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worked together on Of Thee I Sing. Then the next show that they did was Let Them Eat Cake, which was not a success. Of Thee I Sing won the Pulitzer Prize.
But the memorable stories that Kaufman would tell of Gershwin! Gershwin loved to invite everybody to rehearsals. He was an expansive fellow and he loved people. Kaufman hated having anybody at rehearsals. This was a continuous fight because Gershwin would troop in with all of the girls that he was going around with and Kaufman would get enraged. One day, during the rehearsals of Let Them Eat Cake, he and Gershwin were walking down the street after the show; and Kaufman very angrily said, “This show is going to be a flop.” Gershwin said, “What makes you say that?" Kaufman said, “The balcony was only half full this afternoon.”
But George saved one little waltz for a special purpose. It was never in a show--a little waltz tune. He would meet a girl and look at her soulfully and take her hand and say, “There's something about you that inspires me to compose.” The girl would say, “Oh, Mr. Gershwin!" George would then get her up to his room and compose for her this little waltz that he saved for such occasions. It was a very successful stratagem. Usually they would finish the waltz in bed together.
One night I remember down in Havana, we met a particularly pretty girl. We went for a drink together and I could see George beginning to operate. That's when I began humming the waltz. George was in a rage with me. Obviously,
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