| Seventeen | |
|---|---|
| Music | Walter Kent |
| Lyrics | Kim Gannon |
| Book | Sally Benson |
| Setting | Indianapolis, 1907 |
| Basis | Seventeen by Booth Tarkington |
| Premiere | June 21, 1951: Broadhurst Theatre, New York City |
Seventeen is a 1951 American musical that debuted in the United States starring Kenneth Nelson.[1][2][3]
Set in Indianapolis in 1907, Seventeen is based on Booth Tarkington’s Seventeen: A Tale of Youth and Summer Time and the Baxter Family Especially William, a series of sketches first published in 1914 in Metropolitan Magazine, before being collected into a book two years later.[2] Adapted as a stage play, then as a silent film, it became a 1926 musical under the title Hello, Lola.[2]
In an adaptation by The New Yorker writer Sally Benson, and music by Walter Kent and lyrics by Kim Gannon, Seventeen opened at the Broadhurst Theatre[1] on Broadway June 21, 1951.[2] The show detailed the puppy-love romance between 17-year-old Willie Baxter and the flirtatious Lola Pratt, portrayed by Kenneth Nelson and Ann Crowley.[2] It ran for 182 performances.[2]