1952:
  
"THE KING AND I"
1246 PERFORMANCES  3/29/1951-3/20/1954
The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. The story deals with the  experiences of the British schoolteacher, who is hired as part of the King's  drive to modernize his country. The relationship between the King and Anna is  marked by conflict through much of the play, as well as by a love that neither  is able to express. The musical was an immediate hit, winning Tony Awards for Best  Musical, Best Actress (for Gertrude Lawrence) and Best Featured Actor (for  Yul Brynner). Lawrence died  unexpectedly of cancer a year and a half after the opening, and the role of Anna  was played by other actresses during the remainder of the Broadway run of over  three years (1,246 performances). A national tour and a hit London run followed, together with a 1956 film for which Brynner won an Academy  Award. More successful revivals followed. In the early 1980s, Brynner  starred in an extended national tour of the musical, culminating with a 1985  Broadway run, shortly before his death. The King and I saw another  Broadway revival in 1996, with Lou Diamond Phillips as the King and Donna  Murphy as Anna, and a 2000 London production.

Other wonderful tunes from this song-filled musical, the 5th by Richard Rodgers in combination with Oscar Hammerstein, II. These are some of the most beautiful recordings ever made from any Broadway Show:
    "I WHISTLE A HAPPY TUNE"         "SOMETHING WONDERFUL"
           "I HAVE DREAMED"                "WE KISS IN A SHADOW"
 

             1953

    ''WONDERFUL TOWN"
            559 PERFORMANCES
                    2/3/54 TILL 2/25/54

Wonderful Town is a musical with a book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty  Comden and Adolph Green and music by Leonard Bernstein. It is based on Fields and  Chodorov's 1940 play My Sister Eileen, which is itself based on the collection of short stories by Ruth McKenney of the same name.
Premiering on Broadway in 1953, it won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and spawned  a 1986 West End production and 2003 Broadway revival. A  lighter piece than Bernstein's later works, "West Side Story" and "Candide", Comden and Green's lyrics are paired with Bernstein's music to produce  the  songs . The show also served as the basis for two movies and a television show. It was revived on Broadway in 2003.

Maureen Lipman singing "Conga" from the
original Broadway cast:

Leonard Bernstein in Concert with a cast of stars:

Bea Arthur and June Anderson sing two songs from the show: link

     1954  "KISMET"
        583 PERFORMANCES
       12/4/53 THROUGH 4/23/55
Kismet is a musical with lyrics and musical adaptation (as well
as some original music) by Robert Wright and George  Forrest, adapted from the music of Alexander Borodin, and a book by Charles Lederer and Luther Davis, based on Kismet, the 1911 play by Edward  Knoblock.
 The story  concerns a wily poet who talks his way out of trouble several times; meanwhile, his beautiful daughter meets and falls in love with the young Caliph.  The musical was first produced  on Broadway  in 1953 and won the Tony  Award for best musical in 1954. It was also successful in  London's West End and has been given several revivals. A 1955  film version was released by MGM.
   
   SHOW HIGHLITES:
"Night of My Nights"          "And This is My Beloved"

Medley (Vic Damone & Judy Garland)

    ''BAUBLES, BANGLES & BEADS"

      "STRANGER IN PARADISE"

Trailer for the Movie Version of show

The show opened in the midst of a newspaper strike and  since newspaper reviews were unavailable, the producers used television  advertising to promote the show. The musical caught  popular attention and  ran for a successful 583 performances. The strike may have ultimately assisted  the popularity of the show, since the reviews, arriving a few weeks after the  opening, were not all favorable. The musical was made into a Cinemascope film in 1955 by MGM, starring Howard Keel as Hajj, Ann Blyth as Marsinah, Dolores Gray as Lalume, and Vic  Damone as the Caliph. The soaring quartet "This is My Beloved"  was changed to a trio, because Sebastian Cabot, who played the Wazir, could not  sing.  An Armstrong Theater television version was broadcast in 1967 starring  Barbara Eden as Lalume, Jose Ferrer as Haj, Anna Maria Alberghetti as  Marsinah, and George Chikaris as the Caliph (among other cast members). The script was  edited down to a 90 minute broadcast and jettisoned few musical numbers despite the shorter run time. The show spawned several top hit recordings.

  "STRANGER IN PARADISE"  (BIGGEST HIT BY THE FOUR ACES)
  "STRANGER IN PARADISE" (TONY BENNETT)
  "BAUBLES, BANGLES AND BEADS"  (KIRBY STONE FOUR)
  "BAUBLES, BANGLES AND BEADS" (PEGGY LEE)
  "AND THIS IS MY BELOVED"  (JOHNNY MATHIS)
 "AND THIS IS MY BELOVED" (MARIO LANZA)
 "AND THIS IS MY BELOVED" (SARAH VAUGHAN)

1955  THE PAJAMA GAME
  1063 PERFORMANCES
   5/13/54-11/24/56

The Pajama Game is a musical based on the novel 7½ Cents  by Richard Bissel. It features a score by Richard Adler and  Jerry Ross. The story deals with  labor troubles in a pajama factory, where worker demands for a seven-and-a-half cents raise are going unheeded. In the midst of this ordeal, love blossoms between Babe, the grievance committee head, and Sid, the new factory superintendent.
The original production  was revived in 1973, and once again in 2006 by The
Roundabout Theatre Company. The original production won a Tony for Best Musical , and the 2006 Broadway revival won a Tony Award for Best Revival. The musical is a
popular choice for community and school group productions. The film version was released by Warner Brothers  in 1957 and featured the original stage cast except for Janis Paige, who was replaced by Doris Day, then the most popular female vocalist and movie star of the 50's. Most of the songs from the show became Top Ten Hits in 1954. 
  SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

                         "STEAM HEAT"

                            "THERE ONCE WAS A MAN"

                         "ONCE A YEAR DAY"

                "I'M NOT AT ALL IN LOVE"

                  "HERNANDO'S HIDEAWAY"

                   "7 1/2  CENTS"

                     "HEY, THERE"

And here is a scene from the movie of the show  featuring a new song written just for the film. It never made the final editing.

                  "THE MAN WHO INVENTED LOVE"

FROM THE 2006 VERSION WHICH WON TONY FOR BEST REVIVAL

SOME OF THE RECORDINGS THAT TOPPED THE HIT PARADE:
     "HEY, THERE"                          ROSEMARY CLOONEY
     "HEY, THERE"                          JOHNNY RAY
     "STEAM HEAT"                         PATTI PAGE
    "HERNANDO'S HIDEAWAY"  ARCHIE BLEYER ORCHESTRA

1956 BEGINS THE NEXT SET OF SUBPAGES