Nice Work If You Can Get It

Musical

Writers: Joe DiPietro George Gershwin Ira Gershwin

Overview

Show Information

Based on the Play/Book/Film
Inspired by materials from P.G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton
Category
Musical
Number of Acts
2
First Produced
2012
Genres
Comedy, Farce
Settings
Period, Spectacle
Time & Place
Long Island, 1927
Cast Size
medium
Orchestra Size
Medium
Dancing
Heavy
Ideal for
College/University, Community Theatre, Large Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Star Vehicle Female, Star Vehicle Male
Casting Notes

Includes adult, mature adult, young adult characters

Synopsis

A new take on the 1920s musical farce, Nice Work If You Can Get It features the iconic music of George and Ira Gershwin. Billie Bendix, a tough-as-nails bootlegger, and wealthy playboy Jimmy Winter, meet on the weekend of his impending wedding. Jimmy has a habit of marrying chorus girls, but needs to settle down with a respectable woman before his mother will hand over the family business. He has gotten engaged to Eileen Evergreen, the self-proclaimed finest interpreter of modern dance, hoping that this will be a better choice than his usual chorus dancer. Needing somewhere to stash 400 bottles of gin, Billie swipes Jimmy’s wallet and hides her stash in his empty Long Island beach house. However, when the wedding party arrives at the beach house, the bootleggers must juggle the guests and their business. With a Drama Desk award for Outstanding Book of a Musical, Nice Work If You Can Get It is a definite crowd-pleaser that will have audiences singing along in the aisles.

Lead Characters


Nice Work If You Can Get It guide sections