While many of the more novel devices it used had been introduced before on Broadway, Nine was nonetheless one of the more creative shows introduced in the 80s. Sondheim, for example, originated the sung overture in his A Little Night Music, but Yeston took a different direction, with the film director protagonist "conducting" the different characters in the overture.

The lead cast consists of nine female roles and one male role, with another thirteen minor female roles and an appearance by the Young Guido and a group of boys during the flashbacks to Guido's childhood. It is one of the more demanding roles in the male repertoire, not so much by the music as by the range of emotions the actor has to portray, from bewildered dissatisfaction to near suicidal despair to his final decision to embrace maturity. It also provides several vivid musical portraits for the women, from the bluesy telephone seduction scene in "A call from the Vatican," the famously wistful ballad "Unusual way," and the passionately bitter "Be on your own."

It was actually conceived in the 1970s, inspired by the 1963 Federico Fellini film 8 1/2, and Yeston wrote "Unusual way," "Guido's song," and the title song in 1975. Mario Fratti, the librettist, left the team over various artistic disagreements and was replaced by Arthur Kopit, one of the many causes for the delays that made it, oddly enough, almost nine years in the creation.

Despite (or perhaps partially because of!) some of the more shocking moments (the recollection of a first sexual encounter at age nine, a prostitute wearing a nun's habit and leading a Disney-esque sing-along about how important it is to "Be Italian"), it ran for 732 performances. It won two Drama Desk Awards, the Tonys for Best Musical and Best Score, Best Director for Tommy Tune, and ironically for a show that looks at fame and creative success with such a skeptical eye, launched Yeston's international fame. It was also a major inspiration for the musical Chess, dramatically (the conflict between love for a wife and a mistress) and musically ("The Germans at the Spa" and "Folies Bergeres") influenced the comic scene setting choruses such as "Murano" and "One night in Bangkok.")

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