William B. Gill

Among these hits was the show that was to turn out to be the longest running American-made Broadway musical of the century: Adonis. As a straight parody of the Pygmalion legend - but with the sex roles switched, so that a beautiful, male statue comes to life - the play both parodied the excesses of melodrama and comic opera and celebrated them, and Adonis went on to a long life, countless revivals, and a place as a landmark in the history of American theater.