City Center's Encores! presented a new production of "No, No, Nanette" in May 2008, directed by Walter Bobbie, with choreography by Randy Skinner, starring Sandy Duncan, Beth Leavel and Rosie O'Donnell. Some years after the premiere, it was claimed that producer Harry Frazee, a former owner of the Boston Red Sox, financed "No, No, Nanette" by selling baseball superstar Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, resulting in the "Curse of the Bambino", which, according to a popular superstition, kept the Red Sox from winning the World Series from until . In the 1990s, that story was partially debunked on the grounds that the sale of Ruth had occurred five years earlier. Leigh Montville discovered during research for his 2006 book, "The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth", that "No, No, Nanette" had originated as a non-musical stage play called "My Lady Friends", which opened on Broadway in December 1919. That play had, indeed, been financed by the Ruth sale to the Yankees. "Based on 1971 Revised Production"  Jimmy Smith, a millionaire Bible publisher, is married to the overly frugal Sue. Jimmy thus has plenty of disposable income, and, because he likes to use his money to make people happy, he has secretly become the (platonic) benefactor of three beautiful women: Betty from Boston, Winnie from Washington, D.C., and Flora from San Francisco. Sue's best friend, Lucille, is married to Jimmy's lawyer and friend, Billy Early. Lucille is a spendthrift and delights in spending all the money Billy makes. Jimmy and Sue have a young ward, Nanette, who they hope will become a respectable young lady. At Jimmy and Sue's home in New York, many young men come to call on Nanette. Lucille advises the young people that having one steady boyfriend is better than many flirtations ("Too Many Rings Around Rosie"). Tom Trainor, Billy's nephew and assistant, works up the courage to tell Nanette that he loves her, and she returns his sentiments ("I've Confessed to the Breeze"). Tom wants to settle down and get married as soon as possible, but Nanette has an untapped wild side and wants to have some fun first. Jimmy's lady friends are attempting to blackmail him, and he, afraid that Sue will find out about them, enlists Billy's legal help to discreetly ease the girls out of his life.