The Nimble Tread

I was glancing through Peter J. Levinson's posthumously published biography of Fred Astaire, Puttin' On The Ritz, and saw this:

[Astaire missed the opportunity to work with Rodgers and Hart.] Hart did include his name, however, in the lyrics to "Do It The Hard Way" in the 1940s Broadway musical Pal Joey, which launched Gene Kelly to stardom: "Fred Astaire once worked so hard/ He often lost his breath/ And now he taps all others to death/"

Wrong. It goes "Fred Astaire once worked so hard/ he often lost his breath/ and now he taps all other chaps to death."

It may seem a small change, but that internal rhyme gives the line its zip.

It is ironic that Astaire had shows written for him by all the top songwriters of the day--Berlin, Gershwin, Porter, Kern--except for the team of Rodgers and Hart, who were probably the most suited to him. As noted above, there was an attempt to put together a project, but it didn't happen. Rodgers and Hart then took their idea and turned it into a 1936 Broadway hit, On Your Toes, starring Ray Bolger.

The title number has this line, by the way:

They climb the clouds/ To come through with airmail/ The dancing crowds/ Look up to some rare male/ Like that Astaire male.