Sugar Babies

The Broadway smash hit Sugar Babies, starring Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller, opened in 1979. The show originated from the efforts of Theatre Department head Ralph Allen’s 1976 The New Majestic Follies production by the Clarence Brown Theatre Company in UT’s Clarence Brown Theatre. The original UT show contained some of the burlesque material and some of the people who opened the show on Broadway. Following the New Majestic Follies production, Allen gave a scholarly paper, “My Mother’s Knee and Other Low Joints,” in his area of specialty—burlesque—which was heard by Harry Rigby, Broadway (and Sugar Babies) producer. Allen worked with Rigby, the cast, and others, to meld traditional burlesque routines into a modern low comedy that was a surprising and durable hit, running almost three years. On accepting an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 1983 at the Academy Awards presentations, Mickey Rooney acknowledged on national television that “a University of Tennessee professor” had revived his sagging career. In the UT production, comedians Joe E. Ross and Jimmy Mathews were featured, as well as Gene Bell, named by Sammy Davis Jr. as the “best tap dancer in show business.”

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  • Title Sugar Babies
  • Author
  • Keywords Sugar Babies
  • Website Name Volopedia
  • Publisher University of Tennessee Libraries
  • URL
  • Access Date July 19, 2025
  • Original Published Date
  • Date of Last Update October 17, 2018