Information

Show Credits: Music by Arthur Schwartz
Book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields

Description: Nostalgia abounds in BY THE BEAUTIFUL SEA, a breezy charmer set by the seashore in the "good old summertime" of yore.

It's 1907, and vaudeville performer Lottie Gibson wraps up another tour of the circuit, returning to her family-owned Coney Island boarding house with dashing dramatic actor Dennis Emery in tow. When she discovers her new beau needs $1000 to get his show back on the road, Lottie becomes intent on doing whatever it takes to make the money, even jumping out of a hot air balloon at 3000 feet! As if that weren't hard enough, Dennis' ex-wife shows up and saddles him with their bitter 17-year-old daughter, who's not about to share her father with anyone.

Accolades/
Awards: By the Beautiful Sea opened too late in the season to be eligible for the Tonys.

Insight from the experts Casting Tip: Children in cast

Staging Tip: There are multiple scenes and sets for the show: The Boarding House yard, a restaurant, on the Midway, inside a spooky "Tunnel of Love"-type ride, Lottie's bedroom, a Coney Island pavilion, a theatre stage. Special props needed: A "hot air balloon" that rises; an ultraviolet light (optional). If you can't make the hot air balloon rise into the flies or to the ceiling, it's all right. Some productions simply have cast members pretend to see it offstage and describe what they "see." The original "Old Mill" Coney Island ride was executed with a hard-backed boat (it looked kind of like a carriage) on a dark stage, with ultra-violet "spooks" manipulated by performers in blacks. The boat was lit from the inside. The original Ruby and Half-Note were African-American. This is not a casting stipulation, nor do the other characters have to be White Americans.