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Biography
about|the 1944 novellainfobox Book | | name = Gigi| title_orig =| translator =| image_caption =| author = Colette | illustrator =| cover_artist =| country = France | language = French language|French | series =| genre = Novella | publisher =| release_date = 1944| english_release_date =1953| pages =| isbn =| preceded_by =| followed_by = Gigi (IPA-fr|?i.?i|pron) is a 1944 in literature|1944 novella by France|French writer Colette . The plot focuses on a young Paris ian girl being groomed for a career as a courtesan and her relationship with the wealthy cultured man named Gaston who falls in love with her and eventually marries her.
The novella was the basis for Gigi (1949 film)|a 1949 French film starring Daničle Delorme and Gaby Morlay .
In 1951, it was Gigi (1951 play)|adapted for the stage by Anita Loos . Colette had personally picked the yet unknown Audrey Hepburn on first sight to play the title role. Opening on 24 November 1951 on Broadway theatre|Broadway at the Fulton Theatre , the play ran for 219 performances (finishing on 31 May 1952) and Hepburn's debut on Broadway earned her a Theatre World Award .ibdb title|id=1977|title=Gigi
Seven years later, a Gigi (1958 film)|musical film version with a screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner and a score by Lerner and Frederick Loewe won the Academy Award for Best Picture . This film version starred Leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan .According to Caron in an interview on Turner Classic Movies|TCM , producer Arthur Freed came on the set of Lili and said "I don't know what they're doing. They're ruining the image I worked so hard to create. I made you a star, I made you glamorous, and you look so pathetic in this grey dress and straight hair and no makeup, you look just pitiful, I've got to make another film to restore you to stardom. Any ideas? " She suggested Collette's story Gigi , having acted in the play in London and loved the story. The story of a girl being groomed to be a courtesan by her grandmother made Freed doubt making it as a straight drama would be acceptable to the American censors, so they "cleaned it up" and turned it into a musical.
Lerner and Loewe adapted the film for a Gigi (musical)|1973 stage musical that proved to be unsuccessful.
The novella was translated into English by Roger Senhouse and published (with 'The cat' translated by Antonia White ) in 1953.cite web|url= http://copac.ac.uk/wzgw? id=090415d0d5302b304eff4899aaa0ea2bcd79b9& rsn=1& esn=F& f=u& rn=11| title=Vintage reissue of 1953 edition| accessdate=2009-04-15
See also
portal|Novels
Gigi (1949 film)
Gigi (1951 play)
Gigi (1958 film)
Gigi (musical)
References and notes
reflist Colette Category:1944 novels Category:French-language novels Category:French novels Category:French novels adapted into films Category:Novels by Colette Category:Novels set in Paris
