Jumbo (musical) - Definition and Overview

Jumbo is also the title of a musical produced in 1935 by Billy Rose, with music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and book by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, and directed by John Murray Anderson and George Abbott. It told the story of a financially-strapped circus. The play was performed at the Hippodrome Theatre, and starred Jimmy Durante.

The more well-known songs from the show are: "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", "This Can't Be Love" and "My Romance". The song "There's a Small Hotel", dropped from the production before it opened, later appeared in the Rodgers and Hart film On Your Toes and became a standard.

The musical play was made into a movie as Billy Rose's Jumbo in 1962, starring Jimmy Durante, Doris Day, Martha Raye, and Stephen Boyd, featuring Busby Berkeley's choreography. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Original Music Score.