The Bandwagon The Musical

STORY:

Fred Astaire stars as a somewhat forgotten song
and dance star, Tony Hunter. He is invited by his
friends, Lilly (Fabray) and Lester (Levant) to
come to New York and rejuvenate his career as
the star in their new Broadway show. But not long
after his arrival, Tony finds he got more than he
bargained for.

His co-star, Gabrielle (Charisse), is a prima
ballerina with the attitude to match and their
director (Buchanan), is an egomaniacal
Shakespearian expert who gets carried away by
artistic temperament. His vision of a modern
Faust story set to music bombs on opening night
leaving the cast and crew with the option to quit or
start again.

Determined not to give up, Tony raises the money
and entirely revamps the show turning it into a
Broadway smash that gets everyone on the band
wagon to success.

SONGS:

“By Myself”
“Shine On My Shoes”
“That’s Entertainment”
“Dancing In The Dark”
“More Beer”
“Sunshine”
“Louisiana Hayride”
“I Guess I’ll Have To Change My Plans”
“Triplets”
“The Girl Hunt Ballet”

REVIEW:

The Band Wagon shares the same flaw some of
Fred Astaire’s other pictures possess; the story is
extremely weak making it seem tedious at times.
Nevertheless, the musical numbers contained in
the Bandwagon more than make up for it.

Astaire and Charisse are a dynamite dancing
team. Their performance in “Dancing in the Dark”
and the “Girl Hunt” ballet are superb. Those two
numbers alone make The Band Wagon a necessity
for musical film collectors. The Band Wagon also
has the distinction of containing MGM’s “theme”
song – “That’s Entertainment”.

If you’re a fan of musicals you won’t want to miss
the musical numbers in The Band Wagon just be
prepared to do a little fast forwarding when the
story starts to drag.