Later that year, Robbins conceived and choreographed "On the Town" (1944), a musical partly inspired by "Fancy Free", which effectively launched his Broadway career. Bernstein wrote the music and Smith designed the sets. The book and lyrics were by a team that Robbins would work with again, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and the director was the Broadway legend George Abbott. Because Robbins, as choreographer, insisted that his chorus reflect the racial diversity of a New York City crowd, "On the Town" broke the color bar on Broadway for the first time. Robbins' next musical was the jazz age fable "Billion Dollar Baby" (1945), and during rehearsals for the show an incident happened that became a part of Robbins – and Broadway – lore: the choreographer, preoccupied giving directions to the dancers, backed up onstage until he fell into the orchestra pit. Two years later, he received plaudits for his humorous Mack Sennett ballet in "High Button Shoes" (1947), and won his first Tony Award for choreography. That same year, Robbins would become one of the first members of New York's newly formed Actors Studio, attending classes held by founding member Robert Lewis three times a week, alongside classmates such as Marlon Brando, Maureen Stapleton, Montgomery Clift, Herbert Berghof, Sidney Lumet, and about 20 others. In 1948 he added another credit to his resume, becoming co-director as well as choreographer for "Look Ma, I'm Dancin'!"; and the year after that teamed with Irving Berlin to choreograph "Miss Liberty".