 The original play opened in New York on 10 January 1928. It was a  musical for which William Anthony McGuire (qv) and  Guy Bolton (qv) wrote the book. Despite the moderate success (335  performances) and the powerhouse composers (George Gershwin (qv)  and Sigmund Romberg (qv)) and lyricists (Ira Gershwin (qv) and  P.G. Wodehouse (qv)), MGM decided to have Cole Porter (qv) write  an entirely new score for the movie. Marilyn Miller (I) (qv)  starred in the musical, and Frank Morgan (I) (qv) originated his  role of the king.