 The movie was based on the stage musical of the  Jerome Robbins (qv) ballet entitled Fancy Free, which opened at  the Ballet Theatre in New York in the spring of 1944. In addition to  writing the book for the stage version of _On the Town (1949)_ (qv)  and writing the screenplay for the film, Betty Comden (qv) and  Adolph Green (qv) appeared in the stage version in the roles of  "Claire" and "Ozzie."