BELLS ARE RINGING

Extended cast list
Synopsis of musical numbers
Synopsis of scenes
Stills from the production
Stills from the rehearsal

THEATERS: Shubert Theatre and Alvin Theatre

OPENED: November 29, 1956

CLOSED: March 7, 1959

RUN: 924 performances

STARS: Judy Holliday, Sydney Chaplin, Jean Stapleton

PRODUCERS: The Theatre Guild

DIRECTOR: Jerome Robbins

WRITERS: Betty Comden, Adolph Green

MUSIC: Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jule Styne

MUSICAL DIRECTOR: Milton Rosenstock

CHOREOGRAPHY: Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse

NOTABLE: Judy Holliday and Sydney Chaplin win
Tony awards in 1957.

About the play...

       In the mid-1950's, telephone answering services were becoming quite prevalent in America and around the world. Because these services were still somewhat expensive, they were utilized mostly by businesses, professionals and celebrities. One such subscriber was the Broadway playwright/lyricist Adolph Green. Curious about what these places looked like and how they functioned, Green and his long-time writing partner, Betty Comden, decided to pay a visit to one. They looked up the address of the service that Green subscribed to and were surprised to find out that it was located just a block and a half away from his apartment. Since the business catered to a relatively high-end clientele, they expected to find an efficient pool of operators bustling about inside a modern office building. Instead, their eyes glazed over with disbelief as they stood before a shabby, four-story brownstone with steps that led down to a cellar where the answering service was. Betty Comden recalled that when they ventured inside, they found it to be "a messy, crowded room with filled-up wastebaskets and a dog peeing in the corner. In the middle of the room, at one switchboard, was a messy-looking girl who plugged into the board and said, 'Gloria Vanderbilt's residence.' And we thought there's an idea for a show!"

       Ever since the demise of The Revuers nightclub act in 1944, Betty Comden and Adolph Green had longed to write a vehicle for their friend and former partner, Judy Holliday, to star in. This idea about an answering service seemed to be the perfect opportunity, given Judy's previous experience as a switchboard operator for the Mercury Theatre. In June of 1955, Comden and Green showed Judy a rough draft of two scenes that they had been working on. Judy was not only touched that they were writing a musical for her, but also that the lead character was being lovingly modeled on her real-life personality. The scenes that she read were far from polished, but they were more than enough to spark her interest in returning to the stage. In the past, she had resisted the idea of doing another Broadway play, fearing that she could never top her star-making run as Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday. But given the successful track record of Comden and Green, Judy felt confident that this play had the potential to rival her past triumph. The prospect of working together again was very exciting to all three, but they each had other commitments in their immediate future. So despite their eagerness, their professional reunion would have to wait a little while longer.

       It would be almost a full year before Betty Comden and Adolph Green found the time to finish the script for what would come to be known as Bells Are Ringing. It was now May of 1956, and Judy Holliday was in California working on the film Full of Life, playing the part of an expectant mother. When the three met up on the West Coast to discuss the script and possible casting choices, they found themselves in an uncomfortable situation. After not having worked together for twelve years, the creative synchronicity and ease of communication which they had shared as Revuers was now gone. Fear of being too critical or stepping on someone's ego made them ill at ease in each other's company. It would take some time, but eventually they were able to break down those walls and reconnect on a professional level.

       Upon reading the completed script, Judy was pleased with the story and absolutely delighted with her character. The story for Bells Are Ringing would be derived in part from the fairy tale Cinderella (hence the lead character's first name "Ella"). Ella Peterson is a lonely switchboard operator who works at her cousin Sue's answering service. She is a wiz at solving the problems of the subscribers, but can't seem to get her own life in order. Ella's life is further complicated when she falls in love with a subscriber she's never even seen. He is Jeffrey Moss, a boozy playwright who is battling a bad case of writer's block. To encourage him to write, she dispenses motherly advice to him over the phone using an old lady-type voice. When they accidentally meet face to face, Ella is afraid to admit that she is the operator Moss affectionately refers to as "Mom," so she invents yet another persona, that of Melisande Scott. The budding romance between Melisande and Jeffrey builds throughout the story and climaxes with his inevitable discovery of her true identity. Because the musical was a love story, casting the male lead would be critical to the show's success. Judy was working long days on the movie and was only available to partake in the audition process during her lunch breaks. Each day she would arrive straight from the set, still clad in the pregnant padding and her maternity costume, to read lines with her prospective leading men. When several auditions failed to produce a single serious contender for the role, Judy mentioned that she had recently met a handsome young actor that she thought would be perfect for the part...his name was Sydney Chaplin.

