Musicals are intimately connected with New York City. Though many Broadway shows are set in far off places or fantastic lands, many have been set here, in our own backyard. Beginning with On the Town, some of these New York set musicals have used the City to provide a realistic backdrop to their filmed versions.

12. On the Town

On the Town premiered as a Broadway musical in 1944. In 1949, the musical by Leonard Bernstein and Comden and Greenwas adapted into a movie.The film stars Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Jules Mushin as three sailors on leave in New York City. On the Town was the first musical to be filmed on location and not in a Hollywood backlot.

However, it recently came to light that only the beginning and end of the film were actually shot in New York City. Some of the New York City scenes include: the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Brooklyn Bridge, outside the New York Stock Exchange, a platform form the Third Avenue elevated subway line, Washington Square Park, Grant’s Tomb, Central Park, and Rockefeller Center. The site that appears to have changed the most since filming is definitely Columbus Circle.