| Lady in the Dark | |
| Music: | Kurt Weill |
| Productions: | 1941 Broadway 1944 Film 1954 Television movie 1981 Nottingham, UK 1997 London concert |
Lady in the Dark is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy editor of a fashion magazine who is undergoing psychoanalysis. The musical ran on Broadway in 1941, and in the United Kingdom in 1981. A film version was released in 1944, and a live television special followed in 1954.
Lady in the Dark has an unusual structure for a work of musical theatre. The play is divided into dialogue scenes portraying the life of the protagonist, Liza Elliott, and dream sequences portraying her fantasies and nightmares. The musical score is confined to the dream sequences, each of which takes the form of a mini-operetta; unlike a typical book musical, no songs are performed during the real-life scenes.[1]