Inside U.S.A.
Inside U.S.A. is a musical revue.
Cast[]
- Jack Haley - Mr. Jones/First Couple/Indian/Singer
- Beatrice Lillie - Pittsburgh Choral Society Director/Miss Twitchell/Mme. Lapis de Lazuli/Mermaid/Indian/First Couple
- Thelma Carpenter - Singer
- William LeMassena - 3rd Pollster/Various Roles
- Estelle Loring - 3rd Couple/Singer
- Lewis Nye - 2nd Pollster/Various Roles
- Carl Reiner - Frederic Chopin/1st Pollster/Various Roles
- Herb Shriver - Fella
- John Tyers - Singer
Plot[]
The revue consists of a number of sketches related only in that they generally focus on a particular State. The opening is a serenade to the United States by the company. Lillie provides a "mocking madrigal" that praises the industry in Pittsburgh. A woman loses her boyfriend to the horses at Churchill Downs. In one sketch, a superstitious maid unnerves an actress on a Broadway opening night, using a ouija board and numerology. New Orleans is featured in "At The Mardi Gras", with Lillie as the Queen. Wisconsin is featured in "First Prize At The Fair." Lillie and Haley, costumed as New Mexico Indians, declare "We Won't Take It Back." The romantic "Rhode Island Is Famous For You" turns into a ragtime number and names the most famous products of various states. In the Western number "My Gal Is Mine Once More" a cowboy celebrates remarriage to his first wife. Haley teaches apprentice waiters to make dining customers unhappy. Lillie is the priggish, unimaginative leader of a choral society and a mermaid with a strange romantic life. Finally Herb Shriver provides a wry Western themed monologue "A Feller From Indiana."
Musical numbers[]
- "Inside USA" - Company
- "Leave My Pulse Alone (Any Town, Coast-to-Coast)" - Carl Reiner, Jack Haley and Company
- "Come, Oh Come to Pittsburgh" - Society Director
- "Forty Winks" - Mr. Jones and Pollsters
- "Blue Grass" - Singer and Company
- "At the Mardi Gras" - Miss Twitchell and Company
- "We Won't Take It Back" - Indians
- "A Song to Forget" - Mme. Lapis de Lazuli, Chopin and Company
- "Rhode Island Is Famous For You" - Estelle Loring and Jack Haley
- "Haunted Heart" - Singer
- "Massachusetts Mermaid" - Mermaid
- "A Feller From Indiana" - Fella
- "First Prize At The Fair (Wisconsin) - Couples