialist grandfather. She never attended meetings or was politically active in the Communist Party. While Lucy’s career went relatively unaffected, Joseph McCarthy’s zealous red hunt destroyed the lives of many of Hollywood’s most brilliant artists. 

In 1960, after nine years of playing Lucy Ricardo, Ball was determined to fulfill her life-long dream of appearing on Broadway by accepting the title role in the new musical Wildcat. It opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York City in late December 1960. 

This was the same theatre where her friend and co-star Vivian Vance (Ethel Mertz) had appeared in two musicals in a row by Cole Porter: Anything Goes (1934) and Red Hot & Blue (1936). Both shows starred Ethel Merman, whose first name would be used for Vance’s character on “I Love Lucy.”  Merman would also appear with Vance on two episodes of “The Lucy Show.”   

The Alvin’s 1958-59 musical tenant Bells Are Ringing mentioned Lucille Ball’s name during its song “Drop That Name” – along with many other pop culture icons. 

Wildcat gave Lucille Ball her signature song, “Hey Look Me Over,” but eight performances a week took its toll on the health of its star. Wildcat went on a two week hiatus during Lucille Ball’s recuperation from exhaustion. 

The production was to take a 9-week break and re-open in August 1961; however by June 1961, the re-opening had been canceled and the Alvin went unexpectedly went dark. 

Fast forward to Lucille Ball’s sudden passing on April 26, 1989. One of the New York City television stations sent a reporter to the street in front of the Alvin Theatre to deliver the sad news to the metropolitan area. By this time, the Alvin’s name had been changed to the Neil Simon Theatre. The marquee, prominently visible to TV news watchers, was for a new musical called Senator Joe, which had closed in previews six weeks earlier. Its producer was accused of financial misconduct and landed in jail. 

The musical’s main character was the same Senator Joe who had tried to ruin Lucille Ball’s career by naming her as a Communist in 1953. 

In fact, Senator Joe featured huge cut-outs of the heads of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo voiced by actors in the show. 

Skipping ahead to 2018, Lucille Ball returned to the Alvin (aka Neil Simon) – again in musical comedy form.  In The Cher Show, the same actor who plays Cher’s mother, Georgia Holt (who appeared on “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show”), also plays Lucille Ball. At one point in the musical, Lucy gives marital advice to a depressed Cher, whose very public marriage to Sonny Bono mirrored the rocky one Lucy had with Desi Arnaz.  

Although Lucille Ball’s Broadway stardom was physically short-lived, she continues to be part of the Great White Way in new plays and musicals that honor her contributions to the world of entertainment.