Jean Sargent introduced “Alone Together” in the Broadway musical, Flying Colors, while Clifton Webb and Tamara Geva danced. Flying Colors opened at the Imperial Theater on September 15, 1932, produced by Max Gordon and directed by Howard Dietz. The reviews were mixed, and it ran for 188 performances. The Harms sheet music from that era lists “Alone Together” as the top song, followed by “A Shine on Your Shoes,” “Smokin’ Reefers,” “Louisiana Hayride,” and “A Rainy Day.”

Regarding “Smokin’ Reefers,” one may wonder what a tribute to marijuana is doing in a Dietz/Schwartz musical. The song includes the phrase, “the stuff that dreams are made of.” Marijuana was not illegal in most states at that time and was probably a subject of great interest due to its popularity with jazz musicians and the ongoing effort to ban it at the federal level. The government finally succeeded in passing the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, with the state of Louisiana leading the way in these efforts. Another song from this musical, “Louisiana Hayride,” is purportedly a phrase meaning political corruption.

“Alone Together” moved onto the recording charts in late 1932, rising to ninth place with Leo Reisman and His Orchestra (Frank Luther, vocal), a group which Jerome Kern called “the String Quartet of Dance Bands.”

Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz were extremely prolific, writing over two hundred songs each. Of their many dozen collaborations, “Alone Together” is the most enduring and most often recorded.