In New York, at the close of the civil war, a new French ballet company, led by Lisette Gervais and Maestro Gallo, comes to town to set up a theatre. This is an event which does not please Lotta Leslie who runs the Niblo's Garden, which shows ribald show, including their latest extravaganza Dick the Renegade, written by war veteran Clyde Hallam. As soon as the ballerinas arrive Clyde, falls in love with Lisette, one of the dancers, whilst the maestro of the ballet company starts a romance with Lotta...

The Girl in the Pink Tights (1954) is a musical comedy with music by Sigmund Romberg and lyrics by Leo Robin. The show ran for one hundred and fifteen shows at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, New York. The show stared Jeanmaire and Charles Goldner.

In tone and style, the music is not unlike Lerner and Loewe’s Gigi (1973), not unexpected as Romberg fuses musical influences from both his European heritage with his adopted home, America.

As a whole the show works well, though what it is missing is that one standout number which would have elevated the music beyond the above average. There is nothing wrong with the music and, from the recording, the show sounds like it would have been an enjoyable piece of fluff to watch, but it still misses that certain something which would have changed it into something special. This is probably not helped by the large number of ensemble songs.

The Girl in the Pink Tights, like a lot of shows, can be compared to the novels of Dickens. There was a reason that Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and David Copperfield, transcended their origins and were made into films, it was because in comparison his other works were pretty average, nobody was going to make The Girl in the Pink Tights into a film.

The cast give strong operetta performances, especially from the leads and the overall effect is pleasing if not especially memorable. The track listing on the recording is:

'Overture'; 'That Naughty Show from Gay Paree'; 'Lost in Loveliness'; 'I Promised Their Mothers'; 'Up in the Elevated Railway'; 'In Paris and In Love'; 'You’ve Got To be a Little Crazy'; 'Free to Love'; 'Out of the Way/Roll Out the Hose'; 'Boys'; 'My Heart Won't Say Goodbye'; 'We're All in the Same Boat'; 'Love Is the Funniest Thing'; 'The Cardinal's Guard Are We'.

Once again the recording is faultless, displaying a clarity which belies the recording's age.

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Charles Packer