Illya Darling

Illya Darling is a musical with a book by Jules Dassin, music by Manos Hadjidakis, and lyrics by Joe Darion, based on Dassin's 1960 film Never on Sunday.

Production

The show previewed in a tour of Philadelphia, Toronto and Detroit for nine weeks. After 22 previews, the Broadway production opened on April 11, 1967 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre and closed on January 13, 1968, after 320 performances and 22 previews. It was directed by Dassin,choreographed by Onna White, with scenic design by Oliver Smith, costume design by Theoni V. Aldredge, and lighting design by Jean Rosenthal.

Attendance was fueled by the star wattage provided by Melina Mercouri in the title role (who was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance and had starred in the film), which managed to overcome the mostly lukewarm to negative reviews.

Other cast members included Orson Bean as Homer Thrace, Nikos Kourkoulos (who was also nominated for a Tony) in his Broadway debut as Tonio, and Hal Linden as No Face. After closing on Broadway, the show went on tour with Cyd Charisse as Illya.

The production was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best musical, score, direction and choreography, but it did not win any.

The musical was presented by the The Greek American Theatre Company of Los Angeles, running March 2003 to May...
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