Musicals Blog

Fiorello (1960)

by Claire J Rottenberg


"Fiorello" has the distinct honor of being only one of seven Broadway musicals to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Yet, it has never been made into a movie and its only revival in New York was a limited run, concert format production for Encores at City Center in 1994.

"Fiorello" opened on Broadway in November, 1959 and it ran for 795 performances, closing in October, 1961. Tom Bosley, probably best known to most people as Richie Cunningham's father on "Happy Days," played the lead role of the New York City mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia. "Fiorello" is a loose interpretation of LaGuardia's political life in the 1920s.

The book for "Fiorello" was written by Jerome Weidman and George Abbott. Abbott also directed the Broadway production. The score was by the team of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, best known for their music for "Fiddler on the Roof." Probably the only song people might know from the play is "Politics and Poker."

In addition to winning the Pulitzer Prize, "Fiorello" won three Tony awards for Best Musical, Best Direction and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Tom Bosley). The play was nominated for four other Tony awards, including a nomination for Peter Gennaro for his choreography of the production.

"Fiorello" is one of the only hit Broadway plays from the late 1950s/early 1960s that has not been made into a movie musical.