Nancy `71

Nancy `71 is a Las Vegas stage show headlined by Nancy Sinatra that ran at the Hilton International hotel from June 16 to July 18, 1971 featuring special guests, The Muppets.

Jim Henson began planning for the show a couple months prior to opening, with the intention of using larger puppets to accommodate the size of the hotel showroom. He met with Sinatra and her husband/producer Hugh Lambert in Vegas that May to outline the show, and began rehearsing with Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, and John Lovelady at the theatre on June 8th.^[1]

Musical numbers with the Muppets include the following:^[2]

• "Mah Na Mah Na" with an oversized Mahna Mahna (called Harry in this appearance)
• "Buggy Mugger"
• Luther Dixon and Al Smith's song "Big Boss Man" with a Bossman
• Thog and Nancy Sinatra perform "Fortuosity"
• "When the Frogs Go Marching In" with a Brotherhood of Frogs

The show also featured the first use of Henson's approach to using flocked foam on a puppet, for a drummer/maestro character created by Bonnie Erickson.^[3]

Following the stage run, an attempt was made to produce a version of the show as a TV special called Movin' with Nancy: Nice 'n' Easy. While promoting the appearance with the press, Henson began circulating his idea to do a Broadway show.

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