NTID Theatre History: Up in Central Park: March 1971

This play was performed March 26, 1971. Up in Central Park is a Broadway musical with a book by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and music by Sigmund Romberg. The musical, originally called "Central Park" before Broadway (see image of sheet music), was Romberg's last stage work produced during his lifetime. The musical is set in the Boss Tweed era of New York City in the 1870s. Wilbur Evans plays John Matthews, a New York Times reporter investigating the Tweed’s crooked political machine, especially the fraud connected with constructing Central Park. He falls in love with the daughter of one of the Boss’ ward heelers, who marries a politician who is killed. She later rekindles her love for Matthews. The settings, costumes, and dances evoked the lithographs of Currier and Ives.