The musical debuted on Broadway in January 1941 and was a smash hit, making a star of Danny Kaye and Macdonald Carey, and causing fresh appreciation for Mature's talents. His performance was well received, Brooks Atkinson of "The New York Times" calling him "unobjectionably handsome and affable". The description of Randy Curtis in the musical - "Beautiful Hunk of Man" - would be frequently used to describe Mature throughout his career. Mature missed some of the run due to an emergency appendectomy, but ended up playing the role until June.