The musical premiered on
Broadway on October 23, 1967 at the
Palace Theatre, and closed on December 31, 1967 after 80 performances and twelve previews. It was directed by
George Roy Hill and
choreographed by
Michael Bennett. The cast featured
Don Ameche,
Neva Small,
Robin Wilson,
Carol Bruce,
Louise Lasser,
Baayork Lee,
Priscilla Lopez,
Alice Playten, and
Pia Zadora. The stage musical was never filmed. However, during its Broadway run, Alice Playten and the chorus performed one song from the score – "Poor Little Person" — on
The Ed Sullivan Show. The show is one of those written about by
William Goldman in his 1968 book
The Season, which describes the ins and outs of a season on Broadway. He contends that
Henry, Sweet Henry was well received by audience members (getting "every bit as good a reaction as
Mame gets", referring to a smash hit of the time) but couldn't survive a bad review from
Clive Barnes in the
New York Times, who was then on a crusade to bring pop music into Broadway scores. Goldman also describes how the show was intended as a vehicle to propel its young lead Robin Wilson to stardom, but instead accidentally allowed second lead
Alice Playten to steal the show. An
Off Off Broadway revival of the musical, directed and produced by James Rocco and choreographed by Rebecca Urich was in the midst of rehearsals when the theatre it was playing at, the
Mercer Arts Center, collapsed to the ground. Rocco, 16 at the time, was given a challenge by the
Lambs Club; if he could reorganize the show they would let the company use their theatre on 45 Street. The youngsters rose to the challenge and the show went on to play its limited engagement with a few added performances. It starred
Rebecca Urich in the role of Val, which she had understudied in the original production. The York Theatre Company "Musicals in Mufti", New York, presented a staged concert of the musical in October 2004. ==Song list==