Marco Polo

This made-for-television musical originally aired as a coast-to-coast live broadcast, on NBC affiliates, Saturday night, April 14, 1956. A dramatization of the adventures of explorer Marco Polo, it features songs and dance numbers loosely adapted from the work of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Clay Warnick and Mel Pahl composed the music, Neil Simon and William Friedberg co-wrote the book, Edward Eager authored the lyrics, and James Starbuck choreogrpahed. The cast includes Alfred Drake as Marco, Paul Ukena as Kublai Khan, Ross Martin as Baron and Doretta Morrow in a quadruple role as the Beggar Girl, Souchon, Kokochin and Chentu.