Christine Ebersole stars as 42nd Street's star Dorothy Brock, who is replaced by Kate Levering's Peggy Sawyer in the musical revival's show-within-a-show. David Elder is Billy Lawlor, the show's tenor and lead dancer, who falls for the blond ingenue.
42nd Street is a musical about making musicals back in the days of the Depression. Young hoofer Peggy Sawyer (Levering) lands a job in the chorus of a new Broadway show, ruled over by star Dorothy Brock (Ebersole) and mercurial director Julian Marsh (Michael Cumpsty), but when an unlucky accident happens, Peggy gets her chance to go out there a youngster, but come back a star. 42nd Street, now playing at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, first took its Broadway bows in 1980, winning the 1981 Tony Award for Best Musical and running 3,486 performances.