       At 30 years of age, Sydney Chaplin was better known for who he was, than what he had accomplished. He was the second son of comedic film icon Charles Chaplin and his second wife, actress Lita Grey (who was just 15 years old when their "shotgun wedding" took place). The marriage quickly unraveled and was over before Sydney turned 2 years old. Following their very bitter divorce, Sydney and his brother lived with their mother full-time and saw their father sparingly. He would, however, follow in his father's famous footsteps, becoming an actor in the early 1950's. His most noteworthy films to that point had been his father's Limelight in 1952 and Howard Hawks' Land of the Pharaohs in 1955. By the Spring of 1956, he had earned a reputation as both "the life of the party" and an irresistible ladies man. He and Judy Holliday had met during a poker game at the house of their mutual friend, entertainer Gene Kelly. There was an instant physical attraction between them and it quickly blossomed into a sexual relationship. Judy had been very depressed over her recent separation from her husband of 8 years, David Oppenheim, but beginning this casual affair with Chaplin seemed to cure all that was ailing her. As her stay in California lingered on, the couple increasingly spent more and more time together. Their personal relationship aside, Judy believed in Sydney's acting ability and lobbied on his behalf to Comden and Green. She arranged for him to audition for Bells Are Ringing, but the audition went quite poorly. While Chaplin had the good looks and charisma of a leading man, he was still very green as an actor and had no stage or musical experience. Of even greater concern was that he was severely lacking in singing ability. With that, his name was abruptly crossed off the list of hopefuls and the search continued on.

       With production on Full of Life complete, Judy returned home to New York in late June. Upon her arrival, she began hearing a strange rumor that Mary Martin was being considered for the role of Ella Peterson. It seemed that famed producer/director Joshua Logan was very interested in directing Bells Are Ringing, but only if the star of his Broadway show South Pacific was cast in the lead. Judy initially dismissed the rumor as preposterous, but the longer it persisted, the more possible it seemed...and the more hurt she grew. It would take an emotional phone call from Judy to Adolph Green to finally force a decision and put an end to the speculation. With Joshua Logan no longer an option, Jerome Robbins was signed to direct the show. He was widely regarded as one of the top choreographers, but had recently started directing with such shows as The Pajama Game and Comden and Green's Peter Pan. Robbins brought along with him a young choreographer named Bob Fosse. Fosse had worked with Robbins on The Pajama Game and was also responsible for choreographing the Broadway hit Damn Yankees.

       There was some debate over which composer would join Betty Comden and Adolph Green in the crafting of the show's musical score. If Judy Holliday had her way, it would have been her long-time friend, Alec Wilder. Feeling Wilder's song style was not a good fit for the show, Comden and Green instead chose Jule Styne, who had previously worked with them on Two on the Aisle and Peter Pan. While she had failed in her efforts to secure spots for Sydney Chaplin and Alec Wilder, Judy did succeed in getting Jean Stapleton cast as Ella's cousin, Sue. Judy had seen Stapleton perform in the short-lived play In the Summer House and was very impressed with her work. Stapleton currently had a small role in Damn Yankees, but she willingly left the successful production for a more prominent part and the opportunity to work with Judy Holliday.

       The cast and crew of Bells Are Ringing was rapidly taking shape, but the role of the leading man still remained a very large question mark. Two months had passed since the California auditions and they still weren't any closer to making a decision. Judy proposed that they reconsider Sydney Chaplin, but Comden, Green, Robbins and Styne were all against the idea and tried their best to dissuade her. Judy refused to give up, however, and her persistence won Sydney another chance to audition. This time around she was determined that the audition would go significantly better. Serving as an informal acting coach, she worked with Sydney to help him improve his technique and delivery. The results were definitely noticeable and his second audition was good enough to put him back in contention. The major drawback remained his off-key singing. Judy argued that with the proper guidance of a singing coach and music that fit his limited range, Chaplin might be able to sufficiently mask his musical deficiencies. She eventually struck a deal with a reluctant Jerome Robbins, whereby Chaplin would be cast as Jeffrey Moss on a temporary basis. If by the end of the first week of tryouts, Chaplin had failed to demonstrate that he could handle all aspects of the role, he would be replaced without protest from Miss Holliday.

