Best Foot Forward - New York Broadway

The first acting credit we have found for Bowers is in the role of Hunk Hoyt in the Broadway production of Best Foot Forward.

Best Foot Forward ran from October 1, 1941 to July 4, 1942 at the Ethel Barrymore Theater. This show was produced and directed by George Abbott. Choreography for Best Foot Forward was by Gene Kelly. The most memorable song from Best Foot Forward is Buckle Down Winsocki. Mary Ganley appeared in the ensemble cast of Best Foot Forward.

Rosemary Lane played the Hollywood Star who has been asked to attend the prom. In the image at the right, Kenny looks over his shoulder at Rosemary Lane, who has just had her clothes ripped off by enthusiastic prepschoolers wanting a souvenir.

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Glad to See You - Philadelphia - Schubert Theatre

A musical comedy presented by David Wolper; staged and directed by Busby Berkeley; music by Jule Styne; lyrics by Sammy Cahn; book by Freddy Thompson and Eddie Davis. The cast included Jane Withers, Eddie Davis, June Knight, Kenny Bowers, Sammy White, Joseph Mccauley, Gene Barry, Nancy Donovan, Jayne Manners, Charles Conoway, Eric Roberts, Patsy O'Shea, Alexis Rotov, Gloria McGehee, Lew Eckels, Walter Rinner, Michael Mauree, Sid Lippe, Jack Harney, Peter Kehrlein, John (Red) Kullers, Slam Stewart, Valerie Bettis, Maria Monez, Paul Mario, Nancy Newton, Farley and Lunick, Whitney Sisters and Betty Jane Hunt.

According to Billboard, Kenny signed on for Glad to See You around the beginning of August, 1944.

Glad to See You opened November 13, 1944 at the Schubert Theatre in Philadelphia. It closed at the Opera House in Boston, January 6, 1945. The show never made it to Broadway.

Left to right: June Knight, Kenny Bowers, Nancy Donovan

Show Title Not Known - Loew's State Theater - New York City

Stage shows followed movie presentations during this period. Our source, dated September 15, 1945, states that the "new bill has Ed Sullivan, Sue Ryan, Kenny Bowers" in addition to the movie Blood On the Sun.

Annie Get Your Gun - New York Broadway

Bowers was in the original cast of the Broadway production of Annie Get Your Gun. He played the part of Tommy Keeler.

Annie Get Your Gun ran from May 16, 1946 to February 12, 1949.

The Playbill for Annie Get Your Gun has individual biographical notes for the leading actors. The following is what the program says about Kenny Bowers:

KENNY BOWERS (Tommy Keeler) was on the point of signing up as shortstop with the Dodgers when Richard Rodgers suggested that his stepping would find a more appreciative audience if he joined the cast of George Abbott’s Best Foot Forward. He took the composer’s advice, and later did the comedy lead in the movie version. After cavorting with June Allyson in Broadway Rhythm, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Home on leave, he sported his bell-bottom trousers in I’ll Be Seeing You. With his discharge in his pocket, he danced in the Los Angeles Light Opera production of New Moon and in the short-lived Glad To See You on its pre-Broadway tour.

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Sketch Book - New York - Radio City Music Hall

Was in the stage show Sketch Book at Radio City Music Hall in New York. This program followed the premiere of the movie The Glass Menagerie. On the stage at the Music Hall is a revue, entitled "Sketch Book," featuring Kenny Bowers, the Four Macks, Duval, the Ivanovs, the Glee Club, Corps de Ballet and Rockettes.

Six on a Honeymoon - Chicago - 1952

Bowers was in a musical review called Six on a Honeymoon which opened at The Black Hawk, a Chicago steakhouse and nightclub, in 1952 to excellent reviews. In a clipping from Billboard dated February 16, 1952, "The show has been tightened up and now runs about 40 minutes. Carl Sands has brought his band in to back the revue, succeeding Jerry Glidden, but the eight players who were signed in New York continue in featured roles. Kenny Bowers, Grant Eastham, Kay Coulter, Pat Carroll, and excellent comedienne; Dave Le Grand, her foil; Barbara Cook and dancers Ed Begley and Marianne D'Or all do top jubs. Latter duo have shaved their routines a bit to help the presentation."

The show moved to Chicago on April 9, 1952 after a two-week "break-in date" at the Lake Club in Springfield, Illinois.

Barbara Cook
and Kenny Bowers in
"Six on a Honeymoon"

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