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The Arts Intel Report

I Can Get it For You Wholesale

A scene from I Can Get it For You Wholesale.

Oct 10 – Dec 17, 2023
136 E 13th Street, New York, NY 10003, United States

In Jerome Weidman’s best-selling 1937 novel, I Can Get it For You Wholesale, an ambitious young businessman (or, perhaps, conman) named Harry Bogen claws his way up from the bottom of Manhattan’s garment industry. In 1962, Weidman turned Bogen’s antics—he embezzles money, cheats on his girlfriend with a gold-digging dancer, brings dress manufacturers to their knees, then loses it all—into a musical with original songs by Harold Rome. For the Broadway premiere, Elliott Gould starred as Harry, while a 19-year-old unknown named Barbra Streisand took on the small role of his assistant. Her solo song, “Miss Marmelstein,” won her a Tony nomination and launched her brilliant career. In a new staging, Weidman’s son, John, puts a modern twist on the plot. —Jensen Davis

Photo: Julieta Cervantes