       With so much attention being focused on Sydney Chaplin's lack of experience, it was easy to overlook the fact that this was also Judy Holliday's first Broadway musical...and she was positively petrified. Stage fright brought on by a lack of self-confidence had been a recurring theme throughout her career, but the thought of singing before a Broadway audience became paralyzing. While she was a very musical person and could deftly handle comic patter songs, she felt that she did not possess a true singing voice. She informed Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne that she would not even attempt to sing any ballads in the show. Any ballads they wrote would have to be sung by the even more limited leading man. Trying to mount a full-scale Broadway musical with two lead actors who couldn't (or wouldn't) sing posed quite a challenge to the songwriting team. As Comden, Green and Styne tried to cobble together a suitable score, the show's vocal arranger, Herbert Greene, began working with Judy and Sydney in an attempt to increase their singing range. Greene had a reputation as somewhat of a miracle worker when it came to transforming actors into singers, and this tandem would test the limits of both his patience and his skills. While his two latest pupils bristled at his harsh teaching tactics, they each demonstrated that they had the necessary capacity and desire for improvement.

       As the show's musical score developed, it became readily apparent that the audience would not empathize with the character of Ella Peterson if she didn't sing at least one strategically placed ballad. To convey the sadness the character feels when she realizes that she can no longer continue with the charade, Comden, Green and Styne wrote the poignant ballad "The Party's Over." It would be like the clock striking Midnight for their Cinderella. Now they just had to get Judy to agree to sing it. Through much pleading and a little trickery, they were able to get her to at least begin rehearsing the song with Herbert Greene. After a few days of singing it only for Greene, he surprised her by inviting Comden, Green and Styne to hear her perform the song. She felt insecure about singing it before an audience -- even an audience comprised of just three friends. Much to Greene's frustration she would only agree to sing it if she could do so with her back to the song's authors. Facing a wall, she began performing the song. After a few bars, Greene grabbed her by the arm, spun her around and commanded her to sing. Her moment of truth was at hand. It was time for her to either face her fear or fold her tent. Her anger toward Greene fueled her determination to meet his challenge head on. She suppressed her feelings of inadequacy and performed the song brilliantly. It was an important breakthrough for her and with the tryout performances looming on the horizon, it couldn't have come at a better time.

       Rehearsals for Bells Are Ringing continued throughout September and the following month the show had its first run of tryout performances in New Haven, CT. In the days leading up to the first show, Judy Holliday tore a tendon in her shoulder. There was talk of having her understudy replace her until she was sufficiently healed, but Judy opted to play the performances with her arm in a sling. The pain of the injury, and the limitations it placed on her mobility, had certainly affected her performance and it was reflected in the reviews of local critics. While they lauded Comden and Green for their book and lyrics, they felt that Judy's performance failed to rise to the quality of the material. The surprise winner in New Haven turned out be Sydney Chaplin. With the help of Judy, Jerome Robbins and Herbert Greene, his acting and singing had come a long, long way. While his singing would never land him a booking at the Metropolitan Opera, he had worked very hard and it paid off for him. He not only met, but exceeded Jerome Robbins' expectations, so there was no longer any question that the role of Jeffrey Moss was his to keep.

       Next up on the tryout circuit was a run in Boston, MA. Judy had since discarded the sling and as her shoulder improved, so did her performance. The reviews were mostly positive, especially for the lead actors. The audience, however, seemed almost apathetic by the close of show. "The Party's Over" had succeeded in getting the empathetic response it was intended to, but being that it was a sad lament, it also drained the energy out of the audience. The show needed a rousing musical finale to galvanize support for Ella and set up the story's happy ending. Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne repaired to their hotel and set about finding a solution. What they came up with was a song called "I'm Going Back." It explains Ella's decision to leave the Susanswerphone service and go back to her former job answering phones at a brassiere company. To add some spice to the song, Betty Comden came up with the idea of naming the company after a book she was reading entitled "Bonjour Tristesse." The controversial novel was an international best-seller about sex, love and morality written by French teenage author Francoise Sagan. It took them less than one hour to finish writing the song and it was incorporated into the show's two week tryout run in Philadelphia, PA. Judy performed the over-the-top number with such vaudevillian verve that it instantly became one of the highlights of the show.

