Oh, Lady Be Good! Oh, Lady Be Good! "Oh, Lady Be Good!" is a 1924 song by George and Ira Gershwin. It was introduced by Walter Catlett in the Broadway musical "Lady, Be Good!" written by Guy Bolton, Fred Thompson, and the Gershwin brothers and starring Fred and Adele Astaire. The song was also performed by the chorus in the film "Lady Be Good" (1941), although the film is unrelated to the musical. Recordings in 1925 were by Paul Whiteman, Carl Fenton, and Cliff Edwards. A 1947 recording of the song became a hit for Ella Fitzgerald, notable for her scat solo. For her
Neil Simon Theatre opened on November 22, 1927, with George and Ira Gershwin's "Funny Face" starring Fred and Adele Astaire. In 1930, Ethel Merman made her Broadway debut in "Girl Crazy"; in 1934, she appeared again in Cole Porter's "Anything Goes" and again in 1936 in Porter's "Red, Hot and Blue". In 1935, the Gershwins' American folk opera "Porgy and Bess" had its world premiere at the venue. Due to the Great Depression, Aarons and Freedley lost control of their venue in 1932. For a period, CBS used it as a radio studio. In 1960, Lucille Ball appeared in her only Broadway show,