Lady, Be Good (musical) Lady, Be Good (musical) Lady, Be Good! (title sometimes presented with an exclamation point) is a musical written by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson with music by George and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was first presented on Broadway in 1924; the West End production followed in 1926. The story of the musical is about a brother and sister who are out of money; both are eager to sacrifice themselves to help the other. This was the first Broadway collaboration of the Gershwin brothers, and the Astaire siblings play a brother-sister dance team. "Lady, Be Good" premiered on Broadway at
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,