       With all the elements now in place, Bells Are Ringing opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre on November 29, 1956. It had been 7 years, 6 months and 5 days since Judy Holliday had last performed on a Broadway stage. A lot had changed over that time span. She had become a successful film star, won an Oscar, had a child, was partially blacklisted, regained her career and lost her marriage. She wasn't the same fresh-faced 25 year-old kid that Broadway audiences had discovered and fell in love with. She wondered whether they would accept her in a role that wasn't a dumb blonde character and, perhaps most of all, she wondered whether they would accept her as a singer. Despite all of her fears, she was welcomed back with open arms by the sell-out crowd who enjoyed every minute of the production and were the first to proclaim it a smash hit. The next morning, New Yorkers opened their newspaper and read the following words about Judy Holliday from the New York Times theatre critic, Brooks Atkinson: "She sings, dances, clowns -- and also carries on her shoulders one of the most antiquated plots of the season." In the month since New Haven, the reviews had totally turned around. The show had become the star vehicle Comden and Green had always intended it to be, however the repeated bashing of their plot began to sting. Judy was not happy that the praise she was garnering was coming at the expense of her friends. In response to the critics, she went out of her way to point out how important their writing was. During interviews she would give quotes like "Nobody can give a good performance unless the authors and composers have written a good part, a fact which is often overlooked."

       The Tony Awards were handed out on April 21, 1957 and Bells Are Ringing had four major nominations: Best Musical, Best Actress in a Musical, Best Featured or Supporting Actor in a Musical, and Best Choreographer. Sydney Chaplin did the unthinkable, beating out My Fair Lady actors Robert Coote and Stanley Holloway. His upset win was a personal vindication for him and justified Judy's unflagging support of him right from the start. In what was to echo her shocking Oscar victory six years earlier, Judy Holliday pulled off yet another upset victory, besting two of Broadway's finest actresses -- Julie Andrews (My Fair Lady) and Ethel Merman (Happy Hunting) -- to claim the coveted Tony. With her victory, Judy Holliday became just the fifth actress in history to win both an Academy Award and a Tony Award in the Lead Actress categories.

       Bells Are Ringing proved to be a love story both on and off the stage. When Judy Holliday's understudy, Marge Redmond left the show, auditions were held to find a replacement. Phyllis Newman was one of the actresses hoping to land the role. Her audition at the Shubert Theatre provided the first opportunity for her to meet her future husband, Adolph Green. Needless to say she won the part in addition to winning Adolph's heart. Likewise, the romance between Judy Holliday and Sydney Chaplin was also in full bloom. What had started out as a casual relationship, was now a very passionate love affair. By most accounts they were a very happy couple, though it has been suggested by some observers that the feelings of love and devotion Judy felt toward Sydney were not reciprocated to the same extent. Regardless, he was certainly enjoying all of the attention that she was heaping upon him. In a case of life imitating art, some of the mothering instincts that Ella feels for Jeffrey in the play began to manifest in their off-stage relationship. One such example is that Judy would dutifully arrive early before each show so that she could personally apply Sydney's make-up for him. She would also be there to remove it for him at the end of each night. Friends likened Judy's behavior to that of a schoolgirl's crush.

