1962 Broadway
After tryouts in Detroit, Toronto, Cleveland and New Haven, No Strings premiered on Broadway at the 54th St. Theatre on March 15, 1962. Directed and choreographed by Joe Layton, the musical starred Diahann Carroll and Richard Kiley, with Noëlle Adam, Paul Cambeilh, Don Chastain, Alvin Epstein, Mitchell Gregg, Bernice Massi and Polly Rowles rounding out the cast. The production later transferred to the Broadhurst Theatre, playing a total of 580 performances. Richard Rodgers’ first solo venture received positive reviews, with Howard Taubman of The New York Times declaring, “Richard Rodgers is still a magician of the musical theatre.”
LISTEN
Produced for Capitol Records by Andy Wiswell and Dick Jones, the 1962 Original Broadway Cast Recording of No Strings featured Diahann Carroll and Richard Kiley, along with the full cast of the Broadway production. The musicians, playing Ralph Burns’ string-less orchestration, were billed as “Instrumental Characters.” On May 15, 1963, the recording won the Grammy award for Best Original Cast Show Album. This was Richard Rodgers’ second Grammy win; the first was in 1945, for “It Might as Well Be Spring” from the movie State Fair.