Wise Guy (musical)
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Wise Guy, which had at different points the working titles (in approximate order) The Last Resorts, Palm Beach, The Mizner Story, and Sentimental Guy, is a musical whose music and lyrics were written by Irving Berlin between 1952 and 1956. It has never been produced.
The subject of the musical is Berlin's deceased friend, the famous Florida architect Addison Mizner, to a lesser extent Addison's younger brother and sometimes partner Wilson, and their friends and clients. Berlin had been an investor in Mizner's visionary but ultimately ruinous Boca Raton project,[1]: 139–140, 144 [2] and there had been talk (but no serious plans) of Berlin setting up a nightclub in Boca Raton.[1]: 145
Berlin's first, 1952 attempt to write a musical about the Mizners was called The Last Resorts, with an alternate title Palm Beach. It was "apparently based on Cleveland Amory's 1952 book, Last Resorts",[3]: 53 and was written "with Amory".[4]: 10 The Irving Berlin archives at the Library of Congress contains a synopsis of Act I, and lyrics for the following songs:
- Sittin' in the sun (counting my money) - also intended for White Christmas (1954), but not used[3]: 185
- The snobs on the wrong side of the track
- The top 400 people.[3]: 53
This project was set aside.