       Ever since Judy Holliday's divorce from David Oppenheim became final in March of 1957, rumors swirled that it was only a matter of time until she became Mrs. Sydney Chaplin. By September of that year, the rumors were at their peak. Before the couple departed for a scheduled European vacation, gossip columnist Dorothy Kilgallen speculated in her nationally syndicated newspaper column,"The Voice of Broadway," that they would return to New York as man and wife. What exactly transpired during the course of that trip remains a mystery to this day. Neither Judy nor Sydney ever spoke specifically about what happened. What is known is that the couple spent a few days in Paris, France before traveling to Switzerland to visit Sydney's father, Charles, and his step-mother, Oona O'Neill. Many theorized that the purpose of the visit was to obtain the elder Chaplin's blessing for the marriage. Others refute this by saying that Sydney had no intention of marrying Judy and had told her as much on several prior occasions. After Switzerland, they returned to Paris where a major falling-out ensued. Sydney walked out on Judy and she abruptly flew home, alone and hysterical. She secluded herself in a house in the New York countryside and quickly sank into a deep depression. She had endured frequent bouts with depression in the past, but this was by far the worst. Friends and family feared she might attempt suicide. Sydney remained in Paris for the balance of his vacation time, promptly returning to New York in time to rejoin the cast of Bells Are Ringing. Judy, on other hand, was in no condition to return. Still distraught, she stayed away from the show for several more weeks, citing various illnesses and ailments as excuses. When she did return, she refused to speak a word to Sydney backstage and made it clear to everyone that she was not interested in being friends with anyone who was still socializing with him. Forced to choose sides, several people got caught in the crossfire, most notably Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

       Above all else, Judy valued loyalty among friends. She would display the fiercest of loyalty toward all of her close friends and expected that they would do the same for her. Given their friendship for the past 19 years, she expected that Comden and Green would support her, but they liked Sydney and he was also one of their favorite guests at the show biz parties they frequently threw. When they told Judy that she was being childish and that they would not shut out Sydney just because of their break up, she was deeply hurt. In Judy's mind this was nothing short of a betrayal. She had barely gotten over the fact that Comden and Green appeared to consider selling her out in order to get Joshua Logan to direct the play. Now they were flat out refusing to take her side. This is what compelled her to tell Adolph Green "You expect lovers to betray you...but not your friends." It would be a very icy and tension-filled atmosphere backstage for the next several months. To their credit, Judy and Sydney never let their real-life drama compromise their performances on the stage. As far as the audience knew, Ella Peterson and Jeffrey Moss were as hopelessly and genuinely in love as they ever were.

       Sydney Chaplin honored his commitment to the show until his contract expired in June of 1958. Five days before Chaplin left the show, a young actor named Hal Linden was brought in to be his understudy and he eventually took over the role of Jeffrey Moss for the remainder of the show's Broadway run. Linden had been struggling to make a living as a musician before turning his attention toward acting. He possessed a much better singing voice than Chaplin, but like his predecessor, he had never performed on a Broadway stage before. Luckily he was in good hands. As he would later recall: "[Judy] was the most generous leading lady I have ever had in my entire life." While dancing on stage, she would gently turn him around, guiding him into a position where his face could be seen by the audience. She would also play entire scenes with her back to audience to focus more attention on him. It was the exact same act of selflessness that Katharine Hepburn had done for her 9 years earlier in the film Adam's Rib. She had never forgotten how much it meant to her personally and professionally, and she was all too happy to pass that generosity along to others.

       With Chaplin now gone, much of the backstage tension was diffused. Judy remained guarded in her dealings with others, but her mood got a lot brighter. It would be a predominantly happy run to the finish line for Bells Are Ringing. The show began to run out of steam and box-office business started to taper off. In mid-December, the production moved from the Shubert Theatre to the Alvin Theatre, where it would remain until the final curtain came down on March 7, 1959. After 2 plus years and 924 performances the Broadway run was over, but Ella, Jeffrey and the other characters would continue on. Just three days after closing in New York, Judy Holliday and Hal Linden joined the Bells Are Ringing touring company. The production played extended engagements in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, CA and Los Angeles, CA over the next several months. And just as she had done with Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday, Judy reprised the role of Ella Peterson for the 1960 MGM film version co-starring Dean Martin.

       Bells Are Ringing would prove to be Judy Holliday's final theatrical success. Her two subsequent plays, Laurette and Hot Spot, would ultimately be looked upon as failures. The enduring legacy of Bells Are Ringing will be forever tied to its unforgettable leading lady and the bounty of infectious Comden-Green-Styne songs that comprised its score. In March of 2000, the Bells Are Ringing Original Broadway Cast Recording was inducted into the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences Grammy Hall of Fame. It was the final jewel in a crown full of accolades, and further evidence of what heights the musical with "two lead actors who couldn't sing" had managed to achieve.

----By Glenn McMahon